Initial Reaction and Thoughts on Google’s Acquisition of Motorola

Talk about big news to start a week, right?  With Google acquiring Motorola Mobility, a number of questions and thoughts immediately come to mind.  We’ll toss out ours and let you pick them apart, reflect on them, and then hopefully share your own.  This is a major move by Google to help protect Android, but can it mean something more?  

The End of Blur?

Seems odd that we’re starting our thought process with an Android skin, but as we quickly gathered from the comments, many of you are certainly hoping that Moto’s blue mess is done for good.  I wouldn’t go that far yet though.  Andy Rubin and Larry Page were both very clear that they don’t expect things to change all that much.  Obviously, they would want to say that to continue to make all of their partners happy in the short-term, but they also clearly stated that Moto will be run as a separate company.  So just because Google owns Motorola, doesn’t mean that we’ll see them quickly change all that has been built.  In a year or so, maybe things will change – just don’t expect Blur to die instantly.  Carriers like differentiation, as does current Moto CEO Sanjay Jha.

Unlocking of Bootloaders?

Is this the move we needed to see happen to get Motorola to finally start unlocking bootloaders on their devices?  Yeah, probably.  Will it happen overnight? I would highly doubt it.  Remember, Motorola still has to appeal to carriers and also protect consumers (hah!), so there is a chance that we won’t see any movement on this front initially.  What we can hope for though, is that Google puts a little pressure on this subject to get the ball rolling in the right direction – something Moto doesn’t seem to want to do.  With Google’s approach to being “open”, one would hope that they would look to replicate one of the devices that helped propel their mobile OS to incredibly heights, the original DROID.

Next Nexus Device?

In the tech back halls, we are all pretty sure that Samsung has landed the next Nexus device that will be out some time this winter.  Could the Nexus following that be from Motorola, though?  Absolutely.  The thing to remember, is that they will have to compete with HTC, Samsung and LG just as they always have to grab that title.  During today’s press call, Rubin made sure that we all understood that they will conduct business as usual, including the selecting of their next Nexus handset maker.

Supercharging Android?

What exactly does this mean?  That’s still pretty unclear.  However, we’ve seen how tight of an experience that Apple has with their iPhone since they produce both the software and hardware, so this should give Google a similar opportunity down the road.  Again though, Android remains open and will be handed out to other handset makers just as it is now.  We are only assuming that with a manufacturer under its wing, that Android can become that much more incredible, stable, innovative, and addictive.

Patents.

It’s pretty obvious that this move is really about patents, legal jargon, and the never-ending battle with Apple,Microsoft and Oracle.  Motorola has some 17,000 patents that blanket much of the mobile world – Google plans to use this portfolio to fully protect the future of Android.  While we all want Moto to make the next Nexus, eliminate Blur, and unlock bootloaders, those ideas are all secondary to the legal battle that Android will be competing in for the foreseeable future.

What about HTC, Samsung, and LG?

All of these companies have already released quotes to show their support for this move.  They all know that this helps their legal battles with Apple and Microsoft:

Talk about a crazy Monday morning.  Now, your thoughts?