Here are some key developments in Google's Inc.'s planned acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.:
Aug. 15, 2011: Google announces plans to spend $12.5 billion to buy Motorola Mobility. Google would get Motorola's lineup of cellphones, tablet computers and cable set-top boxes. More important, Google would get Motorola's more than 17,000 patents — a crucial weapon in an intellectual arms race with Apple, Microsoft and others to gain more control over the increasingly lucrative market for mobile devices.
Aug. 16: Standard & Poor's says investors should sell Google's stock because it believes the decision to buy Motorola Mobility increases the risk to the company and its shares. S&P says that although the acquisition would include a patent trove, that might not be enough to keep Google's Android mobile operating software from encountering intellectual-property issues.
Aug. 22: Standard & Poor's reverses course, saying Google shares have fallen so much that they've now become a good deal.
Sept. 13: In a regulatory filing, Google reveals that the $12.5 billion purchase price is 33 percent more than Google initially offered. If the deal falls through, Google will still have to pay Motorola Mobility $2.5 billion.
Sept. 28: It's disclosed that the U.S. Justice Department is taking a closer look at the deal. The move had been widely expected.
Oct. 27: Motorola Mobility reports smaller net loss in the July-September quarter as phone shipments rises by more than 25 percent from a year earlier.
Nov. 17: Motorola Mobility says its shareholders have overwhelmingly voted to accept the proposed sale.
Dec. 2: With the Motorola deal still pending, the U.S. Justice Department approves Google's acquisition of online advertising service Admeld after concluding the deal wouldn't diminish competition in one of the Internet's most lucrative marketing niches.
Jan. 26, 2012: Motorola Mobility issues disappointing results for the last three months of the year. It reports a loss, mirroring preliminary numbers issued three weeks earlier, amid fierce competition in the markets for smartphones and tablet computers. Some analysts have already been worried that Motorola Mobility will become a financial millstone that could drag down Google's earnings growth. If that happens, Google's stock price would likely suffer.
Feb. 13: European antitrust regulators clear the deal. Although regulators say they didn't find a reason to believe that the transaction would pose any competitive problems, they raise concerns about Motorola's aggressive enforcement of its patents. Hours later, the U.S. Department of Justice also approves the deal.
Feb. 22: Microsoft lodges a formal complaint with the European Union's competition regulator accusing Motorola Mobility of breaking competition rules with its aggressive enforcement of patent rights against rivals. The complaint also names Google, which Microsoft fears will continue Motorola Mobility's tight hold on key patents. It follows a similar complaint from Apple.
April 3: The European Commission agrees to investigate whether Motorola is unfairly restricting competitors from licensing essential patents. Motorola holds patents that are essential for standards linked to 2G and 3G wireless technology — the focus of Apple's complaint — as well as Wi-Fi connections and compressing video for online use, which are at the heart of Microsoft's complaint.
May 1: Motorola reports a slightly larger net loss in the first quarter as expenses grew more than revenue.
Saturday: Authorities in China approve Google's bid, though they require Google to make its Android operating system for mobile devices available to all at no cost for the next five years. The condition is apparently in response to concerns that competition could be hurt if Google gives updated versions to Motorola and withholds them from others. Google doesn't currently charge for Android, and it already had pledged to make Android available to all its mobile partners.
Tuesday: Google says it has completed the acquisition. With the purchase, Google expands beyond its roots in programming software to provide Internet search and other online services to manufacturing equipment for the first time. The expansion will test Google's ability to keep its business partners, shareholders and employees happy. Dennis Woodside, president of Google's Americas region, replaces Sanjay Jha as Motorola's CEO.
iPhone 5 supply news to shake things up - Phones Review
The Apple iPhone 5 looks set to be the major launch of the year with many analysts predicting more phenomenal success for Apple with the next iPhone. Traditionally sales of the latest iPhone are always massive but the iPhone 5 in particular is predicted to be so huge that it could shake up the global supply economy.
The iPhone 4S was seen by many people as a minor upgrade rather than a major revamp (although some would dispute that). As many people held off purchasing it because there was no design change, there’s already a huge potential customer base for the iPhone 5. Add to this those purchasing an iPhone for the first time, those upgrading from earlier models, the likely addition of LTE connectivity and the headway that Apple is making in the China market and we can take it as read that the iPhone 5 will sell in unprecedented numbers.
