Motorola's Jha trumpets Android, but remains coy about new device

SAN DIEGO--Despite speculation that a new device announcement was on tap--and news of a partnership between Google and Verizon Wireless that appeared to set the stage for such an announcement--Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha did not disclose any new Android devices during his appearance at the company's MotoDEV conference here.

Instead, the company used the event to discuss how it would support Android developers. The company touted Accuweather, Amazon MP3, Barnes & Noble, CardStar, Comcast Entertainment Group, Hands On Mobile, Howcast.com, Midomi, MySpace and others as partners supporting Android and, as a result, Motorola's efforts in the Android space.

"You guys do some crazy-ass things," exclaimed Jha during his keynote presentation at the Motorola developer event. "Developers will play a huge role. ... We value your input."

Jha reiterated Motorola's plan to announce a second Android-based smartphone sometime this year, but he did not disclose any more details. He also reiterated the company's plans to use Android in the "vast majority" of its devices for 2010, and said the company would release "multiple tens" of devices next year. Jha, and the executives who followed him onstage after his appearance, extolled the virtues of Android as a smartphone platform, and the importance of smartphones in general.

The smartphone "is definitely a device that will define the growth of this industry," Jha said, adding that, in the future, "all phones will be smart."

Indeed, perhaps the most interesting nugget of news on Android devices came not from Motorola but from Verizon Wireless and Google. In a picture released following the announcement of the companies' new partnership [1], Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam appears to be holding an unannounced Android device. Speculation immediately turned to Motorola's rumored "Sholes" device, which is widely expected to be announced by Motorola in the coming weeks and released by Verizon Wireless in time for the critical fourth-quarter holiday shopping season. A representative from Verizon Wireless declined to comment, and a Motorola representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the topic. Google CEO Eric Schmidt, meanwhile, was pictured holding a Verizon-branded HTC Android device, and a Verizon spokeswoman declined to comment on that device as well, telling FierceWireless that they are just "prototypes."

For more:
- see this BGR post [2]
- see this Motorola release [3]

Related Articles:
Rumor Mill: Verizon to unveil Motorola Android phone next week [4]
Rumor Mill: Motorola, Acer headline rash of Android tidbits [5]
Motorola's first Android phone, Cliq, headed for T-Mobile USA [6]
Motorola's Android specs leak [7]
Two U.S. carriers will launch Moto Android phones in Q4 [8]