Motorola: Windows Mobile 7 devices will be out in 2010

February 4, 2009 — 10:59am ET | By Paul Mah

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Android
Windows Mobile 7
Sanjay Jha
Mobile Devices
Motorola

As Motorola confirmed a massive fourth-quarter loss, the beleaguered mobile phone manufacturer has also let slip that the release date of Microsoft's Windows Mobile 7 (WM7) operating system will be in 2010. This probably comes as no surprise despite Microsoft's refusal to peg any date to the release date of WM7 because it pushed back the release once already.

According to CEO of Motorola's Mobile Devices division, Sanjay Jha, Motorola will be focusing on making Android phones throughout 2009. Jha's statement fills in the last bit of the puzzle as to the direction that Motorola will take. There had been widespread speculation that the company would abandon the Windows Mobile platform. The rumors surfaced as word spread that Motorola is hiring engineers to work on the Android platform.

He said, "As you know, Windows 6 series is available in 2009 and as compared to Android, we believe in 2009 Android is more competitive; more of our effort and focus in 2009 is going to Android, but in 2010 when Windows 7 will become available, we will then participate in a more focused way in Windows Mobile 7 in 2010."

Jha also said that Motorola will put out fewer phones this year, though they will be higher-end devices, with some of them running Android. Despite the woes in Motorola's Mobile Devices division, the company's Enterprise Mobility Solutions--which design rugged handheld computers for use in commercial vehicles, for example--had sales of $2.2 billion in Q4 2008, with a profit of $466 million.

To read more on the article:
- check out this article from WindowsForDevices.com
- check out this article from AppScout