Motorola might be building my dream phone. Jim Wicks, Motorola's design chief, said the company's first round of products designed after Google's purchase of the company will follow a philosophy of "better is better" rather than "bigger is better," and that's music to my ears.
The original mobile phone maker's fate under Google's thumb has been under question since Google completed its acquisition of Motorola last May. Last fall, Motorola came out with a well-reviewed new line of Razr smartphones, but Google execs emphasized that those were built without their input - and even said they lacked "wow." Pundits speculated that Google bought Motorola solely for its huge library of critical wireless patents.
Google and Motorola are now working together, Wicks said, frustrated that the "wow" quote was "missing a lot of context."
Better, Not Bigger:
Motorola is also fighting back against phone bloat; it's the only Android phone maker I've spoken to recently that's willing to push back against the current trend of larger and larger phones.
Motorola is also fighting back against phone bloat; it's the only Android phone maker I've spoken to recently that's willing to push back against the current trend of larger and larger phones.
"Certain people like a large screen," Wicks said. "But there's a sweet spot for consumers that we're currently exceeding in the market. There are some people that like a big display, but there's also a lot of people that want something that's just about right," he said. "I think 'just right' is important, and we're designing so we don't disappoint those people."
Motorola has struggled to sell devices in the years since the debut of the original Droid, and it has lost money each quarter since Google acquired it last year. Rumors of a Google-influenced "X Phone" have circled for months, with many hoping that Google would be able to incorporate Motorola's engineering with better-designed and more interesting devices than the company has produced in the past. While it doesn't seem like these new, smaller-sized stock Android phones are part of the same thread as the X Phone, they are attacking a market that has largely been ignored by the other players: unencumbered devices that can actually be used in one hand. This could be just what the company needs to gain market share in a fiercely competitive market.
Motorola has struggled to sell devices in the years since the debut of the original Droid, and it has lost money each quarter since Google acquired it last year. Rumors of a Google-influenced "X Phone" have circled for months, with many hoping that Google would be able to incorporate Motorola's engineering with better-designed and more interesting devices than the company has produced in the past. While it doesn't seem like these new, smaller-sized stock Android phones are part of the same thread as the X Phone, they are attacking a market that has largely been ignored by the other players: unencumbered devices that can actually be used in one hand. This could be just what the company needs to gain market share in a fiercely competitive market.
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