5 Things I Want to See Out of the Google/Motorola Marriage
When news broke Monday that Google would be acquiring Motorola Mobility, a rush of glee rushed through my body and I started imagining all the great things that would come from the acquisition. And then I read the press release.
Right now, Google’s playing this with the patent angle – Motorola has 17,000 of them and Google needs all that they can get. But for $12.5 billion, there has to be more to this than just patents. I like to believe that Google and Motorola could have worked out an exclusive licensing agreement for a smaller sum of dough, so the “wishful thinking” side of me started wondering what Google would do with Motorola once the patent wars die down.
The sudden (but sure) death of MOTOBLUR
Honestly, I’d probably be satisfied with Motorola continuing to operate independently as long as there’s a clause that says MOTOBLUR has to die a horrible, fiery death. I did say I liked the new version of BLUR (that comes on top of 2.3 on recent and newer handsets) in a recent Motorola DROID 3 hands-on piece, but I would rather see some pure Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich and whatever else is in the pipeline. The phones themselves are fine, Moto.
A Motorola Nexus Phone
I believe if anyone can deliver a truly great Nexus phone, it’s Motorola. This kind of ties into the MOTOBLUR section above, but beyond the software I’d want to see a beast of a phone by Motorola with all the works. NFC, dual-core, lollypops – the holy trinity and then some. Andy Rubin said the Nexus bidding process will remain the same, meaning other OEMs will have just as much of a chance as Motorola in getting the Nexus 4 (whatever it may be) to store shelves. But I like to believe that Motorola has an edge over others the next go-around and I wouldn’t mind seeing it at all.
Less Crappy Phones
Look, Motorola, we get tired of seeing you release quirky devices and “budget” smartphones that see minimal support. Stop. Become a premium smartphone company and focus your sights on the whole “quality over quantity” idea. Release good phones for all major carriers and support them for more than 2 months. Stop damaging your reputation by putting out phones that you don’t have the manpower to properly support. A bit of good public perception can do wonders for your business. Hopefully Google can at least help Motorola improve software support for the devices they bring out.
A Motorola Nexus Tablet
While the smartphone Nexus program probably isn’t going to change for a while, the tablet market might be wide open. For the time being, Honeycomb tablet customizations are minimal, if even done by OEMs who put them out. They are putting out updates fast and Google doesn’t need to maintain a pure Android tablet. That could change a ton once Google brings out Ice Cream Sandwich and the source code we’re promised will come along for the ride. I should note that certified OEMs already have the ability to customize Honeycomb so we’re hopeful the minimal customization we’ve seen from the likes of HTC and Samsung remain true once Ice Cream Sandwich comes out, but we certainly wouldn’t mind a Motorola Nexus tablet if not.
Google to Smack Apple in the Face
Sure, Motorola’s 17,000 patents weren’t enough to stave off Apple and Microsoft’s legal attack dogs, but I like to think that’s because Motorola doesn’t know that they can use a patent that Apple and Microsoft may be infringing on to fight back. (Wishful thinking that they missed a prime patent or two in that huge pile of patents?) Perhaps with Google’s lawyers, they can comb through their newly-acquired portfolio and find some incrimination on these patent trolls to keep them at bay just as Samsung and HTC seem to be having some degree of success doing.
That last part is about all we can probably look forward to at this point, but perhaps with time (and the lack of a need to proactively defend themselves from the trolls) they’ll get bored and find some more creative things to do with Motorola. If you’ve got some “wants” of your own, let us know in the comment section below!