Motorola's Opus One: first iDEN Android handset?
We're a little light on details at the moment, but we've just received a couple photographs of what we're told is Motorola's first Android iDEN handset, codenamed the Opus One. Original, huh? While these images come from a new connect …
Context & Ripple Effects
Motorola has spent 2009 rebuilding itself around Android: an August leak of what became known as Motorola's Blur interface for Android was followed by September's MB200 and MB300 spec reveal, then the Droid launched in November behind a $100 million Verizon marketing push that was closing in on one million units by month's end.
Today's leak extends that same playbook into unfamiliar territory. Boy Genius Report's photographs of a handset reportedly codenamed Opus One are the first sign that Motorola's Android portfolio may reach iDEN — the push-to-talk network serving Sprint-Nextel's subscriber base — rather than stopping at GSM and CDMA flagships. As with all leaks, the device is unconfirmed until Motorola says otherwise.
First-order effects
- If the Opus One is real, iDEN subscribers get their first credible Android option, and Motorola gains a third carrier footprint for its Android line alongside Verizon's Droid channel.
Second-order effects
- A modernized iDEN handset would give Sprint-Nextel a tool to hold onto its aging push-to-talk customer base without building new devices itself, while rival handset makers would face pressure to answer with their own iDEN Android models.
Third-order effects
- The pattern points toward legacy-network handset lines consolidating onto Android wholesale — with each operator niche (push-to-talk included) eventually served by the same smartphone software stack, raising questions about how long proprietary iDEN hardware ecosystems survive.
The trend: Motorola is standardizing every segment of its handset business on Android, from Verizon flagships to legacy iDEN push-to-talk devices, making 2009 the year its portfolio converged on one operating system.