Motoblur

Motoblur
Developer Motorola Mobility
OS family Android
Source model Closed source
Official website Motoblur

Motoblur (often stylized as MOTOBLUR) was an Android UI replacement and push-based service focused on social networking, developed by Motorola. It aims at functional similarity to Palm's Synergy, including such features as Remote Wipe. Motoblur includes a variety of widgets which combine various social networking portals such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter as well as other services (news or weather reports) all in one place. Feeds and data are regularly pushed to these widgets.[1] Motoblur is currently on Electrify/Photon 4G, Atrix 4G, Atrix HD, CLIQ/DEXT, Backflip, Devour, Flipout, Charm, Spice, Droid Pro, Filpside, DEFY, DEFY+, Bravo, Droid X, Droid 3, Droid 2, Droid Bionic, and Droid RAZR. The version found on the Droid X, Droid Pro, Droid 2, Droid Bionic, Droid 3, Electrify/Photon 4G, and DEFY is intended to be less intrusive than previous versions.[2]

First generation Motoblur-based phones require a new user to create a Motoblur account, denying access to the main screen until the account is established. User account information is stored on Motorola's servers for access from web browsers and future phones. Newer devices allowed users to defer Blur services until a later registration and has more filtering options and better battery management to optimize the user experience.[3]

In late 2010 Motorola announced that Motoblur would not be their development focus in the future, as Android made custom skins largely redundant.[4] The Atrix, Droid 2 and Droid X do feature the UI skin.[2]

In 2011 PC World criticised Motoblur for poor performance.[5]

References