Google announced Monday morning that it will acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion.
Motorola is one of 39 manufacturers of handsets that use Google’s Android operating system.
Buying a hardware company is an unusual move for Google. The acquisition, Google said in a statement, “will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem.”
SEE ALSO: Nokia & RIM Shares Jump Following Google’s Motorola Mobility Acquisition
Google CEO Larry Page expanded on what that might mean in a blog post. In addition to citing Motorola’s home devices and video solutions business, Page references recent patent wars that Google believes to be anti-competitive.
SEE ALSO: Why the Google-Motorola Deal Is About More Than Mobile Phones
“The U.S. Department of Justice had to intervene in the results of one recent patent auction to ‘protect competition and innovation in the open source software community’ and it is currently looking into the results of the Nortel auction,” Page writes. “Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google’s patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies.”
SEE ALSO: The History of Android [INFOGRAPHIC]
Android will continue to be an open platform, and Motorola will continue to be run as a separate business, Page added.
More About: android, Google, MotorolaFor more Tech & Gadgets coverage:Follow Mashable Tech & Gadgets on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Tech & Gadgets channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:05:21 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/-x0KFt_3J6g/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/15/google-motorola/#comments
Motorola is one of 39 manufacturers of handsets that use Google’s Android operating system.
Buying a hardware company is an unusual move for Google. The acquisition, Google said in a statement, “will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem.”
SEE ALSO: Nokia & RIM Shares Jump Following Google’s Motorola Mobility Acquisition
Google CEO Larry Page expanded on what that might mean in a blog post. In addition to citing Motorola’s home devices and video solutions business, Page references recent patent wars that Google believes to be anti-competitive.
SEE ALSO: Why the Google-Motorola Deal Is About More Than Mobile Phones
“The U.S. Department of Justice had to intervene in the results of one recent patent auction to ‘protect competition and innovation in the open source software community’ and it is currently looking into the results of the Nortel auction,” Page writes. “Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google’s patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies.”
SEE ALSO: The History of Android [INFOGRAPHIC]
Android will continue to be an open platform, and Motorola will continue to be run as a separate business, Page added.
More About: android, Google, MotorolaFor more Tech & Gadgets coverage:Follow Mashable Tech & Gadgets on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Tech & Gadgets channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:05:21 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/-x0KFt_3J6g/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/15/google-motorola/#comments