Google 'Supercharging Android' With Acquisition of Motorola Mobility

[parapup]

Nortel Partnership????? It was not a "partnership" it was a buy out. They could have done both with no conflict.

Obviously, more experienced people are dumb too.

You understand that the only way for Google to win Nortel patents was to a) Bid in partnership with Microsoft and Apple / BidCo OR b) Shell out huge amount of money purely for patents.

a) was nonsensical as Microsoft, Apple and Co. would still be able to sue other Android manufacturers. b) wasn't such a good value just for the patents - in comparison Motorola deal gives them much more bang for their buck - H/W Software integration, significant weight for Android patent alliance, Set top boxes to push Google TV on every cable box etc.

So I would not be surprised if Google consciously chose not to overbid on Nortel pure pile of patents and nothing else *because* they were working on Motorola.

 

[Infrared]

So according to Google's top brass when Apple buys patents it's anti-competative, but Google buying patents is breaking new ground? Hypocrisy defined right there.

It's not buying patents that's anti-competitive or not. It's how you
use the patents you buy. No one knows how Google will use these
patents.

 

[accessoriesguy]

Nice spin there Larry! Never mind the fact that Google actively tried to acquire all those patents for that very same purpose. Android's partners are now their competitors.

Yup, if Google acquires Motorola, they will be able to streamline the phone and build it fromt he ground up from hardware to software, to use the limitations of the OS. Giving them something as polished and as well as the iPhone. This also means that all other phones would be subpar, because they will not have access or direct connections with the OS developers.

 

[DavidLeblond]

I'm pretty sure if Google had been part of the Nortel patent gang that the Motorola purchase would not have been approved. Right?

 

[Popeye206]

You understand that the only way for Google to win Nortel patents was to a) Bid in partnership with Microsoft and Apple / BidCo OR b) Shell out huge amount of money purely for patents.

a) was nonsensical as Microsoft, Apple and Co. would still be able to sue other Android manufacturers. b) wasn't such a good value just for the patents - in comparison Motorola deal gives them much more bang for their buck - H/W Software integration, significant weight for Android patent alliance, Set top boxes to push Google TV on every cable box etc.

So I would not be surprised if Google consciously chose not to overbid on Nortel pure pile of patents and nothing else *because* they were working on Motorola.

I don't disagree with most of what you say... But... the patent part.

Sure, now they can own the Moto patents. But licenses are already in place. As far as Apple is concerned, they've already done this deal, so it really has little impact.

Again... I think Google see's the advantage of owning controlling it all and this is a huge change in strategy. They may have just killed Android with this move.

 

[i.mac]

Yup, if Google acquires Motorola, they will be able to streamline the phone and build it fromt he ground up from hardware to software, to use the limitations of the OS. Giving them something as polished and as well as the iPhone. This also means that all other phones would be subpar, because they will not have access or direct connections with the OS developers.

This sound like an antitrust case in the making. We'll see in a couple of years...

 

[AppleScruff1]

This has been a non-factor for Motorola. They've been sucking wind for a while now, regardless of signal clarity and ruggedness. The market is not about these things.

Google might just as likely pull an HP/WebOS f-up anyway. It happens all the time, and Google is no Apple.

The market is about this for people who need a phone you can throw against a brick wall and still work and for working is extreme fringe areas. Certainly not the majority, but there are people who get dirty at work and don't work in a controlled environment. And Motorola has been the master at that market for a long time.

 

[kdarling]

Apple invented the PDA, this is just a logical evolution.

Others have pointed out that Apple came up with the name, not the first such device.

What patents do you believe Apple stole? The bought the company that had the capacitative touch patents.

No. Apple bought Fingerworks which had some patents on using capacitive keyboards, not touchscreens.

The already had many patents of their own. The suit between them and Nokia was based on Nokia undervaluing Apples patents in trade, not on any patent stealing done by Apple.

The problem was, Apple didn't want to put any patents in trade, something which all the other members of the ETSI wireless consortium had done. Yet they still wanted to pay the same lower terms.

No one could. The conflict was about how much Apple was going to pay Nokia. There was no actual conflict about the Nokia patents themselves. Mostly because there couldn't be. They were international wireless standards and related patents. There was no argument.

Actually, Apple tried to get some of Nokia's patents declared invalid.

Read their countersuit instead of depending on forum folk myth.

Nokia asked for more than Apple was willing to pay. Apple wanted to pay the same amount as the other licensors. So they made a deal.

Nokia presented their case to a Delaware court where they were willing to take whatever royalties a jury decided.

Apparently Apple didn't think they'd come out that well, as they made a deal with Nokia instead of relying on an American jury's sense of fair play.

 

[SockRolid]

Google is just copying Microsoft again

Google today announced that it will acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, giving the Android developer a significant new hardware arm to help drive the platform forward. ...

