Motorola XYBoard Xoom Successor Revealed with

Following the European launch of the Xoom 2 earlier this month with no real details on a US launch, the first details on the US version have surfaced along with future branding changes. Continue reading for all of the details and analysis.

The Motorola Xoom 2 will undergo a change in branding and identity to distance it from the Xoom branding used on the first generation of tablets in the US, with Verizon filing the trademark for the XYBoard brand in the last month. Following recent trends set by Samsung to differentiate different versions of the same tablet family by display size, the first two tablets will be known as the Motorola XYBoard 8.2 and XYBoard 10.1 with prominent Verizon Wireless branding.

As far as specifications are concerned, the first model in the XYBoard series in the 8.2 will feature a 1.2GHz dual-core processor running Android Honeycomb with the inclusion of an LTE radio, fixing the most glaring issue present in the first Xoom model, namely the lack of a built-in LTE radio and needing to undertake a shipping program in order to have Xoom 4G tablets fitted with LTE modules, a process fraught with delays and numerous other issues.

With Verizon and Motorola undertaking another major push to promote LTE Android tablets, the Motorola XYBoard series looks to rectify the mistakes made with the first version in terms of hardware design and software. However, it remains to be seen whether the XYBoard series will be enough to spur sales and lure customers away from the increasing spate of similar Android tablets.

With the branding change being front and center, it also signals Verizon and Motorola’s desire to move away from the Xoom brand, damaged by lower than expected sales and poor perception thanks to the high cost of the original tablet and the botched release plan of the 4G LTE version.

With Motorola and Verizon working together again on the new tablet line, time will tell whether attempt number 2 will signal success for both companies or if it will languish in the wake of the iPad 2, which is considerably more popular than any current Android tablet, both in terms of marketshare and usage metrics.

As Verizon also sells the iPad, one also questions why they would spend more time and money on developing more Android tablets, as the current sales numbers reflect that the money spent on developing such devices isn’t reflected in increased sales or profit unless one takes into account purchases made by the minority Android hacking community.

The Android mod and developer community is the perfect audience for such tablets as the XYBoard based on hardware potential alone, but are Verizon and Motorola targeting the same general consumers that were driven away by the first Xoom series, or are they conceding that market to Apple and focusing on enterprise and enthusiast customers? If the former, then expect more of the same lack of visibility and lack of sales volume that effectively killed the first Xoom in the US.

However, if they are deliberately going after the corporate customer and the enthusiast, this new series may effectively revive Verizon and Motorola’s attempts to sell Android tablets to the masses, by focusing on the ones that would care about the product to begin with.

Motorola Droid Razr Earn High Marks Despite Some Concerns on the Battery

A recent report in connection to the Motorola Droid Razr offering of Verizon (NYSE:VZ) showed that the device has become the favorite Android-powered smartphone from Motorola (NYSE:MMI) of the service provider. The report quoted a spokesman from Verizon which revealed that the November advertising campaign of Verizon is reportedly for the Motorola Droid Razr.

This comes as the Motorola Droid Razr is set to face two new Android-powered smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the HTC Rezound. Aside from these Android smartphones, the iPhone 4S of Apple will also give the Motorola Droid Razr some competition in the smartphone market.

The Motorola Droid Razr has been selected as among the best Android-powered smartphones in the market today. However some observers noted that some of the issues that have affected this Motorola smartphone are reportedly some of the features found on the rivals of the device.

Motorola Droid Razr

The reviews have highlighted the slim design of the device along with its battery life. But some observers have noted that the display quality of the Motorola Droid Razr was reportedly sacrificed in order to make the device slimmer.

On the other hand, other reviews have indicated that the display screen of the device was good enough for the design of the Motorola Droid Razr while its battery life was remarkable. The black Kevlar coating of the device along with its slim design was also elegant.

Another review revealed that the battery life of the Motorola Droid Razr was insufficient since it reportedly did not do well in a number of battery life tests. In comparison, the battery life of the Samsung Galaxy S2 was better.

A number of other reviews have indicated that the battery life of the device was decent enough and was better compared to that of the Motorola Droid Bionic. The battery life of the Motorola Droid Razr will reportedly be extended with the Smart Actions app of Motorola.

Despite these reviews on the battery life of the Motorola Droid Razr, some reviewers have indicated that the device can hold its ground against the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S2 and the recently-released iPhone 4S of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).

