Eric Schmidt Teases New Motorola Phone

Eric Schmidt, our favorite Google Executive Chairman, is usually not one for cautious statements. Back in 2011, he predicted Android would be bigger than iOS, a very brash statement at the time. Recently, he has said the entire world will be online in 7 years’ time, which seems inconceivable right now considering conditions in some countries.

This morning, at All Things D: Dive into Mobile, Schmidt made another interesting statement. He said he has seen Motorola’s upcoming devices, and they are “phenomenal”. He went on to say they were “Phone plus” devices. That’s high praise, and further teases the rumored Motorola X phone.

We were a bit let down by Google CFO Patrick Pichette’s statement some time ago that the next Motorola devices wouldn’t “blow us away”, as he intimated they inherited some devices that were already in the works. We’ve consistently heard rumblings about the Motorola X phone, even seeing a working prototype. Is Eric Schmidt hinting at the X phone, or something we’re not even aware of?

He may not be talking about any particular device, really. Google seems to have a pretty heavy hand in Motorola’s mobile sector, as that old prototype of the X phone shows. They’re famously very involved with Nexus devices, and having their own hardware manufacturer can only drive their innovations further. While Eric’s statements could have just been kind words by a company man, it’s doubtful. Eric is a straight shooter, and if he’s impressed by what Motorola is doing… we may just be blown away.