September 10th, 2009
Meet Cliq, MotoBlur: Live blog from Motorola-Android announcement
Motorola co-CEO Dr. Sanjay Jha is addressing the audience at GigaOm’s Mobilize conference in San Francisco today. I’m here to share some details as they develop.
10:29 am: Dr. Jha takes the stage and starts his keynote speech by talking about wireless broadband. For users, it means fast connections to what they want - connecting to friends, family and co-workers without limits, using their devices to share photos and access information. The growth for wireless broadband has been large - especially in north America - but the real growth is in other countries, he said.
Dr. Sanjay Jha announces MotoBlur at GigaOm's Mobilize Conference. (Credit: CNET)
With the growth in wireless Internet, the way we communicate has changed, as well. It’s gone from one-to-one - phone calls, emails, etc. - to one-to-many, specifically status updates on Facebook, tweets, etc.
10:33 am: Now, we’re talking smartphones. They need things like high-res displays and anytime and anywhere wireless broadband access but, more importantly, they need a multi-threaded, muti-tasking graphical OS. Android, he says, is the robust operating system that will take smartphones to the next level.
Jha says he’s about to share details on a new device and, in the coming weeks, will be sharing news of a second device - which will be available in time for the holidays.
10:39 am: But first, we’re talking about mobile social networking. Jha points to stats that some 180 million people are using social networking sites via mobile today. By 2012, that number could grow to 800 million.
Jha announces MotoBlur, a service where everything social comes to you on a mobile device in one app. The idea is to focus on what people have to say instead of how they send it. Manage messages from Facebook or e-mail, tweets and so on simultaneously. Jha says it syncs everything - photos, messages, contacts and more - from everything from Facebook and MySpace to Yahoo Mail and Flickr.
10:44 am: Jha continues the Motoblur demo. The idea is to take everything from everywhere and bring it into one central place. I liked how the caller ID - because contacts are integrated with social networking - displays not only the caller’s name, phone number picture and even social status update. (Hint: If your caller’s status update says he’s in a foul mood, you may not want to answer that call.)
10:46 am: Jha and Cole Brodman, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer for T-Mobile, are on stage together to announce Motorola Cliq device for the holidays. T-Mobile has taken over the announcement and is calling the Cliq the “First Phone With Social Skills.” Brodman calls it the next chapter in Android innovation. Cliq becomes a core piece of the holiday lineup. It’s interesting that Brodman made a point of noting that the T-Mobile network is ready for the network traffic that will come from such a device. (Did you hear that, AT&T?)
Also see: Gallery: Motorola’s Android phone at Mobilize
- Motorola T-Mobile Cliq statement
- Motorola on Cliq
- Motorola’s big Android bet kicks off today
- Motorola: Android devices get us back in smartphone game
10:49 am: Brodman, noting the popularity of the Sidekick as a messaging phone, says that T-Mobile knows those customers and what they want - and that the Cliq addresses that and more, but not just for kids but for socially active and business-centric adults, too. And, of course, you can’t forget the fashionistas who want two colors - white and titanium. The company expects it to be a strong item for the holidays. No one mentions taking on the iPhone - but the message is clearly there.
10:52 am: Jha is back on stage alone, offering details. 5 mp camera, 3G and wireless. Video capabilities. He calls the browser a “best in class” powered by Google and all of its tools - Google Docs, calendar, mail, and more. Jha says the promise to consumers is the ability to customize for an experience that meets their needs. He also said the plans are to take Motoblur global and thinks it can be a real differentiator for it. Jha also mentioned a second phone for the overseas market, called Dext.
10:54 am: Jha wraps up the keynote portion and, while that’s all he may have to say about Cliq today, we’re sure to hear more and more about it in the coming days and weeks.
Sam Diaz is a senior editor at ZDNet. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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