What a bunch of suckers. Paying that much to actually *buy* a hardware b!tch.

Microsoft did the right thing. Just waved money under Nokia's nose and lured them in.

 

[parapup]

Sure, now they can own the Moto patents. But licenses are already in place. As far as Apple is concerned, they've already done this deal, so it really has little impact.

I don't see how Motorola deal combined with Google stewardship of other 79 Android manufacturers' patents as a defensive pool can be termed as having little impact - it's their only chance to keep Apple and Microsoft off.

Again... I think Google see's the advantage of owning controlling it all and this is a huge change in strategy. They may have just killed Android with this move.

Oh, I would not be so sure. They can pull it off - Motorola will be a separate business unit and there is no incentive for Google to play partial and lose the Android handset sales from say Samsung or HTC - I am fairly certain other manufacturers were party to this deal and it's all business as normal - without Google buying Motorola Samsung and HTC would not have the 24000 patents backing them - quite contrary perhaps as Jha was talking suing other Android makers for IP.

 

[kdarling]

Sure, now they can own the Moto patents. But licenses are already in place. As far as Apple is concerned, they've already done this deal, so it really has little impact.

Last I saw, Motorola was suing Apple for NOT licensing Moto patents on 3G, WiFi, etc.

Are you talking about some other licenses?

 

[Fukui]

Hopefully, people will take stock of the official word from OEM's. Here they are again for those that won't click OllyW's link:

Those have got to be the most canned responses to news ive ever seen… its like google just wrote them their “enthusiastic response” and said “hey joe, can you put your name on this? k thanks bye!"

 

[*LTD*]

Actually, Apple tried to get some of Nokia's patents declared invalid.

Read their countersuit instead of depending on forum folk myth.



Nokia presented their case to a Delaware court where they were willing to take whatever royalties a jury decided.

Apparently Apple didn't think they'd come out that well, as they made a deal with Nokia instead of relying on an American jury's sense of fair play.

Who cares. At this point Nokia is dead weight, depending on a mobile non-contender. MS has had nearly a year to sell consumers on WP7.

A win or loss in this area didn't really matter for Apple.

 

[oliversl]

And so the Draconian age of Android begins. Whats next, Google buying HP?

I wonder how much will it take for Google be accused for monopoly in almost every big industry

 

[Savor]

In 1969, Neil Armstrong spoke the famous words "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" from the Moon on a Motorola Radio.

Today, it has become one giant leap for Android.

Motorola has been around since 1928. Much longer than Apple, Microsoft, and Google have existed. Now these old-timers like Nokia and Motorola have become "prostitutes" to one of them. Google acquires the one American company that has plenty of mileage with telecommunication. In the 1980's and most of the 1990's, it was all about Motorola dominating the industry. Then Nokia took over globally by 1998.

Some people may HATE Android, but they can never accuse Google as being a STUPID company considering most Android users are labeled as geeks and nerds anyway.

I am very curious how this plays out for TV. Google wants Android everywhere including TV's. This news might hurt Apple TV even more.

http://www.lostremote.com/2011/08/15/why-googles-motorola-acquisition-is-a-huge-tv-play/

Why Google’s Motorola acquisition is a huge TV play

Google announced this morning that it’s sweeping up Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, a whopping 60% premium over Friday’s close. You’ve likely read that the acquisition will give Google access to a fresh crop of patents and allow it to more seamlessly integrate its Android operating system with Motorola handsets. But it’s also Google’s biggest move yet into TV.

Motorola is the largest provider of cable TV set-top boxes in the U.S. In fact, the set-top box business accounted for about 30% of its revenue and all of its operating profit in the first quarter, reported Chicago Business in May. Google has been trying to bring its same search and ad-targeting technology to TV for years. Now it has a beachhead in the living room — and a big one.

You could imagine, for example, that Google TV software will power new iterations of Motorola set-top boxes. At the very least, it will power the Android TV app experience. Power up your cable TV, and suddenly you have access to hundreds (and soon thousands) of made-for-TV apps, which are under development right now for release later this year. Some of these TV apps will tie into second-screen tablets, like Motorola’s Xoom, which is coming along with the deal. And perhaps, Google Plus will provide a social layer of some kind.

It also will unable cross-platform sharing of video content. Earlier this year, Motorola bought SunUp Digital Systems, which powers video delivery across devices with a payment architecture and DRM built in.

And on the back-end, Google gains access to viewer data at a scale it’s never had before. The data is what Google has needed to deliver targeted TV advertising and measure the results with a precision that linear TV has never offered. Motorola gives it real hardware in the living room, like Microsoft’s Xbox and Apple TV, that takes the set-top box maker out of the negotiation equation.

Google’s odds of success with Google TV suddenly took a turn for the better.

