Struggling phone maker Motorola unveiled its first device using Google's Android system Thursday, expecting it will power features that promise easier access to hot Internet sites like Facebook and Twitter.
The phone, called Cliq, will go on sale at T-Mobile before the end of the year. Pricing info has not yet been released.
Motorola has reorganized its handset biz around Google's Android system, hoping the partnership with the Web search leader can help it win back customers.
The centerpiece of Motorola's Android development is its MOTOBLUR software, which integrates contacts, e-mails and text messages along with postings and photos from social networks by feeding content from these sources into "easy-to-manage streams."
For example, Motorola's live "Happenings" application delivers updates posted by friends automatically on multiple social sites to one place, and gives the user a choice of ways to reply to those updates instantly.
Agencies
Showing posts with label T-Mobile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label T-Mobile. Show all posts
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Motorola unveils Cliq smartphones
Motorola introduced its first smartphone based on Google's Android software, in a move that's key to the company's goal of regaining its place among the world's top cellphone manufacturers.
The device, dubbed the Cliq, will first be made available later this year in the US through T-Mobile. The touch-screen phone will run a new service from Motorola called MotoBlur, which synchronises all user messages and contacts, Motorola chief executive Sanjay Jha said at the Mobilize conference in San Francisco.
"MotoBlur makes text, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter feeds and photos from sources like MySpace, Gmail, Yahoo and corporate e-mail appear in a single stream and sync them together with no different logins," Jha said. "This means you can focus on what people have said instead of how and where they said it."
The Cliq will feature a full, slide-out keyboard, a 5-megapixel camera and access to all the Google programmes and applications available for the company's Android platform.
The phone will be called the Dext in markets outside the U.S. and will launch in France, Britain and Latin America later in the year, Jha said. No pricing was available for the device.
Analysts said the integration of social networking into phones could give Motorola and other manufacturers a foot in the door in their battle to challenge the iPhone as the world's dominant smartphone.
Motorola has been especially hard hit by the move to smartphones, selling just 18.8 million handsets in the most recent quarter, down from 28.1 million a year ago. Earlier this decade, the company's Razr was the world's most popular cellphone.
Jha said that Motorola was now refocused on producing cutting-edge mobile devices. He said the Cliq was crucial to the company's recovery.
"It's a very important starting point for us," Jha said. "I see smartphones as the future of computing. If it doesn't fit in your pocket, I don't think it's going to be a relevant device."
Agencies
The device, dubbed the Cliq, will first be made available later this year in the US through T-Mobile. The touch-screen phone will run a new service from Motorola called MotoBlur, which synchronises all user messages and contacts, Motorola chief executive Sanjay Jha said at the Mobilize conference in San Francisco.
"MotoBlur makes text, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter feeds and photos from sources like MySpace, Gmail, Yahoo and corporate e-mail appear in a single stream and sync them together with no different logins," Jha said. "This means you can focus on what people have said instead of how and where they said it."
The Cliq will feature a full, slide-out keyboard, a 5-megapixel camera and access to all the Google programmes and applications available for the company's Android platform.
The phone will be called the Dext in markets outside the U.S. and will launch in France, Britain and Latin America later in the year, Jha said. No pricing was available for the device.
Analysts said the integration of social networking into phones could give Motorola and other manufacturers a foot in the door in their battle to challenge the iPhone as the world's dominant smartphone.
Motorola has been especially hard hit by the move to smartphones, selling just 18.8 million handsets in the most recent quarter, down from 28.1 million a year ago. Earlier this decade, the company's Razr was the world's most popular cellphone.
Jha said that Motorola was now refocused on producing cutting-edge mobile devices. He said the Cliq was crucial to the company's recovery.
"It's a very important starting point for us," Jha said. "I see smartphones as the future of computing. If it doesn't fit in your pocket, I don't think it's going to be a relevant device."
Agencies
Monday, September 7, 2009
Make-or-break bet for Motorola as it takes on Android
Motorola Inc needs to spark some serious gadget lust next week when it unveils new phones to convince consumers and Wall Street that it's still a player in the global mobile industry, but the odds may be heavily stacked against it.
After losing market share for years, Motorola has made what is viewed as a make-or-break bet on Google Inc's Android mobile software, hoping the partnership with the giant Web company can help it win back customers.
Shares of the one-time market leader, now ranked fourth in global handset sales, jumped 11 percent earlier this week on investor hopes that the new phones could generate enough excitement to make Motorola's bat-wing logo famous again.
But while no one is expecting an iPhone-killer at the San Francisco unveiling on September 10, analysts say the risk is still that the new phones will not be unique enough to wow consumers, especially when other vendors also sell Android phones. "Early devices will not be significantly differentiated and could disappoint those playing the 9/10 launch," said Macquarie Research analyst Phil Cusick, who expects Motorola to display two new Android phones that day.
