Motorola Confirms Plans for Android Phones

Motorola has confirmed the suspicions of many in the blogosphere who claimed the company was planning devices for the Google-developed, mobile operating system, Android.

Speaking to BetaNews yesterday morning the company confirmed rumors that it was planning products that ran the OS, however the spokesperson refused to comment on rumors that Motorola was putting together an Android team consisting of as many as 350 people. "We’re excited about the innovation possibilities on Android, and [we] look forward to delivering great products in partnership with Google and the Open Handset Alliance (OHA)," Motorola said in a statement to BetaNews.

Speculation surrounding the company and possible Android devices hit the internet Monday when an Android developer told TechCrunch he had been approached by the company. The same source claimed Motorola was in the prosess of expanding its Android team, upping numbers from 50 to 350.

Times have been hard for Motorola as of late so the positive press coverage won’t go amiss. The company saw significant success with the introduction or its Razr line of handsets, which then turned out to be rather short lived. Motorola let go of over 2,500 of its staff in April. This was in addition to cuts of 7,500 made last year. March saw the company make the decision to split into two separate companies, one dealing with Mobile Devices and a separate arm for Broadband & Mobility Solutions. Motorola also made headlines in July when it filed a lawsuit against a former employee who went work for Apple following his departure from Motorola, alleging he had agreed not to join a competitor for a full two years.