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Motorola not among top 5 cell phone makers

Droid-Web.jpgBy Wailin Wong |
Motorola Inc. is no longer one of the top five mobile phone makers
worldwide, according to a new ranking by research firm IDC.

The Schaumburg-based technology company has been in the top five since
IDC began its quarterly reports in 2004, and was in the No. 2 spot that
year. But Motorola’s well-documented woes of recent years — failing to
follow up the Razr with more hit products, and missing out on the
industry’s initial shift into sophisticated, Web-connected devices –
caused the company to slip in the rankings. Research In Motion, the
maker of the BlackBerry, replaced Motorola in the list for the first
quarter of 2010, according to IDC.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Tellabs beats expectations, ups outlook

Tribune staff report | Tellabs reported a first-quarter profit of $45.9 million, or 12 cents a share, up from $6.5 million or 2 cents a share a year earlier, beating expectations. The company also upped its outlook, predicting companies would spend more to upgrade their networks.

Excluding special items, profit rose to 11 cents a share from 6 cents a share a year earlier.  First-quarter revenue rose 5 percent to $380 million from $362 million a year earlier.

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

RIM tweaks BlackBerry, more upgrades to come

From Reuters | BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion is tweaking its smartphone while hinting that a new operating system is on the way.

Read the full story: reuters.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.

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Google reports government requests for user data

Dow Jones Newswires | Google Inc. released data about the number
of requests it receives from government agencies for data about users
and to remove content, in a move it says is aimed at exposing the
growing problem of Internet censorship.

Through a new mapping
tool, Google is displaying the number of requests it receives for user
data related to criminal investigations as well as the number of
government requests it received for removing content from services such
as YouTube. The company also lists what percentage of the content
removal requests it complies with by country, except for China, where it
says numerating the requests would be illegal.

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Blogs claim to have pictures of new iPhone

Associated Press | Technology bloggers have posted photos of
what may be the next version of the iPhone. If the gadget is real,
Apple’s next iPhone could have a longer battery life and be used for
video chatting. Analysts expect an updated iPhone this summer.

AOL blog Engadget posted photos
of the device
over the weekend.
Gizmodo, a competing gadget blog, obtained the phone itself and
published details Monday. Both blogs say the phone was found in a
Silicon Valley bar.

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Motorola names head of sales for mobile

Associated Press | Mobile phone maker Motorola Inc. said Monday
it has named longtime company executive Mark Shockley as senior vice
president of global go-to-market for its mobile devices business,
responsible for overseeing the segment’s worldwide sales operations. He
will report to Sanjay Jha, co-CEO of Motorola and CEO of its mobile
devices and home business.

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Tweets now on file at Library of Congress

By Wailin Wong |
The Library of Congress has almost 142 million items in its vast
collection, including more than 32 million books and more than 62
million manuscripts. Now it’s adding Twitter posts. Every single tweet,
in fact, since the microblogging service was started in March 2006.

“That’s a lot of tweets, by the way,” Matt Raymond, the library’s
director of communications, wrote in a Wednesday blog post announcing
the initiative. “Twitter processes more than 50 million tweets every
day, with the total numbering in the billions.”

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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.

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