Did Google Toss the X Phone back over the Wall to Motorola?

[cereal killer]

For those of you who have been anxiously awaiting an announcement and release of the Motorola X Phone we have a sobering rumor to report. We must reiterate this is unconfirmed at this time, but it is worth noting. According to an analyst from China the "X Phone project has been abandoned and returned back to Motorola for further development." It appears that Google is no longer interested in the X Phone because it lacks of innovation and new technology. So who is this analyst? Her name is Sun Chang Xu and she is an analyst from China with more than 18 years experience of observing the Chinese electronics industry. GSM Insider reports her Weibo account (Chinese Twitter) has nearly 1 million followers, and while that means absolutely nothing, it's worth noting that she does have a very large following and a few people think she has some things to say.

Now before this rumor spins out of control, readers must keep in mind that this does not indicate the project has been scrapped all together. It's simply saying the X Phone project has been tossed back over the wall to Motorola for further development. A lot is riding on this phone and the early rumors report that this phone is going to have quite the "wow factor", so it's not entirely out of the realm of possibilities that they need to go back to the drawing board and pump up this handset to wow the consumer. We will follow this story closely and if anything new breaks we will update everyone with the latest news on the X Phone.

Source: Weibo via GSM Insider

 

[LoneWolfArcher]

SO, in essence, Google threw this back over the wall to.......itself? :blink:

 

[themuttt]

so it really is the new Bionic

 

[skennelly]

"It appears that Google is no longer interested in the X Phone because it lacks of innovation and new technology."

I never thought Google's nexus phones were all that innovative. Matter of fact, their specs have always seemed less than impressive to me.

 

[cereal killer]

"It appears that Google is no longer interested in the X Phone because it lacks of innovation and new technology."

I never thought Google's nexus phones were all that innovative. Matter of fact, their specs have always seemed less than impressive to me.

You make an excellent point. Why does Google care if the innovation is not there now? The Nexus is about where phones should be. Perhaps this is a new direction for them or perhaps it's business as usual and we'll see it soon. Ughhh the word "soon" makes me cringe :big smile:

 

[themuttt]

You make an excellent point. Why does Google care if the innovation is not there now? The Nexus is about where phones should be. Perhaps this is a new direction for them or perhaps it's business as usual and we'll see it soon. Ughhh the word "soon" makes me cringe :big smile:

Maybe Nexus is to showcase the OS where Moto is to push the hardware aspect?

 

[XMasterMoronX]

Screw IT. I might as well go with the S4 at this point. Still gonna wait until I/O though

 

[cereal killer]

Maybe Nexus is to showcase the OS where Moto is to push the hardware aspect?

This is what I am hoping for with the X Phone. A feature rich OS wrapped in a great piece of hardware. I don't care about specs (top tier phones nowadays are more than capable) I want to see unsurpassed build quality

 

[dgstorm]

You make an excellent point. Why does Google care if the innovation is not there now? The Nexus is about where phones should be. Perhaps this is a new direction for them or perhaps it's business as usual and we'll see it soon.

Or perhaps this story is simply bogus. The source is very suspect. Speculation from some "analyst" who needs to justify her position by sharing her resume length is laughable. Plus, it makes no logical sense. Why would Google kill a product they haven't even officially announced yet? It was likely never a Google product to begin with. Yes, Motorola is owned by Google, but that doesn't mean that Google ever intended to release the X Phone under the Google branding. They have the Nexus line for that.

Most of the intel we have received over the past 6-8 months or more has suggested this was always a Moto project. How can it get "kicked over the wall" back to Motorola, when it was always over their to begin with? You can probably chuck this story into the nonsense category and move on.

 

[themuttt]

Or perhaps this story is simply bogus. The source is very suspect. Speculation from some "analyst" who needs to justify her position by sharing her resume length is laughable. Plus, it makes no logical sense. Why would Google kill a product they haven't even officially announced yet? It was likely never a Google product to begin with. Yes, Motorola is owned by Google, but that doesn't mean that Google ever intended to release the X Phone under the Google branding. They have the Nexus line for that.

