Android OEMs should hear Microsoft, Nokia out on Google-Motorola combo (ars technica)

Ars technica speculates on how Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility will change the Android market. "For the time being, at least, Google claims that Motorola will be operated as a "separate business unit"-it will be owned by Google, but operationally will function like any other Android licensee. However, a claim made in a Wall Street Journal profile of Andy Rubin, the founder of Android Inc. and Google's senior vice president of Mobile, suggests that Google may not be telling the whole story. Specifically, the article says that "People close to the deal said one of Google's motivations was its desire to design devices, not just the software that powers them, thus giving it the sort of influence that rival Apple enjoys with its iPhone and iPad." Such a move would change the nature of the Google-Motorola relationship radically, and it's difficult to see how this wouldn't give Motorola a substantial advantage over other Android OEMs."

Comments (47 posted)