Icahn, who last year was defeated in his bid to win a seat on the Motorola board, this year has others in mind for the job. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, he said he is nominating Frank Biondi, the former CEO of Viacom Inc.; William Hambrecht, the co-founder of the former investment bank Hambrecht & Quist; Lionel Kimerling, professor of engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Keith Meister, CEO of Icahn Enterprises.

Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola issued a statement late Friday, Feb. 1, that activist investor Icahn has informed it of his intent to nominate four directors to stand for election at the 2008 annual meeting. Icahn said he and various entities affiliated with him own about 5% of Motorola's shares.

And unlike a year ago, Motorola does not seem to be resisting Icahn's overtures.

In a brief statement, Motorola said only that it had not yet scheduled its 2008 annual meeting, and was reviewing Icahn's notice.

One year ago, Motorola was showing the first signs of trouble in its cell-phone division, but was confident that it would be able to reverse soft profit margins and lost market share.

Yet, the company's troubles have only worsened since then. Last month, Motorola stunned investors when it announced that would report a first-quarter loss, due to a slower-than-expected rebound in its cell-phone business.

On Thursday, Motorola said it was reviewing different options, including spinning out the cell-phone division.