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Tag: motorola

  • Motorola Releases Moto E 2nd. Gen. Budget Smartphone

    Motorola Releases Moto E 2nd. Gen. Budget Smartphone

    motoGBlack-2nd-gen

    In recent years, Motorola has taken up making of budget smartphones that are still as good as many other smartphone out there. In 2014, the Chinese-owned company released the Moto E smartphone. The Moto E has enjoyed so much success and this has of course led to the release of the improved Moto E version with 4G capabilities.

    The new smartphone features 4.5 inches display, a 5 megapixel camera, and a front facing camera with autofocus. Moto E runs on Android 5 Lollipop and unlike other manufacturers, like Samsung, that modify the operating system, Motorola uses the Android system as it is.

    Seang Chau, a software engineer at Motorola, believes that there is no reason to modify the system by slowing it down. Chau also believes that leaving the software in its original state allows for quick updating of the software.

    The phone weighs only 145 grams and comes with a non-removable battery. It also comes with 8 or 16 GB storage capacity. You can also find the MicroSD card slot under the colored band that is also removeable and customiseable.

    According to the Motorola, the phone can last a whole day when well charged. Moto E is also water and scratch resistant.

    The phone was recently released in UK and costs £109, which is an increase from its predecessor’s price that was going for under £90. The increased price may or may not affect its sales volume as this directly depends on whether the budget-conscious consumers will opt for budget phones from other manufacturers, or not.

  • Google sells Motorola Smartphone business to Lenovo


    Lenovo     has gotten an amazing opportunity while it continues to grow impressively in the PC industry.

    Google acquired Motorola Mobility for $12.4 billion in August 2011 and now it announced that Lenovo would be buying Motorola for $2.9 billion.

    Being the largest PC maker internationally, Lenovo are looking to expand into smart phones with the recent trend of increased phone use over computer use to access the internet.

    Lenovo wants to be a leader in the Smartphone industry internationally since it’s already leading in China and so this acquisition is strategically planned. It had been rumored that it was among the blackberry potential potential buyers when the company wanted to sell.

    The Motorola acquisition is the second big deal they have made this year after they bought part if IBM server business at $2.3 billion.

    The Arris Group bought part of Motorola from Google in 2013 at $2.35 billion, allowing Google to recover some of the money it spent acquiring the business. From the sales values that Google is selling Motorola, it could be an acknowledgement by the company that they over priced the value of Motorola during its acquisition.

    Google’s intention for buying Motorola was mainly to increase its patent portfolio and after the sale they have remained with over 20,000 patents which will ensure them legal security for its Android software. Lenovo’s deal secured them 2,000 patents together with the manufacturing part of Motorola.

    The Razr was one of the most popular Motorola phones launched in 2004 and Motorola was able to maintain its popularity until the iPhone was launched by Apple in 2007 which introduced the now popular touch – screen mobile devices.

    The Google’s sale of Motorola might take around 9 months so Motorola’s losses will not affect books for the first half of the year.

    On the other hand, Lenovo will have broadened its operations to now include smart phones, PCs and tablets which will secure clients who prefer to buy all the devices from a single company.

  • Moto G Smartphone to Be Unveiled By Motorola Aimed At Emerging Markets


    Google owned Motorola mobility handset maker is still struggling to find its niche in the smartphone market. Sales of its high-end smartphone Moto X have not been very impressive. Now the company intends to target the low end market with a cheap phone. However, this comes with a limitation since the phone will not be available in China, the worlds lading low end smartphone market.

    The company announced the low-end smartphone on Wednesday and it is set to retail at $180 without a contract. Motorola believes that it appeal to people in emerging markets like Chile, Brazil and Peru, with a combined population of 500 million potential customers.

    Much of its appeal is poised to come from Google’s Internet services embedded on the smartphone. The phone would be much less smart in china which blocks much of Google’s services including Google play.

    Motorola’s CEO Dennis Woodside said that the company’s ability to compete in china is a bit constrained and the smartphone will not be offered in the country initially.Motorola is confident enough that the smartphone will appeal to a large number of people outside China to make it successful.

    Unlike other low end smartphones in the market, the Moto G will have a 4.5-inch high-resolution screen and will also run the latest android software. However, there will also be some tradeoffs that come with the low cost smartphone. Moto G will be 5 ounces heavier than many popular smartphones.

    Motorola indicates that it will sell the Moto G at a profit and the phone is expected to hit the shelves in Brazil and parts of Europe on Wednesday and then reach US, India and other parts of Asia on January.

  • Comcast and Google welcome ARRIS Group into Relationship

    Comcast has thrown its hat in the cable box and modem arena by pledging to invest in the ARRIS Group, Inc. to the tune of $150 million. In return for its investment, Comcast will acquire about 10.6 million shares of ARRIS, which amounts to approximately 7.85 percent of the company.

