Motorola denies developing an Android set-top box
Motorola says that the new set-top box it is developing for Japanese carrier KDDI will not use Google's Android operating system.
Last week, CNET News referenced a report from the Web site Android Guys that said Motorola is building a TV set-top box for Japanese telephone and broadband service provider KDDI.
The Web site reported that Masataka Miura, chairman of Open Embedded Software Foundation (OESF), had said Motorola was making the Android powered set-top box for KDDI. The OESF is a group that consists of several Japanese companies that plan to use Android in embedded devices. ARM, KDDI, Japan Cable Laboratories, Alpine Electronics, and Fujitsu Software technologies are among the group's members.
But Motorola says the device that it will deliver to KDDI, called the "au BOX," is not based on Android. Motorola said that the box uses an operating system developed by Motorola called KreaTV. This platform is based on the open operating system Linux . The company said there are no plans to produce an Android-based version.
The "au Box" will allow users to take their music and video content with them on the go. The box lets users play or rip a CD and either store the music or transfer it to a mobile handset or portable media player via a USB cable, Android Guys reported. The music files can then be played by the device through the integrated stereo speakers.
The set-top box also allows users to upload video to the device and then transfer it to a mobile device. And the device also plays DVDs.
Motorola said its KreaTV open software platform for set-top devices is designed to enable operator customers to easily add new functionality and services.
10047551Android is also an open-source operating system, which is also built on Linux. It was originally designed by Google for mobile phones. But there has increasingly been more talk of the software being used in other devices like Netbooks, as well as on set-top boxes, TVs, voice over IP phones, digital picture frames, and even karaoke machines.
Marguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as well as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies. E-mail Maggie. 
