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Silicon Valley Watcher: Motorola aggressively adopting mobile linux

Tom Foremski — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 06:10:33 +0000

Motorola is aggressively adopting mobile linux as the key operating system for its cell phones. It is launching its first North American cell phone with Linux, the new Razr V8. Tom Foremski talks with Christy Wyatt, VP Ecosystem and Market Development at Motorola about the move to Linux and if it has a place in high-end enterprise ready cell phones.

Also: Interviews with Didier Diaz, SVP product strategy at Access, a developer of applications for cell phones; Kim Polese, CEO of SpikeSource on testing opensource application packages.

And Aron Pruiett’s two part report: The New News, a debate about emerging new media outlets from the recent Stanford Summit.

Tags: Motorola, mobile linux, Razr V8, Tom Foremski, Christy Wyatt, Didier Diaz, Access, Kim Polese, SpikeSource, Aron Pruiett

Weekly Indian Tech News Round-Up

Kamla Bhatt — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 00:07:28 +0000

Topping this week’s round-up is the investments received by Telisma and Komli.

Silicon Valley-based Telisma received $50 million in funding. The investors include NewPath Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, CMEA Ventures, JAFCO Asia and other strategic investors.

Komli received its first round of funding from DFJ and Helion Ventures. However, Komli did not disclose how much money they received from investors. The company is in that hot new space of advertising where they provide services for advertisers and publishers around the globe.

Besides private equity deals in IT and technology companies, the real estate and hospitality sectors appear to be on investors’ radar. QVC Realty received $100 million from L&FS Investment Managers.

Lehman Brothers might be interested in investing in a hospitality project by Kishore Biyani of the Future Group.

Citigroup plans to invests about $400 million in Indian real estate and hospitality sector reports the Financial Express.

Motorola launched its first MOTOstore, selling branded motorola phones in India, earlier this week. Last week, Intex, an IT and harware company, launched three new handsets in India that come pre-loaded with Disney content.

M&A Quattro Solutions has acquired a majority stake in Scope eKnowledge, a Knowledge Process Outsourcing company.

Laksmi Narayanan, head of Cognizant Technologies, is the new chairman of the National Association of Software and Service Companies.

Dr. Ganesh M. Kishore was appointed as the managing director of Burrill and Company, which is planning to set up an India-specific Life Sciences Fund.

And finally, Yahoo’s co-founder David Filo will be in India next week, and we will tell you why in next week’s round-up!

Tags: Telisma, Komli, Intex, Laksmi Narayanan, David Filo

A123Systems Powers Battery Technology

Matt Kelly — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 16:30:38 +0000

It’s no secret that we rely on our batteries to power just about every consumer electronic device, or that we are increasingly relying on those devices for just about everything we do. Lithium-Ion batteries are considered the next generation battery technology, offering longer life at a lower cost. This technology is also being looked at by major automakers as they seek to create Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles or PHEV’s for the mass market that are scalable. One company helping to spur the development of this technology is Watertown, Mass.-based A123Systems. The company has licensed technology created by MIT to build a better Lithium-Ion battery, and has some pretty big investors including Qualcomm, Motorola and MIT, in addition to venture capitalists.

A123Systems made news recently, through it’s association with the Department of Energy and the Federal Transit Authority’s National Fuel Cell Bus Program. It also recently received $15 million from the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium, an organization composed of DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation, to develop lithium iron phosphate battery technology for hybrid-electric vehicle applications. They’ve also partnered with Cobasys to develop, manufacture, sell, and service lithium-ion energy storage systems for hybrid electric vehicle applications. Their first joint venture is with GM, which will evaluate the system in its prototype Saturn Green Line Vue plug-in hybrid SUVs later this year. I spoke with company president and CEO David Vieau about these and other topics.

Tags: Lithium-Ion, Plug-In Hybrid, PHEV, A123Systems, MIT, Qualcomm, Motorola, GM, David Vieau

CES 2007 Keynote: Ed Zander, CEO Motorola

Michael Johnson — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 07:09:40 +0000

In his CES 2007 Keynote, Motorola’s CEO Ed Zander unveiled what’s new for the mobile communications company, with new phone models, new partnerships, and new services for the digital home, as well as the mobile consumer.

