Motorola Mobility CEO, Dennis Woodside, rumoured to be moving to Dropbox
It’s not unusual to see upper management in companies get shaken up when acquisitions happen, and whether it was instigated by acquirer Lenovo or not, Motorola Mobility‘s CEO, Dennis Woodside, is rumoured to be following this familiar path. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Woodside will be leaving Motorola to take up the position of Chief Operations Officer at cloud storage giant Dropbox, and yes, this move might be considered by some to be a step backwards.
Woodside’s time at Motorola wasn’t without its downsides, most obvious of which was the fact Motorola was still floundering in the smartphone market despite a very innovative release in the Moto X and a surprisingly impressive device in the Moto G. I personally thought that Woodside was a very good leader, at least in the talks and interviews I’d seen him in and appeared to be genuinely interested and active in all of Motorola’s projects including its modular phone project, Project Ara.
If it is true, whatever the reasons for Woodside’s move, we wish him the best at Dropbox. What do you make of Dennis Woodside’s rumoured departure from Motorola Mobility? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Source: Wall Street Journal via engadget
Life’s good at Lenovo: shipping tons of tablets, making lots of money
Lenovo may be the world’s biggest PC maker, but it’s clearer than ever that much of the company’s growth now comes from mobile. The Chinese tech giant has reported a 30 percent year-over-year jump in its calendar fourth quarter profit ($265 million) that’s owed partly to massive spikes in non-PC shipments. Its smartphone deliveries grew by 47 percent to 13.9 million, and its tablet volume tripled to 3.4 million — apparently, the Yoga Tablet has been flying off the shelves. The combined mobile units were enough to eclipse computer shipments of 15.3 million, and “PC Plus” devices (phones, TVs and tablets) represented 16 percent of its total revenue versus the 11 percent from late 2012. That’s no mean feat when Lenovo just managed to rake in its highest-ever revenue, at $10.8 billion. And remember, this is all before the company finishes acquiring Motorola’s phone business; its best times may still be ahead.
Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside reportedly leaving to join Dropbox
Executive departures (voluntary and otherwise) aren’t uncommon after major acquisitions, and that may well be happening in the wake of Lenovo’s deal to acquire Motorola’s cellphone business from Google. The Wall Street Journal claims that Motorola Mobility CEO Dennis Woodside is leaving the company to become Dropbox’s first Chief Operations Officer. It’s not clear just what would be driving Woodside to take a less glamorous role; we’ve reached out to both companies for comment. If true, the move would bring an abrupt end to Woodside’s brief tenure as Moto’s leader. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him go, however — while he reinvigorated the phone pioneer and helped launch some of its best devices in recent memory, the company’s earnings didn’t follow suit.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google, Lenovo
Source: Wall Street Journal, Amir Efrati (Twitter)
Google will own a 6% stake in Lenovo after completing Motorola Deal
Oh Google, you are a sly dog. Apparently as part of the deal that sees the majority of Motorola Mobility get taken over by Lenovo (which, by the way, isn’t quite finalized yet), Google will own a 6% stake in Lenovo after completing Motorola deal. In financial speak, when the deal is done and dusted, Google will own 618.3 million shares in Lenovo worth $1.213 USD each, bringing Google’s stake in Lenovo to a grand total of $750 million.
Whether this is more a token of goodwill or a symbol of solidarity that Google still believes in Motorola, it interesting to see Google still trying to keep one eye on what’s happening with its former acquisition, but whether it will actually have any pull over the operations at Lenovo, and by extension Motorola, remains to be seen.
What do you think about Google taking out a stake in Lenovo? Do you think it means anything on Google’s part? Let us know what you think of the deal in the comments.
Source: Reuters via Phone Arena
Motorola holding press event on February 25
Motorola has sent out invitations to an event for press and executives which takes place on February 25. Coinciding with Mobile World Congress, the soiree also happens to be held in Barcelona, Spain.
Normally, this would indicate a potential device launch or introduction of a new line of products but that may not be the case this year. Most likely this will be Motorola and Lenovo’s time to address concerns, talk road map and strategies, and speak about the new acquisition.
Motorola indicates that more details will come to light in the next few weeks leading into the event.
via CNET
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Motorola to hold press conference at MWC 2014 on February 25th
Only a week removed from Motorola’s acqusition by Lenovo, it seems all the furore surrounding the deal has already lost all its romance. I think it would be safe to say many of us don’t expect to hear much from Motorola, but they have in fact scheduled a press conference on February 25th at MWC 2014. To be fair, after the sale to Lenovo, we’ve all be unsure what is going to even happen to Motorola Mobility as we know it, but perhaps this press conference will give us a bit more of an insight as to what’s happened behind the scenes.
