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Google to buy Motorola
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Aug 15, 2011, 08:09 AM
 
Interesting. Sucks to be HTC or Samsung right now.
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Aug 15, 2011, 08:15 AM
 
Made sense that Google would be looking to acquire some companies to help power Android after it lost those patent purchases. Certainly a nice premium for Motorola's shareholders.

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Aug 15, 2011, 08:16 AM
 
A large part of this buy has to deal with Motorola's patents. As others may know, Google lost the bid to buy Nortel's patent portfolio. So this adds a huge arsenal for Google, as they are being sued (directly or indirectly) or under threat by Oracle (in the Java case), by Microsoft (MS is forcing Android makers to license), and Apple (in Samsung, HTC, etc).

But yeah, not good to be HTC or Samsung right now, especially considering HTC was the maker of the G1 and Samsung made the Nexus one I believe.
     
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Aug 15, 2011, 08:25 AM
 
Certainly makes sense. This will put more pressure on Apple, too.

-t
     
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Aug 15, 2011, 08:46 AM
 
The problem with this idea is that it's really only defense against Apple, and Apple is the least of their problems patent-wise. It is not a particularly good defense against MS and more than anything else, it is not a defense against Oracle. Google is in serious problems in that lawsuit.
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Aug 15, 2011, 08:57 AM
 
Is there anything left of Motorola then? The semiconductor part has already been spun off and sold as Freescale - and this is the mobile phone ops.

Do they make microwaves?
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Aug 15, 2011, 09:00 AM
 
The original company doesn't exist. There is another spin-off though, Motorola Solutions.

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Aug 15, 2011, 09:13 AM
 
Interesting. The only way I see it making sense is for the obvious patent thing, but one has to wonder what this does to Android as a platform. I can't think of any successful venture where a company both manufactures and licenses devices. Didn't work for Palm (well it did for a bit, but not long), was a disaster for Apple, didn't work for Nokia/Symbian.

And I would think Apple is pretty comfortable with their patent position against Motorola as I believe they have already sued them over the android stuff.

I think Google made a great search/ad engine but seems hopeless at actually running a company.
     
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Aug 15, 2011, 09:31 AM
 
Symbian started as a cooperation between Nokia, Ericsson (now Sony Ericsson) and Motorola with the OS delivered by what used to be Psion. Other partners joined later. Nokia then basically backstabbed its partners by accumulating a controlling interest in Symbian and eventually forcing its former partners out of the picture.

I fully agree that it will be problematic for the other Android partners - especially Samsung, which is too large to be acquired anyone else, doesn't have any strong relationship with MS for Windows Mobile, and has been actively antagonizing its second biggest customer to sell more phones.
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Aug 15, 2011, 09:36 AM
 
It makes sense that they'd purchase them for their patents, but Motorola will be tough to integrate into Google. Jha has been very outspoken against stock Android, and Motorola only make one stock Android phone at the moment (the Triumph on Virgin Mobile).
     
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Aug 15, 2011, 10:08 AM
 
Actually, I think it will further strengthen Android as a cross-platform product, unless Google decides they want to go it alone.

BTW, this is ironic for me because back in the old days before the CPU architecture switch I used to wonder what would happen if Apple got big enough to buy Motorola.

It's too bad for Motorola that the ROKR was reportedly utterly terrible.
     
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Aug 15, 2011, 10:42 AM
 
I think the patent situation will be worked out somehow. Google has enough cash.

The reason why this will put more pressure on Apple is that there is now a capable player that does software + hardware in the smart phone space.

-t
     
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Aug 15, 2011, 11:00 AM
 
Originally Posted by mindwaves View Post
But yeah, not good to be HTC or Samsung right now, especially considering HTC was the maker of the G1 and Samsung made the Nexus one I believe.
HTC made the Nexus One. Samsung makes the Nexus S, though.

I'm not sure how I feel about this ā€”Ā on one hand, I dislike all this consolidation in the phone space, but on the other hand, well, that's one way to get Motorola to finally start making stock phones. Their radio hardware has always been the best around, so it makes sense.

And at least it's not one of Motorola's direct competitors doing it, so it doesn't reduce the amount of competition in the field. I wouldn't have minded as much if Google or somebody had bought T-Mobile instead of AT&T.