Most of the intel we have received over the past 6-8 months or more has suggested this was always a Moto project. How can it get "kicked over the wall" back to Motorola, when it was always over their to begin with? You can probably chuck this story into the nonsense category and move on.

google (being the boss) probably has final say on whether it sees the light of day or not. If the rumors are true, then they did not like the phone and want more from it, so they sent it back to Moto

 

[dgstorm]

This is what I am hoping for with the X Phone. A feature rich OS wrapped in a great piece of hardware. I don't care about specs (top tier phones nowadays are more than capable) I want to see unsurpassed build quality

This for sure! "CK" hit it right on the head. I agree that the hardware has become so powerful with phones that comparing processors has become nearly useless. Most smartphones today handle everything you throw at them without stutter or lag (other than the fancier games coming out). The best thing they can improve now is the quality of the device, the feature-set and the battery life.

 

[dgstorm]

google (being the boss) probably has final say on whether it sees the light of day or not. If the rumors are true, then they did not like the phone and want more from it, so they sent it back to Moto

My point is that there was no "sending it back to Moto" to happen. Just because Google has final oversight, doesn't mean it was ever going to leave Moto as a Google device to begin with. Remember, the source of this story is just some random analyst without a shred of proof. She was merely speculating...

 

[cereal killer]

Or perhaps this story is simply bogus. The source is very suspect. Speculation from some "analyst" who needs to justify her position by sharing her resume length is laughable. Plus, it makes no logical sense. Why would Google kill a product they haven't even officially announced yet? It was likely never a Google product to begin with. Yes, Motorola is owned by Google, but that doesn't mean that Google ever intended to release the X Phone under the Google branding. They have the Nexus line for that.

Most of the intel we have received over the past 6-8 months or more has suggested this was always a Moto project. How can it get "kicked over the wall" back to Motorola, when it was always over their to begin with? You can probably chuck this story into the nonsense category and move on.

This is where the lines are blurred and I see exactly where you are going with this, but Eric Schmidt's comments leads me to believe they MAY have some influence over this device. The reason I say that is because of past comments by Google's Eric Schmidt

Does this prove that they are directly involved in the project? No. But making those types of comments and then failing to deliver on those could pose some problems. I also don't think anyone said it was going to be a Google branded device, it has been speculated from the beginning that it would have Google's influence not branding.

Again, you make a very valid point, but I wouldn't dismiss the rumor as outright nonsense just yet. The analysts does have some experience (18 years) so that should count for a little something Skepticism yes, nonsense? not so sure...

 

[themuttt]

My point is that there was no "sending it back to Moto" to happen. Just because Google has final oversight, doesn't mean it was ever going to leave Moto as a Google device to begin with. Remember, the source of this story is just some random analyst without a shred of proof. She was merely speculating...

it doesn't need to be a Google device. Plenty of parent companies send things back to their divisions without it ever having the name of the parent company on it. I think you are trying to play semantics

 

[gadgetrants]

This for sure! "CK" hit it right on the head. I agree that the hardware has become so powerful with phones that comparing processors has become nearly useless. Most smartphones today handle everything you throw at them without stutter or lag (other than the fancier games coming out). The best thing they can improve now is the quality of the device, the feature-set and the battery life.

I agree -- this is spot-on. But it also begs the question...I joked a week ago that if "my eyeballs didn't pop out of my head and instantly burst into flames," then it wasn't the X. What EXACTLY does a new phone need to be that remarkable? So far the scant bit of news that we have on the question suggests this is marketing hype, not in the traditional sense, but more in the "We're gonna promise the moon and the stars -- and then get bogged down in delays, rumors, and back-pedaling." I think the Chinese story has the smell of truthiness to it, or at least, I'd have to bet that googorola will not produce anything this year (or maybe in the next 12 months) that makes anyone say WOW. I'm pretty sure they can get a HEY! or a NICE! out of us, but by definition a WOW is a quantum leap beyond what's already out there.

-Matt