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I am pleased to welcome you to my personal blog, which I started in March 2009. I first became interested in blogging about five years ago, using old "blogger.com", which was cumbersome to use and I never mastered. About a year ago I discovered that Google had bought "blogger.com" and had revised it considerably, making it fun to use, so much so that I have devised at least 15 blogs on various subjects and frequently add posts and Gadgets to them.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Motorola turns to Google Android to rescue its mobile business


Motorola's European boss tells us why he is attempting to rebuild his company's mobile fortunes by using someone else's operating system

Nigel Kendall, Technology Editor



The new Motorola DEXT, the company's first Android phone
The new Motorola DEXT, the company's first Android phone
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Motorola has announced it will launch a range of phones running the open-source Android operating system that was developed by the internet search giant Google.
The first phone using the system will be called the DEXT in the UK, and will launch on September 15.
Motorola, a 1980s pioneer of mobile phone technology, has experienced a collapse in demand for its mobile phones, its market share falling to just 6 per cent earlier this year, from a peak of nearly 20 per cent in 2007.
“We have basically reinvented Motorola over the course of the last 15 months,” Ralf Gerbershagen, Motorola’s Vice-President and General Manager for mobile devices in Western Europe, told The Times.
Part of that reinvention has been to ditch Motorola’s proprietary operating system from its phones, replacing it across the line with Google’s Android, the open-source operating system that is steadily gaining market share.
On top of the Android system, Motorola will add its own extra application layer, called Motoblur.
“Motoblur basically leverages what is going on around the world in terms of social networking," Mr Gerbershagen said. "We all have friends all around the world, using a variety of networks and hardware. Motoblur brings them all together into one place, and will back up the contents of your mobile phone to a dedicated web space.
“This online storage will give you access to your mobile messages, texts and record from any computer in the world. And if you lose your phone, you can trace it via the website, or remote-delete its contents.”
“The DEXT is the first of a range of smartphones that we are planning to release through 2010,” Mr Gerbershagen said. “By the end of next year, we will offer a range of smartphones, all of which will run on a common Android platform.”
Motorola’s last hit phone was the RAZR, the hottest mobile phone of 2005, but thereafter the company lost its way, and lost several key personnel to Apple.
Mr Gerbershagen is confident that the switch to Android will help the company win back some of its former fans. “The Motorola brand still holds strong, despite our dip in fortunes,” he said, “and millions of people still own a RAZR.”
“A few years ago,” he continued, “the mobile market was completely dominated by hardware. Now, we believe that customers expect their hardware to be up to speed. It is the software that dictates the quality of the experience. We have taken 15 months to redesign our phones from the ground up. Now we are ready to compete.
“Motorola has always had a great design heritage. Now, with Android and Motoblur, we have the software to match, and we are in a great position to take advantage of the current trend for digital convergence on to one device..”
We will be testing the new Motorola DEXT next week to see if it lives up to expectations.

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