Motorola has given few details about the announcement, which will come during Co-Chief Executive Sanjay Jha's keynote at GigaOm's mobile conference. Jha first revealed his plans for creating Android phones in October.
He has said the new phones will be integrated with popular online social networks; but rivals such as Apple Inc, Research in Motion Ltd, HTC Corp and Palm Inc already have features for services like Facebook.
Shareholders have been impressed enough with Jha that they have more than doubled Motorola's share price since May. Still, the stock is down 70 percent from its 2006 peak of $26 and has been trading below $8 per share. "It's going to be extremely significant to the company's future," said Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart. "If the phone does well, they live to fight another day."
Comparisons will inevitably be drawn to Palm's Pre phone unveiling, which was also seen as a last chance for that company. Pre reception was good and caused Palm's share price to quadruple, in part on the perception that the company has become a more attractive takeover target.
Should the initial reaction to Motorola's devices be as strong, the company could have a good chance of luring back consumers, investors and mobile service providers, analysts say.
PRETTY HARDWARE
Motorola turned to Google for phone software because its own strength has been in hardware. This was demonstrated by the Razr, whose slim form inspired imitations for two years before it started to fall out of favor in late 2006.
Analysts expect Motorola's new phones to have stylish enough hardware to secure distribution by mobile carriers, but the question is whether the software will be different enough to spur holiday season sales -- especially when the bar has been set very high by Apple's iPhone and the thousands of apps available for download from Apple's online store.
"Short-term, Motorola needs to win the purchase decision of specific carriers," Greengart said. "Long-term, they're going to need to do something more than selling pretty hardware running an operating system other competitors have access to."
Motorola's Jha has said several times that carriers were impressed with the Android phones. He told Reuters in a recent interview that he was encouraged when one operator executive told him "bat-wings are back."
Analysts expect Motorola Android phones to be sold by Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc, and by T-Mobile USA, owned by Deutsche Telekom AG. But Verizon said it is not involved in Motorola's announcement next week. T-Mobile said it will launch new Android phones this year but declined to give details.
Even if carriers did back the phone, some of Motorola's former shareholders say they would be wary of betting on the company unless it started to show sustainable improvements.
"I wouldn't touch the stock until they've launched three, four or five phones and they've gained market share for at least a year," said Jane Snorek, an analyst for First American Funds, which manages $35 billion in equities that used to include Motorola shares.
Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Modoff said he is impressed by Jha but agreed that investors should look beyond September 10. "If you get to several phones and they're all disappointing, then you have to start writing the obituary. I don't see that," said Modoff. He said he will focus on the reaction from young consumers who crave cool gadgets: "We'll see what the 20-year-olds think. That's what really matters."
Agencies
After losing market share for years, Motorola has made what is viewed as a make-or-break bet on Google Inc's Android mobile software, hoping the partnership with the giant Web company can help it win back customers.
Shares of the one-time market leader, now ranked fourth in global handset sales, jumped 11 percent earlier this week on investor hopes that the new phones could generate enough excitement to make Motorola's bat-wing logo famous again.
But while no one is expecting an iPhone-killer at the San Francisco unveiling on September 10, analysts say the risk is still that the new phones will not be unique enough to wow consumers, especially when other vendors also sell Android phones. "Early devices will not be significantly differentiated and could disappoint those playing the 9/10 launch," said Macquarie Research analyst Phil Cusick, who expects Motorola to display two new Android phones that day.
Motorola has given few details about the announcement, which will come during Co-Chief Executive Sanjay Jha's keynote at GigaOm's mobile conference. Jha first revealed his plans for creating Android phones in October.
He has said the new phones will be integrated with popular online social networks; but rivals such as Apple Inc, Research in Motion Ltd, HTC Corp and Palm Inc already have features for services like Facebook.
Shareholders have been impressed enough with Jha that they have more than doubled Motorola's share price since May. Still, the stock is down 70 percent from its 2006 peak of $26 and has been trading below $8 per share. "It's going to be extremely significant to the company's future," said Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart. "If the phone does well, they live to fight another day."
Comparisons will inevitably be drawn to Palm's Pre phone unveiling, which was also seen as a last chance for that company. Pre reception was good and caused Palm's share price to quadruple, in part on the perception that the company has become a more attractive takeover target.
Should the initial reaction to Motorola's devices be as strong, the company could have a good chance of luring back consumers, investors and mobile service providers, analysts say.
PRETTY HARDWARE
Motorola turned to Google for phone software because its own strength has been in hardware. This was demonstrated by the Razr, whose slim form inspired imitations for two years before it started to fall out of favor in late 2006.