The upcoming iPhone 5 has even been blamed for recent news that for the first time since 2009, global mobile phone sales have dropped. Analysts feel that this is mainly because smartphone customers are holding off making new purchases in expectation of the next iPhone. We recently told of a report from Piper Jaffray analysts Gene Munster and Douglas J. Clinton that gave some clues about the iPhone 5 and also told how it was expected that the iPhone 5 would be the biggest product launch of the year. They also referred to the iPhone 5 as the biggest upgrade cycle “in smartphone history,” so all of these factors together gives a good indication of just how successful the next iPhone will be.
The impact of sales of the iPhone 5 and the finances involved then will massively affect the global supply economy. This will be particularly evident among suppliers of parts for the iPhone 5 bearing in mind that we expect to see quite a few changes in companies used. Slash Gear reports on some of the supply change leaks referring to several recent reports from China. Firstly it’s said that Apple has placed an order with Elpida, which produces flash memory products, for more than half of their parts in-house. Elpida is a competitor with Samsung, with whom Apple has a long-running and well-documented dispute.
Next we hear that a group in China called TXC, a quartz crystal device producer, has also been given orders for component parts for the next iPhone. DigiTimes has reported that TXC is also supplying orders with Samsung for its upcoming Galaxy S3, the iPhone 5’s main rival. As well as this many readers will already know of Foxconn’s connections with Apple as its main China-based supplier for the iPhone and iPad and the company has now placed an order with Sharp for displays. Foxconn will purchase up to 50% of Sharp’s large LCD panels and modules from its Osaka, Japan plant. This makes perfect sense as Sharp had already been heavily rumored to be a parts supplier for iPhone 5 panels.
In final supply news, Apple and Foxconn are currently in plans together to establish a brand-new factory in China, dedicated to making parts for Apple products. As you can see, the finances involved from such a major product as the iPhone 5 could really see some shifts in the global supply economy, with some companies set to be big winners while others will lose out. One thing for sure about the iPhone 5 is that it’s set to fly off the shelves when it finally releases, most likely in the fall.
We’d like to hear what readers think about the upcoming iPhone 5. Have you already decided to purchase it, even before any specs or features are confirmed? Do you agree with the analysts who say this will be the biggest upgrade cycle “in smartphone history?” Maybe you feel such high expectations could lead to disappointment for some when the iPhone 5 is launched? Let us know by sending your comments.
Motorola Solutions Moves WLAN Services to the Cloud - Yahoo Finance
SCHAUMBURG, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Enterprises faced with the challenge of deploying, protecting and managing business-critical wireless local area networks (WLAN) can look to Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MSI - News) for the latest innovation in holistic WLAN services. The new Motorola WLAN Cloud Services extend the rich feature set of the premise-based Motorola systems to WLAN operators looking for a complete cloud offering with a WLAN Planner for RF coverage planning, the award winning WiNG 5 solution for controller and management functionality, and AirDefense for wireless security and network assurance. The new solution is available as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and is targeted at organizations that need to improve the full life-cycle management of their WLAN, but have not found a solution with the mix of functionality at a cost point that matches their requirements.
Retail, hospitality, healthcare and other enterprise owners who are uncertain of their future needs can easily activate the WLAN Cloud Services solution with no appliance or controller setup, zero-touch access point deployment, and no ongoing maintenance. The solution can be deployed in any WLAN environment and can easily monitor thousands of access points distributed across any number of physical sites. The subscription-based SaaS model moves upfront capital expenses to operational expenses with a monthly charge directly tied to the level of services selected and the size of the network. WLAN deployments using the WLAN Cloud Services are designed to be more efficient, secure, and easier to manage because of the WiNG 5’s sophisticated approach to managing traffic generated by video, voice and other applications. In addition, Motorola WLAN Cloud Services support value-added services such as WLAN Planning and Proximity Awareness & Analytics, which enables the use of WLAN infrastructure as a tool for presence detection of and dynamic communication with Wi-Fi enabled devices in WLAN environments.
KEY FACTS
- The core functions supported by Motorola WLAN Cloud Services encompasses WLAN security and compliance, including rogue identification and threat mitigation; network assurance, which includes troubleshooting, proactive testing and forensic analysis; and WLAN management, which includes support for centralized management and policy configuration of Motorola WiNG 5 infrastructure.
- Motorola WLAN Cloud Services are seamlessly integrated with Motorola’s WiNG 5 architecture and allows centralized management of the WLAN with a single cloud-based controller. This makes controlling the network easier and reduces the hardware operating expenses needed to support large networks.
- For enterprises grappling with compliance to regulatory requirements such as PCI-DSS, Sarbanes-Oxley or HIPAA, Motorola WLAN Cloud Services also includes a strong forensics capability, combining review and analysis of past events with an extensive compliance reporting capability, helping to simplify a task that has become increasingly critical to all enterprises using WLAN networks.
