Motorola plans new Android smartphones with Verizon

Motorola Inc., the handset maker that's rebuilding its mobile business around Android software from Google Inc., will produce new smartphones for Verizon Wireless, co-Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Jha said today.

Motorola is planning Android-based phones around the wireless company's Droid lineup, Jha said at the Barclays Capital Global Communications, Media and Technology conference in New York today.

The Schaumburg-based company is building out a portfolio of smartphones using the Android operating system as it attempts to reach profitability by the end of the year. Motorola developed the Droid, released through Verizon Wireless in November, after the popularity of competing devices, such as Apple Inc.'s iPhone, hurt sales.

Locally, Verizon has operations in Schaumburg.

"In a lot of ways, the Droid franchise is associated with Motorola," Jha said. "The quality of devices that we are producing, I am excited about."

Jha, 47, said that the operating system, which is freely available for developers, may also be useful for a device with a larger screen. Verizon, based in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, has said it is planning a tablet computer based on Android.

Motorola rose 11 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $6.87 at 12:25 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares had dropped 13 percent this year before today.