Motorola smartphones put Android on hold

New EDA MC55 models fit in the mid-range among Motorola’s range of enterprise-grade smartphones, which it dubs “mobile computers,” and which include features like barcode scanners and ruggedized assembly. To keep up with the rest of the company’s EDA offerings, the two new MC55 units are built to withstand a four-foot drop on concrete. Both models have color QVGA (320 x240) display screens and are VoIP-ready, in addition to having 128MB SDRAM and 256MB Flash. The MC55 is based on the Marvell XScale PXA270 520MHz processor and Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system. A number of add-ons are also available, such as a 1D laser scanner, a 2D imager and a two-megapixel digital color camera.

Motorola plans for Android platform

Motorola is planning new revenue stream from Android open source mobile platform devices. According to Sanjay Jha, Co-CEO and mobile device leader at Motorola “Android works well for Motorola, as Motorola’s new device applications are now focused on providing best-in-class Web browsing and unique experiences which would include social networking capabilities. Motorola’s expertise in Linux and Java is also a natural fit for Android development”. He also praised Android’s development flexibility and heavy developer interest. His expectation is that Motorola will be able to leverage Android software to build unique products that will prove alluring to carrier partners and resellers.