I do doubt that HTC, Samsung, and LG are thrilled about this, though.
( Last edited by CharlesS; Aug 15, 2011 at 11:10 AM. )

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Aug 15, 2011, 03:29 PM
 
I don't think it's so bad to be HTC/LG/Samsung right now. The patents aren't going to be used against them.
     
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Aug 15, 2011, 05:22 PM
 
Originally Posted by mduell View Post
I don't think it's so bad to be HTC/LG/Samsung right now. The patents aren't going to be used against them.
The patents is not the issue for them.

It's not being able to develop hardware and integrate it with the OS until Google rolls out new Android OS versions.

Google will be able to always be a step ahead of them, making everything they come out with look dated.

-t
     
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Aug 15, 2011, 05:42 PM
 
Google buys Motorola Mobility purely to protect themselves from patent lawsuits. This suggest to me that Googorola phones won't be terribly good, since making great phones doesn't appear to be a key interest of Google.

Apple once tried this strategy, licensing their OS to companies then they had to compete against in the market. Didn't work out great for Apple while they did it, and it didn't work out great for the clones makers once Apple realized their mistake.
     
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Aug 15, 2011, 05:46 PM
 
Originally Posted by CharlesS View Post
I'm not sure how I feel about this ā€”Ā on one hand, I dislike all this consolidation in the phone space, but on the other hand, well, that's one way to get Motorola to finally start making stock phones. Their radio hardware has always been the best around, so it makes sense.
It's interesting that you mention their radio hardware. My VZW Palm Pre only had 2-3 bars of signal in my house, and the dumb phones I had before that were about the same, my Droid 2 Global has 5 bars nearly everywhere in the house. A friend with an original Droid also gets perfect signal. They must be very good at baseband stuff.
     
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Aug 15, 2011, 05:59 PM
 
Originally Posted by lpkmckenna View Post
Google buys Motorola Mobility purely to protect themselves from patent lawsuits. This suggest to me that Googorola phones won't be terribly good, since making great phones doesn't appear to be a key interest of Google.
How do you know that ?

To cite the patent stuff us the ONLY reason is a bit rushed, IMO.

I think Google is looking down the road, and realized that w/o more hardware control, it's going to be hard to deliver finely tuned, perfect smart phones.

Doesn't matter where Moto stands today, there's enough good engineering manpower to make very good hardware, especially if you have the inside scoop on the SW development.

-t
     
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Aug 15, 2011, 06:40 PM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
Actually, I think it will further strengthen Android as a cross-platform product, unless Google decides they want to go it alone.

BTW, this is ironic for me because back in the old days before the CPU architecture switch I used to wonder what would happen if Apple got big enough to buy Motorola.

It's too bad for Motorola that the ROKR was reportedly utterly terrible.
Apple should buy Samsung.
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Aug 15, 2011, 06:43 PM
 
Samsung's too big, they got too much non-computer/cell hpone business.

Wouldn't be allowed anyways.

-t
     
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Aug 15, 2011, 06:43 PM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
Actually, I think it will further strengthen Android as a cross-platform product, unless Google decides they want to go it alone.

BTW, this is ironic for me because back in the old days before the CPU architecture switch I used to wonder what would happen if Apple got big enough to buy Motorola.

It's too bad for Motorola that the ROKR was reportedly utterly terrible.
Apple should buy Samsung.


Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post
I think the patent situation will be worked out somehow. Google has enough cash.

The reason why this will put more pressure on Apple is that there is now a capable player that does software + hardware in the smart phone space.

-t
Maybe, but I wouldn't say its a capable player yet. Its true they now have a hardware part and the software part. The question is what they do with it. Do they continue to support a bunch of venders with Android or make future versions of it for only its phones. Time will tell.
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Aug 15, 2011, 07:00 PM
 
Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post
How do you know that ?
Because that's what Google said.
I think Google is looking down the road, and realized that w/o more hardware control, it's going to be hard to deliver finely tuned, perfect smart phones.
This, Google hasn't said. Are you a mindreader?
     
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Aug 15, 2011, 08:14 PM
 
Ok, so economically, this is a very expensive move if it was just for patents.

