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Motorola: all our high-end smartphones will have Webtop from June onwards
You know how Motorola's Atrix is unique in having all these docking stations and a Webtop app that collectively turn it into a far more versatile computer than your average superpowered smartphone? Well, Sanjay Jha has just told investors at a Morgan Stanley shindig that the Atrix won't be unique for long -- the Webtop app will be making an appearance on all of Moto's "high performance" smartphones in the second half of this year, and we're told that the only reason the Droid Bionic won't be shipping with it was the simple constraint of time. What that implies, but something Jha didn't say, is that the Bionic and Moto's other forthcoming devices are likely to have laptop docks of their own -- hopefully with a connector that makes the docking accessory interchangeable between models.
Vlad Savov02.28.2011
Motorola is 'open' to developing Windows Phone 7 devices, but only if the OS proves compelling
In case you somehow missed it, Microsoft lodged a complaint with the ITC on Friday, alleging Motorola's Android smartphones infringed on nine of its precious patents. You might imagine that'd sting the pride of Moto's chief exec Sanjay Jha, but nothing could be further from the truth. Describing such turf wars over intellectual property as "part of business," Sanjay explains that his company is willing to work with Microsoft on developing a handset based around its new OS, so long as the offering is "compelling." He notes that the first call he received upon becoming co-CEO and handset division chief back in 2008 was from none other than Steve Ballmer, but Microsoft's failure to deliver a new OS in '09 is what compelled him to go the Android route (we doubt he regrets doing it, mind you!). It's no coincidence to our eyes that Microsoft went after the one top-tier Android phone maker that didn't sign up to the Windows Phone 7 utopia project. We recall HTC was in hot water with the Redmond team back in April for similar reasons, and its resultant licensing of Microsoft's patents seems to have been embedded into the WP7 partner agreements -- which is why we're not seeing the likes of ASUS and Samsung being served with similar complaints. So basically, if things get too hot and steamy, Moto could just kick out a token Windows Phone handset, get the accompanying licenses in order, and this whole thing blows over nice and peacefully. Marvelous.
Vlad Savov10.06.2010
Motorola's Jha says MOTOBLUR brand will fade from view
We'd already had a pretty good indication that Motorola was shifting its strategy when it came to MOTOBLUR, and it looks like co-CEO Sanjay Jha has now finally made that move official. Speaking on the company's Q2 earnings call, Jha said that while MOTOBLUR will continue to be incorporated into some of it's phones, Motorola has decided that it will "focus on the value proposition of products and not MOTOBLUR as a brand name in its own right." Jha further went on to explain that "being able to convey the value proposition around MOTOBLUR is not an easy thing to do in a 30-second ad spot," but insisted that "MOTOBLUR continues to be important," and added that he thinks "you will see increased functionality in MOTOBLUR" -- you just won't be seeing the MOTOBLUR name much in public anymore.
Donald Melanson08.09.2010
Motorola's Sanjay Jha talks tablets, Android, HTC, and more
It looks like an investors conference hosted by Barclays earlier today was the place to be for anyone looking to get Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha's thoughts on, well, just about anything, as he took advantage of the occasion to address about as wide a range of topics as you could ask for. That even includes the topic-du-jour of tablets, which Jha says makes sense as a "companion device," adding only that Motorola is "engaged in thinking about the right solution there." Jha also addressed the issue of Motorola possibly building or acquiring its own OS by saying that "nearly all of my focus is on Android today," and that any other OS would have to match Android's capabilities. On that Android note, Jha also said that Motorola would be "aggressive" in bringing Android 2.2 to its phones (taking a Flash-related shot at Apple in the process), and he said that he wasn't concerned about the HTC Droid Incredible eating into Motorola's own Droid sales, noting that the company has more Droid phones in the pipeline that he's "excited" about, including some for Verizon -- the Droid Shadow, perhaps? Still with us? Jha also confirmed that Motoblur now has more than a million users, and that Motorola will be introducing a new version of it "later this year." That's all to say nothing about Motorola's feature phone business, its plans to sell smartphones in China, and Jha's own new role when Motorola splits into two companies next year. Dive into the links below for all the details.
Donald Melanson05.27.2010
Multitouch coming to 'majority' of future Motorola devices, says CEO
Native app multitouch, you say? It's a dream that most US Android users have failed to experience, but Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha has let loose some promising words. In an interview with Laptop, he asserted that the company will be more proactive in getting the two-finger (or more) shuffle into its Google devices -- more specifically he said, "I think you will see us deliver multitouch in the majority of our devices going forward. There's a complex set of factors, not all of them technical." That last bit's pretty ominous, but nothing we haven't surmised before, and frankly, it all sounds a lot better than "we'll consider it." Also discussed in the interview is the inevitability of tablet experimentation, and the (un)likelihood of a Motoblur phone landing in Google's online store. "I think clearly the bias is towards Google Experience devices." Perhaps, but we'll be interested to see what HTC has to say about that.
Ross Miller01.14.2010