

Google building firewall between Android and Motorola  - malay
http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/27/2827692/google-building-firewall-between-android-and-motorola-after

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quanticle
Any internal firewall is a joke. In the investment world, there is a _legally
mandated_ firewall between the analysts and the pitchmen. Yet that never
stopped analysts from giving suspiciously positive reviews of stocks their
bank was interested in selling. The firewall between the Android team and
Motorola isn't even as strong as the internal firewall in investment banks.
It's simply a fig leaf to cover Google's entry into hardware manufacturing.

Now, whether that entry is a good thing or a bad thing remains to be decided.
However, I don't think it's in anyone's interest to pretend that there will be
no information exchange between the Android team and Motorola Mobility. If
Google was really interested in maintaining separation between Motorola and
the Android team, they would have declined to purchase Motorola.

~~~
malay
Do you think the fig leaf is there for regulators or the other Android
hardware manufacturers? While I agree there is no legally binding firewall
(simply self-imposed), it seems there are some concerns they are attempting to
address publicly.

I find Google's comments disturbing because the idea of a firewall means they
have no intention of integrating Motorola. This would essentially limit any
synergy between the two companies and turns this into a huge patent
acquisition that comes with a side of distraction. If I was an investor, I
would hope your theory of this being a complete joke is accurate since it
entirely changes the lens on the transaction.

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wmf
So Google's going to let Moto continue their losing strategy while Samsung and
HTC reduce their investment in Android. And they're rapidly losing karma on
the patent front as well. What's the upside of this acquisition?

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Jun8
No. Once the acquisition is fully approved and Google has the reins massive
layoffs will come for (a much needed) housecleaning. At that stage Google will
align the mobile strategy with whatever direction they think is the winner (I
don't know if they know what this is yet).

Yet, note that Motorola != mobile phone, a huge part of Motorola Mobility does
cable set to boxes and has a virtual monopoly on devices used by cable
operators in their backends. (If it's clever) Google may use this as the
launchpad for the upcoming TV war with Apple.

~~~
wmf
But what if the winning direction is tight integration with Android? They just
took that option off the table.

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shimon_e
Most of the verge commenters seem disappointed at the news. Most of hacker
news commenters seem delighted at the news.

Seems like consumers trust Google a lot more than hackers.

~~~
tomflack
Is it really a question of trust? Google go off the rails and the other
manufacturers get together to fork android or stop using it. Consumers
continue to not care.

The only way a good outcome can come from this acquisition is if Google go
full-tilt with Motorola instead of this weird half-hand approach.

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ShabbyDoo
"They're going to continue building Motorola branded devices and it's going to
be the same team doing it."

Too bad. My Droid RAZR suffers from all the crapware added by Motorola and/or
Verizon. I'm sick of being asked if I would like to use VZNavigator instead of
Google Maps. My personal hope for the acquisition is that someone at Google
would tell them to stop making their phones suck so they could squeeze out a
few additional pennies from each customer. From Google's standpoint, not
shipping a product which maximizes customer happiness is penny-wise and pound
foolish.

~~~
Jun8
That sort of crapware has nothing to do with Motorola, it's mandated by
carriers. The only phones that don't have it are the phones Google sells/gives
away, which the carriers don't really carry too much about.

Now Moto _does_ add crapware of its own in the form of specialized skin called
Blur, but again this is common, each Android phone producer has their own
version of specialized skin.

~~~
wmf
Like the crapware that carriers mandate on the iPhone?

~~~
ceejayoz
In fairness, the carriers can't say to Apple "fine, we'll just carry this
other iOS device from another company willing to load it up with crapware".
They can with Android.

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callumjones
Could Motorola be Google's go to device maker if Samsung starts to forge (or
fork Android) its own OS path?

Also as a backup plan/insurance policy?

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kumarm
Its really great to see Google living up to their promise.

