Motorola Set-Top Boxes To Get MOTOBLUR

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Motorola will be expanding their MOTOBLUR user interface to their cable set-top boxes, says CEO Sanjay Jha. Remember that Motorola is splitting into two different companies and the fun side consumer-focused business will continue to manufacture cell phones and set-top boxes. Jha also promised connectivity between the phones and cable boxes.

Talking to the Wall Street Journal, Jha said that their MOTOBLUR UI is being tested on the company’s set-top cable box offerings, and that they’re planning to release new the cable boxes sometime this year – of course, that’s dependent on the cable providers being interested in them. MOTOBLUR is Motorola’s custom Android skin, that has a social networking focus.

This all fuels the rumors that Motorola is experimenting with a cable box running Android. Android has been doing very well for Motorola (with their Motorola Droid being one of the best Android offerings) and we’ve already seen Android included in things like eReaders, thermostats and washer/dryers.

In addition to MOTOBLUR, Jha also promised the Wall Street Journal that the phones and set-box boxes will “support a common platform” so they can “share media and features”. That makes it sound like the Motorola cable boxes could have some sort of streaming functionality in the future, possibly even let you stream pay-per-view content to your cell phone – but this is all speculation at this point.

The MOTOBLUR UI is currently shipping on the Motorola Cliq and Dext, and will be coming soon on the Devour.