    The stock was purchased from Google, which previously owned 15.7 percent of ARRIS but with the Comcast deal found its shares reduced in half. This deal makes Comcast and Google equal holders of common stock in the company.

    Although Bob Stanzione, ARRIS CEO seemed pleased, "We believe this investment by one of our largest customers is a strong indication of customer support for the Motorola Home acquisition and its potential to accelerate innovation to the benefit of the industry and consumers." The deal between Comcast and ARRIS is small compared to ARRIS's acquisition of Motorola Home for $2.35 billion from Google. Motorola Home was part of Motorola Mobility, which was in turn a subsidiary of Google Inc. It is expected that ARRIS will be an active participant in Comcast and that the two companies will work in close conjunction with each other.

    The result is, that after the dust settles, Comcast will have its foot in the door by owning part (7.85%) of the ARRIS Group's broadband media technological empire. ARRIS owns Motorola Home and Google is richer by $2.35 billion from the Motorola Home sale and $150 million from the Comcast deal. Additionally Google's shares of common stock in the ARRIS Group are now down to 7.85 percent.

  • HTC Sues Apple

      HTC, the second largest Asian producer of mobile phones, filed a complaint against Apple, claiming the U.S. giant has infringed three patents.

    The movement made by HTC aims at blocking the imports of gadgets such as iPhone and Mac computers. The Taiwanese company accuses Apple that has infringed three patents related to wireless technology. The General Counsel of HTC, Grace Lei, said that Apple needs to stop violating HTC invention rights. She says HTC started this action against the U.S. company in order to protect their intellectual property, their partners and, most importantly, their customers.

    Apple immediately came with a response to accusations, a spokesman for Apple saying that their competitors have to create their own original technology, not to steal theirs.

    In July this year, HTC made several acquisitions, a trend Google has followed by buying Motorola Mobility in order to maintain their market position in IT & C. The Asian company has bought S3 Graphics Co. This was a successful move for HTC, which won the lawsuit against Apple after a judge found that the U.S. company's operating system, Mac OS X, violated two patents of S3 Graphics Co.

    Another judge  discovered last month that HTC had violated two rights of invention from Apple. If this accusation is confirmed, it could lead to blocking the imports of certain mobile phones of the Taiwanese company.

    Apple filed a separate complaint this month that targets the phones and Flayer tablet from HTC. Motorola, Nokia, HTC, Apple, Google and Samsung are currently involved in one or more trials related to the violation of certain patented technologies.

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  • Google Buys Motorola Mobility

    After everyone was watching Microsoft and Nokia (mobile unit) to see whether Steve Ballmer will buy the largest European manufacturer of phones or not, the bomb came even from the rival. $ 12.5 billion will pay Google on Motorola Mobility!

    Google officials are likely to know much more about the acquisition of Nokia, so they strengthened their position in the mobile phone market in order to counteract the effect of the possible competition offered by the new phones branded Microsoft.

    Today, Motorola is one of the 39 manufacturers that use Google's operating system, Android. Buying a hardware company is a very unusual move for Google, but it seems that by the end of 2011 or early 2012 we will witness to a big fight in the IT market.

    The confirmation of the acquisition was disclosed by Larry Page in a posting on the Internet saying that the U.S. Department of Justice had to intervene in the results of one of the auctions related to patents in order to protect the competition and the innovation in the free software community and, currently, is analyzing the results of the Nortel auction.

    The boss of Google has also said the acquisition of Motorola was made in order to increase the competition on the market and at the same time to improve Google's portfolio of patents, a fact which will allow Google to better protect their Android platform from the threats coming from Microsoft, Apple and other companies.

  • Apple Launches New Lawsuit Against Motorola Regarding its Xoom Tablet

    Just one day after Apple convinced the court in Düsseldorf, Germany, that Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 imitates the iPad and obtained a court order that prohibits the sale of the South Korean tablet in few European countries, here’s that Steve Jobs and his team from Cupertino launches a new lawsuit, this time against Motorola.

    The incriminated product is Motorola Xoom, also for the alleged design elements inspired by iPad 2. The trial will take place at the same court in Düsseldorf. Even if Apple will win in the first instance, the companies accused can appeal, a fact already confirmed by the South Koreans.

    Apple has also won a major victory against its South Korean rival, Samsung Electronics, after the court in Dusseldorf has banned the sale of Samsung Galaxy tab in the European Union, except the Netherlands. Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet, confirmed that the court has issued a temporary ban against the Galaxy Tab 10.1. It is not yet clear why the order did not include the Netherlands.

    Samsung Electronics, the largest technology company in Asia in terms of revenue, said it will appeal German court decision. Samsung is also the world's largest producer of memory chips and televisions and the second largest producer of mobile phones.

    German court decision comes a week after Samsung was forced to postpone the launch of Galaxy tablet on the market in Australia because of similar legal actions filed by Apple.

