Motorola Inc chief executive officer Ed Zander leaves his laptop behind for overnight trips and says he spends 30 percent less time on the computer a week than he once did. To make his company's next mobile phone a success, he's betting more people will follow suit.
Motorola, the world's No. 2 handset maker, plans to introduce the Q this quarter. Q, a competitor to Palm Inc's Treo, has a slim design with a full keyboard, software from Microsoft Corp and high-speed Internet access.
The features make it possible to replace many of the personal computer's most important functions, Zander said in an interview.
PHOTO: AP
"It's your PC," Zander said of the Q phone at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas yesterday. "Over the next five years, these devices are going to begin to take part of the time out of the total usage of the PC."
Zander's remarks underscore a shift in the industry, where the lines between the phone, PC and consumer electronics markets have blurred as people seek to play music and videos from a range of devices that all work together. Schaumburg, Illinois-based Motorola, which also makes TV set-top boxes, faces new competition from Intel Corp's Viiv chips that aim to replace those boxes with PCs in the living room.
"So many technologies are in transition," said Albert Lin, an analyst at American Technology Research in San Francisco who rates Motorola shares "buy." "One thing is for sure, all the different solutions proposed will not be successful. It's unlikely you'll give up a laptop."
Motorola shares rose US$0.82 to US$24.34 on Friday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They added 31 percent last year.
Zander, 58, said the key to cracking both the mobile and home entertainment markets will be simplicity. He cited Cupertino, California-based Apple Computer Inc and its iPod music player as an example of a company that figured out how to make a product win by being easy to use.
PC makers won't win customers in consumer electronics unless they avoid some of the early problems with computers, such as crashing systems, he said.
"That model of complexity -- reboot, viruses, just the inherent overhead of that thing -- isn't going to win," Zander said. "Whoever wins this thing is going to make it as easy as plugging into a socket for electricity."
Motorola's share of the handset market rose to 18.8 percent in the third quarter from 13.5 percent a year earlier, according to Stamford, Connecticut-based Gartner Inc. Espoo, Finland-based Nokia Oyj's share rose to 32.6 percent from 31 percent. Gartner estimates that 810 million handsets were sold last year.
To expand on Motorola's success with new phones such as the metal Razr model, Zander is touting more video, audio and better Internet access.
Zander announced agreements at the show this week with Mountain View, California-based Google Inc, operator of the biggest Internet search engine, and Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo Inc, which runs the most-visited Web site. The deals will make accessing their services easier on Motorola phones.
He unveiled a pact with Rochester, New York-based Eastman Kodak Co to work on technology that makes it easier to download, print and organize digital photos taken with camera phones.
"We've had a lot of good success bringing cool products to the market," Zander said. "The next generation is about cool experiences."
MISINFORMATION: The generated content tends to adopt China’s official stance, such as ‘Taiwan is currently governed by the Chinese central government,’ the NSB said Five China-developed artificial intelligence (AI) language models exhibit cybersecurity risks and content biases, an inspection conducted by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The five AI tools are: DeepSeek, Doubao (豆包), Yiyan (文心一言), Tongyi (通義千問) and Yuanbao (騰訊元寶), the bureau said, advising people to remain vigilant to protect personal data privacy and corporate business secrets. The NSB said it, in accordance with the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), has reviewed international cybersecurity reports and intelligence, and coordinated with the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau and the National Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Bureau to conduct an inspection of China-made AI language
BOOST IN CONFIDENCE: The sale sends a clear message of support for Taiwan and dispels rumors that US President Donald Trump ‘sold out’ the nation, an expert said The US government on Thursday announced a possible sale to Taiwan of fighter jet parts, which was estimated to cost about US$330 million, in a move that an expert said “sends a clear message of support for Taiwan” amid fears that Washington might be wavering in its attitude toward Taipei. It was the first announcement of an arms sale to Taiwan since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House earlier this year. The proposed package includes non-standard components, spare and repair parts, consumables and accessories, as well repair and return support for the F-16, C-130 and Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft,
CHECKING BOUNDARIES: China wants to disrupt solidarity among democracies and test their red lines, but it is instead pushing nations to become more united, an expert said The US Department of State on Friday expressed deep concern over a Chinese public security agency’s investigation into Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) for “secession.” “China’s actions threaten free speech and erode norms that have underpinned the cross-strait ‘status quo’ for decades,” a US Department of State spokesperson said. The Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau late last month listed Shen as “wanted” and launched an investigation into alleged “secession-related” criminal activities, including his founding of the Kuma Academy, a civil defense organization that prepares people for an invasion by China. The spokesperson said that the US was “deeply concerned” about the bureau investigating Shen
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
RSS