More on the Motorola Android phone

As we already discussed it previously, Motorola plan to release an Android-powered phone, orientated towards social-networking.

Thanks to a report in Business Week, we have more details on the phone. It should feature a touchscreen interface, similar to the iPhone's one, a full slide-out qwerty keyboard, very much like the T-Mobile G1 and will come with a whole lot of social-nertworking features.

Motorola, a member of the Open Handset Alliance said:

"We're excited about the innovation possibilities on Android and look forward to delivering great products in partnership with Google"

The phone is expected to be released in the second quarter of 2009.

The timing could not be more perfect for Motorola, as these details were leaked only three days before the release of the T-Mobile G1, the first Android-powered phone. The race for Android phones has indeed started.

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Android, a game changer

MobileTechNews have a very interesting article on how Android can become a game changer in the smartphone industry. Android if proved to be a success, will shift around not only consumers' habits, but also mobile networks' strategies and phone manufacturers.

Smarthphones only represent 14% of the total mobile traffic so a standardization, says MobileTechNews is the way forward for Google to push Android all the way to the top. The trick is to convince Mobile networks and especially phone manufacturers that not only smartphones should run on Android but also "normal" phones to offer a more coherent lineup and a more efficient, better service.

This is all based on an ABI research on Smartphone and OS Markets and according Kevin Burden, ABI Research director, "If Android is to become the ubiquitous mobile phone platform that Google and the Open Handset Alliance hope it will be, it will be because operators and handset OEMs recognize the value to their own business models of using standard platforms, not because wireless subscribers clamor for feature-rich phones, much less an Android-based phone."

This is definitely an interesting one because there is a lot at stake with Android. If Google manages to bring their experience in the Mobile world, especially its ad-funded strategy, it will change the conception we, mobile networks or phone manufacturers have on phones. Google's implementation in the mobile business has been slow but steady and the success of the Google Maps app for iPhone for exemple is a simple proof of that.

For the full ABI Research "Smartphone and OS Markets", click here.