Motorola is looking to take its new Android-powered Cliq smartphone to all the major operators in the US as the company builds on its existing deal with T-Mobile USA. Co-CEO Sanjay Jha, who unveiled the device last Thursday (pictured, left), said the company is “in talks with all large operators in US” and is “fairly hopeful we will begin to engage with all the US operators,” notes a Dow Jones Newswires report. Although T-Mobile USA is a major player in the country, rivals such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T would provide Motorola with greater market exposure for a device regarded as crucial to turning the company’s fortunes around. The device is due to go on sale with T-Mobile USA, as well as with other operators in the UK, Spain, France and Latin America, next quarter.

Meanwhile an AP report notes that shares of Motorola edged higher yesterday after a UBS analyst said Wall Street is underestimating the boost its profit may get next year from smartphones. The analyst raised his price target to US$11.50 from US$7.50 and boosted his rating to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral.’ Motorola’s stock rose US$0.15 to US$8.83 in midday trading yesterday in New York, after earlier gaining as much as 3.9 percent to a new 12-month peak of US$9.02. In a separate development, Motorola’s Jha said the company plans to open up API’s for its new Motoblur software, aimed at enabling social networking capabilities on all the vendor’s Android-powered devices.