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Motorola Building a Huge Development Team for Android, With 350 Humanoids
Posted by John Herrman at 9:00 PM on September 29, 2008
TechCrunch is reporting that Motorola is getting pretty serious about Android, with immediate plans to expand their dedicated project team from 50 to 350. If true, this could mark a turning point for Motorola, whose phones have been seeming less and less competitive every day. While putting more than a few eggs in Android's basket might not be advisable quite yet, our own succinct Brian Lam put it best: "Motorola hardware plus Android OS = WANT" (This is how he always talks, by the way). In case you were wondering what exactly that unfamiliar sound was, Motorola, I'll tell you. That was the sound of unbridled enthusiasm for one of your potential phones, AFTER 2004. Did you enjoy it? Then keep hiring. [TechCrunch]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
John Herrman
Posted 9:26 PM 29/9/08
@SgtToastie: You're right. I think speed is of the essence here, because there's still plenty of room for a handset manufacturer to take ownership of Android, building public association between brands by having a popular, cheap device out early.
John Herrman
SgtToastie
Posted 9:09 PM 29/9/08
Hmmm, this could be a smart idea for Motorola. They could redefine themselves with a very nice touch phone for Android. At least we know that there will be more than the G-1 out there.
SgtToastie
stryder100
Posted 10:14 PM 29/9/08
Hope they can learn from the G1.
stryder100
frigg
Posted 11:12 PM 29/9/08
With 300 engineers working on this, I would expect the finished product to be no less than a unicycle riding robot girl with laser eyes that follows you around, dispatches your enemies, takes your calls, giggles, and recommends restaurants.
frigg
mangochutney
Posted 11:30 PM 29/9/08
I concur with Brian.
Motorola used to build good phones.
Although I never was a fan of iTap, I liked the good reception and the voice quality of some of the phones I used.
Let's hope that Motorola manages to get back on track again, because competition is always a good thing.
But like stryder100 said correctly, they should try to improve upon the design of the G1. That thing is just fugly.
mangochutney
hiimcliff
Posted 12:27 AM 30/9/08
I hope they don't change the formula. RAZR hardware + Droid FTW.
hiimcliff
kylebdoeden
Posted 12:22 AM 30/9/08
I've always been a huge fan of Moto's design and hardware and furious at the awful software UI and features. Combining the hardware with Android software would have me totally sold.
kylebdoeden
forrestmc4
Posted 12:35 AM 30/9/08
@hiimcliff: Please tell me you aren't serious.
forrestmc4
ezman
Posted 12:33 AM 30/9/08
@hiimcliff: I hope you're joking...
ezman
Ambiguous Blob 2.0
Posted 1:25 AM 30/9/08
@hiimcliff: And just when I was thinking "Typical Motorola Razor design + Android = Fail. God I hate Moto and their one trick pony design aesthetic. Why won't they just die already?!? Moto is like the Ryan Seacrest of reality TV shows. He kind of looks OK from the outside, and you think he's ok until you realize that what's inside is useless and totally retarded, and constantly being recycled from season to season...
OK, that sounded a lot funnier in my head. It's early...
Ambiguous Blob 2.0
edmicman
Posted 1:13 AM 30/9/08
Mmmmmm....a nice solid Motorola phone with Android on Verizon - not Verizon-ed out of course, and I'm totally there. Actually, maybe a nice solid Motorola phone with Android on Alltel, and I can unlock it to go on Verizon's network. I'm so tired of my non-smart phone, hurry up everyone!
edmicman
ChapmanAuxo
Posted 5:06 AM 30/9/08
Unfortunately, I've been getting shafted by Motorola for years now. In fact, I'm getting shafted now by my Rokr Z6M. I don't care if Motorola is putting together a giant team of 350 people for Android. I still wouldn't buy it. It would've been nice if a few of those 350 people would've worked on some of their existing stuff so customers don't feel like idiots for buying their stuff. Thanks for nothing Motorola. I hope you sink down the drain quickly.
ChapmanAuxo