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Motorola Launches A760 Linux and Java Smartphone

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the phoning-home dept.

securitas writes "Motorola launched its A760 Linux and Java smartphone in China today. The dual-mode GSM/GPRS phone uses a version of MontaVista Linux, Motorola's i250 chip for communications, Intel's 200 MHz PXA262 chip (based on the XScale PXA250) for computing with 256 MB RAM, and software that includes a personal information management application, digital camera, a video player, MP3 music player, and an instant-messaging tool. The A760 is the first of Motorola's Linux-based phones. Eventually Motorola plans to use Linux in most of its phones."

6 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why Intel? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    I find it even more ironic that they would go with MontaVista when they own Metrowerks who has their own embedded linux.

  2. Galileo is not on hold/cancelled by October_30th · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, EU's Galileo-project is not on hold but active particularly now that the Chinese wish to become partners in it.

    --
    The owls are not what they seem
  3. Uses Linux, but does not expose it by mparaz · · Score: 4, Informative

    Motorola's own page for the product does not even mention that it uses Linux. I doubt they'll officially support people trying to get a root shell prompt on it.

  4. Motorola is going for Microsoft by rkaa · · Score: 3, Informative

    I tried to point to this Register-story earlyer:
    http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/68/ 31962.html

    Motorola have had the A760 cooking for a long time. Any release in US or Europe is yet undecided. And only two weeks after they recently sold their share in Symbian, a Microsoft phone - MPx200 - was announced.

    Motorola state in a press release that a row of MS based phones are planned, and that the two companies are cooperating closely within development and strategic marketing. The english version of the release seems to have vanished, but one in swedish is available, dated today:
    http://sverige.motorola.com/newsview.asp?i temid=52 0

    I think it's safe to consider the A760 an "asian experiment". There are currently no indication further plans for those devices. There are, however, very explicit plans for further development of MS-based devices.

  5. correcting URL by rkaa · · Score: 2, Informative

    broken URL - trying again: Link to press release in Swedish

  6. PPC isn't the right chip for this job by pslam · · Score: 3, Informative
    Yes, that is fairly strange. The low-power PPC chips are pretty nice.

    The XScale has an order of magnitude better performance per watt than PPC - we're talking fractions of a watt flat out at 400MHz (see the spec sheet). Also note that this is an Intel/DEC improved ARM core, and isn't x86 based in the slightest.

    This particular XScale also has a large wedge of on-chip flash and a bunch of handy peripherals for mobile devices - which is unsurprising seeing as that's what it seems to have been made for.

    It is funny that Motorola favour other manufacturer's chips for embedded low power devices, but the reason is simple: none of their stuff fits the bill. Even their own mobile phones seem to use ARM these days.