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Could we be seeing some Google goodness, like the HTC Magic (pictured), from Moto soon?
I read with interest a recent story that relayed some of Motorola’s First Quarter results, along with the re-affirmation of their focus on Android in the coming months. Now before I continue can I say that I am looking forward to the recovery of Motorola just as much as the next man… however I was wondering whether Motorola can address their current issues in time – namely (in my view):
• Drop multiple Operating systems and focus on just two – previously Motorola has played with multiple Operating Systems – I can think of their own fixed O/Ss, WinMo, Symbian, and Linux at least – and I’m sure there are one or two others. Ultimately this led to a completely un-maintainable (and incoherent) set of Operating Sytems, that didn’t form any sort of products/platforms strategy. The goal has to be to drop support for most of these O/Ss, and consider serving low/mid tier devices with a (good) fixed O/S, and then mid/high tier devices with the Android O/S (if that is in fact their chosen Smartphone O/S)
• Hire new hardware design talent, and get them focused on the new devices – the RAZR was an iconic device, but the styling it introduced years and years ago is now looking so so tired – particularly those acid-burned-in keypads! What’s needed now is someone/people to make Moto devices sexy again – whether that’s avant garde design, edgy touches, or just nice clean lines is for them to figure out, but the current hardware designs are looking tired compared with the innovating competitors.
Motorola has a very powerful Marketing team, who have previously produced some class-leading styling, and great use of catchphrases – they now need products which can fill the void left by the likes of the first-gen RAZR…
Come on Moto – show us that you can be big once again – get the house in order and lets see some simply magnificent Android devices coming by year-end!
[Footnote: I’ve left the chatter about the management issues (or not, as they may be) at Moto out of this piece, since that’s oft-discussed anyways]
[Image via: Vodafone.co.uk]
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