We’ve also heard whispers of an updated Moto X and sure enough, Motorola’s flagship device does make a sneak appearance in its invitation from behind a beach towel. Maybe Motorola is going to offer fabric covers for the Moto X as well? We’ve also heard rumours that Motorola also has a smartwatch and a phablet device undergoing development, but they sounded a bit far off to be announced in a few weeks time. While we’d like to think Motorola has something up its sleeve, whatever they have to say at MWC 2014 will likely define their direction for the foreseeable future considering Lenovo is now pulling the strings.
What do you think Motorola is going to say at their press conference? Do you think they are going to announce a new device, say, a refreshed Moto X? Let us know what you suspect in the comments.
Source: Pocket-lint via Phone Arena
Too soon for a Lenovo Nexus 6 concept? Not so says Jermaine Smit
One of the most intriguing, if sensationalist, theories to come out of the Lenovo deal to acquire Motorola Mobility from Google is that the Chinese-based manufacturer will be producing the next and last Nexus device, a rumour which originated with Eldar Murtazin. Murtazin has gotten quite a few things right over the years, so his words likely won’t be taken lightly, but considering how past rumours about Nexus devices have been very wrong before (even catching out the great evleaks) we can’t help me take this news with more than just a grain of salt. Nevertheless, that hasn’t stopped one designer from coming up with his take on a Lenovo Nexus 6 concept.
This concept design comes to us courtesy of Jermaine Smit, who’s given us a very minimalistic, though very elegant, concept of a potential Lenovo Nexus 6. It’s interesting to ponder, even though we have no idea what Lenovo has in mind for the U.S., both design-wise and strategically, or if Google would even work with Lenovo considering they didn’t even really work with Motorola when Google owned them.
This definitely won’t be the last Lenovo Nexus 6, or even just Nexus 6, concept that we’ll see before a tangible device is released by Google, but it’s always nice to dream. What do you think about Smit’s design? Do you believe Lenovo will be making the next Nexus device? Let us know in the comments.
Source: Concept Phones via PocketNow
Lenovo Making a Nexus Device?! Red Nexus 5 is Almost Here! – The ManDroid Show
Happy Friday Android friends. Time for the video portion where I recap the biggest news for the past few days. The Lenovo and Motorola coming together surprise was obviously the biggest news that hit. A lot of people out there have mixed feelings about it. There is even talk about a Lenovo Nexus being one of the last Nexus devices to be released. Also, The red Nexus 5 should hit the PLay Store next week. Enjoy the show!
News Topics
Google sells Motorola to Lenovo
Lenovo making one of the last Nexus devices?
Motorola phablet and smartwatch rumored
Red Nexus 5 hitting Play Store next week
Red Nexus 5 render
Nokia X spotted in orange
[RUMOUR] Motorola still has a 6-inch phablet and smartwatch in the Pipeline
The recent deal between Lenovo and Google shocked much of the tech industry; with Lenovo acquiring Motorola Mobility, what will happen to all that impressive momentum they had built up after the launch of the surprising Moto G and releasing Android 4.4 to Moto X and Moto G in record time? Well, as it turns out, that momentum might still be able to carry on for a while longer as it’s being reported that Motorola still has a 6-inch phablet and smartwatch in the pipeline.
The rumoured phablet will likely take its design cues from the Moto X and Moto G, and would presumably utilize more performance-focused hardware as is generally more likely in a larger device. Most interesting in this rumour, though, is the mention of a smartwatch; if the Moto X’s almost-stock Android veneer and heavy Google Now utilization is anything to go by, we might have something that closely resembles the Nexus smartwatch we’ve all been hankering for.
Even so, anything could happen now that Motorola is under Lenovo, but should Lenovo allow these products to stay in the pipeline, it will probably be Motorola’s last, big hurrah. What do you make of this rumour: do you think these Motorola devices will ever come out? Would you get one? Let us know in the comments.
Source: Weibo via Phone Arena
Daily Roundup: Xperia Z1 Compact review, Facebook Paper and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Facebook unveils Paper for iPhone
Earlier today Facebook introduced yet another news aggregator into the world. Dubbed Paper, this (as of now) iPhone-only app promises a distraction-free layout with curated news from well-known sites and “emerging voices.” Follow the link for more information.
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact review
Sony’s new Xperia Z1 Compact smartphone might be smaller than the original Z1, but its internals are nearly identical. Starting at £440 in the UK, this handset brings the same waterproof housing, 20.7-megapixel camera and quad-core 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 chipset as its older sibling. Click through for our review.
Lenovo’s Motorola deal and American manufacturing
Lenovo’s swift purchase of Motorola raises many questions about its footprint in the smartphone marketplace. But what about Moto’s employees? Click on through as Engadget’s Terrence O’Brien breaks down how the deal could affect Moto’s US manufacturing.
Satya Nadella reportedly the next Microsoft CEO
Microsoft has yet to announce a successor to previous CEO Steve Ballmer, but if a report from Bloomberg is true, Microsoft Cloud VP Satya Nadella might be next in line. Follow the link for more.
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