Motoblur

Motoblur

Company / developer	Motorola Mobility
OS family	Android
Source model	Proprietary
Official website	Motoblur

Motoblur (often stylized as MOTOBLUR) is an Android UI replacement and push-based service focused on social networking developed by Motorola. It aims at functional similarity to Palm's Synergy, including such features as Remote Wipe. Motoblur includes a variety of widgets which combine various social networking portals such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter as well as other services (news or weather reports) all in one place. Feeds and data are regularly pushed to these widgets.^[1] Motoblur is currently on Motorola's Atrix 4G, CLIQ/DEXT, Backflip, Devour, Flipout, Charm, Droid Pro, Flipside, DEFY, Bravo, Droid X, Droid 3, Droid 2, and Motorola Droid Bionic. The version found on the Droid X, Droid Pro, Droid 2 and DEFY is toned down and intended to be less intrusive than previous versions.^[2]

When first turned on, first generation Motoblur-based phones force a new user to create a Motoblur account, denying access to the main screen until the account is established. User account information is stored on Motorola's servers for access from web browsers and future phones. The newer devices allow users to defer Blur services for a later registration and has more filtering options and better battery management to optimize the Blur service experience.^[3]

In late 2010 Motorola announced that Motoblur will not be their focus for development in the future, as the latest Android builds are making custom skins largely redundant.^[4] While the Atrix, Droid 2 and Droid X do feature the UI skin,^[2] the new Droid RAZR does not feature Motoblur. ^[5]

In 2011 PC World criticised Motoblur due to the poor performance of the interface.^[6]

References

1. ^ Motorola MOTOBLUR
2. ^ ^{a b} "Motorola Droid 2 to rock Android 2.2, MotoBlur". IntoMobile. http://www.intomobile.com/2010/07/20/motorola-droid-2-to-rock-android-2-2-motoblur/. 
3. ^ "MotoBlur - An Introduction (& How it Helps)". The Sunday Morning Herald. http://mobile-phones.smh.com.au/MobilePhones/MotoBlur. 
4. ^ Taylor Wimberly (9 August 2010). "Motorola, “MOTOBLUR will not be our focus going forward”". TheStreet.com. http://androidandme.com/2010/08/news/motorola-motoblur-will-not-be-our-focus-going-forward/. Retrieved 17 August 2011. 
5. ^ "Motorola Razr Android smartphone". The Register Hardware. 15 Nov 2011. http://www.reghardware.com/2011/11/15/review_motorola_razr_android_smartphone/. 
6. ^ PCWorld Motorola Photon review