I think Google is smarter than that, but they are not telling, because it would upset Samsung, HTC and the regulators.

-t
     
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Aug 15, 2011, 09:40 PM
 
Originally Posted by imitchellg5 View Post
It's interesting that you mention their radio hardware. My VZW Palm Pre only had 2-3 bars of signal in my house, and the dumb phones I had before that were about the same, my Droid 2 Global has 5 bars nearly everywhere in the house. A friend with an original Droid also gets perfect signal. They must be very good at baseband stuff.
The first cellular networks in the US, in the early 80s, used Motorola phones. Moto's been making cellular radios far longer than anyone else, and they are very good at it. My old RAZR2 used to work in the basement with 2-3 bars in places where other phones on the same network wouldn't even make a call outside in the front yard. People seem to like to rag on Motorola a lot on the Internet, but if you need to be able to actually make a phone call, they are the best.

If Motorola ended up making a Nexus phone as a result of this Google deal, it would make my day.

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Aug 15, 2011, 09:47 PM
 
Originally Posted by CharlesS View Post

If Motorola ended up making a Nexus phone as a result of this Google deal, it would make my day.
They already do, the Triumph on Virgin 1 GHz Snapdragon and a touch more RAM than the Nexus One.
     
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Aug 15, 2011, 09:58 PM
 
Josh Topolsky has an excellent article about the purchase at the Washington Post: Google plan to buy Motorola Mobility an explosive development in tech world - The Washington Post
     
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Aug 15, 2011, 10:07 PM
 
Goes along with what I've been saying.

The Moto patents are more hardware related than software. Sure, there are overlaps, but I'd like too see a more detailed analysis of the patents before I buy that argument as the MAIN argument.

Let's not forget: supposedly, the patent lawsuits of two software companies (MS, Oracle) are to be combated with patents from a hardware company (cell phones, set top boxes). Just doesn't make too much sense.

-t
     
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Aug 15, 2011, 10:09 PM
 
I also think it's important to consider that the Nortel patents will expire at some point. Google need Motorola not just for patents that they already have, but because Motorola are pretty good at creating new patents. In a sense, Google are trying to secure themselves as more than just the guy who provides the software, they want to provide every aspect of the IP.
( Last edited by imitchellg5; Aug 16, 2011 at 10:46 AM. )
     
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Aug 16, 2011, 11:32 PM
 
It appears there is even more to Google's purchase: Motorola threatened to sue other Android makers for stealing their IP. This would have been very bad for the Android platform. And, Microsoft was also considering buying Motorola, which Google was very worried about.

Also, since Motorola were trailing in sales behind HTC and Samsung, they were considering going back to Microsoft and using Windows Phone 7.

Daring Fireball has an excellent article on it all, with great links.
     
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Aug 17, 2011, 07:06 AM
 
Motorola's core competency is not "pushing the latest bells and whistles in consumer products," but rather really good technical expertise in radio communications. Motorola was actually behind the cell system technology, and had a version of that technology fielded in the 2-way radio field for years before the FCC gave the green light to cell systems. Any time you see someone using a walkie-taklie and you hear a "bleep-bleep" before they start talking, you're seeing someone use Motorola's trunking technology. Which has little to do with how many megapixels a phone's camera has, or whether it has built in Twitter...

Offloading that consumer product division can only help Motorola, and having that sort of ability can only help Google become more effective in making Android a bigger player.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
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Aug 20, 2011, 09:05 PM
 
I think it's mostly about the patents. I think Google will spinoff much of the Motorola Mobility business for about $1-2 billion, combine that with the cash transfer, Google buys three times the patents of the $4.5 billion Nortel deal, plus some employees to help with Nexus Hardware Design, and some accesories teams & radio teams, for about $9 billion after selling & cash transfer. That would be a good deal; three times the patents for twice the cost.
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Aug 27, 2011, 02:17 PM
 
It's funny hearing about how great Motorola is at making cellular devices and stuff, when for the last few years all I've heard is that Motorola's products were garbage.

