Google may have won European Commission and US Department of Justiceapproval for its acquisition of Motorola Mobility, but the search giant still faces close scrutiny by both regulators over concerns around how it may use its upcoming patent haul to strategically penalize rivals. While the deal itself appears to have passed muster, it's Google's attitude toward patent licensing - specifically those deemed essential to standards - that have raised issues. In comparison to Apple and Microsoft, "Google's commitments were more ambiguous and do not provide the same direct confirmation of its SEP [standard essential patent] licensing policies" the DOJ antitrust division said in a statement.
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‘Motorola’ Stories
Google facing increased patent misuse attention after Motorola approval
Google’s Motorola buy paves way to Nexus confusion
Google's $12.5bn acquisition of Motorola Mobility may have been given the regulatory go-ahead on both sides of the Atlantic, but the prospect for other Android OEMs - and users - is still unclear. The deal, in question for several months over concerns that hardware and software control around Android might give Google an unfair advantage, is likely to send Motorola's rivals like Samsung, HTC and LG scurrying to the drawing board as they face the challenge of competing with the dominant force behind their primary platform. Still, as Andy Rubin said last August, Motorola isn't necessarily a lock-in for the next Nexus device.
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SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: February 13, 2012
Happy Monday, everyone. It's time to kick off another week with your daily dose of tech news, and there was no shortage of it today. Perhaps most noteworthy, though, at least for the business-minded folks out there, is that Google's deal to acquire Motorola's presence in the mobile market has been approved by both the European Union and the US Department of Justics (you know, the same people who probably would have never let AT&T buy T-Mobile). Now it's just a matter of paperwork before Motorola and Google become one.
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Motorola Medfield phone images leaked
The folks at Motorola have had their next Android device leaked, it appearing to have Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich onboard and tipped to be running an Intel-Powered Medfield processor powering it. This device has many hardware details appearing like the DROID RAZR and the DROID 4 that've been released just recently, a power button, volume up/down, and physical camera button all on the right side. This device would be the second device revealed to have the Medfield chip aboard, the first shown by Lenovo at CES 2012.
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Google Motorola sale approved by US Department of Justice
Today both the European Union and the United States Department of Justice have approved the to Google Inc. of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., this sale hot on the heels of another big patent bid - Novell and Nortel. All at once did the USDoJ announce their approval of both the Motorola deal with Google and a set of other acquisitions, the first being a sale of Nortel Networks Corporations patents to Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Research in motion Ltd. (RIM). The third approval was similar, it surrounding Novell Inc. patent sales to Apple as well.
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Google Motorola buy approved by EU
Today the folks at Google have been given the official final OK by the European Union to purchase Motorola Mobility. This unconditional regulatory approval will allow Google to purchase the handset maker for a total of $12.5 billion USD, the EU noting though that they would be monitoring the company and rivals’ use of Motorola patents to ensure they all comply with their antitrust rules galore. This deal was originally announced this past August and still needs U.S. Justice Department approval before it can be finalized.
Google Experience Center hub of search firm’s hardware ambitions
Google is preparing a huge push in hardware under the "@home" brand, it's suggested, as well as a "Google Experience Center" for promoting, showcasing and marketing Google products and services to VIPs and potential customers. The plans, part of $120m construction project at Google's Mountain View base, will see one or more new hardware testing labs perfecting the "home entertainment device" and "next-gen personal communication device" revealed in recent weeks, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
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Google’s Motorola deal expects EU approval next week
Google's bid to purchase Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion is set to be approved by the US Department of Justice next week and now insiders claim that the merger will also get the green light in Europe. The European Commission will reportedly approve the deal in "unconditional" form, determining that the acquisition is not anti-competitive.
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SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: February 10, 2012
It seems almost certified at this point that Apple will be releasing and/or announcing their iPad 3 in the month of March, and the tips are flowing in. Early this morning we heard that showcase app makers for the iPad 3 were being chosen, and iPad twin-tier pricing has been suggested to topple all the Androids. Meanwhile Google is busy preparing a "next-gen personal communication device" while Iran blocks the internet.
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Motorola DROID 4 Review
Finally the one-two-three punches of Verizon’s 4G LTE, a dual-core processor, and an 8 megapixel camera capable of 1080p video has come to the DROID line of QWERTY keyboard-having Android devices. Those of you who are die-hard fans of the DROID line know that Verizon and Motorola have dipped in a few devices that strayed from the original power combo complete with QWERTY and may have had hard luck picking up the DROID 3 which, despite its having a decent processor and a fair but not too fantastic camera on the back, had no LTE and was released when Motorola’s user interface change-over was at a bit of a strange point. Now the QWERTY DROID line is back and stronger than ever, and if you’re not a person who minds the massiveness of the chassis here, you’re in for a treat.
Verizon DROID 4 by Motorola on sale now
Motorola's DROID 4 has gone on sale at Verizon, priced at $199.99 with a new, two-year agreement, the company's latest Android QWERTY slider. Announced at CES last month, the DROID 4 has a 4-inch qHD touchscreen along with its edge-illuminated five row keyboard, while inside lurks 4G LTE connectivity.
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SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: February 9, 2012
When the cloud gets tough, Google gets going, and inside sources are letting the world know that the big G is preparing a service called Google Drive to bring the fury. In the hacked up world of information releases, Apple's been hit through Foxconn and order data has been spilled. In the quad-core world, the Tegra 3 from NVIDIA may well be the head gun at Mobile World Congress 2012 for HTC - can't wait for the HTC edge to take the crown back for mobile dominance for HTC!
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