Finding itself at a windswept crossroads, buffeted by a sub-par performance in the second quarter, Motorola Inc. is reaching out to the media with a message:
We’re still innovating in pursuit of “seamless mobility,” the company’s grand strategy to connect consumers to whatever they want or need, whether that’s social networks, business data, information, entertainment or their own home.
As that vision is realized, piece by piece, consumers will have access to all their digital interactions with the world in a personalized manner, accessible anywhere on any device.
To be sure, it’s a familiar mantra that Motorola’s top executives have chanted for some time in favorable settings. But the traditionally uncommunicative handset giant apparently has decided to reach into its ranks and send forth its most articulate executives to keep Motorola’s vision alive during trying times.
Fred Kitson, a Motorola VP for applications research, said last week that the Schaumburg, Ill.-based vendor is realizing aspects of its vision across all its product lines and services.
Kitson, an electrical engineer with decades of research-and-development management experience at Hewlett Packard, joined Motorola in 2005. He oversees research at Motorola’s Applications Research Center in Schaumburg, under the company’s chief technology officer, Padmasree Warrior.
Are we there yet?
The pursuit of technology and solutions, Kitson said, is “a journey, not a destination.” Today, R&D is focused on what people need or want to do and the technology that enables that, rather than the past paradigm of developing technology in search of a market.
Thus the perennial question of “are we there yet?” is difficult to answer, but the perennial response-“soon”-is not inappropriate in Kitson’s view. Pieces of seamless mobility-“use cases”-are in place now, he said.
Despite Motorola’s sluggish financial performance, the company continues to work methodically and energetically to attain its goals, Kitson said. That means pursuing “four Cs”: communications, content, community and commerce. Between its work in handsets, networks and “connected homes,” Motorola is well-positioned to capitalize on its strengths to deliver device-agnostic content and services, according to the research executive.
Seamless handoffs between cellular networks, Wi-Fi and WiMAX, coupled with software platforms that allow disparate content and services to flow freely back-and-forth in such a system, will be critical to this vision, Kitson said.
Providing applications with a common look and feel, regardless of their mode of delivery or access, is also important. Motorola is working on “avatar” technology that presents a personalized icon as the means of interaction; imagine an anthropomorphic character, perhaps one you create, that delivers your news or receives instructions from you regardless of your location or device. Applications and services will go “multi-modal,” as users add words or voice to photographs or videos, for instance, according to personal taste.
In a wide-ranging but brief conversation, Kitson touched on only a few basic points and use cases to drive home his theme: Motorola’s short-term fortunes have grabbed headlines, but its labs are delivering a brave new world in real time.
The perennial question-“are we there yet?”-inevitably morphs into “is Motorola there yet?” and Kitson is a believer in his company’s vast pool of engineering talent and R&D expertise, as well as the heft Motorola brings to its network partners around the globe. Motorola’s software developer program will also feed innovation, he said.
“The vision part is sold, internally,” Kitson said. “We’re in flight at all levels. If you will, we’ve been pregnant for some time. Now we’re talking about the delivery. We’re starting to show our customers what we’ve got so far. ‘Follow Me TV’ for instance, is an available product that sends your content around your house, whichever room you go to. In the future, we’ll be offering new services based on near-field communications, RFID tags and Symbol’s bar-code innovations.”
The ground is moving underneath the industry’s feet, as new protocols, standards and technologies are wedded to existing protocols, standards and technologies, the executive said. In that fluid environment, Motorola is delivering on its vision, according to Kitson.
“We’re sitting on a goldmine of technological innovation here,” Kitson concluded.
