Motorola now exclusive Verizon Droid manufacturer, last pre-Google handsets roll off line
Photo: Yahoo News
While we already knew that the Droid MAXX, Droid Ultra and Droid Mini, like all Droids would be exclusive to Verizon (‘Droid’ is a Verizon brand licensed from LucasArts after all!). CNET now reports that the exclusivity will work in reverse too: with all Droid-branded devices being manufactured exclusively by Motorola.
Starting with the Droid Ultra lineup, Motorola will be the only smartphone manufacturer to build Droid smartphones, Verizon marketing executive Jeff Dietel told CNET on Tuesday.
Verizon had previously used the Droid brand for handsets from a range of manufacturers, including HTC’s Incredible series and Samsung’s Droid Charge. With HTC moving to its own ‘One’ branding and Samsung’s own, more powerful Galaxy branding, the news doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
These latest handsets are likely the last vestiges of pre-Google Motorola and with the Moto X coming in a few short days, these are likely some of, if not the last devices designed before the takeover by Google. Google-installed CEO Dennis Woodside noted earlier this year that Google was working to clear some mediocre inventory that had been been built by his predecessors. With due respect to Mr. Woodside, the 48-hour battery life and other specs on these are going to give the X phones a run for their money.