- The WLAN Cloud Services solution gathers more than 325 statistics relevant to WLAN networking and performance per minute from each device in the network, making the ability to identify and mitigate threats the best in the industry.
- Motorola Managed Services can be used to complement customer needs and provide greater operational flexibility giving customers additional options for tailoring the IT processes to their business needs.
SUPPORTING QUOTES
Todd Nightingale, general manager, Air Defense, Motorola Solutions
“With a growing number of organizations looking to transform their operations with cloud-based solutions, Motorola Solutions is delivering state-of-the-art WLAN services built on a utility model that makes it easier for customers to deploy and scale as their needs change. Our industry-recognized strength in deploying, securing, and operating mission-critical networks is now available to customers anywhere.”
Bob Blazek, president and CEO, Altura Communication Solutions
“Motorola WLAN Cloud Services offer a comprehensive WLAN life-cycle management solution that simultaneously expands our market opportunities and the range of customer problems that we can address. With a new set of highly scalable, enterprise-class capabilities , WLAN Cloud Services will allow us to help customers tackle WLAN performance problems that were previously left unaddressed due to cost or functionality considerations. This offering gives new reasons to engage and will allow us to forge closer relationships with customers as they search for ways to maximize the return on their WLAN investments.”
SUPPORTING RESOURCES
Website: WLAN Cloud Services
Website: Air Defense Solutions
Website: Altura Communication Solutions
Twitter: @MotoSolutions
Twitter: @MotoRetail
Product Spec Sheet: WLAN Cloud Services
About Motorola Solutions
Motorola Solutions is a leading provider of mission-critical communication solutions and services for enterprise and government customers. Through leading-edge innovation and communications technology, it is a global leader that enables its customers to be their best in the moments that matter. Motorola Solutions trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “MSI.” To learn more, visit www.motorolasolutions.com. For ongoing news, please visit our media center or subscribe to our news feed.
MOTOROLA, MOTO, MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS and the Stylized M Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC and are used under license. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2012 Motorola Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.
Motorola Droid Razr, Maxx, getting Android Ice Cream Sandwich? When? - popherald.com
May 27th, 2012, 11:00 A.M.–Motorola unveils its Android Ice Cream Sandwich skin. Is this the teaser of the upcoming Droid RAZR and Droid RAZR Maxx ICS update?
Motorola Mobility, Google’s new property, already said in a statement that the Verizon Droid Razr and the Droid Razr Maxx are getting Android Ice Cream Sandwich, but when?
The much-anticipated over-the-air software update could be just around the corner, and it looks like the promising phone and tablet computer maker is now on polishing its user interface tweaks before rolling out the widely anticipated update.
Today, a set of new videos reveal the software features of the new mobile operating system with Motorola’s own custom user interface, adding and enhancing the features of Google’s current mobile OS. Starting from the lock screen, Motorola will introduce a new welcome software for its phones.
The custom lock screen includes instant access to the phone’s camera app, the text messaging app, the phone app, and the home screen or the unlock.
And compared to other custom UIs of other Android phone makers, the Motorola Android ICS UI is near-vanilla, or almost like the original user interface of the popular mobile operating system. With the iconic six dots and a circle app door, the primary app dock can also accommodate four other apps. The navigation from one screen to another is also near-original, and even the screen sleep that mimics the old TV set’s off screen.
The Android Ice Cream Sandwich’s multitasking software is also available, with the same swipe to dismiss and instant access from one application to another. Due to the Droid Razr and Droid Razr Maxx’s lack of on-screen multitasking button, the company’s version of ICS uses the home button as the multitasking UI’s starting point.
Other Android ICS features are Chrome Beta support, People App, Data consumption management app, Roboto font support, and the user interface enhancements of native Google apps like Gmail, YouTube and the new product, the cloud-based storage, Google Drive.
Google, according to rumors, is set to release a brand new mobile operating system, the Android Jellybean, and if Motorola’s new ICS upgrade roadmap is accurate, then the two popular Verizon phones might get the much-needed software update before the touchdown of the new OS in July.
Aside from the two Droid Razrs, other Motorola devices are also scheduled to receive the update next quarter, like the two Droid Xyboard tablet computers, the 3G version of the Motorola Xoom, the Droid 4, and the Motorola Droid Bionic, Verizon’s first dual-core Long Term Evolution Android smartphone.
Facebook unveils photo app for iPhone - San Francisco Gate
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Facebook, perhaps needing to refocus attention away from its stock problems, has unveiled an Instagram-like iPhone photo app called Camera. And yes, Facebook is buying Instagram for $1 billion, but that deal won't close until sometime later this ...
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