Motorola may be mulling own 'razrOS' as an alternative to Android

Android has been good to Motorola, rescuing the company's reputation with devices like the Droid smart phone and about-to-launch Xoom tablet. Yet it seems Moto may have its eye on launching its own new operating system for mobile devices that would be an alternative to Android, using Web-based technology.

Information Week has the scoop, based on a single source with backing from Deutsche Bank analyst Jonathan Goldberg. "I know they're working on it," he says. "I think the company recognises that they need to differentiate and they need options, just in case. Nobody wants to rely on a single supplier."

It sounds as though Motorola has the people to make it happen, with execs recruited from Apple, Adobe and other companies. The claim is that any new Motorola OS -- we're calling it 'razrOS' for a chuckle, although there's no suggestion this will be the actual name -- would be based on Web standards, making it more akin to HP's webOS.

Motorola used to make smart phones running a variety of operating systems, including Symbian and Windows Mobile. More recently, it switched to Android, building its own Motoblur UI on top of Google's OS.

Would it be a surprise if Motorola now looked to make its own software? Nope. Check out these words from CEO Sanjay Jha, talking in one of the company's financial conference calls last year, as reported by GigaOM:

"I've always felt that owning your OS is important, provided you have an ecosystem, you have all the services and you have an ability and the scale to execute on keeping that OS at the leading edge. And I continue to believe that at some point, if we have all of those attributes, that owning our own OS will be a very important thing."

Would you be interested in a smart phone or tablet from Moto running its own OS, or should it stick with Android and Motoblur? Let us know your thoughts in a comment -- especially if you've got better suggestions for a name than razrOS.