Google may not yet be making money with Motorola Mobility, but the software giant is making a statement.
“As a part of Google we’re being encouraged to take big bets on things that make a difference,” said Motorola in a blog post announcing its plan to manufacture a new smartphone in Fort Worth, Texas. The Moto X will be the first smartphone ever made in the United States. Motorola says it will be available this summer.
The Moto X may boast a few other firsts. Yesterday at the All Things Digital Conference Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside said the phone will be aware of its surroundings thanks to always-on sensors. He said the company has learned to create sensors that can stay on without draining a smartphone’s battery. The company’s MotoACTV watch was key in teaching its engineers about low-power sensors, Woodside said.
Long-time Motorola manufacturing partner Flextronics is currently hiring for the Fort Worth facility. Motorola said Flextronics will continue to manufacture Motorola phones in China and Brazil, and that the Moto X is just one of the phones it will be launching in the coming months.
Google paid $12.5 billion for Motorola Mobility a year ago, partly in order to gain access to Motorola’s patents, which it hoped to use to defend its Android operating system against Apple’s charges of patent infringement. Google has yet to see a profit from Motorola Mobility. The unit lost $271 million during the most recent quarter. Google has laid off more than 5,000 Motorola employees since it bought the company.
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