Motorola confirmed industry speculation that it is working on products for the Google Android platform. But a Motorola spokesperson refrained from commenting on published reports that the company is boosting its Android team from 50 to 350 developers."We're excited about the innovation possibilities on Android, and we look forward to delivering great products in partnership with Google and the Open Handset Alliance," a Motorola spokesperson said. The official confirmation of Motorola's plans for Android products should come as no surprise, really, since Motorola acted as one of the Open Handset Alliance founding members upon the organization's launch back in November of 2007, along with fellow cell phone makers HTC, LG, and Samsung.
Yet while HTC's "Dream" phone is one and the same as the Android-based G1 phone that T-Mobile rolled out last week, Motorola and the other handset partners in the Open Handset Alliance have held back from making Android product announcements. Motorola's statement today fell short of confirming published reports, that Motorola is now in the process of beefing up the Android development team -- by some accounts, as much as seven-fold.
Some observers are now touting Android as a salve to the financial pains Motorola has sustained in its inability to find a successor to its previously successful RAZR phone. Last April, Motorola reorganized its mobile phone arm into product teams -- one for lower-end, voice-only phones, and the other for feature and smart phones -- that each combine hardware and software specialists. Previously, hardware and software specialists worked in different groups.
