Google buys Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion
Whoa whoa whoa....whao man! What the hell just happened here?!
I'm shocked there were no rumors of this one. I love Goog's tenacity and never ending drive to take over the world. But I didn't even come close to expecting this move. Though it should have been expected. No matter how awesome Android got, Google could not fully compete with Apple's tightly controlled harmony between hardware and software. Now they have that chance.
I believe Google when it says it wants to keep Android open mobile OS. They value the power of a marketplace that has players like Samsung, HTC, and Sony poring oodles of cash into Android, especially from a marketing perspective. Statements from those companies CEOs mirror this thought of empowerment, though I doubt behind the scenes it's all sunshine and roses. How could you not be at least a little miffed? Especially someone like HTC who solidified Android with their rockstar hardware, including building the hardware for the first 2 "Google Phones".
I guess only time will tell if Google is able to maintain a solid relationship with those companies and leverage Moto's hardware expertise to make more awesome products (though not software, please let Blur die!)
I think what this really does is let Google finally operate at the same level as Apple. They can own the entirety of the Android user experience. Google has shown that when they apply their "Googlyness" to the phone's hardware (G1, Nexus One, Nexus S) the entire experience is elevated to near nirvana.
Oh yeah, Motorola also holds over 17,000 patents, which may come in handy.
Here's to hoping.
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