Google + Motorola = Pre-Apple?

Possibly.

By now, you’ve heard that Google plunked down US$12.5 billion to purchase handset maker Motorola Mobility .. both boards have approved the purchase, and regulatory bodies aren’t far behind.

Now that this story has been echoed and re-echoed, one must ask: what does it mean?

• Better Android devices? Sure. A deeper level of cooperation / collaboration across mobile and tablet devices just spells feature goodness for the consumer.
• A Motorola-only (like Apple) manufacturing monopoly? No. Google claims Android will remain open; current manufacturers (including my favorite, HTC) can still build for the platform.
• Better price competition? Don’t bet on it. Here in The States, pricing tends to land in the mobile carrier’s domain.

So, except for service, the consumer should do well: better devices, better features .. I doubt we’ll get much love from the carriers .. remains to be seen.

Despite a public altruistic sheen, Google didn’t make the buy for the consumer. While the hardware and feature opportunity will likely make for a better device, Google had all the device manufacturers clamoring to provide devices, at ever-shrinking margins. What were they thinking?

In a word: patents. The purchase brings a portfolio of an additional 17,000 patents under the control of Google, significantly diversifying their IP and creating myriad opportunities for them to capitalize on others’ efforts.

The best article I found supporting this story was one of the first to be released. ExtremeTech: “Google buys Motorola Mobility, begins transformation into Apple” .. well worth a read.