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Published in Mobiles

Motorola expected to offer an Android phone

by on21 October 2008

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Not coming till Q2 2009, but will offer a touch screen


One of our folks in the shadows tells of an interesting encounter that he had with someone from Motorola the other day where he saw pictures of a prototype touch screen Android device that was in development. Motorola is apparently attempting to gauge the level of interest in such a device.

According to our this shadow informer, the device that he saw some pictures of took a lot of its design from the Motorola Krave ZN4, iPhone, as well as the recently outed BlackBerry Storm. This device would be a departure for Motorola, as it would offer a touch screen as well as a more aggressive look targeted toward a more youthful audience and it would be powered by Android.

It is unlikely that we would see the device any sooner than the second quarter of 2009, but we do know that Motorola has boosted the staff on the Android team to about 350 and they do look to be making a serious push into this space.

Times have been hard for Motorola, who has struggled with trying to find a follow up to the wildly popular Razr V3. While Motorola has done some revisions and enhancements to the Razr, the company has been unable to capture the adoption rate and excitement that the Razr enjoyed.

In the latest batch of cell phone releases, Motorola also saw some carriers pass on the company’s latest round of designs, as many providers felt that the latest Motorola models just were not appealing enough and doubted their ability to attract consumer attention.

Motorola’s last round of smart phone entries have also struggled. The Moto Q has been criticized by many as being too big and lacking battery life when compared to other competitors. Motorola has instead tried to continue development in the hybrid space, which is the combination of a phone and a multimedia device with models in the Krzr, Razr2, Rizr and Rokr product families.

Motorola is hoping that by moving their development to an Android touch screen device that they can recapture some of the luster and attract consumers back to the Motorola brand. It still could be an uphill battle, as carriers only have limited space and they are being more selective on the phones and devices that they are choosing.

Last modified on 21 October 2008
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