Filed under: Cell phones

Visit our Filed page for categories. To browse by specific topic, see our Inside page. For a list of companies covered on this site, visit our Companies page.

 

Motorola to keep mobile devices in Libertyville

By Wailin Wong
| Motorola will keep its mobile devices headquarters in Libertyville at
least through the company’s planned split into two standalone, publicly
traded entities in the first quarter of 2011, co-Chief Executive Sanjay
Jha said Monday.

Jha will lead the mobile devices and home businesses as one company when
the planned separation takes place. The home unit has operations in
Boston, San Diego and Horsham, Pa. Jha told shareholders at Motorola’s
annual meeting that the company’s presences in those cities, as well as
Libertyville, “will continue at the point of split.”

Get the full story »

Jobs declares Adobe Flash unfit for iPhones, iPads

S-Jobs-Web.jpgApple CEO Steve Jobs at a Q&A session during an Apple special event in early April, 2010. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Associated Press | Apple CEO Steve Jobs is going on the offensive
against Adobe’s Flash technology. He says it has too many bugs, drains
batteries too quickly and is too oriented to personal computers to work
on the iPhone and iPad.

In a statement Thursday, Jobs laid out his reasons for excluding Flash
– the most popular vehicle for videos and games on the Internet — from
Apple’s blockbuster handheld devices.

Get the full story »

Motorola profit up on strong smart phone sales

Moto-CEO-Web.jpgSanjay Jha, co-CEO of Motorola and CEO of Motorola Mobile Devices, speaking at a mobile Internet conference in 2009. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

By Wailin Wong | Motorola
Inc. posted a profit in the first quarter, with smartphone sales helping the flagship mobile devices business turn around a heavy loss from a year earlier.

The Schaumburg-based technology company reported a net profit of $69 million, or 3 cents per share, reversing a loss of $231 million, or 10 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2009. Overall sales for the company fell to $5 billion from $5.4 billion a year ago.

Motorola’s mobile devices division posted sales of $1.6 billion, a decline of 9 percent from the same quarter last year. But the unit’s operating loss came to $192 million, substantially narrower than a loss of $545 million in 2009. Co-Chief Executive Sanjay Jha told analysts on a conference call that he expects the business to become profitable in the fourth quarter of this year.

Get the full story »

Microsoft strikes deal on Android software

Associated Press | Microsoft Corp. says it has patents covering
phones that use Google Inc.’s Android software — but unlike Apple Inc.,
Microsoft has reached a licensing deal rather than suing over the
software.

Microsoft said Wednesday that it has reached an agreement that will give
HTC Corp., a Taiwanese company and major maker of Android phones, the
rights to use technology covered by Microsoft’s patents. Financial terms
were not disclosed.

Get the full story »

Motorola Droid makes up most of Android traffic

By Wailin Wong |
Motorola Inc.’s Droid smartphone accounted for the most traffic out of all mobile devices running Google’s Android operating platform worldwide, according to an industry snapshot released Tuesday.

AdMob, a California-based mobile advertising network, compiles monthly statistics on mobile Web traffic based on data it collects from its network of more than 18,000 mobile websites across platforms such as Android and the iPhone’s operating system. The company is able to pinpoint the handset model from which it receives an ad request.

Get the full story »

Motorola, Skyhook partner on Android software

From the Boston Globe | Motorola Inc. will work with Boston-based Skyhook on its Android operating software. Skyhook software locates phones using Wi-Fi signals.

Get the full story: boston.com

Google backs off Nexus One for Verizon

From MarketWatch | Google Inc. said Monday its Nexus One service is not in the cards right now for Verizon Wireless customers.

Read the full story: MarketWatch.com

Wireless companies add fewer contract customers

Associated Press | Verizon Communications Inc., the largest
wireless carrier in the country, is finding there’s an end to the
number of people who’ll sign two-year contracts for cell phone service.

Verizon said Thursday that it signed up a net of just 423,000 customers
under contract in the first three months of the year. That was the
lowest number in years, and below analyst expectations.

Get the full story »

Appolicious signs agreement with Yahoo

By Wailin Wong | Chicago-based Appolicious Inc., whose websites help consumers sort through the growing market of mobile phone applications, has signed an agreement with Yahoo! where its content will be linked to on sites such as Yahoo News, Sports and Finance.

Appolicious, which was started last year by entrepreneur Al Warms, combines independent reviews with social-networking tools such as ratings and profiles. The bulk of the company’s content centers on apps for the iPhone, but it’s also adding information about apps for Android, Google’s operating system for mobile phones.

Get the full story »

Online pre-sales for the Droid Incredible begin

droid-incred.jpgBy Wailin Wong | Verizon Wireless began online pre-sales this week for the Droid Incredible, a new smartphone manufactured by Taiwanese company HTC Corp. If the Droid name sounds familiar, that’s because it’s already attached to two other phones at Verizon, including the Droid by Motorola, which was launched with a splashy marketing campaign late last year.

Verizon is using “Droid” to signify certain phones that run Google’s Android operating system, said spokesman David Clevenger. The carrier licenses the name “Droid” from Lucasfilm, the production company founded by Star Wars creator George Lucas.

Get the full story »

Motorola listed on new Nasdaq Smartphone Index

By Wailin Wong
| The Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. launched Monday a new stock index that tracks
companies involved in the smartphone industry.

Schaumburg-based Motorola Inc. is one of the 84 companies represented on
the Smartphone Index, which was created in conjunction with the
Consumer Electronics Association. The list spans companies specializing
in hardware, software and mobile networks. In addition to Motorola, the
index also includes technology bellwethers such as Apple, Nokia and
AT&T.

Get the full story »