First Official Pics of Motorola i9

This may not the first time you are seeing a pic of i9, but here we have more detailed official pics from Motorola. The phone looks like a blend of RAZR and Rapture VU30.

i9 is designed to work in iDEN (Integrated Digital Enhanced Network), a mobile telecommunications technology, developed by Motorola. Nextel provides the iDEN service for this phone, as you can see Nextel logo in some pics.

Other information available are its 3.1 megapixel auto-focus camera, dedicated multimedia buttons, GPS and Wi-Fi. See more pics of this good looking phone from engadgetmobile.

Read more...

Standard & Poor cuts Motorola Ratings to Junk Status

Standard & Poor's Rating Service cut its long-term corporate credit rating on Motorola to 'BB+' from 'BBB', citing its 'operational challenges' that are not expected to fix themselves in the intermediate term. 

According to credit rater it will be harder for Motorola to borrow money to recover, as the cost of doing so has increased and it will result in lower profits, higher debt-to-earnings levels and diminishing cash flows. They also gave Motorola a recovery rate of '3' indicating the expectation for meaningful (50%-70%) debt recovery in the event of payment default.

Standard and Poor (S&P), a division of McGraw-Hill, is one of the top companies which publishes financial research and analysis on stocks and bonds. Motorola is also placed under review for possible rating downgrade by Moody's Investors service, where Motorola is currently just two notches above the junk status.

Read more...

Motorola to offer an Android phone

Motorola tries to bring back its brand value and market share through an Android touchscreen model. Motorola recently saw a set back in market after its highly successful Razr V3 model. It is not a secret that Motorola is seriously working on an Android based phone. There were also news that their Android team has been raised to a headcount of about 350.

The Android, which provides similar experience as an iPhone OS, has got nice reviews as it featured with HTC G1. This Motorola's rumoured phone is likely a touchscreen phone with similarities to Motorola Krave ZN4, iPhone and BlackBerry Storm. Motorola would be targeting the youth audience. It is expected to be out only by Q2, 2009.

MotoQ, the latest smartphone range from motorola, has been struggling. Many carriers were also not excited by its latest ranges. Motorola expect to hit back with this model. They already have touchscreen models, but this would probably be motorola's answer to new gen touchscreen models like Nokia 5800, BlackBerry Storm or iPhone. Android is also expected to get a major boost.

Read more...

Samsung overtakes Motorola in U.S. mobile phone market

Motorola, the pioneer in the Mobile phone industry and the leader in the world's largest mobile phone market for last five years has given its crown to Samsung Electronics Co. Motorola got a huge blow in the third quarter when it slides down to 21.1% of mobile phones in US from a 32.7% last year. The South Korean company Samsung gained from this managed a 22.4% of sales in Motorola's home Country.Another South korean Company LG Electronics also emerged high with a 20.5% share in the sales. World Mobile Phone leader Nokia strugling in US with a 8.4% and its sales is further going down. Samsung has introduced many interesting phones like Omnia (in the picture) conquered US with its models like 'Instinct'. Motorola was leading the bussiness in US following the huge success of Motorola RAZR since 2004, but failed to repeat it.
While the officials entice shoppers by using Google Inc.'s Android software to build smart phones, devices with more advanced features. Sanjay Jha, who was named the new CEO of the company’s mobile devices business this summer, said:

"Motorola will focus on three mobile platforms - Google’s Android for mid- and high-end phones, Windows Mobile for some smartphones and a proprietary OS for low-end phones. Android phones aren’t expected until next Christmas."

Read more...