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Android’s parent comes a-calling for the handset maker as the stakes heat up for dominance in the smartphone sector. CNET and its sister sites bring you in-depth coverage.
Five possible responses to Google-Motorola
When big acquisitions are announced, there’s likely an aftershock that reverberates through an industry. CNET takes a look at some possible scenarios for Google and Motorola competitors.
Motorola shareholder sues, says $12.5B not enough
S&P downgrades Google stock on Motorola deal plans
(Posted in Signal Strength by Marguerite Reardon)
August 16, 2011 6:11 p.m. PT
Mobile operating systems: Where the manufacturers play
With its Motorola Mobility acquisition, Google would take on a new role of developing an open-sourced smartphone OS and making hardware for it.
(Posted in Dialed In by Kent German)
August 17, 2011 1:17 p.m. PT
Google’s Motorola bid shrinks mobile patent supply
The battle to control mobile device patents puts a handful of companies with vast intellectual property portfolios in negotiating positions of strength.
ZDNet: Google-Motorola Mobility would create interesting enterprise portfolio
(Posted in Digital Media by Jay Greene)
August 16, 2011 4:00 a.m. PT
Infographic: A Motorola lawsuit primer
Google will acquire plenty of intellectual property with its planned acquisition of the handset maker. It also gets plenty more work for the legal department.
(Posted in Politics and Law by Josh Lowensohn)
August 16, 2011 5:10 a.m. PT
Google-Motorola marriage good for consumers?
If Google chooses to leverage the Motorola hardware business, it could build an end-to-end mobile experience that rivals Apple’s iOS devices.
(Posted in Signal Strength by Marguerite Reardon)
August 15, 2011 4:43 p.m. PT
Report: Microsoft also considered Motorola buy
GigaOm reports that Motorola was in talks with several parties, including Microsoft.
(Posted in Wireless by Roger Cheng)
August 15, 2011 3:06 p.m. PT
Motorola struggled before the Google deal
With plans to acquire Motorola Mobility, Google may be inheriting Motorola’s problems, ranging from lost market share to delayed products.
(Posted in Wireless by Roger Cheng)
August 15, 2011 12:35 p.m. PT
Regulatory scrutiny likely for Google-Motorola
Both the size of the deal and ongoing regulatory investigations could lead to a consent decree to get the acquisition approved.(Posted in Digital Media by Jay Greene and Declan McCullagh)
August 15, 2011 12:16 p.m. PT
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Google’s big buys
A list of some of Google’s biggest and/or most important acquisitions to date.
Applied Semantics, April 2003 ($102 million)
Built AdSense, the paid search ad platform that still drives most of Google revenue and profits.
Picasa, June 2004 (terms not disclosed)
Image-organizing tool remains one of Google’s most popular services
Android, August 2005 (terms not disclosed)The platform started by ex-Danger head Andy Rubin is now the second-most popular mobile OS in the world.
YouTube, October 2006 ($1.65 billion)
Video-sharing site that was initially a copyright risk now earns more than $1 billion a year.
DoubleClick, April 2007 ($3.1 billion)
Helped launch Google’s display advertising business.
FeedBurner, June 2007 ($100 million)
Helped users and advertisers manage RSS feeds.
Postini, June 2007 ($625 million)
The company’s e-mail security services have become key features of Google’s enterprise apps business.
GrandCentral July 2007 ($45 million)
The technology behind Google Voice.
AdMob, November 2009 ($750 million)
Gave Google a major technology inroad into the mobile advertising business.
On2 video compression, February 2010 ($133.9 million)
With this acquisition came codex that Google later renamed WebM and is pushing as a new Web video standard.
ITA, June 2010 ($700 million)Purchase of travel search company was opposed by competitors who felt it would give Google unfair power.
Like.com, August 2010 ($100 million)
Visual search and e-commerce engine boosted Google’s product and image search sites.
Slide, August 2010 (terms not disclosed) Social media company founded by PayPal veteran Max Levchin was purchased as part of effort to make Google products more “social.”
AdMeld, $400 million (June 2011)
Aimed at helping Google optimize online display ads.
Motorola Mobility, August 2011, pending ($12.5 billion)
Would give Google valuable intellectual property and get it directly into the handset business.
Motorola’s Android devices: Past, present, and future
Google’s acquisition of Motorola might be all about the patents, but what does it mean for Moto’s handset business?
