Moto prepares to assimilate Android

Embattled handset and equipment manufacturer Motorola looks like it might be betting the farm on Google’s potentially disruptive mobile platform, Android.

As of Tuesday morning, the US vendor’s career site has no less than 30 Android related positions listed, and the word on the web is that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Moto is looking to add a variety of Android experts, from principal engineers for services and applications, through to software architects and quality assurance managers.

“Simply put, we are building the best Android device – from compelling hardware to unique applications and services. Join the System Software team and be one of the first people working on the core of the Android platform,” one of the ads reveals.

The Google led Open Handset Alliance unveiled its first Android-based product earlier this month – the T-Mobile G1.

Motorola is in the process of spinning off its troubled handsets division as a separate entity, and is looking for a buyer. But the unit, which seems to churn out endless revisions of the RAZR, is in desperate need of revival after second quarter sales at the Mobile Devices segment slipped 22 per cent year on year to $3.3bn, while the operating loss widened to $346m, compared to a loss of $332m a year ago.

Building an Android-based portfolio might be the most innovative move Moto has made since the launch of the first RAZR back in 2005.