Google to Buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5B

I bought this up earlier is one of the key issues that this deal brings. Google now has a BIG financial motive to keep Android more to itself and I imagine that HTC and Samsung aren't thrilled with this acquisition and I see this as actually a way to get them both more serious about Windows Phone.

I think it depends on what Google finds more important. Their core business of search/data/advertising advertising or their new found handset hardware manufacturing wing.

My guess is the prior is more important to them, and they would rather sacrifice some handset sales for their Motorola unit, than risk lowering overall market share of Android operating systems which would reduce their presence in their core market.

What I think will happen - though - is that Motorola will be forced into doing Android right. Google will push updates through, just like they did with their own Nexus phones and maybe we'll even see Motorola getting rid of Blur.

I would also not be surprised to see a tighter co-development program between Motorola and Google for future devices, giving Motorola a slight competitive edge.
 
Zarathustra[H];1037633221 said:
I would also not be surprised to see a tighter co-development program between Motorola and Google for future devices, giving Motorola a slight competitive edge.

And this could be a problem. I think in time it will work itself out but I believe that Google was more forced to do this than actually wanting to do this. Hardware is simply less profitable than pure software and advertising.
 
12.5b will get you noticed...

Seems Google is taking the patent trolling seriously. Can't wait to see the next step at the software level.
 
Motorola phones have always had good hardware, but the software & bloat brings them in line with other manufacturers. I could see some really good phones coming out of this.

And what everyone else seems to be overlooking...hopefully expanding android development to other devices (tablet, gps, watches, glasses, etc).
 
Exactly...I would expect Microsoft to make a move next on someone like Nokia or RIM. Probably Nokia due to the diverse patents and existing relationship.

Cold winds blowing in the direction of Samsung and HTC.

No, not at all. Quite the opposite actually.

M$ acquires Nokia. Do you think they are going to make Android phones now?

Google is protecting itself from being locked out from the major hardware vendors. This is a sensible buy. I imagine they would love to give Droid to HTC and Samsung. Remember the bigger their user base over Apple, the better.
 
Motorola phones have always had good hardware, but the software & bloat brings them in line with other manufacturers. I could see some really good phones coming out of this.

And what everyone else seems to be overlooking...hopefully expanding android development to other devices (tablet, gps, watches, glasses, etc).

I'm hoping for this as well.

I have been getting tired of my iPhone for some time now. While its my third iPhone (iPhone 8GB -> iPhone 3G -> iPhone 4) I am aching to ditch this overly restrictive phone.

The problem is I just couldn't find a Android model out there I wanted to replace it.

My requirements were vanilla Android without any bloat or manufacturer/carrier specific alterations, updates made available (so I don't have to root it) and 4G capability. This phone simply did not exist. I'm hoping it will under the new Google Motorola.
 
Sounds like a good move for Sprint users since Google and Sprint have been in conhoots of late. Google Voice integration + a Nexus phone. I have a strong feeling we won't see a Sprint iPhone/WM7 and see an all Google phone line up next year.
 
Samsung and HTC actually seem quite happy with this purchase.

What'd they do, copy and paste each others statement? My guess is that Google notified each of them to give them a heads up on it and the reasoning behind the purchase.
 
I think this is more of it than anything. Apple's patents have half a leg to stand on which while they may not win will just put turmoil in the market for Android. By buying these patents they can effectively set their defenses in a postion to hold Apple at arms length while they continue to move forward on the Android platform.

You're right...and heres how it works.

Google now holds about 17,000 patents from the Motorola deal. When Apple attempts one of their lame lawsuits, Google's answer is to fire back with a threat of a countersuit of their own...along the lines of 'We got 17,000 patents...would you like us to figure out how many of them you're infringing on?'.

Now, in how many microseconds do you think Apple will drop theirs? :D
 
Why wouldn't Google just use this move to give all the Android handset manufacturers even more information to use? Kind of like how they allow them all to use Android software, why not throw in some more technology for free to one up Apple even more?

Why would Google do something to kill their marketshare in many different phones when they could just give away technology to all the companies, to gain even more marketshare? Isn't that how Google takes everything over anyways?
 

No doubt, that shy they did what they did..

Some of us are just postulating what some of the side effects might be, as it seems somewhat unlikely Google would turn around and shut down Motorola once they got their hands on the patents.

So whether they wanted it or not, now they have a handset manufacturer (if everything goes through). It's fun to speculate what they might do with it.
 
Looks like google is going after apple and to a lesser extent Microsoft with guns blazing. Now they can directly defend the android platform, pick up a bunch of patents and send their army of lawyers against Apple's army of lawyers for a big showdown. They can probably go tell apple to suck a big fat one or face the mobile software patent apocalypse.

I don't see how this can be seen as anti-competitive in any way. Not doing something like this is worse for competition in the mobile phone market.
 
especially with how apple has been shaking down the manufacturers for money trying to do everything it can to kill android.
 
I think this is more of it than anything. Apple's patents have half a leg to stand on which while they may not win will just put turmoil in the market for Android. By buying these patents they can effectively set their defenses in a postion to hold Apple at arms length while they continue to move forward on the Android platform.

