Motorola is developing an Android-based tablet optimized for watching TV, FT.com has reported.
The device, which will be tied closely to Verizon’s high-speed FiOS pay TV service, could launch as early as this autumn.
It will have a 10-inch screen software, FTsaid, quoting sources who had been briefed on the plans.
Apple has already shipped more than 3 million iPad tablets since launching in May, opening up a new segment device segment both for hardware vendors and mobile operators.
Motorola also makes the TV set-top boxes for FiOS, appears to be taking this in a new direction by tying it to Verizon’s pay TV service.
Sanjay Jha, chief executive of Motorola’s mobile devices business, said in May Motorola was weighing its tablet options, with Google’s Android the most likely OS.
“We’re very focused on participating in this convergence between mobility and home, and I actually think you will see some products from us in a very short period of time,” FT reported him saying.
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