Motorola Mobility

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Motorola Mobility scoops up security provider 3LM

Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. has acquired a Mountainview, Calif.-based company that makes the Android mobile operating system secure for business environments.

The acquisition will help Motorola sell more Android smart phones to business customers, a realm traditionally dominated by Research In Motion’s BlackBerry. Three Laws Mobility Inc., or 3LM, is a developer of security software and other products for Android. Get the full story »

AT&T to push Motorola Mobility’s Atrix 4G

AT&T Inc. is cozying up to Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. as the carrier seeks to bulk up its smartphone portfolio running on Google Inc.’s Android operating system in the wake of losing its exclusive hold on Apple Inc.’s iPhone.

AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega said the coming Motorola Atrix 4G will be the carrier’s leading device in its portfolio. Mr. de la Vega wouldn’t say how much money the carrier will spend on marketing the device, but he said it would receive amounts similar to campaigns for the iPhone. Get the full story »

Motorola Mobility shares rise on AT&T pledge

Motorola Mobility shares rose 5 percent after AT&T Inc. said Motorola’s next product would be its flagship phone as the pair look to compete against the new Apple Inc. iPhone at Verizon Wireless.

AT&T, which first showed off the Motorola Atrix phone January 5, has given up its more than three years of exclusive rights to sell the iPhone. Motorola has been seeking new partners since Verizon, its biggest customer, has selling the phone.

The pairing of Motorola and AT&T was not a surprise for analysts. But after shaving as much as 20 percent off Motorola shares in the days after its earnings report last week, investors showed some relief when AT&T said in a Wall Street Journal story that it would push the phone heavily . Get the full story »

Google’s Android now No. 1 smartphone platform

Google’s Android dethroned Nokia’s Symbian as the most popular smartphone platform in the last quarter of 2010, ending a reign that began with the birth of the industry 10 years ago.

Research firm Canalys said on Monday phonemakers sold 32.9 million Android-equipped phones in the last quarter, roughly seven times more than a year ago, compared with Symbian’s sales of 31 million.

The phones are produced by manufacturers that include Libertyville-based Motorola Mobility, Samsung and HTC. Get the full story »

With earnings glow over, Motorola Mobility shares fall

Shares in Motorola Mobility Holdings were down more than 11 percent, to $30.67, Thursday, a day after strong smart phone launches boosted the handset maker’s results in the fourth quarter.

Bloomberg reported Thursday that the imminent arrival of Apple Inc.’s iPhone at Verizon Wireless had slowed sales at Motorola’s biggest carrier.

To blunt the effect, Bloomberg reported, Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Jha said the company is introducing new phones including the Atrix, trying to sell more handsets through other U.S. carriers and bulk up sales in China and Latin America.

Get the full story »

Huawei sues Motorola over technology transfer

Chinese telecommunications company Huawei Technologies Co. sued Motorola and Nokia Siemens Networks Monday, seeking to stop the planned $1.2 billion sale of Motorola’s networks business to the European company.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, marks the first time Huawei has sued a U.S. company. Get the full story »

Motorola Mobility names Nike executive to board

Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., the newly independent cell phone and set-top box business of the former Motorola Inc., appointed Nike Inc. executive Jeanne P. Jackson to its board Thursday. Get the full story »

Icahn takes 11.4% stake in Motorola Mobility

Carl Icahn in 2007. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Activist investor Carl Icahn owns 11.4 percent of the newly formed Motorola Mobility, according to regulatory documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Icahn had been steadily building his stake in the old Motorola Inc. prior to the company’s separation into two independent, publicly traded companies on Jan. 4. Motorola Mobility, which makes mobile phones and TV set-top boxes, was spun off from Motorola. The remaining company, which makes communications equipment for government and business customers, was renamed Motorola Solutions.

According to regulatory filings, Icahn has 33.5 million shares in Motorola Mobility. His stake in the new company is roughly on par with his stake in the old Motorola. Get the full story »

Motorola, RIM may ship 6.5M fewer phones

From Bloomberg | Libertyville-based Motorola Mobility Holdings and Research In Motion may lose more than 6.5 million in combined phone shipments this year as Verizon Wireless begins to offer Apple’s iPhone, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The Verizon iPhone could lead to a 55 percent drop in Motorola’s earnings per share, Rod Hall, an analyst at JPMorgan in San Francisco, wrote in a research note.

With more devices, 4G to hit its stride in ‘11

Until recently, consumers wanting to take advantage of 4G wireless network speeds didn’t have much choice in devices. Carriers offered laptop cards and USB dongles, but the selection of smart phones and other gadgets was minimal.

This dynamic will change dramatically this year, thanks to a flurry of product launches from mobile operators that are eager to meet increasing consumer demand for fast wireless broadband and draw more revenue from data traffic. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, carriers announced more than 15 new 4G devices, many of them smart phones or tablets. Get the full story »

Motorola unveils tablet, ‘most powerful’ phone

The world’s most powerful smart phone.

Such a claim is a bold one, but Motorola Mobility is making it at the Consumer Electronics Show, the annual industry confab where companies try to one-up each other with the newest technology and flashiest product releases. Get the full story »

S&P raises credit rating on Motorola to ‘BBB’

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said today that it raised its corporate credit and senior unsecured ratings on Motorola Inc. to “BBB” from “BB+” and removed the ratings from CreditWatch Positive, where they were placed on Sept. 2. Get the full story »

Motorola’s successors see shares rise after spinoff

Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions began trading separately on Tuesday, the final step in Motorola’s two-and-half-year process in becoming two independent companies.

Motorola’s longtime ticker symbol, MOT, was retired on Tuesday as Schaumburg-based Motorola Inc. began trading under its new name, Motorola Solutions, with the ticker MSI. Motorola Mobility, which was spun off as a new company, trades under the ticker MMI.

Shares of Motorola Mobility, which includes the smartphone and TV set-top business, closed 9.5 percent higher at $33.12. Shares of Motorola Solutions Inc , which targets businesses with products like barcode scanners, closed up $2.46, or 7.6 percent, at $39.77.

Get the full story »

Motorola Mobility not moving HQ to Chicago

From Crain’s Chicago Business | Motorola Mobility, Motorola’s cell phone unit, reportedly has ruled out moving its headquarters to downtown Chicago. The company, which will split from the emergency-radio business Jan. 4, would keep its headquarters at its existing campus in Libertyville if it chooses to stay in Illinois, says a person familiar with the search. Get the full story>>

Motorola Mobility scoops up California tech firm

Motorola Mobility, the soon-to-be-independent division of Motorola Inc. that makes mobile devices, has acquired a California technology start-up that specializes in delivering music and video on demand.

Terms of the deal with Burlingame, Calif.-based Zecter Inc. were not disclosed. Motorola Inc. is separating into two companies on Jan. 4, becoming Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions. Motorola Mobility encompasses mobile devices and cable TV set-top boxes, while Motorola Solutions comprises communications equipment for government, public safety and industrial users. Each company will be publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Get the full story »