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Google's Latest Android Blunder

Motorola confirmed to CNET on Friday that it has killed off its line of webtop devices which let you use your smartphone as a PC by docking it with a laptop-like accessory.

While some hailed webtops as the future of computing when Motorola unveiled its first one in early 2011, the devices failed to catch on with consumers. Motorola's first webtop was an optional accessory for the Atrix 4G phone, but it cost a whopping $500. And it didn't help that the webtop was completely useless unless it was docked with a phone. It was essentially a really expensive empty shell.

And as smartphone software gets smarter, accessories like the webtop become even more pointless. There isn't much the webtop could do that you couldn't just do on the smartphone itself.

It's embarrassing that Motorola, which is now owned by Google, still can't find some sort of killer hardware innovation to really show off what Android can do. Instead, companies like Samsung and HTC continue to make better devices. Samsung's Galaxy S III and HTC's One X are the two best Android phones you can buy right now.

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Meanwhile, Motorola held a dud of an event a few weeks ago, introducing two new smartphones that are only modest upgrades to last year's ill-received Droid Razr phones. And Motorola has already reneged on its promise to keep its phones updated for at least 18 months.



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