Motorola was slow to join the smartphone bandwagon, but that’s all about to change. The firm has promised to launch no fewer than 20 top-end mobile phones next year.

During the launchof Motorola’s most prominent smartphone of recent months, the Droid, Sanjay Jha, Motorola’s CEO, announced that the firm will launch “multiple tens” of new smartphones during 2010.

When pressed for a more detailed figure, he revealed that 20 Motorola smartphones will arrive next year.

It’s widely expected that Droid – the first phone to ship with Android 2.0, aka Éclair, pre-installed - will launch this month. In Europe, it will be called the Milestone.

However, Motorola's boss didn't say whether all or just some of next year's many smartphone models will be based on Android or other operating systems. ®

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