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Moto

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designmodo

Motorola Insider Blame Game: Engineers Shoved Designers Aside

These days, most in-the-know folks would sooner eat glass than carry a Motorola phone. The company has shredded its reputation by failing to address basic interface design issues: freeze-prone software, head-scratching menus, keys that demand Herculean strength. It's baffling that such a venerable company could build such frustrating phones, considering the zillions presumably spent on development. How did Motorola make such a bollocks of its wireless division? Now that the company has annointed new wireless division chief Sanjay Jha, we surveyed former staffers for the inside scoop, as well as their advice on how to right the ship. More »

Feature

11:00 AM on Wed Aug 20 2008
By Brendan I. Koerner
18,544 views, 67 comments

Latest by N/A: This article doesn't match the reality of it as I knew it. Mechanical (cellular handset) development engineers at motorola are more »

moto

Blurred Photos Show Latest Motorola RAZR VE20 Coming to Sprint

Over at PhoneArena they've got a bunch of pics that show the upcoming new Motorola RAZR phone, the VE20. Through the blur you can see the phone is mirrored, features the classic laser-cut keypad and has a touch-sensitive pad on the outer shell like the V9m. The cell has a 2-megapixel cam, a QVGA main display which is "very crisp" and will apparently be the first phone to allow you listen to as well as watch NFL broadcasts through the NFL Mobile Live application. It's due to be a Sprint exclusive, out August 17th. [PhoneArena]

5:58 AM on Wed Aug 13 2008
By Kit Eaton
7,435 views, 24 comments

Latest by Phydeaux: I know for an absolute, 100% fact that this phone is not a Sprint exclusive. And no, it's not going to more »

motorola

Fewer People Than Ever Buying Motorola Phones

No surprises in Motorola's quarterly checkup. They're still bleeding out marketshare (and money) like an anemic guy who fell into a people-sized blender, down to just 9.5 percent of the global market with a half billion dollar loss. Worse, everyone expects them to plummet even further next quarter. A little over a year ago, they owned 23.3 percent of the market. What's this mean to you? Well, since the handset division will be its own company, they're increasingly ripe for a cheap buyout, if anyone actually wanted to burden themselves with Moto. [Yahoo]

3:40 PM on Thu Apr 24 2008
By matt buchanan
3,001 views, 48 comments

Latest by N/A: @G_Money: Who would want to use Motorola engineers? Their phones suck and are only popular for 1 year and thats more »

essay

Alas, Poor RAZR, I Knew You Well

Yetro is something so unfashionable it has yet to be retro—and probably will never be. Example: my RAZR. I've had it for almost three years now. I hate it. Actually, hate is too strong a word. I pity it. My mobile phone with its nauseous blue-painted interface, its ability to change its ring tone to the Motorola theme whenever it feels like it, and its battery, which now gives me about five minutes' talk time before it bleeps like a demented synthetic chicken. In the video above, Jesus and I "reenact" a more joyful time, its original unboxing three long years ago. Today, I'm thinking I should bite the bullet and retire the old boiler. Is the utter demise of the RAZR finally nigh at hand? Not for Gizmodo readers who obviously have moved on long ago, but for trailing edge late adopters too? More »

Feature

11:00 AM on Sun Apr 20 2008
By AddyDugdale
36,852 views, 113 comments

Latest by N/A: Ok, so I've had my Razr for about 18 months. The first thing to go on it was the battery more »

leak

Motorola's 2008 Cellphones Leaked (Guess What They Look Like!)

If you were hoping Motorola's 2008 cellphone lineup was going to turn around their "slump", we've got good news and bad news for you. The bad news is most of their phones are pretty much retreads of old devices, and there aren't any great new form factors—not even an iPhone clone—to speak of. The good news is that the upcoming ZN5 actually does look halfway decent with its 5-megapixel camera, Xenon flash, 2.4-inch display, 500MHz Freescale processor and Montavista Linux. It's somewhat sad when the best of your lineup is a Linux phone, but we weren't really expecting much from Motorola at this point anyway. [IT168 via JAMPB via Uber Phones]