More images on Flickr

Tags: CES, Motorola, Ed Zander, mobile communications, digital home

Weekly Tech News Round-Up from India

Kamla Bhatt — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 05:02:02 +0000

Stepped up activity is the underlying theme of this week’s tech round-up on India.

There is stepped up activity in VC funding in India. Two 10-year old companies received $10 million this past week. Sulekha, an Indian social networking site received $10 million in funding from Norwest Venture Partners. And for the first time an outdoor media company recieved funding for its operations. Laqshya Media Private Limited received $10 million in funding from UTI Ventures.

There is lot of action in the merger and acquistion space. Among the various M&A deals two stand out in particular. This is the acquistion by two IT and BPO services company: Tata Consultancy Services and Hexaware Technologies. TCS has acquired a majority stake in TKS-Technopek and Hexaware acquired FocusFrame in an all cash deal.

In the mobile and telecom space Nokia bagged a three year managed network contract deal from India’s largest mobile provider Bharti Airtel. US mobile company Motorola is expanding its footprint in India when it opened its sixth R&D facility in the southern city of Hyderabad in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Tags: Sulekha, Norwest Venture Partners, Tata Consultancy Services, Hexaware Technologies, Bharti Airtel, Andhra Pradesh

Motorola’a Greg Besio’s Keynote Talks Mobile Linux Part 1

editor — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 21:13:22 +0000

Greg Besio, Motorola’s corporate VP of mobile devices software, talks about Linux in the mobile world, and demos two Linux-based mobile phones popular in China: The Ming and the ROKR E2. The 1st of 2 parts from his keynote address at LinuxWorld & Expo 2006 in San Francisco.

Part 2 of the keynote

Tags: Greg Besio, Motorola, Linux, Ming, ROKR E2

Motorola’s Greg Besio’s and Christy Wyatt Talk About Future Development: Part 2

editor — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 21:12:53 +0000

Greg Besio, Motorola’s brings on Christy Wyatt, VP for ecosystem and market development at Motorola’s Mobile Devices Business to discuss the latest on MOTODEV and the new places Motorola hopes to take the mobile world. The 2nd of 2 parts from the keynote address at LinuxWorld & Expo 2006 in San Francisco.

Tags: Greg Besio, Motorola, Christy Wyatt, MOTODEV

Intel Key in Sprint Nextel’s Planned WiMAX Network

editor — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 01:06:25 +0000

MENLO PARK, August 8, 2006 (Podtech News) — Sprint Nextel today announced plans to develop and deploy a nationwide wireless broadband mobile network using WiMAX. Sprint said it will work with Intel on mobile WiMAX-enabled chipsets and with Motorola and Samsung on devices. PodTech’s Catherine Girardeau talked with Chris Thomas, Chief of Staff to Intel’s Executive Office, about Intel’s role.

Reporter’s Notes:
Some interesting blogosphere buzz about WiMax: Katie Fehrenbacher on GigaOm wonders how Clearwire will fit in. Carlo writes in Techdirt notes the timing of Sprint’s announcement, with the AWS spectrum auction just around the corner. Mobile Tracker points out that up and download speed will make or break WiMAX’s ability to
compete with DSL and cable modems. I wonder if Sprint Nextel’s announcement will have any impact on the network neutrality debate.

-Catherine Girardeau

Tags: Sprint, Intel, WiMAX, Samsung

Mobile Podcasting Not There Yet - It’s Starting to Happen..

Admin — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 13:58:04 +0000

What about mobile podcasting? That is podcasts on cell phones? I get this question all the time. I’m not bullish about it in the short term but it is obvious that it will happen. The question is when? Today Alltel announced that they are offering podcasts. AllTell, the No. 5 U.S. cellphone provider, said on Tuesday it will provide a service to download audio clips from the Internet to cellphones in a bid to expand its business beyond voice services.

