And in Other News, Google Acquires Motorola Mobility for $12.5 Billion

Google made a significant announcement today, with their acquisition of Motorola for $12.5 billion dollars. Motorola was one of the first companies to partner with Android, and will be run by Google as a separate business.

As explained in the Google Mobile Blog, CEO Larry Page had this to say about why they purchased Motorola:

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.

The combination of Google and Motorola will not only supercharge Android, but will also enhance competition and offer consumers accelerating innovation, greater choice, and wonderful user experiences. I am confident that these great experiences will create huge value for shareholders.

I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.

Note that Apple and Microsoft were openly referred to as ‘anti-competitive threats’ by Larry Page. Google was shut out of Nortel’s patent sale by a consortium headed by Apple and Microsoft.

The last time we heard of significant tech partnerships was back in early February when Nokia and Microsoft partnered up. This is great news for consumers as we’ll get more choice, as the competitive smartphone market continues to grow. My bets are on the classic RAZR coming back, running some ‘flavour’ of Android OS. Who’s with me?

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