3:46 PM on Fri Apr 18 2008
By Jason Chen
29,529 views, 43 comments

Latest by Rain-man: @Pope John Peeps II: Actually, the screen is glass. The rest is aluminum and plastic (I think). And I checked out more »

motorola

Letter from a Moto Insider: How Stupid Execs Ran Moto Into the Ground

Geoffrey Frost was Motorola's Chief Marketing Officer, and the RAZR was his baby. Last month, we got a letter from his former personal adviser, Numair Faraz, written to current Motorola CEO Greg Brown about how a cabal of inept, out-of-touch executives more worried about their golf score than the company drove once mighty Moto into the ground. It got lost in our bloated inbox, but with Moto splitting up today, Engadget reminded us we had it. For anyone wondering what the hell happened to Moto, with its endless string of RAZR knockoffs and crappy handsets, it's a must-read:
I've always considered it Motorola's dirty little secret that the strategy for their entire profit machine was run by the company's CMO—not the rest of the company's executives, who are as inept now as they have ever been. Many close to Geoffrey believed Ed Zander worked him to death, putting the pressure of the fate of the company in his hands.
That's just a touch. More »

3:15 PM on Wed Mar 26 2008
By matt buchanan
21,285 views, 81 comments

Latest by bobvilla: Who is the handset division being sold to, and what happens to it from here? Is this going the more »

cellphones

Motorola Chops Off Handset Division

Today Motorola said it would chew off its woefully underperforming Mobile Devices group in order to safeguard its healthier businesses—namely Broadband & Mobility Solutions, which includes network equipment, walkie-talkies and business products. This comes after famous Wall Street curmudgeon Carl Icahn laid seige to the mismanaged company. Assuming the deal passes the usual legal and regulatory hurdles, shareholders will get shares of both companies, probably some time in 2009. Handset customers will presumably get nothing, at least in the short term: this doesn't seem like a vote of confidence for Motorola phones. [Reuters]

8:35 AM on Wed Mar 26 2008
By Wilson Rothman
6,205 views, 27 comments

Latest by Spoony Bard: Goodbye Motophone. We hardly knew ye. Waittaminute, that's not right. more »

motoruhroh

Motorola CEO Looking for Fresh Blood to Lead Battered Handset Division

A month after he personally seized the reins at Motorola's beleaguered handset division, CEO Greg Brown is already looking to hand off the responsibility—and maybe the flak?—to someone from outside. Maybe a new perspective is what it needs, all those RAZRs start to look the same after a while. Oh wait. [Into Mobile]

6:00 PM on Tue Mar 4 2008
By matt buchanan
1,747 views, 19 comments

Latest by N/A: We recently did an article on the same topic. Entitled "How the RAZR cut Motorola", we blame the falling more »

goodbye moto

More Proof that Motorola Is in the Doo-Doo

As if its launches at MWC or the rumors of it quitting the handset business weren't evidence enough that Motorola is on the slide, Giz brings you cold, hard proof that the once-mighty handset division of the company is now fallen: a diamond-encrusted Bluetooth headset. The Motopure H12 is available in two versions: Lots of Diamonds; and Even More Diamonds. Top-end model (that's almost three-and-a-half carats' worth of ice) will cost you $17,000. Wait a couple of years and you'll probably be able to buy the division for that. [Aving]

6:01 AM on Fri Feb 15 2008
By AddyDugdale
4,451 views, 8 comments

Latest by coach: I hate people who put diamonds on ordinary shit like toy cars, phones, headsets and the like. But if Motorola more »

cellphones

Motorola Not Quitting Handsets Yet

After fueling all kinds of fun "What if X bought Moto?" mashups with rumors they were fleeing the handset business like a burning building, Motorola gets all killjoy-y today, affirming that they're "fully committed" to the mobile biz. Hey, there have been bigger turnarounds. [Reuters]

4:05 PM on Mon Feb 11 2008
By matt buchanan
1,769 views, 3 comments

Latest by Mandatory_Field: "Motorola not quitting handsets yet: Both customers who still care high-five each other. Film at 11:00" more »

rumor

First Motorola Texel Shot Leaked?

We've already seen the Motorola's upcoming music phone the Texel in blurry slide form, but this appears to be our first shot in greasy finger form. And other than its need for a serious wipe-down (was the photographer snagging this shot in between motocross heats?), we're digging the sleek button layout and the large screen with plenty of real estate for additional touch controls. And even when the Texel turns out to be just another ROKR with a new name, 3.2MP camera and 3.5mm headphone jack, at least we're slowly getting our vowels back. And that's a start. [jampb]

11:55 AM on Sat Feb 9 2008
By Mark Wilson
8,797 views, 25 comments

Latest by N/A: Who found that Motorola and where, in a garbage can? [www.i-guide.ro] more »

cellphones

Leaked Motorola M990 GPS Phone is a Car Phone? Wha?

Unwired View points out the weirdness in this Motorola M990 Smart Rider GSM phone. Yes, it's got an integrated GPS, EDGE and quad-band GSM, but its description makes it seem like it's tailored for 1993, not 2008.

