Motorola Moving to Android, Windows Mobile for Smartphones

nerdyH writes "Motorola will ditch its MotoMAGX Linux stack and UIQ Symbian stack in favor of Google's Android Linux/Java stack and Windows Mobile 6.5 and 7, it announced today. The news comes after five years selling millions of Linux phones in Asia, and after a year during which many of Motorola's top US phones used the homegrown Linux stack. Motorola's current Linux phones in the US include the RAZR2 v8, E8, EM30, U9, ZN4, and ZN5." This also comes alongside news that Motorola's financial hardships are causing them to cut 3,000 jobs. It also puts into perspective their recent plans to hire hundreds of Android developers.

Comments

Let's hope they come with better software

[plover]

Maybe this means they'll finally deliver a non-buggy app suite. I think Motorola has been suffering because of the quality of their software. I have had very few problems with the hardware I've owned that weren't software based. (I don't blame Motorola for the broken hinge on my son's RAZR.) I like that they have adopted many standards, such as mini-USB connectors on every device that are used for both data and charging, they've been a big supporter of the Bluetooth SIG, and their attempt to go with Linux (even though they kind of went off on their own with MotoMAGX.) I even bought a Z6 from them earlier this year for geeky reasons: the Linux OS and the fact that they sell them unlocked directly to consumers.

I hope that they do survive their current turmoil, and an Android stack is pretty exciting (even though it's a year late) because that promises a large suite of apps.

Re:Let's hope they come with better software

[lysergic.acid]

mini-USB connectors are definitely a huge plus. the last time i went to Best Buy was while accompanying a friend to get a data link cable for his phone (i forget which model it was), and after looking at 10-12 different link cables, we still couldn't find one that fit the proprietary data port on his phone. the closest thing we saw was an "All-in-One Cell Phone Data Transfer Suite" which came with 10 different cables for various brands of phones, but it cost something like $90.

there's absolutely no reason to use a proprietary connector for what is basically just a USB port. it would be so much easier, and more convenient, for consumers if all handset makers just used mini-USB connectors like everyone else. you don't see digital cameras or external hard drives coming with their own proprietary USB/FireWire ports. it's such a blatant attempt by handset makers to rip off their customers with overpriced data cables--which they usually have to buy separately in addition to requiring a different one for each handset.

i mean, if you wouldn't put up with this kind of scumbag business move with your external hard drive, digital cameras, or MP3 players, then why would you put up with it with your cell phone? heck, my PSP uses Sony's overpriced Memory Stick Pro Duo format instead of the more universal Micro SD format, but it still uses a standard mini-USB connector like pretty much all other portable devices.

Re:Let's hope they come with better software

[wall0159]

"you wouldn't put up with this kind of scumbag business move with ... MP3 players"

you mean like the ipod?

(I say this as the owner of an ipod nano)

Linux to Android? Hmm...

[Anonymous Coward]

In other words, they're switching from Linux (custom stack) to Linux (standardized stack). Normally such a move is lauded; Motorola needs to do less to upkeep their stack, offloading the work onto Google and the community. It helps standardize their software more, meaning that software can move from Motorola Phone #1 to Samsung Phone #8, which even with Java it's damned hard to do today.

It's news, but it's not earthshattering news.

Re:Linux to Android? Hmm...

[Chandon Seldon]

In other words, they're switching from Linux (custom stack) to Linux (standardized stack).

Or the opposite, if you remember that Android supports neither native Linux applications nor J2ME applications.

Motorola, the new Palm

[SuperKendall]

Motorola going to Android, ditching old crufty phone OS'es - a fantastic idea.

But they follow the ill-fated palm of Palm in dividing resources, by going both with Android and Windows Mobile! When Palm pulled that move they lost focus, and products suffered as a result. I can't help but forsee the same fate engulfing Motorola as they go further down the path of becoming a has-been...

I don't know what company will take Android to the heights it could achieve, but now I don't think it will be Motorola.

Re:Motorola, the new Palm

[LingNoi]

They're probably balancing on the fence keeping their options open. I doubt they'd keep two code bases maintained.

Re:Motorola, the new Palm

[lysergic.acid]

i wonder if HTC has adopted a similar strategy. they used to use Windows Mobile exclusively for all of their handsets, but now that they're in the Open Handset Alliance and have produced the Dream/G1, does that mean they're going to be an all-android handset manufacturer, or are they still going to keep making Windows Mobile handsets?

i guess since Android is still a nascent and largely an untested platform, most OHA members probably aren't going to put all of their eggs in one basket just yet. but perhaps in a year or two, once Android has proven itself commercially, companies like Motorola will be more willing to commit themselves to the platform and drop Windows Mobile.

Re:Motorola, the new Palm

[TubeSteak]

IMO, none of this matters if the Cell Carrier is allowed to fark up the handset manufacturer's hard work with a custom firmware that strips out features.

WinMo upgrades

[mrsteveman1]

Last WinMo device i had, the manufacturer simply didn't feel like updating the software for my specific device when a new version came out, even though it could in fact support the newer version. A hardware manufacturer shouldn't have that level of control over the software.

That was the last WinMo device i bought and it's going to stay that way. Of course most of these upgrades to WinMo amount to "Now with 15% less suck!" so I'm sure i wasn't missing much, but it annoyed me into never buying one again.

Wanted

[Gastrobot]

Android Developer Must have BS in computer science or related field or equivalent experience. Minimum 5 years developing applications to run on Google's Android. Java certification a plus!

Except CDMA phones = not for Sprint

[gelfling]

Sprint will continue to do what it does slow, weird, late and expensive.

Re:All they need to do...

[Ritz_Just_Ritz]

Verizon doesn't want something open. They want to own your ass from the cradle to the grave. Android does not fit in their business model. If you want more functionality, they want you to PAY for it (and pay...and pay again).

mini usb connectors on phones

[nido]

The chinese government has decided that, in the future, all phones will be required to use the humble USB port for charging.

I have a Motorola phone with the USB port, and was quite distraught to find that it wouldn't charge when I plugged it into my computer. WTF? There's a russian site online that shows how to short a USB cable so it can charge. I eventually found that if I installed Motorola's drivers it'd charge just fine.

Exactly

[Britz]

No focus was one of the reasons they went down in the first place. Can someone tell me how many operating systems they had in use for their phones?

Off the top of my head:

1. Some JavaME thing (don't know the name)
2. MotoMAGX
3. Symbian
4. Don't they already have Windows Mobile?
5. P2K (for the low end)

Are there more?

Anyways, they now want to "focus" on "just" three. P2K, Windows, Android. IMHO they should either go for Android or for Windows. If they really want Android (Windows Mobile is a little 90s) they could just buy Windows phones from China and rebrand them for their business customers that need Windows Mobile.