Hmm, Hov, you may want to check the fine print on whatever deal you've got with Moto, because these Jay-Z-branded MOTOROKR S7-HD Bluetooth headset aren't exactly big pimpin' -- and compared to Dre's big ol' cans, they look downright sad. Of course, the FCC's legendarily nasty product photography isnt helping here, but even A2DP stereo support and the integrated mic can't salvage this mess -- was this really worth unretiring for?

[Via Crave]

While legend has it that the Alexander possesses a beauty that only a mother could see, Motorola's Atila looks pretty sharp from here. The codenamed handset is said to be Alexander's non-QWERTY counterpart, boasting quad-band GSM / GPRS / EDGE, tri-band UMTS / HSDPA / HSUPA, a 2.8-inch QVGA (320 x 240) display, 802.11b/g WiFi, Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and a Qualcomm 7201A chipset. Mum's the word on a price or release date, but we'll be sure to keep you in the loop.

Uh oh, Moto. Go 'head with your bad self. Just days after posting a meager profit (but a profit nonetheless) and maintaining your position in third in worldwide mobile market share, along comes a report claiming that you're still numero uno in the United States. While handset sales overall shot up 5.3% here in Q2, Motorola maintained a 26% share and managed to stare down at least a few naysayers. In related news, LG held tight to the silver with 22%, while RIM gained a double-digit market share increase thanks to sales of its oh-so-hot BlackBerry handset. Number nerds, feel free to tap the read link for even more fractions and decimals.

[Via RCRWireless]

Motorola is claiming success in the latest round of FCC white space device testing, countering Microsoft's numerous failed attempts. "It worked as well as we said it would," said Motorola's Steve Sharkey. So there. Motorola's device is mostly based on its geolocation capabilities, which in addition to its "sensing" tech allow it to know where which spectrum is being used by digital TV in that particular area and avoid it proactively. Sharkey calls the tech "absolute, solid protection," which should make members of the white space coalition happy -- though we haven't heard positive word from Philips, Adaptrum and InfoComm yet, who were also testing devices alongside Motorola, but aren't using the geolocation technology. That, and the FCC has the final word on all of this, so we'll just have to wait for that word from on high before we start riotous, interference free partying in the streets.

[Via dailywireless.org]

Surely that "last stand" Motorola handset is still burned into your memory, right? No? Anywho, said mobile was just given a face courtesy of Boy Genius, and it's an, um, interesting face at that. We'll let you be the judge on its unsightliness (or beauty, depending on inebriation level), but aside from design, we're expecting this one to include Windows Mobile 6.1, NVIDIA graphics, a 5- to 8-megapixel camera, A-GPS and a Q4 release date. As always, we'll be keeping an ear to the ground for more.

Moving just a tad downmarket from the mighty morphin' E8, Moto has rolled out three new members of its music-centric ROKR series today: the EM25 slider, EM28 flip, and EM30 candybar. The EM30 probably feels the most familiar, aping the E8's design language but trashing the touch-sensitive wheel for a plain ol' d-pad. It does, however, carry over the E8's so-called ModeShift morphing keypad and features an FM radio with RDS, 3.5mm headphone jack, and Windows Media compatibility. The EM28 brings the same style to a clamshell, while the EM25 reps the slider form factor. We're seeing some shots of a T-Mobile branded EM30 in here, too, so it looks like the carrier wants something to slot in right below the E8 in its Moto lineup -- a wise move, considering the E8's considerable expense. Look for the EM30 to launch first in Taiwan (sorry, T-Mob) followed by other markets later in the quarter, while the EM25 and EM28 should launch on a more global scale in the coming weeks.

Motorola announced today that it would be appointing Qualcomm's former COO Sanjay Jha to head up its ailing handset division -- much to the chagrin of our own Ryan Block. Jha will also take on co-executive duties for the parent company along with current CEO Greg Brown. The news comes hot on the heels of speculation that the electronics-maker will spin off its mobile phone wing as a separate, publicly traded entity, though chatter persists that an outright sale of the division may be more economically advisable at this stage. So here's the question that begs asking: why has Moto gone the co-CEO route? Whether it's a matter of the board's confidence in Brown's abilities, or a by-product of some unseen moves, it comes off as unusual at best.

So we waffled on whether to go with a sad Moto or happy Moto face, but as we've stated in the past, we suppose we'll keep on keepin' on with the former until something marvelous happens. Nearly four months to the day after Motorola split in two, along comes word that the separated home and networks division will now be segmented into three distinct units: broadband home solutions, broadband access solutions and cellular networks. According to a statement put out by the firm, the "organizational change will ensure that home and networks mobility remains agile, focused and ideally aligned to realize its growth potential," which is about as canned a statement as you could ever hope for. We've heard that three's company, but who knows how it'll play out here.