Personally there are many reason why podcasts aren’t on cellphones now and why adopting isn’t happening at itunes like breakneck speed. It has nothing to do with demand. It’s a combination of technical and vendor issues. Also there is the impact of music and DRM which also hold back podcasting.

Some thoughts on mobile podcasting
- Mobile podcasting will initially take off as side-loaded solution to phones that have memory cards (e.g. Motorola Q) + phone-based search and tagging of podcasts.
- Over-the-air streaming will come later supported by a monthly subscription service or mobile advertising.
- Ad-driven white-label mobile podcasting service/software has some potential to succeed.

Mobile music
- Arriving within the next year in the US

Several barriers currently to Music – main ones are:
- lack of good, open-DRM software or tracking software
- labels asking for too much rev-share and not willing to try non-DRM solutions

Mobile podcasting

Key challenges
- No money in the system today - who pays for what is a big question on people’s minds especially the carriers
- Has to be supported by mobile advertising – podcasters will get a rev share of all ads generated from listening to mobile podcasts
- Mobile advertising is early but coming along -
- There is no way to charge consumers for podcasts

Technical complications
- File sizes can be large - 3-4 hours long which is a big problem – average podcast is 30-60 minutes long
- The files are MP3s, not all compressed like AAC+ or WME-Advanced

Factors in favor of mobile podcasting
- DRM doesn’t matter for podcasting (as opposed to mobile music)
- Flat-rate data plans – being adopted fast by consumers – Sprint charges $15 per month
- Content and Carriers are testing the market with a mobile podcasting prototypes

It is clear that mobility is the killer app for podcasting as both an entertainment and communications tool but first music needs to penetrate first. It’s a matter of time but just not this year.

Companies working on this.

There are some firms working hard to “crack this code”. Check out Melodeo, VoiceIndigo, and Spodradio out of Germany.

If there are anyone other companies that I missed in this space of mobile podcasting or mobile broadcast send me an email to info@podtech.net and I’ll include them in another post or highlight them.

Friday News Roundup: Yahoo Goes For Mobile; Movies To Burn

editor — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 01:29:57 +0000

SAN FRANCISCO, July 21, 2006 (PodTech News) – PodTech News wraps the week with two stories of new Web 2.0 services. Yahoo and Motorola said late Wednesday that Motorola will embed Yahoo “Go for Mobile” services on tens of millions of phones. Catherine Girardeau talked with Jill Aldort of Yankee Group about this on-the-go web service. In other news, two companies, CinemaNow and MovieLink, announced this week they’ve licensed download-to-burn technology. We get Netflix’ reaction, and some analysis with Gartner’s Andrew Frank.

Tags: Web 2.0, Motorola, CinemaNow, MovieLink, Netflix

JavaOne: Motorola VP Promotes Opportunities for Developers in the Mobile Space

editor — Sun, 21 May 2006 21:54:36 +0000

“Seamless mobility…is a convergence of technologies that’s going to unleash an entirely new set of possibilities for developers,” said Christy Wyatt, VP for Ecosystem and Market Development at Motorola’s Mobile Devices Business, during a general session at JavaOne. In part two of this podcast, Wyatt presents the challenges for developers creating applications for the convergence of mobile and stationary devices. The podcast concludes with an awards ceremony for the winners of Motorola’s “Code Moto” contest for Java developers.

Tags: Christy Wyatt, Motorola, JavaOne, Code Moto, Java

JavaOne: Motorola Execs Ask Java Developers to Code for Mobile Phone Apps

editor — Sun, 21 May 2006 21:35:39 +0000

“Convergence is really going to come together in the entertainment space,” said Rob Shaddock, Chief Technology Officer at Motorola, during a general session at JavaOne. He gave an upbeat presentation with Christy Wyatt, Motorola’s VP of Ecosystem and Market Development in the Mobile Devices Business. The presentation was designed to spark Java developers’ interest in creating applications for Motorola mobile devices. “We believe the cell phone is going to become the center of your digital life,” Shaddock said. Part 1 of 2.