Analysts expect Motorola's new phones to have stylish enough hardware to secure distribution by mobile carriers, but the question is whether the software will be different enough to spur holiday season sales -- especially when the bar has been set very high by Apple's iPhone and the thousands of apps available for download from Apple's online store.
"Short-term, Motorola needs to win the purchase decision of specific carriers," Greengart said. "Long-term, they're going to need to do something more than selling pretty hardware running an operating system other competitors have access to."
Motorola's Jha has said several times that carriers were impressed with the Android phones. He told Reuters in a recent interview that he was encouraged when one operator executive told him "bat-wings are back."
Analysts expect Motorola Android phones to be sold by Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc, and by T-Mobile USA, owned by Deutsche Telekom AG. But Verizon said it is not involved in Motorola's announcement next week. T-Mobile said it will launch new Android phones this year but declined to give details.
Even if carriers did back the phone, some of Motorola's former shareholders say they would be wary of betting on the company unless it started to show sustainable improvements.
"I wouldn't touch the stock until they've launched three, four or five phones and they've gained market share for at least a year," said Jane Snorek, an analyst for First American Funds, which manages $35 billion in equities that used to include Motorola shares.
Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Modoff said he is impressed by Jha but agreed that investors should look beyond September 10. "If you get to several phones and they're all disappointing, then you have to start writing the obituary. I don't see that," said Modoff. He said he will focus on the reaction from young consumers who crave cool gadgets: "We'll see what the 20-year-olds think. That's what really matters."
Agencies
Battle hots up for T-Mobile bidding
MOBILE phone operators Vodafone and O2 are understood to be locked in a £3.5bn bid battle for rival T-Mobile UK.
Both Newbury-based Vodafone and O2 - which is owned by Telefonica Spain - are reported to have bid £3.5bn for the group which has been put up for sale by its German owner Deutsche Telekom.
T-Mobile has 16.6 million customers, so success for either group would make it the biggest mobile operator in the UK.
But there are concerns that T-Mobile UK could be withdrawn from sale altogether, as the offers, which were discussed by Deutsche Telekom's board at the end of last month, are below the expectations of the group's chief executive, Rene Obermann.
A sale at £3.5bn would lead to Deutsche Telekom having to make another writedown on the division after the group took a £1.6bn hit on the business in May, as a result of it losing customers to rivals and declining margins.
The auction is understood to be in its final stages and a decision is expected to be announced in the next few weeks.
If Vodafone was successful in its bid, the deal would boost its share of the UK mobile market to 40 per cent of revenues and a near 50 per cent share by customer numbers with 35 million subscribers enabling it to overtake O2 and regain its crown as the country's biggest mobile operator. O2 would see its market share jump to 43 per cent if it is successful, building on the increase seen following its exclusive deal with Apple to supply iPhone handsets.
Telefonica is said to be concerned that O2 would lose its market-leading position in the UK if Vodafone goes ahead with an offer. But both offers are conditional as any deal is likely to be scrutinised by telecoms regulator Ofcom.
Bankers are understood to have given T-Mobile UK a standalone value of £2.5bn, but this could rise by a further £1bn if it was combined with another operator.
Agencies
Both Newbury-based Vodafone and O2 - which is owned by Telefonica Spain - are reported to have bid £3.5bn for the group which has been put up for sale by its German owner Deutsche Telekom.
T-Mobile has 16.6 million customers, so success for either group would make it the biggest mobile operator in the UK.
But there are concerns that T-Mobile UK could be withdrawn from sale altogether, as the offers, which were discussed by Deutsche Telekom's board at the end of last month, are below the expectations of the group's chief executive, Rene Obermann.
A sale at £3.5bn would lead to Deutsche Telekom having to make another writedown on the division after the group took a £1.6bn hit on the business in May, as a result of it losing customers to rivals and declining margins.
The auction is understood to be in its final stages and a decision is expected to be announced in the next few weeks.
If Vodafone was successful in its bid, the deal would boost its share of the UK mobile market to 40 per cent of revenues and a near 50 per cent share by customer numbers with 35 million subscribers enabling it to overtake O2 and regain its crown as the country's biggest mobile operator. O2 would see its market share jump to 43 per cent if it is successful, building on the increase seen following its exclusive deal with Apple to supply iPhone handsets.
Telefonica is said to be concerned that O2 would lose its market-leading position in the UK if Vodafone goes ahead with an offer. But both offers are conditional as any deal is likely to be scrutinised by telecoms regulator Ofcom.
Bankers are understood to have given T-Mobile UK a standalone value of £2.5bn, but this could rise by a further £1bn if it was combined with another operator.
Agencies
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