Motorola makes a strategic move to separate its handset business
According to the Co-CEO Sanjay Jha, Motorola Inc. may spin off its mobile-phone business early in the first quarter of next year.
According to Motorola’s previous statements, it would separate the handset business and a set-top box division from the rest of the company during the first quarter. According to Jha, the company may be able to complete the transaction near the beginning of that period. The spin is looking good for first quarter, the early part of first quarter.
As per reports, Motorola unveiled six new smartphones including a version of its Droid handset for business users. The company is rebuilding its handset business around Google Inc.’s Android software, capitalizing on surging demand for devices that use the software.
Get ready, Motorola is bringing Android-based smartphones to all consumers, Jha said at an event
According to Nielsen, Android a free software that’s also used in phones from HTC Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co., has become the most popular operating system in the U.S. among new smartphone buyers, passing Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry platforms. While BlackBerry retained the top spot among U.S. smartphone owners overall with a 31% share, its lead is declining.
AT&T Inc., the second-largest U.S. wireless operator announced that it will soon start selling three of the Motorola phones namely, Bravo, Flipout and Flipside, ranging between US$79.99 to US$129.99 with a two-year contract.
The company recently introduced phones like, the Citrus and Spice at affordable prices. According to Motorola, the Droid Pro targeted at professionals, comes loaded with business software and additional security.
Microsoft Sues Motorola over Android phones
Microsoft the world’s largest software company has filed a patent- infringement case against Motorola claiming that the company’s Android-powered phones infringed on nine patents held by the software giant.
According to Microsoft deputy general counsel, Horacia Gutierrez, the alleged infringements centre on the way Motorola’s synchronize emails, calendars, contacts and meetings, in the way it notifies the user of changes in signal strength and battery power.
Microsoft filed two complaints: one with the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington, which could ban U.S. imports of the phones if a violation is found; and second in federal court in Seattle in which Microsoft seeks unspecified cash compensation.
According to Gutierrez, the company has responsibility to the customers, partners and shareholders in order to safeguard the billions of dollars they invested each year in bringing innovative software products and services to the market. Motorola needs to stop its infringement of the company’s patented inventions in its Android smartphones.
Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, is repairing its mobile-phone operating system to Windows Phone 7 this year to stem market-share losses to Apple Inc.’s iPhone and phones with Google Inc.’s Android software. Motorola’s disagreement is a part of mushrooming conflict over smartphones that includes Oracle Corp. suing Google and Apple fighting HTC Corp. and Nokia Oyj.
Knook quits as Vodafone’s Web ambitions freeze
If reports are to be believed, the architect of Vodafone Group PLC’s push into internet services is quitting amid signs that the mobile phone operator is retreating in its battle with Apple Inc and Google Inc over the wireless web.
According to reports, Pieter Knook, who was poached from Microsoft Corp in 2008 to head Vodafone’s newly formed internet services unit, is leaving after important aspects of the operation were scrapped.
The report further revealed that Vodafone has been seeking to establish itself as a chief service provider on the wireless web and therefore to avoid being a dumb pipe that carries other companies’ content, but it struggles to compete with services by Apple, which has a vital first-mover advantage in the smartphone market via the iPhone; Google is also enjoying success with Android, its operating system for Smartphones.
Google Tablets may beat IPad in the coming years
It is being claimed that Tablet computers running Google Inc.’s Android will take away all the Apple Inc’s iPad sales this holiday season and might exceed it in a few years as device makers adopt the software for a swing of models.
According to the sources, Samsung Electronics Co. will show the newest Android-based tablet for the U.S. market at an event in New York, with the country’s three largest mobile carriers agreeing to sell the Galaxy Tab.
According to Ed Moran, director of insights at Deloitte Services LP, Google may replicate its success with tablets because its OS is freely available to any company. There are a whole slew of factors behind the success: the open-source nature of it, the lower price, it’s not proprietary to one company.
Dell Inc., Acer Inc. and LG Electronics Inc. claims to make Android tablets. According to co-Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Jha, Motorola Inc., which makes Android- based Smartphones, hopes to introduce a tablet computer early next year.
According to analyst, though Google doesn’t charge for Android, broad adoption of the software may open up related revenue opportunities. The company could increase its mobile advertising sales, expand the market for its search engine and boost its application store. By having an open Android system out there, it’s actually accelerating the adoption. Tablets will increase the amount of time that people stay on some sort of computing device, which expands the traffic and people that Google can monetize.
India Seeks Permanent BlackBerry Solution from RIM: Pillai
According to Home Secretary G.K. Pillai, India is seeking access to BlackBerry smartphone messages and expects Research In Motion to offer a permanent solution within three to four months to defuse its standoff with the government. The country wants the real-time access to the data centers. RIM has announced earlier that they are working for a permanent solution by Dec 2010.
