Motorola News Blog

Motorola Ventures, Motorola’s venture capital subsidiary, recently made an equity investment in Tilefile Limited of Australia. Tilefile has developed a ground-breaking social media platform that connects users and communities through a content-neutral media format. Through its Tile format, the company aims to bridge the gap between the large screen computers, televisions and the undersized screens of mobile devices.

Motorola claims that its investment in the Australian company is part of their vision to flawlessly connect people and communities. Tilefile wraps multimedia files like videos, photos and audio in a single content-neutral format, the Tile. The front of the Tile is the media whereas the back is the community. Tiles can be connected with others to form contiguous combinations available for sharing or launching in other locations on the Internet.

A successful development of the technology would benefit users enormously and provide a better multimedia experience since the Tile, no matter where it is sent takes with it the underlying social activity which would link people and communities through messaging, sharing and publishing.

Google’s open source mobile phone operating system and development platfor (Android) gets support from technology companies such as Motorola, Qualcomm and T-Mobile with the target to encourage mobile phone software development by new players.

In a bold move, Google’s release of Android and its associated software development tools for free is an irresistible come on for independent entrepreneurs and software developers.

There is a slight hitch however as Google’s Android platform is for high end mobile handsets and not the entry level kind. This may impact the wide acceptance of Android-flavored software since the market is frankly a niche market.

However, industry watchers predict that in less than a couple of years when high end phones become more available globally Android may be the choice of both users and developers in the mobile applications genre.

Motorola’s 3G MOTO Q Global is a high-performance smart device that offers an integrated QWERTY keyboard; exceptional voice quality; fast download speeds up to 3.6 Mbps; Windows Mobile 6 OS; GPS capabilities; Documents to Go®; Opera web browser; a 2.0-megapixel camera with flash including support for enterprise- and consumer-oriented applications and services. The device comes with My Q Paks, a suite of third-party application bundles to meet a MOTO Q global user’s lifestyle requirements.
MOTO Q global can access AT&T’s BroadbandConnect network located in more than 200 metropolitan areas in theU.S. and coverage outside 3G service areas via AT&T’s nationwide EDGE network which is available in more than 13,000 cities and towns and along some 40,000 miles of major highways.

On the international level, customers can use their MOTO Q Global in more than 135 countries to access e-mail and other data applications, browse the Web, and make or receive phone calls in more than 190 countries.

The MOTO Q Global opens up a totally new frontier to MOTO Q enthusiasts as Motorola and AT&T jointly provide customers with a world-class device, operating platform, applications and services and network experience that they can take with them and use around the globe.

Motorola recently upped the ante for mobile communications units with the introduction of the MOTOROKR T505. The T505 allows you make and received calls hands-free and listen to your MP3 music. The no-installation, clip-and-go car phone also features echo and noise reduction capabilities and Audio CallerID.

The T505 provides a new level of in-car phone experience as it utilizes the vehicle’s speakers for music and telephony. It is also equipped with a digital FM transmitter that lets you optimize your calls and tunes; music playing stops when there is an incoming call. You can also connect with your car radio and take advantage of the StationFinder Technology that automatically searches for FM at the best setting with very minimal static.

The unit works with Bluetooth enabled music phones and comes with a car charger.

Motorola’s release of the first Linux-based Razr2 device in the USA will propel the status of open source software in the mobile market. Coupled with Google’s announced entry into the mobile phone OS arena, developers are getting excited on the possibility of open, cross-platform development.

With the popularity of the Opera open source mobile browser, the entry of Linux-based Motomagx OS and the Google variant opens up the development of software and plug-ins for the huge mobile phone market.

Industry observers are one in saying that the impending entry of mobile Linux is posed to capture a big slice of the handheld market by storm, making it the development platform of choice for interoperability.

Motorola has recently completed the end-to-end testing of its 3G femtocell base station systems with a major European mobile operator.

Femtocells support small area, in-the-home (private) wireless voice and data services. The installation of domestic base stations and linking them with GSM and 3G mobile phones provides mobile phone operators a more efficient way to manage mobile traffic generated indoors as compared to macrocells of the outside (public) cellular infrastructure.

Motorola says its end-to-end system uses the open standard interface and includes a wide range of femtocell-specific equipment and 3G devices, core network concentrator, systems integration services and a management system.

It is estimated that in Europe alone, approximately 12 million femtocells will be deployed by 2010 with a projection of up to 17 million the following year.

Motorola recently unveiled the MotoPure H12, a Bluetooth-enabled, wireless ear device which eliminates background noise in time for the holidays.

The MotoPure is has a smaller and sleeker form factor than other available ear devices on the market. Featuring CrystalTalk technology, the MotoPure is expected to be a hot item for the holidays.

Showcasing the device’s noise reduction strengths, Motorola demonstrated the unit with a live conversation between Moto executives in Paddington Station, London and a New York intersection in inclement weather.

The device offers users 8 days of standby power and five-and-a-half hours of talk time and is compatible with approximately 200 Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones.

Observers say the H12 advance technology make it a premium must-have hands-free solution for people on the go.

In an increasing competeive handset space, I wonder if Motorola can stay in the game.

Do they have an answer to the Iphone?