Motorola announces application store and ecosystem partners for China

BEIJING, CHINA & LIBERTYVILLE, USA: Motorola Inc. has introduced SHOP4APPS (or Zhi-Jian-Yuan in China, which means "Place for Apps Wisdom" in Chinese), Motorola's store for Android applications, which makes it easy to discover, purchase, and download applications designed to customize Android-based Motorola phones in China.

SHOP4APPS will be available on new Motorola smartphones in China starting in time for Chinese New Year. Motorola additionally announced a new feature on their Android handsets enabling users to customize their Android devices by selecting their own search provider. Users will be able to select their search experience from a number of providers including Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and others, with whom Motorola has signed strategic agreements.

With SHOP4APPS and the ability for users to select their apps and search services, Motorola is providing China consumers with the ability to personalize their mobile device experiences. The store will support the open Android ecosystem and will be offered to other manufacturers or partners in China for license.

SHOP4APPS additionally gives developers a seamless path to promote their applications in the market through MOTODEV, Motorola's global developer program, and through other Android development ecosystems. Developers can begin immediately to submit their Android applications for ingestion into the SHOP4APPS store in China.

"Our ability to offer SHOP4APPS and choice in search is a testament to the openness of the Android platform. SHOP4APPS will provide developers the opportunity to market and promote their applications on Android handsets within the Chinese market," said Christy Wyatt, corporate vice president of software and services, Motorola Mobile Devices.

"In addition to our close collaboration with the Android community, we are working closely with our carrier partners in China, and with ecosystem partners like Baidu to provide consumers with a full suite of services. These services will include search, email and maps for our newest China smartphones."

"With handsets like the new XT800 Zhishang from Motorola, we're able to deliver great Android-powered mobile experiences to the people of China," said China Telecom. "By providing them a choice in their applications and services, Motorola is letting consumers in China customize the way they experience the power of the mobile Internet."

"The ability to add applications and services is essential for people in China because increasingly we live our lives and express ourselves through our mobile phones," said China Unicom. "We want phones to reflect our lifestyle and our choices, and the ability to pick our own search sites, our own chat services, our own games, and to craft our own mobile experience is helping China Unicom deliver on the promise of 3G."

SHOP4APPS is an extremely flexible applications delivery platform.

SHOP4APPS and search capabilities through Baidu and others will be available in China, starting in time for Chinese New Year, through either pre-load on a device or through over-the-air updates for devices already in market.