I worked at a Rogers dealer for three years and whenever someone wanted a phone that got good reception we gave em a cheap Nokia that had a great radio in it. Whenever someone wanted a handset that would last for forever and a day and not break regardless of how badly they misused it, we handed them a Samsung. Whenever we didn't like someone we'd sell em a Motorola or an LG.

Also the reception indicator, as mentioned by Jobs, is actually a crap shoot for actual meaning. An iPhone might register one level as 1 bar, where as another device could register the same signal as 3 bars. The number of bars means nothing except when comparing the same phone.

Back in the day I remember being impressed with some Motorola products for the way they looked, but when I got ahold of them they generally felt lacking somehow, either they felt cheap, or they were too heavy (RAZR2) or the keys were a pain to type on (MotoQ) i've never been impressed with Motorola, and I doubt I will be unless Google cuts a LOT of their higher ups. I'm sure they've got some brilliant engineers and hopefully they'll thrive under Google.

What I'm waiting for is for Google TV to be on every Motorola set top box.
     
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Aug 27, 2011, 04:11 PM
 
Originally Posted by Athens View Post
Apple should buy Samsung.
Nope. They should buy Casio or Fossil to make an iWatch.
     
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Aug 27, 2011, 07:54 PM
 
Originally Posted by Salty View Post
It's funny hearing about how great Motorola is at making cellular devices and stuff, when for the last few years all I've heard is that Motorola's products were garbage.
Yep. Same with Google's products. Serves both companies right to merge and get dropped like a unibody.
     
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Aug 27, 2011, 08:35 PM
 
Google's products are garbage? What do you use for search, Alta Vista?
     
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Aug 28, 2011, 12:32 PM
 
Still do. They were the best after Teoma bought out DirectHit.

Google's search results suck and have completed sucked for the past 11 years. I tried it, hated all the irrelevant stupid newsletter pages and just completely off-topic junk, screw up. AltaVista is way better. In fact I might switch back to AltaVista even though I switched over to Bing because everything is looking like Yahoo anyways. I wish someone would re-invent a real search engine.
     
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Aug 28, 2011, 09:54 PM
 
Originally Posted by Salty View Post
It's funny hearing about how great Motorola is at making cellular devices and stuff, when for the last few years all I've heard is that Motorola's products were garbage.
Like I said, some people on the Internet like to rag on them, but they have made the best cellular radios on the market for a very long time. They tend to have crappy software (which Google can fix), and they may not have the fanciest cameras with the most megapixels, but dammit, you can make phone calls on them.

Also the reception indicator, as mentioned by Jobs, is actually a crap shoot for actual meaning. An iPhone might register one level as 1 bar, where as another device could register the same signal as 3 bars. The number of bars means nothing except when comparing the same phone.
This is true, but when one phone works in the basement where other phones don't even work in the front yard, it's pretty safe to say that phone has better reception.

Back in the day I remember being impressed with some Motorola products for the way they looked, but when I got ahold of them they generally felt lacking somehow, either they felt cheap, or they were too heavy (RAZR2)
Huh? If a phone has a solid enough construction to not feel "cheap", then it's going to be heavier. This sounds like damned if you do, damned if you don't to me.

At any rate, the RAZR2 was lighter than the iPhone is, so I'm not sure exactly what you're complaining about.

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Aug 29, 2011, 07:08 AM
 
All those horrible reviews of Motorola cellular products focused on their (admittedly horrible) software. They did patent the basic cell system technology, and applied it rather a long time ago-well before cellular phones were a reality, so they know their stuff. But keeping in mind that Motorola started out as "the" mobile radio maker, first with the car radio, then with two way systems, it isn't hard to see where "pop culture software" eluded them. Want a solid, reliable two way radio that will survive all sorts of insults? Go with Motorola, every time. There is a real reason they are at the top of the two way market in the US.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
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Aug 29, 2011, 10:31 AM
 
Indeed. My Droid 2 Global may be one of the worst phones recently sold in terms of build quality and Motorola's BLUR skin on Android, but it's great as an actual phone. I haven't dropped a call once in the 6 months I've had it, and in about the week I reactivated my Palm Pre Plus I've already dropped a couple.
     
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Aug 29, 2011, 08:53 PM
 
We always found that when customers couldn't get reception on their Motorola it was best to sell a Nokia.
     
   
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