Motorola is hoping to stem its recent financial bloodletting by throwing its might behind the popular Android operating system. It's betting that Android is the mobile OS of the future and has reportedly begun to assemble a 350 team of Android developers to transform its mobile business.
Motorola's weak point has always been the software interface. While phones like the hugely popular RAZR V3 sold in millions across the world, users were never particularly impressed with the software capabilities of the devices. In a bid to turn its luck around, Motorola is now set to adopt Google's Android mobile operating system, bridging the gaps between hardware and software.
Goodbye Moto, Hello Android!
Already 50 people count in Motorola's Android team, and news surfaced today that the company is expanding its Android developers team to 350, according to a developer approached by a headhunter to join the team. Such a huge bid is nothing to be amazed of, as the company's mobile business profits were going down for years.
Motorola is one of the original members of the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), the main backers of Android. Other significant OHA members are HTC (the manufacturers of the first Android phone, G1) and LG and Samsung, both reportedly building Android based devices.
All the OHA handset manufacturers members have one thing in common though: they all either use proprietary software interfaces (that are not very functional or popular) or license Windows Mobile, having to pay royalties to Microsoft.
The advantage of Android for the manufacturers is that they do not have to pay royalties to Google for using the mobile operating system on their devices, reducing the production cost and at the same time benefiting from an open platform. This is something that Apple is refusing to do with iPhone.
On the other side of the barricade, Nokia, who is not an OHA member, is said to already have an Android team mingling around. Nokia has recently bought the rest of the Symbian platform that it didn't own already, as the OS is behind all their S60 phones, including the Tube, the company's iPhone competitor. Though Nokia is determined to keep Symbian going as long as possible, if Android really takes off, we might see substantial changes in the company's strategy as well.