Be still, our hearts! After watching the wireless HD / HDMI sector fumble along for years on end, a team of mega-corps have finally agreed to push their self-interests aside and collaborate on a standard. WHDI creator AMIMON has joined forces with Motorola, Samsung, Sony and Sharp in order to form "a special interest group to develop a comprehensive new industry standard for multi-room audio, video and control connectivity" utilizing the aforementioned Wireless Home Digital Interface technology. Reportedly, the group will have a standard completed before 2009 dawns, but we all know how easily these things can get pushed under the rug. Nevertheless, the overriding goal here is to "enhance the current WHDI technology to enable wireless streaming of uncompressed HD video and audio between CE devices such as LCD and plasma HDTVs, multimedia projectors, AV receivers, DVD and BD players, set-top-boxes, game consoles and PCs." A tall order, sure, but one we're elated to see taken on. Full release (and promo spot) after the break.

It's hard enough for Motorola's handset division to go about its business these days without losing talent, but losing executives to Apple's iPhone team? That's just a straight-up slap in the face, and Moto's not gonna take it lying down. The We Generation has filed suit against Michael Fenger, the dude running its handset business for the EMEA market for six years until March this year, when he quit to take up a posh job as Apple's veep of global iPhone sales. That isn't a problem in itself -- businessfolk switch teams all the time -- but it seems Mr. Fenger had an agreement in place not to work for a competitor inside of two years following his departure. Moto claims he "was privy to the pricing, margins, customer initiatives, allocation of resources, product development, multiyear product, business and talent planning and strategies being used by Motorola" (not to say that data's worth much more than the paper it's written on these days) and wants over a million bucks back plus a court order banning him from working for Cupertino for those promised two years retroactively to March 31; non-compete clauses generally aren't valid in California, but since this one was executed in Illinois and the case is filed in Chicago, they've got a shot here. Note to current execs still out there in Schaumburg: better start righting that ship you're on, because you ain't getting on a more buoyant one without a fight.

[Via CNET]

Things have been looking pretty bleak for Motorola and its attempts to salvage its handset division for some time now, but a number of analysts are now painting an even clearer picture of just how bad things might be. According to BusinessWeek, some analysts are saying that with spin-off plans looking less and less likely, Motorola may revert back to its original plan to sell off the handset division outright, although Envisioneering Group's Richard Doherty says it "would be lucky to fetch $500 million." As BusinessWeek points out, that very same analyst pegged the business at a hefty $8 billion just last year. Analyst Richard Windsor of Nomura even went so far as to say that Motorola might actually have to pay someone to take the division off its hands. Now that's an idea we can get behind.

[Via Unwired View]

It looks like Motorola and Verizon are getting ready to take a third crack at the Q9 form factor, following up the Q9m and Q9c -- and this time around, there's a little something extra in store. On top of the EV-DO Rev. A radio, the so-called "Napoleon" (codename, of course) features GSM, because -- surprise, surprise -- businesspeople who use Windows Mobile devices tend to do just a bit of traveling. It looks like Moto has taken this opportunity to give the Q9 meme a little nip-tuck job, too, with a rounded body and a tastefully-applied ring of chrome around the top edge. They've even tossed in a fingerprint scanner for good measure, a tip o' the hat to the suits who'll undoubtedly populate the upper 90 percent of this sucker's client base. No word on a release date or price, but can we cautiously submit a thumbs-up for the design direction here?

Shoot, all Motorola had to do was change from pink mahogany to this nice, normal, compliant shade of black, and that would've been enough of an update to justify a model name change. There's more, though: the V9x will officially offer AT&T Navigator, the Telenav-powered navigation system already found on the Z9, and we can see from these press shots that it'll even work on the secondary display, which is pretty trick. This appears to be the same update that we'd originally heard would drop way back in January, which means we can likely expect Video Share support as well. Take a stroll on over to Engadget Mobile for the full gallery.

Remember that touchscreen Motorola Blaze we'd mentioned a while back that was on the hook to get Verizon's visual voicemail service? It may not be in Verizon stores yet, but it's all up in Boy Genius Report's labs with a dark red body, MING attitude, and almost limitless mediocrity on board. The touchscreen apparently requires ridiculous amounts of effort to actuate, and that problem is compounded by a lame on-screen keyboard that makes texting tricky at best. EV-DO Rev. A is cool and all -- and the visual voicemail support should be a pretty popular add-on feature -- but that giant Motorola logo up front with the red ring and three pounds of chrome leaves the Blaze with a face only a mother could love. Let's hope Verizon's positioning this one as its low-end touchscreen offering, because we're not seeing it cha-chinging many registers otherwise.