RIM shunned a ban last month in the world’s second-largest mobile-phone market after offering the government a temporary solution to allow monitoring of BlackBerry data. The main reason behind this strict demand is that India is concerned that terrorists may take advantage of the encryption in Smartphones, has increased its inspection over the telecommunications industry since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that left 166 dead.
According to Pillai, India’s dispute with the Canadian company resumed this year after RIM upgraded BlackBerry encryption, making it difficult for Indian authorities to access data. Google Inc. and Skype Technologies SA, a provider of Internet telephonic services, will also need to set up servers in India and enable security agencies to monitor mail traffic. Nokia Oyj, the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones will also have to set up local servers by Nov. 5 to allow authorities to monitor push-mail services.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also threatened to shut off BlackBerry services unless RIM opened its encrypted client data for the sake of national security.
Verizon Won’t Sell Microsoft Windows Phone 7 before 2011
Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. mobile-phone carrier will not be selling any Windows Phone 7 phones when it launches this year, a blow to the software maker’s efforts to reach a broad market.
According to Brenda Raney, a Verizon spokeswoman, Verizon Wireless won’t offer a device at the planned fall introduction or at any point this year. The carrier plans to support the new operating system and will probably release a phone in 2011.
According to analyst Michael Gartenberg, Microsoft overhauled its mobile-phone operating system to stem market-share losses to Apple Inc.’s iPhone and phones with Google Inc.’s Android software. Although support from carriers early on helps attract consumers, the success of the iPhone shows that a product can be popular without Verizon. The more carriers and the more devices they can bring early on, the more chance they have for mainstream success, but not having Verizon will not make or break it. Look at the iPhone — one doesn’t need Verizon to be successful in the U.S. in mobile. On the other hand, it would be good for Microsoft to count Verizon in as a named partner early on.
Microsoft and Verizon’s most recent mobile collaboration on Microsoft’s Kin phone ended when the software maker pulled the phone after two months due to disappointing sales.
Motorola to unveil brand new Droid products for Verizon (USA)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: New smartphones under Verizon Wireless’s Droid line has been planned to be introduced by Motorola representing the carrier’s top-tier devices and typically benefit from a more aggressive marketing push. Verizon Wireless’s push at the end of last year for the original Droid phone benefitted Motorola but Motorola’s flagship device has been pushed aside with the launch of the Incredible from HTC Corp.
This has brought up so many issues like how the company remains competitive with so many other players in the market. According to Motorola Inc. co-CEO Sanjay Jha, size, brand and software provides it with the differentiation necessary to attract customers and added that the company will launch a new version of its Motoblur user interface later this year. He also noted that company has made tremendous progress in its transformation to a smartphone maker.
While touting the strong relationship that Motorola has with its carrier partners, Jha opined that the company is focused on ensuring that consumers like the devices, and that the company can ship its products in time. The company is also considering creating its own mobile operating system under certain conditions with all its focus on Android.
The constant revisions to Google Inc.’s Android software has been hailed as the biggest problem that the handset manufacturer has to face and these changes to the underlying framework of the software has made it difficult to upgrade quickly. Introducing Android 2.2 to phones is on the priority list of the firm and expects an aggressive launching since it will enable Flash on its phones. Installation of Flash is important for the customer’s Internet experience.
In the feature phone side, Jha also opined that he was managing the business for a modest profit, and that he sees the business stabilizing with more volume next year as it starts to benefit from its original equipment manufacturing deal. The production of low end phones has been outsourced by the company in an effort to maintain its brand in emerging markets and with a hope that customers from those countries will eventually buy a Motorola smartphone.
Google departure an isolated act: China
In a latest statement passed by the China’s Foreign Ministry, the government will handle the Google case according to the lawâ€. This statement came after Google jettisoned its China-based search site Google.cn.
In the opinion of the foreign ministry, the conflict between China and Google Inc. over Internet censorship is an individual business case and won’t affect China’s relations with the US.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang was puzzled because of the rumors which said that such a situation could affect US- China relations. He quipped that it could happen only if someone wants to politicize it.
The comments came after the U.S. Internet search giant stopped censoring its Web search and news services in China overnight, in defiance of government regulations, and redirected visitors to the Hong Kong site.
Wireless shoppers make heavy searches: Google
According to Google Inc., the Internet giant wireless carriers, retailers and manufacturers need to have a strong voice in the marketplace and promote phone features in order to increase their online campaign clicks.
Google also added that carriers, retailers and manufacturers should increase online marketing to accommodate today’s wireless shopping hobbit.
According to Kyle Keogh, industry director of technology sales at Google, Mountain View, CA, people are searching for phones but not finding what they are looking for but the search volume is high.
As per the study, a whopping 78 percent of the first clicks are on brand names. Other key finding of the study include that the wireless phone arena is a competitive marketplace and smartphones bring new customers to retailers, carriers and manufacturers.
Over 2,961 consumers had participated in this survey. 65 percent of which were found to be new smartphone owners.