Motorola win German patent suit against Apple's iCloud

A German court appears poised to rule against Apple and in favor of Motorola over alleged patent infringement related to iCloud.

In a hearing held Friday in the German city of Mannheim, it was a "dreadful" day for Apple, according to Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents. He said at this point in the proceedings, the court does not appear to believe any of Apple's arguments, and he's confident that if the court made a ruling on Friday, it would have been in favor of Motorola Mobility.

Lucky for Apple, a final decision is not scheduled to be delivered until Feb. 3, 2012. But Mueller still feels that Motorola is "fairly likely" to win a patent injunction against Apple's iCloud product.

The lawsuit is related to European Patent 0847654 (B1), entitled "Multiple Pager Status Synchronization System and Method." It is the European equivalent of U.S. Patent No. 5,754,119, which carries the same name.

The lawsuit was actually filed last April, before Apple unveiled iCloud, and originally targeted its predecessor, MobileMe. After iCloud was announced, Motorola argued in court that MobileMe is "integrated" into iCloud, and it's just a name change for the product.

"The issue for Apple here is that it would probably (if not almost certainly) be accused of infringing the patent-in-suit with any products containing the iCloud client software," Mueller wrote. "While the patents covers a synchronization technology that requires a server, and Apple Sales International does not operate the servers (maybe Apple Inc. does, or otherwise some subsidiary other than the Irish distribution organization), all Apple devices containing the client software could be deemed to infringe the patent-in-suit contributorily."

Because iCloud is now integrated into so many Apple products, including iOS devices and new Macs running OS X 10.7 Lion, Apple has asked the court to set a bail of 2 billion euro, or $2.7 billion U.S. The bail amount is meant to ensure that the defendant will be compensated if an injunction is put in place and later overturned. In this case, it would apply if the court were to place an injunction barring the sale of Apple products, only for the decision to be changed by an appellate court.

"The court was wondering whether that hefty amount truly reflects the economic damages Apple would suffer from enforcement, given that the iCloud is only one Apple offering and doesn't correspond to the entire value of its products," he wrote. "But Apple's lawyers insisted that an enforcement against its product sales in Germany could result in damages of that magnitude."

Earlier this month, Motorola also won a default judgment in German court though that decision was portrayed as "procedural" by the company, and having "nothing to do with the merits of the case." Experts have said they expect the injunction to be suspended.

Apple's legal battles with Motorola, which extend across the globe, have taken on an even greater meaning since August, when Google announced it plans to acquire Motorola mobility for $12.5 billion. Motorola shareholders voted to approve the proposed deal on Thursday, though the acquisition is still pending regulatory approval, and is expected to be finalized by early 2012.

welcomes Google slurp with open arms --Motorola

Motorola shareholders have voted overwhelmingly to accept Google’s $12.5bn bid to buy the company’s mobile phone arm, and any patents it may happen to have lying around.

Over 99 per cent of shareholders who voted approved of the deal, representing nearly three-quarters of the total shares. Google had hoped to see the purchase completed by the end of the year, but a probe by federal regulators has scotched that deadline, and the company now says it’s aiming for early 2012, barring factors outside of its control.

“We are pleased and gratified by the strong support we have received from our stockholders, with more than 99 percent of the voting shares voting in support of the transaction,” said Sanjay Jha, chairman and CEO of Motorola Mobility in a statement. “We look forward to working with Google to realize the significant value this combination will bring to our stockholders and all the new opportunities it will provide our dedicated employees, customers, and partners.”

Certainly the future’s looking a lot brighter for him personally, although El Reg doubts the 800 staffers that Motorola laid off ahead of the deal are feeling quite so thankful. The shareholders will also be happy – Motorola stock was going nowhere but down when Google offered to buy at a 63 per cent premium. Motorola’s board got a very good deal for themselves and their stockholders by bargaining hard.

Google also seems to be happy with the deal. It claims its primary motivation for the purchase was Motorola’s income-generating patent portfolio, although there are serious doubts as to the actual value it’ll represent in Google’s legal battles. Having Motorola’s losses to offset against future taxes is also a nice sweetener to the deal.

The coming federal investigation is going to prove expensive in lobbying fees, but should get through relatively quickly. There’s little the feds will ask for that Google won’t be prepared to give, and it may actually welcome the chance to spin off Motorola's handset division in exchange for control of tablets. It would certainly soothe some troubled brows from rival smartphone manufacturers.

