Motorola confirms buying Zecter for ZumoDrive tech

Motorola Mobility on Wednesday quickly confirmed that it had bought Zecter in a minor hit to iOS. The takeover gives it access to the technology behind the iOS apps ZumoCast and ZumoDrive and will be used directly to push cloud access on its Android phones, including in the Motoblur layer. Zecter's technology will be used for "wireless syncing, desktop integration, video transcoding and thin-file retrieval technologies" to provide access to content from home on the phone, Motorola said.

The phone maker promised that ZumoDrive wouldn't be touched, but it would stop supplying ZumoCast to new iPhone and iPad users while "enhancements" are made. Current users could keep using it, but it wasn't clear if Motorola would keep supplying iOS versions in the long term or drop them to steer customers to Android.

Alternatives have existed on Apple's platform and wouldn't lock it out of such services, but the move is a minor hit as it takes away some of the most popular cloud sharing apps for the devices. Motorola would also have preloaded advantages like wireless media sync that are eventually coming to iOS but aren't ready yet.

The move is also a slight sign of weakness for Google itself as some of its hinted at Android features will have been delayed past what one of its own manufacturers could do. Google bought Simplify Media but still doesn't have official remote access to content, either from a home computer or from a special service. It has so far failed to get music deals that would potentially give Android users a media locker.

By Electronista Staff

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iPhone, industry, digital imaging, networking, Android, audio, Motorola, iPhone apps, mobile phones, Apple, MotoBlur, iPad, iPad apps, Simplify Media, ZumoDrive, ZumoCast, Zecter