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Motorola has really dove into Android head-first over the last couple of months, complete with their own customized user interface, widgets, and web service, but they have yet to make a handset “with Google”. Google experience handsets (as they’re also known), are done in tight partnership with the web search giant, and usually results in a highly-controlled final product – the latest example of such a device would be the Nexus One, made by HTC.
Well, Motorola will be pumping out a similar device (probably not a Moogle), among the twenty other Android phones they’ll be making this year. CEO Sanjay Jha said it would be “direct to consumer”, which sounds an awful lot like how the Nexus One was sold. Initially, there was concern that when Google first started selling a device unlocked and wholly under their control that other Android partners would be miffed – why would consumers buy an Android phone from someone who just piggybacked on Google, rather than go right to the source? Carriers couldn’t be too thrilled, either, about a handset being promoted on the Google front page before users even had a chance to type into the search box “which cell phone should I buy?”. Now that we’ve seen that HTC is reasonably involved, and many carriers were involved with the Nexus One launch in addition to the unlocked option, we can see that Android will be able to pull off this strategy while keeping all of the partners happy, such as Motorola in this case.
So, which phone is it going to be? We’ve been seeing wisps of the Motorola Shadow, which has also been referred to as the Nexus Two, although we’re going to have to see pictures of a device proper and not just renderings in order to be convinced. Then there’s the motosplit, whose unsual landscape keyboard design would easily catch a few eyes, but again, its state of production is pretty nebulous right now. The motoroi is already out the door and heading to the U.S., and it looks like the Zeppelin won’t be far behind, but I’ve got doubts that either will end up being “with Google”.
[via Electronista]
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
