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Tuesday September 1, 2009
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The plot is getting thicker regarding Motorola's Sept. 10 launch of their first Android phone. Specifically: who's the carrier?
I'm betting on T-Mobile. The two main keynote speakers at the Mobilize conference where the announcement is being held are Motorola's Sanjay Jha and T-Mobile's CTO Cole Brodman. Sounds cozy.
The process of elimination also leads us to T-Mobile. A Verizon rep told TheStreet.com they don't plan to be at the San Francisco event, and I've spoken to industry sources that say Sprint won't be hanging around, either. Both carriers intend to introduce Android phones this year, they just won't be this one.
An AT&T rep played coy, saying he didn't want to talk about future product releases. But analyst Tero Kuittinen, quoted in TheStreet.com, said they're not in bed with Motorola on Android either. That fits with the cautious tone I heard from Motorola CEO Ralph de la Vega back in 2008, when he said that AT&T might only accept a highly customized version of Android.
That leaves T-Mobile, who currently monopolize Android in the US. Brodman said in July that "we'll have more Android products out this year," but specifically excluded HTC's upcoming Hero phone. It'll be interesting to see how T-Mobile spins this Motorola product, though, as when they announced the MyTouch 3G, Brodman said the MyTouch 3G, not an upcoming device, was "our real big bet for 2009."
Considering Jha has basically staked his company on Android phones, let's hope the upcoming Motorola release is a big deal for whoever will carry it.
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