Google picked up Motorola some time ago, but earlier today, the company offered some hints about just what the plans are for the handset maker. It turns out they’re reasonably ambitious.
Sure, there are plans to trim the fat and improve Motorola's overall performance, but Motorola has much bigger game on its mind, specifically to bring out the Holy Grail of all smartphones: an iPhone killer.
Motorola's early moves seem comparatively basic: get out of unprofitable markets, trim down its manufacturing to just a few products that have been doing well, re-engineer its advertising campaigns, and fire a fifth of its total staff. This is all very basic, the kind of thing that generally makes shareholders happy, but not too happy, because it's the kind of thing that they would expect a business to do.
But what else Motorola has in mind will be impressive to say the least.
Motorola plans to launch what it calls the Advanced Technology and Projects division, a subsector of its company geared toward attracting bright researchers – scientists, engineers and mechanics alike – all with one purpose in mind: to make the next generation of Motorola hardware. Those hired will even come with a shelf life; apparently no matter how well they perform, the term of service in the Advanced Technology and Projects wing is just two years.
The group's leader is former director of DARPA – Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency – Regina Dugan.
Motorola, at last report, is looking for experts across a variety of fields for these two year stints, including metals, acoustics, artificial intelligence and more besides, with current projects ranging from fields like better cameras to improved batteries and even sensors with voice recognition capabilities included.
Motorola and Google basically look to put some serious firepower in play, and most of it is being lobbed squarely at Apple. Google is clearly putting a premium on innovation, and doing so at a level that can best be described as "dizzying." Google wants new hardware, in rapid fashion, in a bid to take back market share from Apple, who is essentially Google's only real competitor at this stage of the game.
Just what Motorola's impressive new laboratory will ultimately yield remains to be seen, but with that kind of capability going into it, it should make for some very impressive results.
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Edited by
Braden Becker 
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