

Google buys chip start-up from ex-Apple designers - jmillerinc
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-20002990-265.html

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joegaudet
I agree with the comments on the link, clearly these were ex semi PA employees
who didnt want to work for apple, not apple employees that started a chip
company.

What they wilk do for google, provided the employees don't peel from google as
well is speculative at best.

But I'd doubt google bought it for the same reason as apple bought semi-pa.
Google seems pretty adament on working qith existing handset providers.

~~~
pavs
> But I'd doubt google bought it for the same reason as apple bought semi-pa.
> Google seems pretty adament on working qith existing handset providers.

Apple made their first Phone with Motorola.[1] It is not easy to enter a
hardware industry; more so if you have no prior experience with consumer
hardware market (unlike Apple). I think its more likely that Google was
testing the water with Nexus One to see how people will react to it and how
the process of manufacturing phones work. If I remember correctly they worked
closely with HTC and had quite a bit influence on how the final product will
look like. Remember, they are also working on a slate device and a net-book
device, which will debut sometime this year. While this acquisition might not
have any direct relation to the Google hardware devices coming out this year.
I think it is highly likely that they might start building their own devices
with custom processors soon.

1\. [http://www.engadget.com/2005/09/07/the-motorola-
rokr-e1-appl...](http://www.engadget.com/2005/09/07/the-motorola-
rokr-e1-apple-itunes-phone/)

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nimrody
Even if they do want to get into chip design (low power chips -- the area
where PA semi excelled) they may expose themselves to patent suits if they
directly compete with Apple in the handheld market.

Not saying they cannot avoid it, but in that case they loose some of the
expertise of these guys.

~~~
hga
Why would a _patent_ lawsuit directly affect these guys? It would be between
the Apple and Google corporations, and absent an impossible temporary
injunction (you can only get those by assuming the facts all fall in favor of
the other side) while it was being litigated they and Google could continue
their work.

As it is, Apple has already shown its reluctance to sue Google WRT to Android
by suing HTC; I suspect Google holds one or more patents that Apple wouldn't
like to get enforced against it.

------
fredoliveira
The article mentions there not being any idea of what Google intends to do
with the purchase, but at this point it seems relatively clear that although
there are a number of applications, a focus on Android (phone and/or table)
seems to be the big key here.

Interesting move.

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ableal
Educated guess (back in February) that it could be about servers/network:

[http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/david-manners-
semicon...](http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/david-manners-
semiconductor-blog/2010/02/could-agnilux-be-making-arm-ba.html)

(If so, not unrelated: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1276510> \- seems
there's interest in eating Cisco's lunch.)

