Late last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google and Motorola were working on a new phone and tablet with the code names "X Phone" and "X Tablet." These devices were said to be the first true collaboration between the companies since Google purchased Motorola Mobility earlier in the year, and allegedly focused on superior cameras and incorporated bendable screens and ceramic materials. Today, a job posting for a Senior Director of Product Management for Motorola on LinkedIn more or less confirmed that the company is working on something called an 'X-Phone.' The listing, now removed, detailed the duties of the position, which would oversee the launch of a new device and deal with carrier relationships when bringing it to market.
We still don't know when this 'X-Phone' is coming
An identical listing of the job can still be found on Motorola's own job board, though this listing removes any mention of the X-Phone. Unfortunately, aside from confirming that the X-Phone name is being used for a device that's in development, the job listings don't give us any more details as to what the device will be like, what technologies it will incorporate, and perhaps most importantly, when it will be coming to market.
Google has said numerous times that the devices Motorola has released since the acquisition were already in the works for a long time before Google was involved and they don't truly represent a collaborative effort between the companies. Motorola, which has never been a partner with Google for a Nexus smartphone, has struggled to turn a profit with its smartphones for quite some time, and it could certainly use a serious flagship device to reinvigorate its smartphone lineup. Whether or not this X-Phone device is such a device remains to be seen, but we'll be waiting in anticipation for it.
We have reached out to Motorola for comment on the matter and will update this post when we hear back.