May 12, 2009 by Tap
In case you hadn't noticed there's been a sudden outbreak of rumours and leaks regarding forthcoming Android phones. I've intentionally avoided getting drawn into this since spreading rumours without all the facts a) seems a bit pointless b) has a habit of biting you in the bum. This whole 'Bigfoot' saga is a case in point.
At the beginning of last week BGR broke the news of T-Mobile's purported US Android roadmap which made reference to the G1 v2 a.k.a Bigfoot. BGR followed this up a few days later with a supposed image of the G1 v2 but there was just one problem – the phone looked nothing like the Bigfoot mentioned in the leaked T-Mobile roadmap. Then on the 11th BGR again posted the same G1 v2 image this time saying that the phone was in fact being manufactured by Motorola, killing the assumption that the v2 would obviously be HTC kit.
Then things went from bad to worse that same day when Unwired View broke news of a Samsung phone called the Bigfoot. Interestingly enough this did look like the Bigfoot phone mentioned in T-Mobile's roadmap. Confusion sorted right? Wrong. Tmotoday then posted an update saying that according to a source involved in the supply chain, the G1 v2 is still being produced by HTC and is codenamed 'Bigfoot'.
So who do we believe? Is the Bigfoot the same as the G1 v2 and just what does the Bigfoot actually look like? Is it an HTC, Motorola or Samsung phone? I'm none the wiser and until I see some official confirmation, Bigfoot stays off my Android phone list.
April 30, 2009 by Tap
You've got to love the way that news travel on the Internet. Someone somewhere says something. Someone else picks up on it and repeats it on their blog and then it spreads like a virus and before you know it, this 'news' becomes fact. That's how I feel about the latest news regarding what's supposed to be Motorola's first Android phone, the Calgary.
Don't get me wrong, BGR has a reputation for breaking stories first and more often than not, getting it right, but I'm not going to get too excited about the Calgary just yet. Already this month we heard about the S8000 which was supposedly Samsung's first Android phone. I saw several blogs saying that this was 'confirmed' – wrong. And let's not forget the TouchZINE HD which surfaced again last month – wasn't that supposed to be Motorola's first Android phone. Turns out it was fake but that didn't stop overexcited bloggers from posting the Photoshopped images all over the web as Motorola's next big thing. I think you get my point.
Anyway, as much as we'd all love the Calgary to be an Android phone (although I have my reservations about that laser-etched keypad which I hated on my Motorola RAZR) I don't think we should get too excited just yet.
Source: BGR
Update: Say hello to the Motorola "Ironman"
Yet another Motorola phone which, according to BGR, "will most likely run Android and be out by the end of Q3". Another one to add to the wait and see list.
April 2, 2009 by Tap
According to the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN), Foxconn sources have confirmed that the company has formed an R&D team to develop Android-based smartphones. On the one hand this does seem to be confirmation of speculation regarding Foxconn's deal to develop smartphones for Dell. The report however claims that Motorola is likely to be a potential first client for Foxconn's Android-powered phones. So who's it going to be then – Motorola or Dell? In the long run, most likely both given Foxconn's history as one of the world's largest handset manufacturing service providers.
Source: DigiTimes
March 25, 2009 by Tap
Rumours of HTC's Android Hero phone surfaced in the middle of February this year when HTC's supposed 2009 line-up was revealed on ppcgeeks. We haven't heard much about it since but it looks like the Hero has finally been picked up by Orange.
Orange France has already released the G1 as the HTC Dream (they couldn't use the G1 branding as T-Mobile has exclusive rights to that) and now, according to Mobinaute, they will be following that up with the HTC Hero. But that's not all - they reckon that the Hero will be followed by another Android smartphone a few weeks after that. Orange is definitely on a mission here and is keen to capitalise on what they see as the revenue potential of the Android Market.
Even more interesting, although this could be speculation, is that by the end of this year, Orange, in addition to HTC, plans to have Android phones from Motorola, LG, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. That last one especially comes as a welcome surprise as Sony Ericsson, although a member of the Open Handset Alliance, seems to have been very quiet on the Android front this year.
On the OS front, word is that Orange will be releasing the cupcake update for the HTC Dream by the end of April and a second "major update" a month later. Sounds mighty interesting.
Source: Mobinaute
March 12, 2009 by Tap
Motorola shares gained 4.4% on Wednesday following a stock upgrade announcement by Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Ittai Kidron based, in part, on the company's plans to ramp up smartphone production in the second half of this year. According to the analyst, "checks indicate Motorola could launch as many as 10 new smartphone models in the second half of this year."
Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jan has already confirmed (Motorola To Focus On Android In 2009) that they have plans to release Android-based smartphones, but 10 new phones seems quite ambitious, even if they are a mix of both Android and WinMo devices. That said, given Motorola’s financial woes of late and the fact that smartphones are the way forward, the company will want to make a serious play in the market. Let’s just hope that whatever they come up with is nothing like the MOTOQ.
Hopes of an Android-based phone launch by Motorola at this year's Mobile World Congress proved fruitless. Perhaps they’ll have something to show at CTIA Wireless next month.
Via: Yahoo Finance
March 3, 2009 by Tap
Rumours of a shiny new Android-powered Motorola have been doing the rounds for a while now. Unfortunately the rumour-mill has stepped up a gear thanks to the release of a YouTube video by a supposed Motorola employee/connection, Christyan Yury. Impressive specs not withstanding (800x480 touchscreen, 16GB memory, 5 megapixel camera and of course running Android), while a Moto handset like this would be more than welcome, this latest video just has fake written all over it.
The video itself is nothing new – a slideshow of images that we've all seen before (I first saw them on engadget) – all of which is copyright Motorola "Eletronics". Despite all this Yury remains adamant of his connections with Motorola and the authenticity of the phone. Let's face it, if Motorola really was working on what would essentially be their most important release in ages, would they go about leaking it in this way? No doubt with hindsight, once Motorola eventually do release their first Android handset, whatever that may actually be, we'll all look back at this and say "of course, we always knew the TouchZine HD was real/fake".
February 4, 2009 by Tap
There's no shortage of news on Motorola's financial woes but are they pinning their hopes on Android this year? In a transcript of Motorola's Q4 2008 Earnings Call, co-CEO Sanjay Jan, seemed to indicate as such.
According to Sanjay, "Our Smartphone road map includes a variety of devices, many based on the Android operating system. Android is a flexible operating environment and has attracted thousands of developers with it as we believe we can enable differentiated user experience." He went on to say that "We think that one of the reasons that we've liked Android is that we could focus a lot of [development] dollars on differentiating, because we don't have to develop the platform ground-up."
At this point, no specifics have been mentioned but it looks like Motorola is another manufacturer to watch closely at this year's MWC.
Via: Seeking Alpha