Motorola Skinning Android at Verizon’s Command ⇢

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Dieter Bohn:

One of the biggest questions surrounding the “New Motorola” after the Google acquisition is a simple one: if it’s owned by Google, why isn’t it shipping stock Android software on its new RAZR M and RAZR HD phones? We presumed the answer was a simple one: Verizon’s demands, and Motorola has essentially confirmed that assessment.

Speaking to a group of reporters last night, Motorola Senior Vice President, Product Rick Osterloh pointed out the company’s main focuses going forward, and one of them was obviously Android. Specifically, he addressed the question of shipping unaltered, stock Android software on phones.

Going forward, we’re going to try to be as close to the base as we can be, because we think that’s the right thing for users. We think users also want fast upgrades and upgrades for their phones over the long haul, so we’re going to be focus on that as well. It’s a little bit different than what a lot of OEMs are doing and certainly what Motorola did in the past, but going forward that’s going to be our strategy.

Verizon’s Gone Creepy ⇢

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Declan McCullagh:

The company this month began offering reports to marketers showing what Verizon subscribers are doing on their phones and other mobile devices, including what iOS and Android apps are in use in which locations. Verizon says it may link the data to third-party databases with information about customers’ gender, age, and even details such as “sports enthusiast, frequent diner or pet owner.”

“We’re able to view just everything that they do,” Bill Diggins, U.S. chief for the Verizon Wireless marketing initiative, told an industry conference earlier this year. “And that’s really where data is going today. Data is the new oil.”

Thankfully, oil companies would never do anything to screw anyone over.

On the iPad and Surface RT ⇢

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Craig Grannell, on people comparing the Surface RT and iPad:

It’ll be interesting to see if this is how others weigh up the pros and cons of the two systems. But to me, an extra 16 GB of storage space doesn’t cancel out a vastly better display—the thing that you spend all your time looking at and interacting with.

It’s about far more than a screen, however — the iPad has a huge ecosystem of apps, and bump in storage can make up for that. Windows RT is Microsoft starting over, and it’s important not to forget that.

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Microsoft Announces Surface RT Pricing ⇢

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Tom Warren at The Verge:

The 10.6-inch Surface, powered by Windows RT, will go on sale on October 26th and will be priced starting at $499 for the 32GB version without Touch Cover and a 32GB version with the Touch Cover for $599. Microsoft is also offering 64GB model for $699 with a Touch Cover included.