The thing I find most hilarious about this reply is that nobody even questions statements that imply that Apple wishes to do anything and everything it can to screw their competitors instead of actually competing.
 
The thing I find most hilarious about this reply is that nobody even questions statements that imply that Apple wishes to do anything and everything it can to screw their competitors instead of actually competing.

No one questions that about any huge corporation...competition is hard. Freezing your rivals out of a market is so much easier.
 
Looks like google is going after apple and to a lesser extent Microsoft with guns blazing. Now they can directly defend the android platform, pick up a bunch of patents and send their army of lawyers against Apple's army of lawyers for a big showdown. They can probably go tell apple to suck a big fat one or face the mobile software patent apocalypse.

I don't see how this can be seen as anti-competitive in any way. Not doing something like this is worse for competition in the mobile phone market.

I agree 100%... This has EVERYTHING to do with Apple and MS pussy footing around Google and attacking Android device manufacturers.

Moto right now is in a suit with MS about patents used in Android, HTC and other companies already pay MS $5 per device to license these patents.

Apple is trying to block Samsung Tablets from the US, EU, and Australia. They already have a temporary blocks in the EU and Aus.

Google literally bought their way into a fight, WWE style. Google will now be the Face that runs out from the back to blind side the Heel while he is ruthlessly bashing a downed opponent with a chair.

Motorolla which is operating at a loss, probably didn't have the lawyers or the money to leverage those patents.

Google will now go to both Apple and MS and offer a truce or else a promise to go to the mattresses.

It will all cool down, if a huge lawsuit war does start its going to be expensive and messy for everyone. Honestly Google would probably loose against the 2 giants of MS and Apple in the long run.
 
Massive patent by-off. It's chump change to google and money well spent.
 
Now all Google needs to do is buy T-Mobile.....vertical integration achieved.
 
I hope this means we see some better overall phones for AWS or something. HTC pretty much has been the only viable option in that regard. Samsung is nice on feature but fails in overall quality IMO.
 
ANOTHER REASON PATENTS ARE BAD.

Patents reduce competition by keeping small, new players out of the market. Patents reduce competition by encouraging big companies to buy other companies, to increase their war chest of IP monopolies.
 
ANOTHER REASON PATENTS ARE BAD.

Patents reduce competition by keeping small, new players out of the market. Patents reduce competition by encouraging big companies to buy other companies, to increase their war chest of IP monopolies.

Spend six figures of your money on developing a product to market, your tune will change vastly when you file for that patent. :D
 
Spend six figures of your money on developing a product to market, your tune will change vastly when you file for that patent. :D

Patents in and of themselves are not bad. But IMHO there should have to be some real development work behind a patent, not just some loose fleeting idea or concept.

When a Pharma company patents a drug, they have spent billions developing the thing, and are about to spend billions more in clinical trials to test out if it works without killing people. I'm happy to give them patent protections for this as they actually have skin in the game.

If they couldn't get a patent, then why should the go through the process of spending billions to prove something works?

When someone (*cough* apple *cough*) patents something a 4 year old could have thought of ("what if you could use two fingers instead of one on the touchscreen?") then it becomes silly.

I would grant them a patent for a specific solution to how to make multitouch work, including software algorithms and developed hardware, but you should be able to just patent an idea. That's where it gets just plain dumb, and you enter the sphere of patent trolling.
 
Again it just can't be denied that Google has a financial motive to keep Android closer to the vest. Not that it will but now it has a DIRECT way to monetize Android. It's going to cause problems with other OEMs, count on it.

Doubtful. What many people forget is that all this companies are in the OHA. Samsung, HTC, LG, etc... all have access to Android source earlier than AOSP. Motorola won't have any new edge there or anything like that. HTC will still have Sense, Samsung will still have TouchWiz, and Asus will still have awesome hardware designs. This is likely going to cause very, very few, if any, problems with other OEMs.

All the major OEMs already have "direct" access to Google's Android engineers, so there isn't even an advantage there.

And they already had a direct way to monetize Android - the Nexus series.
 
Actually Moto was first out of the gate with a "andriod" tablet and I thought the first Driod had something else that was new at the time thanks to a "deal' between Moto and Google. So I dont think the other cell phone makers have anything really to worry about. Google knows it needs them to keep on keeping on in order to stay at the top.

At any rate Google was not the only player. MS was also in the mix but only wanted the pattens. And like others said this was a patten grab. But what about google TV? Will that now be intergrated in Moto setup cable boxes (remeber Mobility also had their cable tv group)?
 
It isn't just about protecting Android, but also one of there biggest clients. Motorola (the handset portion) was in a precarious position since the split and it was going to be a while before they pulled in a proper profit after the reorg because the margins on their products were so much tighter then the other portions of Motorola.

Literally any second and Microsoft could have swooped in purchased them done the same thing and then strengthened their portfolio in their co-war with Apple against Google. We already have seen what Microsoft is willing to do for patents to a successful handset manufacturer in Danger.
 
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