(By Balaseshan) Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Motorola Mobility is reportedly developing on a new smartphone -- codenamed "X-phone" -- in a move to grab market share from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Samsung Electronics in the smartphone market.
Motorola is designing its marquee handset with cutting-edge features to stand apart from existing phones when it is released next year, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.
Motorola is primarily working on two fronts: devices that will be sold by carrier partner Verizon Wireless, such as the "Droid" line of smartphones, and the X phone, the WSJ reported citing the people. Motorola is also anticipated working on an "X" tablet after the phone.
Google's new hardware unit has run into hurdles associated with manufacturing and supply-chain management that have caused the company to rethink some initial plans for the X phone, such as using a bendable screen, the people told the WSJ.
Motorola plans to enhance the X Phone with its recent acquisition of Viewdle, an imaging and gesture-recognition software developer. The new smartphone is due out sometime next year, the business daily said quoting the people.
Google Chief Executive Larry Page has told the Motorola team to "think big" and aspire to reach the scale of Samsung's mobile business, and promised a significant marketing budget for the unit, the newspaper reported citing the persons.
But Page so far hasn't pushed Android to aid Motorola by giving it early access to the most updated versions of Android software, as it has with Samsung, in order to avoid the appearance that Motorola is receiving preferential treatment, the WSJ said quoting the people.
GOOG is trading down 1.09% at $707.81 on Monday, while AAPL trades up 0.01% at $519.39.