We strained our ears to hear news from Motorola for most of 2009. The company finally answered with the Cliq and Droid in the US some time last September. These devices run Android 1.5 and Android 2.1, respectively. There wasn't a lot of love for us across the pond in Asia, until today when Motorola brought the Dext (the GSM version of the Cliq) to Singapore. One of the biggest questions on everyone's mind was naturallyThe answer turned out to be pretty simple. The Dext runs MotoBlur, the company's proprietary interface that is packed on top of the Android operating system. The Milestone, on the other hand, didn't.Of course, we didn't miss the chance to speak to Spiros Nikolakopoulos, vice president and general manager for Asia Pacific and International Distribution for Motorola's Mobile Devices business, to find out more about the company's plans. Below are some excerpts in our short aside.
On the number of Motorola devices we expect to see in 2010.
There will be between 20 and 30 smartphones globally and, at this moment, all of them will run Android. Naturally, not all will be available everywhere as it depends on the company's partnership with the various telco operators in each country. For non-smartphone models, they will run either Brew or the Motorola's own operating system.
On MotoBlur being a closed platform and plans to open it up.
Nikolakopoulos said it's on the cards but didn't commit to a time frame. He added that MotoBlur is not just on the device but runs off data servers where the information is gathered and pushed to the handset. One of the benefits of being a closed ecosystem is that it allows the company to manage the service and quality of the software.
The Android 2.0 MotoRoi will be sold by SK Telecom in Korea. Motorola said the smartphone will be available in Q1 in selected markets.
On the location of these data centers.
There are two in the US and another two in Europe. The company is in the process of building one in Asia, which will probably be ready in the latter half of the year.
On Android engineering teams.
A third of the engineering team is based in the US, while another third in China and the final third in Korea. The team works solely on everything Android, including the integration of the software with the device. Nikolakopoulos didn't say how big the team is, though.
On launching MotoRoi in Asia Pacific.
The MotoRoi will be launched in China, but it'll be known as a different name because "MotoRoi" is specifically for the Korean market. The device will be delayed for a few weeks due to the recent Google fiasco in China, but the company remains committed to the platform. Nikolakopoulos later explained that Motorola has three lines of Android devices: Those that run MotoBlur; those that have some customization but which remain largely stock Android; and those without any sort of modification to the software.
On the company's market share.
Nikolakopoulos said the company under co-CEO Sanjay Jha no longer looks at market share and doesn't have a real target, either. Same goes for Singapore, although he didn't say whether it follows for Asia as a whole. When pressed further, he said the company needs to have between 5 and 10 percent of the global market share in order to stay relevant.
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