Google's out-of-the-blue, 12.5-billion-dollar purchase of Motorola Mobility took the tech world by surprise, according to dpa. Monday's announcement underlined how quickly fortunes have changed in the smartphone world. Apple and Google, who were completely absent in the market five years ago, are now the undisputed industry giants. Former heavyweights, like Nokia, Microsoft and Research in Motion, are struggling to survive in the arena, or have been reduced - in Motorola's case - to niche players, snapped up for their utility to the market leader. Motorola made history when it introduced the DynaTec 8000x in 1983 as the world's first commercial cellular device. It later pioneered the StarTac flip-phone in the 1990s and enjoyed huge success with its RAZR phones in the early 2000s. But the company then stumbled badly until it decided to hitch its fortunes to Google's untried Android operating system in 2007. Its first Android phone, the Driod, was named Gadget of the Year by Time magazine in 2009, and its 21 different models have built on that success. That hardware expertise could allow Google to emulate Apple's success in the iPhone, which involves controlling the entire customer experience, from hardware to software to retail. Most analysts believe, however, that Motorola's handsets were only a side benefit for Google. This view was fueled by statements from Google chief executive Larry Page, who focused on the wireless pioneer's treasure chest of patents as a major factor in the acquisition. "We recently explained how companies including Microsoft and Apple are banding together in anti-competitive patent attacks on Android," Page said in a blog posting Monday. "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." Page was referring to the increasingly brutal patent litigation directed at Android manufacturers by Apple and its allies, who accuse the Android platform of copying patented technologies. They demand either hefty licensing fees or injunctions preventing the sale of allegedly infringing devices, such as Samsung's Galaxy Tab tablet, which was temporarily banned last week in Europe. The new acquisition will allow Google to roll out Motorola's patent defences - it owns 17,000 mobile patents and has another 7,500 pending - in protection of its other Android partners. This explains why competitors like Samsung, HTC and LG, which might feel threatened by the new alliance, actually welcomed the deal, albeit in strikingly similar language, which hinted at the distribution of talking points by Google. "We welcome today's news, which demonstrates Google's deep commitment to defending Android, its partners, and the ecosystem," said JK Shin, president of Samsung's mobile communications division. Tech pundits were split on how effective the patent defence strategy will prove to be. Patent blogger Florian Mueller, who predicted the deal over the weekend, said Monday that most of Motorola's patents would not be hugely useful to Google and its partners in their patent wars with Apple, Microsoft and Oracle. "It would be a mistake to look at this as just, or primarily, a patent deal," he said, noting that the patent portfolio did not deter Apple and Microsoft from suing Motorola last year. Whatever the merits of the patent claims, an intensification of the patent wars could take a heavy toll on consumers. "Today's news is profoundly depressing," said Nicholas Thompson of The New Yorker. "It's not clear if Google will use these patents to attack other companies, or whether it will only use them defensively. Meanwhile, customers and shareholders will pay for the lawyers. And engineers will spend too much time worrying about violating someone else's patents and not enough time figuring out how to build the next magical thing."
