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Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

techcrunch.com

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Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#161

Post by rbanffy »

lojack wrote: post #160
rbanffy wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also, "open" in name only. "open" as in: $ repo init -u git://android.git.kernel.org/platform/manifest.git

I believe the point is that google can now produce closed source motorola specific software, and not that android is no longer open source software.

Google always could. The Google apps you find on your Android phone are not open-source. HTC's Sense or Motorola's Blur aren't open source either. In fact, everyone could. My Nook is full of proprietary software. Android is just a software environment people build apps on top. The open-source core is fairly decent when compared to the competition, but no phone manufacturer I know ships only that.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#162

Post by evilduck »

TillE wrote: post #47
peq wrote: post #24

I hope google cares more about updating android for the motorola droid2. Maybe I will finally get 2.3 :D

I swore off buying another Motorola product ever again after it took them an absurdly long time to roll out 2.2 for the Milestone. 2.3 is nowhere in sight. Shockingly terrible support for a flagship product. We'll see how quickly Google can transform them. Android could really use a line of official devices that are consistently updated like iOS devices.

Motorola isn't the only manufacturer to fail their customers like that. Samsung is worse and HTC is only slightly better, but overall the outlook for any Android phone getting promptly updated over the duration of the contract period is bleak at best.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#163

Post by 51Cards »

sequoia wrote: post #151
51Cards wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently these are their early comments. Of course how much thought has gone into these yet is another question. http://www.google.com/press/motorola/quotes/

This was really funny; couldn't they've at least tried to make it look like the quotes weren't all written by one person? q1v1: We welcome today’s news, which demonstrates Google’s deep commitment to defending Android, its partners, and the ecosystem. q1v2: We welcome the news of today‘s acquisition, which demonstrates that Google is deeply committed to defending Android, its partners, and the entire ecosystem. q2v1:…

I think what you're seeing is not written by the same person, (Google couldn't be caught impersonating the owners of their partner companies) but probably a set of statements written by PR assistants all on the same "Please give us a statement on..." request using the same source terms out of the press release. All of them are toeing the corporate partner line for now.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#164

Post by cageface »

jamesteow wrote: post #46
RuadhanMc wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google has got to play the game until the rules of the game change. They need patents for protection. Yes, the patents are overpriced, but does Google have a choice?

And nobody has to change the rules if people play the game.

Android tablets are being pulled from shelves. What should they do? Just concede the market to Apple for the decade or so a serious attempt at patent reform will probably take? They're still not offensively suing anybody.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#166

Post by 51Cards »

If there is one company I trust to not screw this up it's Google and I think they have a good shot at getting this right. I'm sure their partner companies are going to be a bit ansy to start but they all compete on hardware / price anyhow which this doesn't change. A few points that pop to mind:

A. They already had to compete with Motorola, so they haven't lost or gained a new competitor.

B. They don't pay for Android so Motorola hasn't gotten some new financial edge. Google just has to ensure that all companies still get source releases at the same time. What they do with them is up to them. (aside: I expect we will see MotoBlur disappear with some of its key features rolled into future Android releases)

C. This will allow Google to protect Android much better which is very beneficial to their bottom lines, especially if it keeps patent licensing costs off of their products.

D. Google just has to be sure they don't play favorites but from what I have seen up until now they have been good about that.

E. This may have just brought the competition for who gets to build the next Nexus to an end. (unless the next Nexus is already basically "done" at another partner company)

I think they can get this right... and now hopefully we can get a whole line of nice Motorola hardware with current Android and unlocked boot-loaders, etc. I might have to reconsider the Droid 3 again (more like Droid 4 one day, since 3 is already in the wild as is)

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#167

Post by jokermatt999 »

RuadhanMc wrote: post #105
w1ntermute wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple are ahead right now (manufacturing handsets, selling software, etc) Uhh, haven't more Android handsets been sold per day than iOS handsets for like the last 6 months?

Perhaps, but Apple make a ton more money per handset than Google does, so in my mind they are ahead. They also continue to lead design-wise. Manufacturers are still copying Apple products in this space.

I'm not sure I'd agree with that last part. Perhaps hardware to some degree, but Android has lead in terms of software. Look at the intents system, notifications, and their implementation of multiple application support vs iOS. iOS may have the polish, but Android has a very nice system in place when you look at how things work.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#169

Post by martingordon »

sadlyNess wrote: post #34
martingordon wrote: post #18

So now Google has blessed a hardware manufacturer as the official Android manufacturer, and despite Google's insistence that Android is open, I don't think we've seen the Honeycomb source code yet. How long until Google no longer offers the Android source at all? Samsung, HTC and the others are probably not very happy about this and will likely move them to start pushing their Windows Phone 7 handsets a bit harder th…

From Larry's post: "This acquisition will not change our commitment to run Android as an open platform. Motorola will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. We will run Motorola as a separate business. Many hardware partners have contributed to Android’s success and we look forward to continuing to work with all of them to deliver outstanding user experiences." Edit: Interesting to see huge differ…

Google is going the Apple route and building well-integrated hardware and software. The problem is that they're taking a detour into mid-90s Apple where other manufacturers were cannibalizing Mac sales. It's inevitable that Google will one day decide that it makes more sense to make $350 from every Android phone sold than from only 15% of them (or whatever Motorola's Android marketshare is).

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#170

Post by 51Cards »

One further thought on the patent portfolio. Don't forget that Motorola is widely considered to have "invented" the first practical cell phone. Their patent portfolio isn't just going to be stuff like "Using shades of gray in a UI". It's going to run deep into what constitutes a mobile device.
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