Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha: Motoblur is a differentiator

At the GigaOm Mobilize 09 Conference, Sanjay Jha,the co-chief executive officer of Schaumberg, IL.-based Motorola (MOT), unveiled a new service that is designed to synchronize and back up a variety of content and contacts. The system requires no opening and closing of apps and menus. It relies on widgets to let a user customize a homescreen with the bits of data or application functions that they like the best. Presumably, Motorola will put this on its smart phones. "We believe Motoblur will be a differentiator for us," says Jha.

This is something that carrier AT&T (T) has also been working on. It also illustrates the internal conflict at many carriers and handset makers. Namely, are they in the content and application business or are they making hardware and delivering data connectivity? The handset and network equipment maker has been seeking a way to remain relevant in the wireless space as its market share of units sold has declined and its once vaunted design edge has been ceded to Apple (AAPL), RIM (RIMM) and Palm (PALM).