53 Facts About Motorola

Motorola, Inc was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States.

Motorola designed and sold wireless network equipment such as cellular transmission base stations and signal amplifiers.

Motorola's wireless telephone handset division was a pioneer in cellular telephones.

Motorola started in Chicago, Illinois, as Galvin Manufacturing Corporation in 1928 when brothers, Paul V and Joseph E Galvin, purchased the bankrupt Stewart Battery Company's battery-eliminator plans and manufacturing equipment at auction for $750.

Motorola's team was successful, and Galvin was able to demonstrate a working model of the radio at the June 1930 Radio Manufacturers Association convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

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Motorola brought home enough orders to keep the company in business.

Motorola sold its first Motorola branded radio on June 23,1930, to H C Wall of Fort Wayne, Indiana, for $30.

Many of Motorola's products have been radio-related, starting with a battery eliminator for radios, through the first hand-held walkie-talkie in the world in 1940, defense electronics, cellular infrastructure equipment, and mobile phone manufacturing.

Motorola produced the hand-held AM SCR-536 radio during World War II, which was vital to Allied communication.

Motorola ranked 94th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.

Motorola began making televisions in 1947, with the model VT-71 with 7-inch cathode ray tube.

In 1952 Motorola opened its first international subsidiary in Toronto, Canada to produce radios and televisions.

In 1955, years after Motorola started its research and development laboratory in Phoenix, Arizona, to research new solid-state technology, Motorola introduced the world's first commercial high-power germanium-based transistor.

Motorola created numerous products for use by the government, public safety officials, business installments, and the general public.

Motorola headquarters were at 9401 West Grand Avenue in Franklin Park and it listed TV receivers, Stereo-Hi Fi equipment as the products at this plant made by 1,700 employees.

In 1974, Motorola introduced its first microprocessor, the 8-bit MC6800, used in automotive, computing and video game applications.

That same year, Motorola sold its television business to the Japan-based Matsushita – the parent company of Panasonic.

In 1976, Motorola moved its headquarters to the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, Illinois.

Motorola was strong in semiconductor technology, including integrated circuits used in computers.

Motorola has a diverse line of communication products, including satellite systems, digital cable boxes and modems.

In 1986, Motorola invented the Six Sigma quality improvement process.

In 1991, Motorola demonstrated the world's first working-prototype digital cellular system and phones using GSM standard in Hanover, Germany.

In 1994, Motorola introduced the world's first commercial digital radio system that combined paging, data and cellular communications and voice dispatch in a single radio network and handset.

In 1995, Motorola introduced the world's first two-way pager which allowed users to receive text messages and e-mail and reply with a standard response.

In 1996, Motorola released the Motorola StarMax, which was a Macintosh clone that was licensed by Apple and it came with System 7.

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In 1998, Motorola was overtaken by Nokia as the world's biggest seller of mobile phone handsets.

In 2002, Motorola introduced the world's first wireless cable modem gateway which combined a high-speed cable modem router with an ethernet switch and wireless home gateway.

In 2003, Motorola introduced the world's first handset to combine a Linux operating system and Java technology with "full PDA functionality".

In 2004, Motorola divested its whole semiconductor business to form Freescale Semiconductor and left the AIM alliance.

In June 2005, Motorola overtook the intellectual property of Sendo for $30,000 and paid £362,575 for the plant, machinery and equipment.

In June 2006, Motorola acquired the software platform developed by the British company TTP Communications plc.

In 2007, Motorola acquired Symbol Technologies to provide products and systems for enterprise mobility solutions, including rugged mobile computing, advanced data capture, and radio frequency identification.

In 2010, Motorola sold its cellular-infrastructure business to Nokia Siemens Networks for $1.

One company, Motorola Solutions, is based in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, Illinois, and concentrates on police technologies, radios, and commercial needs.

The other company, Motorola Mobility, is based in Chicago, and is the mobile handset producer.

Also that month, analyst Mark McKechnie from American Technology Research said that Motorola "would be lucky to fetch $500million" for selling its handset business.

In 1974, Motorola divested itself of its television and radio-manufacturing division, which included the Quasar brand of electronics.

Motorola developed the global communication network using a set of 77 satellites.

Motorola manufactured two satellite phone handsets for this network – the 9500 and 9505 as well as transceiver units.

On October 16,2004, Motorola announced that it would spin off its Semiconductor Products Sector into a separate company called Freescale Semiconductor, Inc The new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on July 16 of the following year.

On January 29,1988, Motorola sold its Arcade, New York facility and automotive alternators, electromechanical speedometers and tachometers products to Prestolite Electric.

In July 2006, Motorola completed the sale of its automotive business to Continental AG.

In 2000, Motorola acquired Printrak International Inc for $160 million.

In October 2008, Motorola agreed to sell its Biometrics business to Safran, a French defense firm.

On February 11,2010, Motorola announced its separation into two independent, publicly traded companies, effective Q1 2011.

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Cambium Networks was created when Motorola Solutions sold the Canopy and Orthogon businesses in 2011.

Motorola University is one of many places that provide Six Sigma training.

Motorola was found to be the main source of the TCE, an industrial solvent that is thought to cause cancer.

Motorola sponsored Scottish Premier League club Motherwell FC for 11 years.

Motorola sponsored a cycling team that counted Lance Armstrong amongst its members.

Motorola was a sponsor of Danica Patrick, David Beckham, and Fergie.

Motorola awarded TrackIT Solutions for being "The company with most Innovative Enterprise Mobility Solution" in 2010.

In Madden NFL 07 franchise mode, a Motorola phone is used to communicate with coaches and agents.