Motorola to acquire ZumoDrive Developer
Motorola Mobility is acquiring Zecter, a company that offers synchronization and streaming technologies for on-demand digital media consumption.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Zecter’s solutions connect users to their content giving them on-the-go access to music, video, photos and documents from their smartphones, tablets, PCs and web-portals.
Zecter currently has two products commercially available: ZumoDrive – for cloud-based content sync, access and sharing; and ZumoCast – for personal media streaming to any device. Both products use virtual file system technologies to make any personal content available even if it is not stored locally.
According to Motorola Mobility, it plans to integrate Zecter’s wireless syncing, desktop integration, video transcoding and thin-file retrieval technologies into its smartphones to provide consumers with real-time access to their content.
According to Christy Wyatt, Corporate Vice President of software and services, Motorola Mobility, consumers want seamless access to their content and media from wherever they are, while content providers want to ensure that content remains protected and secure. They believe that Zecter enables that seamless experience with the necessary security measures, and they are delighted to be able to work with this team.
Wyatt added that Zecter’s robust team brings multi-platform expertise along with compelling solutions for continuous digital media access across multiple platforms. Zecter is an exciting addition to our MOTOBLUR service platform and we welcome their highly skilled personnel to the Motorola Mobility team.
As part of the transition, the distribution of Zecter’s ZumoCast software will be suspended while enhancements are made. Existing ZumoCast users may continue to use the service without interruption. Motorola Mobility will provide regular updates for ZumoCast users as well as future plans for this service. The ZumoDrive solution will be unaffected.
T-Mobile to release Motorola Defy on November 3rd
T- Mobile has announced that the Motorola Defy will be launched on November 3rd and it will be sold at a price tag of US$99.99 on a two-year contract with the carrier.
The device is based on the Android 2.1 Eclair platform and has a processer of 800 MHz. The Motorola Defy is equipped with a 5 MP camera with digital zoom, LED flash and auto focus function. The advanced MOTOBLUR used in the device gives instant access to updates from your friends and family by automatically delivering them on the screen. This also incorporates updates from social networking sites. The phone works on both CDMA and GSM network.
Defy provides support for up to 32 GB microSD cards. Giving ultimate power to your finger tips to play anything with your Moto Defy; it has a 3.7-inch, FWVGA touchscreen at 480 x 854, in addition to an On-Screen Keyboard.
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.
Best Buy announces Motorola Android device pre-sale
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A pre-sale has been announced by Best Buy for the Motorola Devour. Customers can pre- order the new Android device of Motorola for $50, and pick it up when it arrives on/after February 25.
Meanwhile, Devour will not be offered by Verizon Wireless until March.
The Devour is a sideways slider with MOTOBLUR.
Motorola introduces new Android Phone
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The QUENCH- an Android based smartphone has been announced by Motorola. The handset will be available next month exclusively through T-Mobile USA under the brand name CLIQ XT in USA. 5 megapixel camera, along with voice-activated search are supported by the phone and the price is yet to be announced.
According to Sanjay Jha, co-CEO of Motorola and CEO of Motorola Mobile Devices and Home business, QUENCH with MOTOBLUR showcases Motorola’s design heritage by offering a compelling differentiation from the traditional Android experience, giving people an easier way to have more messaging, more Web and more music.
Motorola releases Android Cliq with T-Mobile
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Motorola released its first Android mobile phone, The Cliq, which would be launched with T-Mobile USA later this autumn. This the first handset to feature Motoblur, the handset maker’s interface for threading communications on the phone.
Updates to contacts, posts, messages, photos and other features are synced from sources like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Gmail as well as work and personal e-mail. Motoblur delivers these updates to the home screen automatically so that there is no need to open and close different mobile applications. The Cliq is a 3G handset and has a slide-out qwerty keyboard and a 3.1-inch touch display. It also includes Wi-Fi, a 5 megapixel camera, a 3.5mm headset jack, music player with access to Amazon MP3 shop, Shazam, iMeem Mobile and support for up to 32GB memory. The phone will be available in titanium and white. The price details are said to be released closer to the launch date. Outside US, the handset would be sold under the name Motorola Dext. The first carriers for the Dext would be Orange in UK and France, Telefonica in Spain and America Movil in Latin America.