Google has issued fervent assurances that Motorola will not get preferential treatment if the deal goes ahead, but it’s going to be interesting to see how this works in reality, and if other manufacturers will accept the new situation.

Samsung already has a boot in the Phone 7 camp, HTC has long danced to Redmond’s tune, and once again Microsoft is telling us that this time it has got mobile right – and is prepared to sue everyone using Android for damages as an incentive. Google’s acquisition could be just the thing to make supporters switch sides, and the company could end up paying a lot more than the apparent purchase price. ®

Motorola's Next Phone Will Be Made wind

The American telecommunications giant, along with over a dozen other companies including Bloomberg, the World Wildlife Fund and LEGO, has teamed up with Belgian non-profit WindMade and pledged to procure at least 25 percent of its power from wind energy.

"It is Motorola Mobility's intent through our participation in the WindMade initiative to encourage greater use of renewable energy sources like wind and solar around the globe,” said Bill Olson, director for the office of sustainability and stewardship at Motorola Mobility.

The nonprofit consortium on Friday, Nov.18, released its new label -- something Motorola and pals should be proud to display on their products. The group wants consumers to consider it certified proof that a percentage of the energy behind the production of a product came from wind power.

“What's unique about WindMade is it's the first time that you have a truly global standard that is accepted across the landscape for how corporations should procure clean energy,” said Bragi Fjalldal, director of emerging segments, global marketing, and customer insight for WindMade.

“It’s also unique in that it’s the first label that really kind of focuses on being intuitive," he told FoxNews.com. "You can apply it to corporations as a whole; you can apply it to parts of your operation," he said. "And next year, when we launch the final version of the label, it will also include products.”

A wind-built Motorola RAZR may be in the wings, in other words.

The rules are strict, Fjalldal told FoxNews.com, and companies have to show detailed proof that they are procuring their power from wind. There is also a competitive aspect, to encourage companies to go above and beyond.

“When you use the label, you need to expose exactly what the percentage is,” Fjalldal told FoxNews.com. “If you, for example, have procured fifty percent wind energy, the fifty percent would be in the label. We believe that creates an incentive among companies of the same industry to try to beat each other and be the one that does the most. Several of the companies that are committing now are planning to do 100 percent.”

The recently unveiled Motorola Droid RAZR was meant to reboot the familiar brand name. Will the next-gen version of the RAZR be built with wind power?

And it’s not just the companies that want to do more. In preparation for the label’s launch, Vestas Wind Systems, a major wind turbine manufacturer as well as the lead sponsor for the WindMade initiative, conducted a global consumer wind survey of 31,000 consumers worldwide to gauge public interest in the utilization of wind energy.

The results were overwhelmingly positive -- 90 percent of those surveyed wanted more renewable energy.

“Consumers are ready to act. Sixty-seven percent of 31,000 consumers globally have told us they would favor WindMade products, even at a premium,” said Morten Albæk, a vice president at Vestas. “WindMade empowers people to choose brands that choose wind.”

While Fjalldal says it’s too early to tell how much power consumption will be saved by the endeavor, he estimates the results will have a huge quantitative impact that will forever grow.

“If you take the average of the big companies, the amount of certified wind energy is in the hundreds of thousands of megawatt hours,” Fjalldal said. “We’re talking tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of households worth of annual power usage just in the companies we’re signing up today.

“And this is only the start,” Fjalldal added. “Really the ambition level for WindMade is not to have 50 or 60 companies. This is going to move into the hundreds and the thousands.

Samsung smartphone is World's No. 1

The report also said the growth of mobile devices worldwide totaled 440.5 million units sold during the third quarter, a 5.6 percent rise from a year earlier. The research firm said this growth could be due to inventory buildup from late shipping of new devices in the latter part of the quarter, as well as preparation for the holiday season.

Nokia continued to hold the top spot for mobile devices for the third quarter, accounting for 23.9 percent of global sales. This could be attributed to Nokia's offering of dual-sim and feature phones, the report said.

For smartphones, sales to end users was 115 million units for the third quarter. This figure showed a 42 percent growth over the same quarter last year. Smartphone sales were responsible for 26 percent of all mobile phone sales.

Based on the figures released by Gartner, Samsung is in the lead for smartphones in terms of vendor shipments (27.8 million units) and vendor market share (23.8 percent). Second place goes to Apple, which sold 17.1 million units and claimed a 14.6 percent market share. Nokia placed third with 16.8 million units sold and a market share of 14.4 percent.