...with stylish and full features set, it is targeted to a broad band of markets looking for exclusivity like business men, limousines and private cars looking for stylish communication and navigation solution...

So it's a...car phone? [UnwiredView]

8:10 PM on Wed Feb 6 2008
By Jason Chen
6,012 views, 17 comments

cellphones

Motorola ZiNe Z12 Leaked Pictures?

Does this phone (on the right), documented in this leaked picture, match up with the invisible phone in the teaser video that we saw on YouTube yesterday? Perhaps, and the Czech site Mobile.cz is saying that the phone has a larger display and touchscreen controls—which you can see in the picture—but also have such slightly more advanced tech as a GPS, Wi-Fi and a 5 to 8-megapixel camera. If Moto had fancy phones like this last year, maybe their CEO wouldn't have had to take the reins. [Mobil.idnes.cz via Unwired View]

12:34 PM on Tue Feb 5 2008
By Jason Chen
6,402 views, 24 comments

Latest by videoCWK: Something about this screams T Mobile. more »

hello moto

Motorola CEO Seizes Control of Slumping Cellphone Division

Amid rumors that Motorola may spin off the handset division into its own company, CEO Greg Brown has announced he will be taking control of the unit in an effort to remedy its poor performance. With 3GSM around the corner and all eyes on Moto, they better have something good in the pipeline. [Reuters via RCR Wireless News]

9:58 PM on Mon Feb 4 2008
By Adrian Covert
2,111 views, 11 comments

Latest by N/A: Because, if things are going REALLY BAD at a tech (?) company, you need a former software salesman to make more »

moto blues

Moto Knocked Out of Handset Business?

From the bestselling cellphone in history to the most ignominious departure of a CEO not related to any criminal behavior, Motorola's had a hell of a slide, but still, the latest speculation comes as a punch to the chin. Richard Windsor, an analyst with a firm called Nomura International, says that Moto may exit the handset business. On one hand, it could sell the division to Chinese investors, but on the other hand, not even the Chinese really know how to solve Moto's problems. What happened, Motorola? Seriously, what in hell happened? [MarketWatch]

8:34 AM on Tue Jan 29 2008
By Wilson Rothman
9,167 views, 53 comments

Latest by Collins1: when sony ericsson released the W880 and people realised they could have a slim phone that's GOOD, moto got worried. more »

moto zine

Motorola Z12 Zine 5-Megapixel Cameraphone Spy Shot

This leaked spy shot of an upcoming 5-megapixel Motorola/Kodak cameraphone seems to confirm the rumor that MotoZINE was the name for Motorola's upcoming multimedia phone series. According to IT168.com, the Z12 is going to be announced in Q1 2008 under the ZiNE brand, and will have either a candybar or a slider form factor and a Kodak-branded camera on the back. Other rumors have it that the phone may even have GPS or Wi-Fi in it as well. As long as Moto puts enough good parts inside (5-megapixel camera, GPS, etc.), we don't care if they stick to their tired four-letter naming scheme. [it168 via Unwired View]

3:10 PM on Wed Dec 19 2007
By Jason Chen
4,323 views, 6 comments

Latest by N/A: Lol Kodak. more »

cellphones

Sidekick Slide Back on T-Mobile, Hopefully Without Battery Contact Problem

The Sidekick Slide was pulled off the T-Mo product line last month due to faulty battery contacts, which forced the phone to power off by itself when opened one too many times. The DIY fix was to stick some business cards or loose paper into the battery compartment to make sure the contacts never de-contact, but we're sure Motorola has some fancier solutions (premium business cards, perhaps). In any case, you can buy one again for $199 after discounts and rebates. We still wonder how they got Michelle Yeoh to pose for that product shot. [T-Mobile via Electronista]

2:00 PM on Thu Dec 6 2007
By Jason Chen
2,479 views, 3 comments

Latest by mnwilkinson: The T-Mobile stores were exchanging the faulty Sidekick Slide for a Sidekick LX. So basically I got a Sidekick LX more »

see ya

Motorola's Chief Technology Officer Splits

Motorola's personnel issues continue. We just got word a company-wide email went out announcing that Padmasree Warrior—Moto's chief technology officer—is out the door "to pursue other opportunities." Could this be because stepping into ousted CEO Ed Zander's shoes is a Moto insider—president Greg Brown—rather than fresh blood? Given their woes, a clean break from the old regime might be the best way to signal a changing of the guard. More as we get it. [Flickr]

3:08 PM on Mon Dec 3 2007
By Matt Buchanan
2,272 views, 5 comments

Latest by Kaiser-Machead on the Edge: S'LNG, LZR more »

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