Tags: Rob Shaddock, Motorola, JavaOne, Christy Wyatt, Java

Gartner Symposium: Motorola Chief Defends Carriers Over Unfriendly User Wireless Environment

editor — Wed, 17 May 2006 18:54:39 +0000

Why can’t you buy any cell phone and easily use it with most any carrier? Don’t blame Motorola. Chairman and CEO Ed Zander doesn’t blame the carriers either, even though they dictate which phones their customers will use. In this podcast, Zander argues (civilly with Gartner analysts Nick Jones and Ken Dulaney) that carriers don’t want to be in any business other than providing connectivity.

Tags: Motorola, Ed Zander, Nick Jones, Ken Dulaney

Gartner Symposium: Zander Points to Long Term Investment in Infrastructure as the Key to Improving Wireless Connectivity

editor — Wed, 17 May 2006 18:43:27 +0000

One piece of Motorola’s business the public usually doesn’t see are the products sold to governments and municipalities, such as wireless communications gear. The systems used by cities and states during 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina did not hold up well, but Motorola Chairman and CEO says product development at his firm to address those problems has been going for the past 4 years.

Tags: Motorola, Hurricane Katrina

Gartner Symposium: Motorola Chairman and CEO Zander Says Cell Phone is Coming of Age

editor — Wed, 17 May 2006 18:28:46 +0000

Motorola Chairman and CEO Ed Zander says the ultimate cell phone would come back into the home–that is, it would be the only phone one would need. But that development seems far away for users in North America. “People always say to me, ‘I can go to China, and go to the Great Wall of China and make a better phone call than here in the United States,” Zander offered during his keynote interview with Gartner analysts Nick Jones and Ken Dulaney. “And it’s probably true,” Zander noted.

Tags: Motorola, Ed Zander, Nick Jones, Ken Dulaney

JavaOne: General Session Kickoff

editor — Wed, 17 May 2006 01:09:33 +0000

John Gage, Chief Researcher and VP, Science Offfice at Sun Microsystems, Inc launches JavaOne before an audience of over 10,000 developers, and introduces Jonathan Schwartz, President and CEO of Sun. Ed Zander CEO of Motorola joined in and discusses the future of mobile computing.

More info:
http://java.sun.com/javaone/sf

Tags: John Gage, Sun Microsystems, JavaOne, Jonathan Schwartz, Ed Zander, Motorola

Gartner Symposium ITxpo 2006: What To Expect

editor — Tue, 16 May 2006 01:34:47 +0000

The Gartner Symposium ITxpo at the Moscone Center in San Francisco features keynote speakers like Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz, Symantec CEO John Thompson, and Motorola CEO Ed Zander. On PodTech we’ll have the keynotes as well as podcasts of interviews with notable Gartner analysts like Martin Reynolds, Steve Kleynhans and Darryl Plummer (who’ll talk about SOA). The Gartner Symposium ITxpo 2006 from San Francisco… on PodTech.net.

Tags: Gartner, Symposium, ITxpo, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, Motorola

CTIA WIRELESS 2006 - Brian Marks, Manager, Kodak Mobile Division

editor — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 00:52:02 +0000

Las Vegas, NV, April 5, 2006 (PodTech News) - During CTIA 2006, we spoke with the General Manager of Kodak Mobile, Brian Marks, about Kodak’s future in the wireless and mobile space. Through strategic partnerships and innovative thinking, Kodak is taking steps towards applying their expertise and equity in digital imaging to mobile handsets. Kodak helped consumers get their pictures off their digital cameras by introducing easy, innovative solutions, and now wants to do the same with photos stuck on consumers’ mobile handsets. By marrying two great brands - like the recent Kodak and Motorola partnership - will help make that happen.

http://www.kodak.com

Click here for transcript

Yahoo Demos Mobile Podcasting with Motorola at 3GSM World Conference

John Furrier — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 19:47:58 +0000

Yahoo announced back in July that they were working with Motorola, but now they are showing podcasting with Motorola. Yahoo and Motorola are showcasing the future of how consumers access entertainment on the go.

Podcasting is going everywhere. Great stuff. There is a great demand for content. With one relationship developing for distribution, it should be a great year for podcasting.