What #Google Gets With #Motorola Mobility | Techdirt

On the very face of it, Google doesn't need a handset subsidiary to make a custom Google phone. They can easily commission a handset exactly how they want it from OEM brands like HTC and Samsung, and have already done just that with the Nexus models. They could easily design their own brand of phones and have it built by contract manufacturers like Foxconn (as Apple does). I've read elsewhere that Google now gets the benefit of better understanding of the challenges of integrating Android into handsets. That's also incorrect. Google has a history of sending teams of engineers to most of their handset and tablet partners to work side by side overcoming those challenges.

Perhaps Google just saw a good deal on Motorola. Its stock price has been dropping through the decade, and also the past year. The market value prior to today was just $7.3 Billion, compared to $20B for Nokia or $13B for RIM. Perhaps, like Nortel before it, the value of Motorola's Intellectual Property (IP) is being hidden by a poor operational record.

DoJ ramping up antitrust probe of $4.5B Nortel patent purchase by Apple, others

DoJ ramping up antitrust probe of $4.5B Nortel patent purchase by Apple, others | NmUrRhmn.COM:

However, The Wall Street Journal reports that the Justice Department is deepening its probe of the deal, with particular interest to whether the purchasers could use the patents to “unfairly hobble” devices running Google’s Android mobile OS. The search giant placed the initial bid in the auction, but was unable to outbid its competitors once Apple teamed up with the other companies.

According to the report, the DoJ can still “impose conditions” on the companies even though the deal has already been completed. Earlier this year, the federal agency put pressure on a deal that would have seen Microsoft, Apple and Oracle purchase patents from Novell, instead forcing Microsoft to license the patents.