 

[wikus]

I'm having a really hard time accepting that there are so many ignorant pro-apple bias comments in this thread.

Don't worry people we're still winning!!! iPhone 5 will blow them all away there's nothing Google can do to stop us.

I think RIMM is now officially done.

What a bunch of suckers. Paying that much to actually *buy* a hardware b!tch.

Microsoft did the right thing. Just waved money under Nokia's nose and lured them in.

I'd like to see Apple pick up RIM and HP and form a separate division to go hard after the corporate market.

Because it just goes to show how right Apple has been all along.

They can evangelize away. Now's the time.

Why are the macrumors members so butthurt over this peice of news? Are they Apple shareholders? I highly doubt it. So whats with all this apple evangelism?

 

[*LTD*]

Hopefully, people will take stock of the official word from OEM's. Here they are again for those that won't click OllyW's link:

Come on. I highly doubt you fell for that baloney.

No OEM responds genuinely to a situation like this, unless they tell the truth - which would be downright ugly. It's just boilerplate.

These box-makers are nothing without licensed operating systems. This is the beginning of the end for Google's little OEM experiment.

You can bet there are some big meetings going on at HTC, Samsung et al right now, about their "Android roadmap."

There aren't any party hats or cake.

 

[DavidLeblond]

I don't see how Motorola deal combined with Google stewardship of other 79 Android manufacturers' patents as a defensive pool can be termed as having little impact - it's their only chance to keep Apple and Microsoft off.


Oh, I would not be so sure. They can pull it off - Motorola will be a separate business unit and there is no incentive for Google to play partial and lose the Android handset sales from say Samsung or HTC - I am fairly certain other manufacturers were party to this deal and it's all business as normal - without Google buying Motorola Samsung and HTC would not have the 24000 patents backing them - quite contrary perhaps as Jha was talking suing other Android makers for IP.

The other Android manufacturers can't be happy about this. I mean really, you're in the market for an Android phone... do you go with the Official Google Android Phone (or The Droid as it is already called) or "one of those other phones."

Sure there is the minority that is in the know, and they'll be choosier. But I can't tell you the amount of people that I know that have HTC phones and claim they own "Droids." It already has the best brand recognition. This further strengthens that. HTC would never publicly say they're pissed but trust me, they're pissed.

 

[OllyW]

I'm having a really hard time accepting that there are so many ignorant pro-apple bias comments in this thread.


Why are the macrumors members so butthurt over this peice of news? Are they Apple shareholders? I highly doubt it. So whats with all this apple evangelism?

You haven't been here very long. Don't worry, you'll soon get used to it.

 

[AAPLaday]

A few weeks ago i posted a thread about Google possibly buying RIM but it was dubious at best. This however i didn't see this coming! Im not that well up on Motorola but i cant remember the last decent phone they made?

I wonder how HTC and Samsung will react? Will they decide to instead move their focus to the superior WP7 and possibly (HP depending) WebOS. Or has the Nokia deal put them in a similar position? Or how about MeeGo?

 

[*LTD*]

I'm having a really hard time accepting that there are so many ignorant pro-apple bias comments in this thread.









Why are the macrumors members so butthurt over this peice of news? Are they Apple shareholders? I highly doubt it. So whats with all this apple evangelism?

Because it just goes to show how right Apple has been all along.

They can evangelize away. Now's the time.

 

[voonyx]

I'm having a really hard time accepting that there are so many ignorant pro-apple bias comments in this thread.












Why are the macrumors members so butthurt over this peice of news? Are they Apple shareholders? I highly doubt it. So whats with all this apple evangelism?

What's the point of questions like this? It's an apple-centric forum, so people are going to be supporting Apple more so then another company. The guy who used "we" and "us" is just weird, but everyone else is just having a discussion. Are you suggesting that if Apple was the one that bought Motorola that android-centric forums wouldn't be upset? Stop asking dumb questions...

 

[wikus]

Because it just goes to show how right Apple has been all along.

They can evangelize away. Now's the time.

I've added your comment to my list of quotes. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say you are one of the greatest apple evangelicals to have ever landed on the planet.

I sincerely hope you put as much effort into other areas of life as you do with (blind) worship for Apple and Steve Jobs.

 

[FearNo1]

They could make a general STB that cord cutters could buy and use GTV for its interface. BTW, there are no ads on GTV but there is a banner ad on comcast's TV guide for the DVR or at least when I had their service years ago.

While you may see Android powering the Moto STB's that the cable companies use, I'd find it hard to imagine that the cable companies would allow for Google ads to be placed in front of the subscriber's eyeballs without compensation.

So, if the put Android on the STB, don't expect Google to reap any ad revenue unless they play ball with the Comcasts and TimeWarners of the world.

 

[Kevlar]

Time for more lawsuits!