Had a chance to talk to Motorola folks involved in the development of the Defy today and also to played with this device a bit. It is very lightweight, was told 70g (for all you gram counters out there).
And yes, it does not need a smartphone to issue SOS or the pre programmed status message.
The rubber thingy covering the USB-C port appeared a bit flimsy, otherwise this unit left a good overall impression. Geo coverage is somewhat limited though, they still work on growth.
In my opinion, the major challenge for these guys will be capturing users currently locked into the Garmin ecosystem, think Garmin to Garmin use case. Not sure how that would work from a Garmin <-> Motola device.
Either way, certainly a welcome arrival mixing up the market a bit.
HappyTrails!
Rick A.