Completely turning the silly season on its head, Google has announced it's buying Motorola's smartphone division for $12.5 billion. This will be to "super charge" Android. Yes, Google has just become a true mobile hardware company.
This will add a heap of intellectual property to Google's already-staggering patent portfolio and will serve as a sharp axe to grind on the necks of competitors if it needs to.
In a blog post, CEO Larry Page waxes lyrical about how Motorola's a market leader not just in phones but in home devices and video. He reassures the world and its dog that Android will remain open source, though some argue that it's not really that open anyway.
Page also points to another recent post about the Department of Justice and all the patent drama happening with what is quickly turning into the big three, Microsoft, Apple, and Android.
Indeed, though the IP will be valuable, industry watchers are raising their eyebrows about some of the finer points.
Its main rivals will be able to sink their teeth in. Patent expert Florian Mueller tells us: "If the deal closes, Google will inherit ongoing patent disputes with Apple and Microsoft, which probably won't be any easier to settle now than they were before."
Others are speculating about Microsoft, and if it plans to pick up a battered RIM or Nokia as a mobile hardware arm.
Google says it will operate Motorola as a separate business, and that it is still committed to delivering Android on other manufacturer's devices. Of course it is. It wants the little green Android in every house and pocket.
"In early 2011, Google chose to temporarily withhold the source code to the tablet-only Honeycomb release, which called into question the "open-ness" of this Android release. The reason, according to Andy Rubin in an official Android blog post, was because Honeycomb was rushed for production of the Motorola Xoom, and they did not want third parties creating a "really bad user experience" by attempting to put onto smartphones a version of Android intended for tablets."
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_%28operating_system%29]
I can sense some uneasiness in the Android phone/tablet manufacturing camp. They now have to deal with a competitor. Android might be open, free and lovey-dovey but it's still an unequal relationship between Google and the rest. The proof is the wikipedia quote, above. I wonder if this in some ways will indirectly help Microsoft, Apple and Nokia. It may also make sense to dust off the in-house mobile OS development teams.
Only time will tell if this move was sheer brilliance or utter madness and whether this is a good or a bad thing for Android in the long run.
As the obligatory rebranding will no doubt follow, I wonder what name Google will give to the new group to best reflect the twin heritage. Googola? Moogle??