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Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

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Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#291

Post by mindcrime »

runjake wrote: post #228
krakensden wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

unless you want the latest version...

I'm not sure why krakensden is being downvoted for their comment. This is a continual gripe in the Android developer/hacker community. Has all of the Android 3.0/3.2 source finally been posted to android.git.kernel.org? Ice Cream Sandwich?

I'm not sure why krakensden is being downvoted for their comment.

Maybe because Google have been pretty emphatic about the fact that the Honeycomb / Ice Cream Sandwich code will be released, and because their delay in releasing this one specific revision is hardly the same thing as "closing Android" or whatever hyperbole is being floated around.

That said, I didn't downvote him. I didn't think the comment added much to the conversation, but it's not worth a downvote in my eyes.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#292

Post by pietrofmaggi »

iqster wrote: post #184
pietrofmaggi wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Motorola was split in two companies the past 4th of January. Motorola Mobility (MMI) and Motorola Solutions (MSI). The cellular infrastructure, part of MSI, was sold to Nokia/Siemes Networks. Motorola Solutions in mainly the Enterprise Mobility Business (Mobile Rugged Devices), WiFi systems, Tetra networks and a lot of other Government stuffs.

Thanks for the clarification. While MSI is considered the successor of the original Motorola, you are absolutely correct. I didn't realize that the cell infrastructure division(s) got sold (used to work on CDMA base-stations a decade a go). Makes me a bit sad. Do you know if they kept the employees?

They keep them till last week. The last news I read was about 1500 layoffs:

http://www.fiercewireless.com/europe/story/nokia-siemens-cut...

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#293

Post by jrockway »

ewanmcteagle wrote: post #252

Will they allow motorola employees to work on google things? I've known motorola programmers and they are not at all of the same caliber as google programmers

I was at DoubleClick when it was bought by Google -- same issue. I left before the deal was completed, but it is my understanding that many people were told "we'll give you a year's salary if you would please just not come to work anymore". In a few months, everyone I knew from that job (minus a select few who were Google material) was working somewhere else.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#294

Post by chollida1 »

nknight wrote: post #71
chollida1 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say this was probably plan b, for if their previous patent purchase didn't happen. The problem with Google, or any software company buying a hardware company is that generally the street values hardware at a lower multiple so this has the chance to pull down google's market cap. We'll see how the market reacts to this during today's trading.

Was it plan B? Major purchases like this don't usually happen quickly. The Nortel and Novell stuff all went down in the last six months, and neither (separately or together) would have cost Google enough to make them back off an in-progress attempt to buy Motorola. This could have been part of a Google patent blitz from the start.

True, but one month isn't unheard of. During the crash of 2008, bank deals were being made after 72 hours of "due diligence":)

A company like Google is always in talks with other companies, a deal like this can happen very quickly if you've been having informal talks all along.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#295

Post by bobby9997 »

51Cards wrote: post #166

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 Androi…

Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies.

http://www.cheatsden.com/google-acquire-motorola-mobility-fo...

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#296

Post by deadsy »

qw wrote: post #118
Jabbles wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://mediacenter.motorola.com/Press-Releases/Motorola-Mobi... http://www.unwiredview.com/2011/08/01/did-motorola-just-hint... ~24,500 (~17000 Granted and ~7000 Pending)

That number of patents is "proof" that the patent system is broken. I have nothing against patents, but they need to describe actual innovations. I have problems believing they had 24500 real innovations. If a company can produce 24500 patents, then most are not what I think of as innovations but just a result of standard engineering work.

A patent is a finite time period monopoly on the use/practice/sale of an invention. To innovate means to introduce something new. The two concepts aren't the same. E.g. You can patent something economically useless, you can patent something and not build it. As a practical matter its not clear to me if you can or should require patents to be linked to innovations.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#297

Post by ldar15 »

sukuriant wrote: post #285
div wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm very curious to see the smartphones that will be coming out of Googorolla. Google's been promoting the "top end phone with fast updates" with their Nexus line which makes me wonder if Motorola-manufactured Androids are all going to be top of the line models.

I was under the understanding that their old phones were top of the line, e.g. the first Motorola Droid.

I own a "first" Droid, so I'm assuming that was sarcasm.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#298

Post by pyre »

cube13 wrote: post #243
lukeschlather wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>This puts both points b), c) and e) off the table. I don't see where you're coming from on b/c. Motorola makes great hardware - it would be hard to improve that. What Google can do is provide phones with unlocked bootloaders and the standard "Android Experience" UI. Google can make Motorola better precisely because they are a software company, and they can use that core competency to let Motorola focus on what they…

>I don't see where you're coming from on b/c. Motorola makes great hardware - it would be hard to improve that. That's exactly the problem. Google, as a software company, doesn't currently have to worry about a lot of the issues that the hardware side of Motorola does, like supply chain management(both on the production and disposal side), dealing with retail outlets, directly dealing with cellular service providers…

  > Google, as a software company, doesn't currently have
  > to worry about a lot of the issues that the hardware
  > side of Motorola does, like supply chain management
The purchase comes with the employees that are currently running these things. It's not like Google bought the operation sans the talent, and now has to use current Google employees (with no experience in this field) to run Motorola Mobility.

All they have to do is operate it as a separate business that has to follow certain 'edicts' from on high. If they want to further integrate it into the Google fold they can do it gradually over time.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#299

Post by r00fus »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #185
51Cards wrote: post #170

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.

Those patents would have been issued in the 70s and long since expired. Even the first generation digital cell phone patents should be mostly expired. I'm not sure how involved Motorola was in the consortiums that developed the 2G/3G/4G standards, but my impression was that they were dominated by the chipset vendors (Qualcomm etc) and the telecom guys (Nortel etc). Of course, there were competing standards, and who p…

> Those patents would have been issued in the 70s and long since expired.

This makes sense if you're talking about individual patents, but often patents are interlinked, and with a "priority date" of a "key patent", subsequent patents can be filed and granted that effectively extend this window... these constitute a specific "patent portfolio".

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