Google to take on Apple, Samsung with X-phone
22 Dec 2012
Following its acquisition of Motorola earlier this year, Google is looking at grabbing market share from Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd with the development of a handset codenamed ''X-phone'', according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter.
The internet search company acquired Motorola in May for $12.5 billion as it sought to bolster its patent portfolio (See: EU and US regulators approve Google-Motorola merger). The company's Android mobile operating system competes with rivals such as Apple and Samsung.
The people told the paper that Motorola was working on two fronts - devices that would be sold by its carrier partner Verizon Wireless, and on the X phone.
Motorola has plans for enhancing the X Phone with after its recent acquisition of Viewdle, an imaging and gesture-recognition software developer. The new handset would is slated for launch sometime next year, according to the business daily, which cited a person familiar with the plans.
Further the company is also expected to come out with an "X" tablet after the phone. Chief executive Larry Page is said to have promised a significant marketing budget for the unit, according to the newspaper said quoting the persons.
According to report, engineers at Motorola were working hard on the new handset, to be released some time next year. The release would mark the first instance of Google building a phone with struggling Motorola.
It also highlights the difficulties involved in creation of the next-generation phone, including the negative effect of new features on battery life to the fact that it was pipped to the post by iPhone 5 earlier this year.
