Motorola already let slip, via a job ad, that it was working on an Android social networking smartphone. Now it transpires that Moto is completely ditching Symbian and its own brand of Linux, instead basing all its future consumer smartphones on the Android platform.
To stem the impact of haemorrhaging sales, Motorola’s new cellphone chief Sanjay Jha announced it is streamlining development to focus on Android, as well as continuing to slash thousands of jobs worldwide.
The company, which currently develops on six different platforms, is predicted to focus on just three operating systems: Windows Mobile for business handsets, Motorola’s own P2K platform for the low-end, and Android for everything else. Bad news for staff working in the other divisions, but good news for shareholders reeling from Motorola’s announcement of $400m quarterly losses.
But you may as well enjoy your shiny new G1 for now; Jha says the first Android-powered Motorolas won’t hit shops until Christmas 2009. By which time it will doubtless be facing some pretty stiff competition.