    On the IT&C market, such lawsuits are on the agenda. There is a huge network in which many important companies are judging each other for the infringement of various patents. In terms of design-problem lawsuits and not software, is very difficult to make an objective judgment.

    If Apple will finally win all these lawsuits, it will be created a precedent under which the company in Cupertino could also attack other major manufacturers of tablets.

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  • Motorola Mobility Announces Q4 and Full-Year 2010 Financial Results

    Motorola Mobility reported net revenues of $3.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, up 21 percent from the fourth quarter of 2009. The GAAP earnings in the fourth quarter of 2010 were $80 million (.27 per share), compared to a loss of $204 million (.69 per share) in the fourth quarter of 2009

    On a non-GAAP basis, earnings in the fourth quarter of 2010 were $108 million (.37 per share) compared to a loss of $70 million (.24 per share) in the fourth quarter of 2009.

    For the full year, 2010 net revenues were $11.5 billion, up 4 percent compared to 2009. For the full year, the GAAP loss was reduced to .29 per share from a loss of $4.56 per share in 2009. On a non-GAAP basis, the loss was reduced to .28 per share from a loss of $2.95 per share in 2009.

    Motorola also announced thet the company generated positive operating cash flow of $225 million and $606 million in the quarter and full year, respectively. As planned, subsequent to the end of the quarter, the company received $3.2 billion in cash related to its separation from Motorola, Inc.

    "The improvement in our financial results last year, including profitability in the fourth quarter, is indicative of the progress we have made in delivering innovative smartphones and improving the Mobile Devices business," said Sanjay Jha, chairman and chief executive officer of Motorola Mobility.

    "Our Home business performed well and remains a premier provider of digital set-tops and end-to-end video solutions. With the global opportunities ahead, along with our diversified portfolio, our brand, and our people, we are well positioned to grow, and further improve our financial results in 2011," he added.

    Operating Results

    According to the report, Mobile Devices segment net revenues in the fourth quarter were $2.4 billion, up 33 percent compared with the year-ago quarter. For the full year 2010, net revenues were $7.8 billion, an increase of 9 percent compared to 2009.

    Motorola shipped 4.9 million and 13.7 million smartphones in the quarter and full year, respectively, compared to 2.0 million in the fourth quarter and full year 2009. The company shipped total handsets (including smartphones) of 11.3 million and 37.3 million in the quarter and full year 2010, respectively.

    The Company’s outlook for the first quarter of 2011 is the following:

    * Consolidated operating earnings in a range around breakeven
    * Non-operating costs of approximately $10 million
    * Income tax provision of approximately $25 million
    * Net loss of $26 million to $62 million
    * Net loss per share of .09 to .21
    * Basic shares outstanding of approximately 294 million shares
    * Excludes charges associated with items of the variety typically highlighted by the Company in its quarterly earnings results, stock-based compensation expense and intangible assets amortization expense.

  • Motorola and Verizon Introduce Droid Pro

    Verizon Wireless and Motorola today unveiled Droid Pro, an Android 2.2-based smartphone optimized for business use.

    According to the companies, Droid Pro meets employers’ and employees’ needs by addressing the productivity tools businesses require, including corporate connectivity and security; full push corporate e-mail with corporate level security; unified calendar with additional work features and pre-loaded Quickoffice Mobile Suite, a 1 GHz processor; 4 GB of memory (2 GB internal; and 2 GB removable) and a QWERTY keyboard.

    Among other features are:
    – multi-touch 3.1-inch display;
    – 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with dual LED flash;
    – Adobe Flash Player 10.1 support;
    – 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities (allows customers to connect up to five other Wi-Fi-enabled devices and laptops);
    – dual-mode CDMA/GSM chip for worldwide roaming;
    – Wi-Fi-enabled DNLA connectivity;
    – 3G diversity antennae;
    – global roaming support in more than 220 countries and data coverage in more than 200 countries.

    Droid Pro also has built-in security features, including AuthenTec IPSec multi-headed VPN integration, remote wipe of device and SD card, and complex password support. The company informed that device and SD card encryption will be available in early 2011.

    The new Motorola’s handset will be available in the first week of November.

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  • Microsoft Files Patent Infringement Action Against Motorola

    Microsoft today filed a patent infringement action against Motorola for infringement of nine Microsoft patents by Motorola’s Android-based smartphones.

    The patents at issue relate to a range of functionality embodied in Motorola’s Android smartphone devices that are “essentiall” to the smartphone user experience, including synchronizing email, calendars and contacts, scheduling meetings, and notifying applications of changes in signal strength and battery power.

    ”We have a responsibility to our customers, partners, and shareholders to safeguard the billions of dollars we invest each year in bringing innovative software products and services to market. Motorola needs to stop its infringement of our patented inventions in its Android smartphones," said Horacio Gutierrez, Motorola’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing.