Google bought Motorola today for $12.5 billion. Why did they do it? I think for multiple reasons, with the 2 main ones being getting a lot more patents (24,500 of them to be more exact), and also to get in the hardware business. By getting in the hardware business through a mobile division as big as Motorola, Google will be able to set the standard for how Android phones should look like and work, for the whole ecosystem. Here are some ways in which they can do that:
1) Stock Android UI
People have asked for stock Android phones for a while now, but besides Google’s Nexus One, and one or two devices for T-mobile only from HTC, manufacturers have strongly preferred using their own skins. This has left many people either having to wait and get a Nexus phone, or compromising and getting a phone that doesn’t use the stock Android version. Google’s acquisition of Motorola will change all that, and you will have one of the best 3 Android manufacturers make phones that have nothing but the purest of Android experiences. The phones will most likely be much more fluid and faster, without being clogged down by an extra layer and customization on top.
2) All Google’s services
In general, I’d say manufacturers are pretty compliant with Google’s requests of using their other apps and services, but it doesn’t always happen and it may ruin the experience for some users. For example, a lot of people were upset that the Fascinate on Verizon had Bing search on it and it couldn’t be uninstalled. I could see how some manufacturers may not want to include Google+, for example, on their phones, or some other new service that Google will launch in the future that may compete with their own offerings. After this acquisition, Motorola could become your one-stop shop for phones with all the Google apps and services.
3) Latest Android version
While some manufacturers, including Motorola so far, have had no problem releasing phones with one year old versions of Android, I doubt this will happen with the Google-owned Motorola. I think it’s a pretty fair assumption that from the moment the merger/integration is complete (could take about a year), we’re going to see only phones with the latest version of Android from Motorola, when being launched.
4) Cutting-edge tech
Google loves new technology, and I think they’ll try to go big with Motorola. They’ll want to use some cutting edge technologies that will set Motorola’s phones apart, but in the same time they will show the others what is the future for Android phones. Motorola’s phones could gamble with a lot of new technologies, and if the market loves them, other manufacturers will be quick to follow. Motorola’s CEO has always loved doing that anyway, and together they should come out with some really cool stuff.
5) Faster updates
Google has already announced the Android Alliance of 5 (with Acer being the 6th later), but so far we don’t know anything specific besides the fact that all their phones (presumably) will be updated for a period of 18 months. It’s possible that Motorola’s phones will be updated for a lot longer than that – perhaps twice as much (3 years). That’s all speculation now, but I think we can at least expect faster updates from them, once more of Motorola’s employees learn the quirks of Android, or if Google transfers some of their programmers to the Motorola division.
All in all, the acquisition of Motorola will help Google push for the kind of innovation they want to see in the Android ecosystem. The competition should intensify and the quality of devices should rise soon, and all of this is great news for the end-user.