Photos: Motorola’s Android phones
Motorola announces ‘life-proof’ Defy+ for select markets
(Posted in Android Atlas by Bonnie Cha)
August 15, 2011 1:10 p.m. PT
Google-Motorola: Patents of mass destruction
commentary
This game isn’t new, but the scale and the stake keeps going up.(Posted in Rafe’s Radar by Rafe Needleman)
August 15, 2011 2:56 p.m. PT
Google takes bold action to match aspirations
commentary
The risks that come with the $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility show a new level of boldness at Google. But is it serious about selling phones?(Posted in Deep Tech by Stephen Shankland)
August 15, 2011 10:54 a.m. PT
Google may alienate allies with Motorola deal
With Motorola in the fold, Google will find it difficult to straddle the line between being a partner with other Android handset makers and being a competitor.
Then again: Initial words of praise from Google’s future handset rivals
(Posted in Wireless by Roger Cheng)
August 15, 2011 8:37 a.m. PT
Google just bought itself patent protection
The tech giant is spending $12.5 billion in what looks very much like an attempt to fight back in a mounting patent war against its Android operating system.
ZDNet: Deal values hardware at ‘next to nothing’
ZDNet: It’s all about the patents
(Posted in Signal Strength by Marguerite Reardon)
August 15, 2011 6:45 a.m. PT
Motorola may help ailing Google TV
Google is eyed with suspicion by cable companies, but the Motorola Mobility acquisition could help the company create new opportunities for its television service.
(Posted in Media Maverick by Greg Sandoval)
August 15, 2011 8:12 a.m. PT
TechRepublic: Will the deal drive Microsoft toward HTC or Nokia?
The Google-Motorola deal will shake up the Android ecosystem. In fact, it may push one company into Microsoft’s waiting arms.
ZDNet: Is there a role for third party mobile operating systems?
(Posted at Tech Republic by Jason Hiner)
August 15, 2011, 7:16 a.m. PT
ZDNet: Six reasons the deal makes sense
Google’s purchase solves the search giant’s patent problems, gives it a bigger say in hardware integration, and fixes a few other issues. Here’s a look at the moving parts.
ZDNet: At Motorola, a history of embracing, then rejecting, consumer spotlight
(Posted in Between the Lines by Larry Dignan)
August 15, 2011, 6:01 a.m. PT
BNET: Buying Motorola may not protect Android
Google plans to buy Motorola Mobility, apparently in an effort to help Google’s Android fend off the patent infringement lawsuits from Apple and Microsoft. Here’s why that may not work.
(Posted in Wired In by Erik Sherman)
August 15, 2011
Google’s Page explains Motorola acquisition
Google’s CEO evidently is willing to make bold, expensive moves to protect Android from patent attacks. Here’s how he explains the acquisition.
(Posted in Deep Tech by Stephen Shankland)
August 15, 2011 5:25 a.m. PT
Google to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion
The deal to scoop up Motorola Mobility will give the search giant valuable intellectual property and get it directly into the handset business. Google will pay a 63 percent premium over Friday’s closing stock price.
(Posted in Wireless by Roger Cheng)
August 15, 2011 5:03 a.m. PT
Previous coverage
Android trounces Symbian, iOS in Q2, study says
Gartner says Google’s Android continues to surge as Apple’s iOS edges up, RIM slips, and Symbian sinks in the smartphone market.
(Posted in The Digital Home by Don Reisinger)
August 11, 2011 5:38 a.m. PT
Motorola Android phones (photos)
+11 more
FTC looking into Android, too, in Google probe
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether Google is preventing device makers that use Android from using other rival technology.
(Posted in Digital Media by Jay Greene)
August 10, 2011 2:30 p.m. PT
TechRepublic: Microsoft’s one big opportunity in mobile
Redmond is desperately playing catch-up in the mobile market. But there’s one big move it could still make to lure buyers away from Android and Apple devices.
(Posted at Tech Republic by Jason Hiner)
August 8, 2011, 1:34 p.m. PT
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How Google can do more than beef about patents
Rather than complaining about rivals ganging up on it, the search giant is going to need to play the patent game better, even if it’s loath to do so.
Google’s top lawyer rips Apple, Microsoft and Oracle
(Posted in Digital Media by Jay Greene)
August 5, 2011 3:10 p.m. PT
Google acquires over 1,000 IBM patents
Company’s purchase includes a host of patents related to everything “Web-based querying” to the “fabrication and architecture of memory and microprocessing chips.”
(Posted in The Digital Home by Don Reisinger)
July 29, 2011 7:39 a.m. PT
Nortel patent sale gets court approval
Judges in the U.S. and Canada approve the $4.5 billion sale of Nortel’s patent collection to a consortium of companies including Apple, RIM, and Microsoft.
Apple, RIM in group buying Nortel patents for $4.5B
(Posted in Apple Talk by Josh Lowensohn)
July 11, 2011 11:51 a.m. PT
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