Back in the day, the spec list for Motorola's Atrix HD made for impressive reading. After all, the $99 handset shipped with a 720p display, Ice Cream Sandwich, 8-megapixel camera and AT&T LTE. While its real-world performance couldn't match our hopes, the low price more than compensated for our gripe that it couldn't hold its own against the Galaxy S III or One X. We're fairly sure plenty of you out there bought this handset, so it's to you we ask: what parts of this phone's design to you love, what parts do you loathe and what, if anything, would you change?

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google

Comments

]]>

View the original article here

» Read More...

Google I/O came and went with nary a word of that rumored X Phone, but according to Eric Schmidt's recent comments at D: Dive Into Mobile, there are clearly some big, big plans for Moto that have yet to be fully realized. Dennis Woodside, CEO of Motorola Mobility will be joined by Dr. Regina E. Dugan, senior vice president of the same company, here on the D11 stage. We're expecting plenty of questions surrounding market share, the interaction with the Android team and a vision for generating RAZR-type buzz once more. Join us after the break for the liveblog!

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Google

Comments

]]>

View the original article here

» Read More...

Outside of possible FCC filings, Motorola has largely been coy about just what its next major smartphone will be -- until now. The firm's Dennis Woodside just revealed at D11 that the new flagship will be called Moto X (previously rumored as the X Phone), and that it will be built in a Fort Worth, Texas factory that was once used to make Nokia phones. Woodside isn't giving away many details at this stage, although he teases that the smartphone will "know what you want to do before you do." Oh, and he has a Moto X in his pocket... not that he's about to show us anything just yet, of course. If you're curious about Woodside's actual quote, it's below:

"It'll be the first Motorola smartphone built in the United States. It'll be built in Texas -- we'll employ around 2,000 people. It's right outside of Fort Worth in a 500,000 square foot facility that was previously used to build Nokia phones."

Update: Woodside had two extra nuggets while on stage -- he mentioned that the Moto X will be "broadly distributed" across numerous carriers, a rarity for Motorola smartphones in recent years. Specifically, he noted: "The Moto X is going to be broadly distributed -- that's a first for Motorola in a number of years. The support of the carriers has been fantastic." In other words, this won't be a Nexus device, and you can count on some amount of skinning and bloatware to muddle things up. On the issue of battery life, Woodside said: "I'll save the details for later, but [the industry issue of] battery life is a huge problem. Motorola has some of the world's best engineers and systems designers who spend their lives on that problem. There are two processors in the device that creates a system that allows you to do such a thing." Two processors, you say? Fascinating!

Update 2: The Moto X should arrive in late summer. Also, a reminder: Motorola mentioned a shift toward stock Android coming later this year. While there isn't any guarantee that the Moto X will embrace that philosophy, it would be a fitting poster child.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google

Comments

]]>

View the original article here

» Read More...

If you thought the patent war between Motorola (Google) and Apple was already over, you were mistaken. Though, today's decision by the ITC to toss Moto's complaint against Cupertino regarding the use of sensors to control the interface of a phone, might be one of the final blows struck. The claim over patent No. 6,246,862, was the last patent-in-suit standing from its 2010 complaint against Apple. Now it's been completely invalidated. The decision can still be appealed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and we can almost guarantee the company will take advantage of that option. (In fact, it already is with previous decisions that did not go in its favor.) With courts tossing out complaints left and right, and some companies even willingly withdrawing them, we certainly keep hoping that the era patent Risk is coming to an end.

The ITC tossing out yet another complaint is a big loss for Motorola and Google. But, Apple has lost plenty of its own suits recently. It seems that both sides are settling into a stalemate. And ultimately pushing these competitors to innovate in the market instead of the courtroom is good for consumers.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Google

Comments

Source: FOSS Patents, ITC (PDF)

]]>

View the original article here

» Read More...