[SoftwareMaven]

"My son is going to have to bid to get the contract to build the new city building, just like anybody else. He will be on equal footing."

I won't believe it until I see a regular pattern of Moto not getting picked. That goes against too much human nature.

[ZeroGravitas]

It's not his son though, it's a grown man that he legally adopted simply to gain control of some land rights and which he promptly signed over to help build a railway.

Google's more likely to throw Motorola under the bus to advance Android than vice versa. Having Android on 80% of all devices is worth it.

[kenjackson]

The problem is, to get off of the analogy, that Google will be very tempted to design a great iPhone compete device. It's no secret that the iPhone is the best HW/SW integration on the market. For the first time Google can actually build something with no compromises w/ respect to Android.

I think Google's next play will be telling. Will they:

1) Buy a HW design/integration company - ala Intrinsity.

or

2) Spin off Moto Mobility, but keep share all patent rights (so either company could litigate).

If you see them start recruiting for people/companies like Intrinsity, they're going down the Apple route and partners should be worried. If they spin off Moto Mobility (and don't own much of the resulting company) it will show dedication to Android.

[kbutler]

> The problem is, to get off of the analogy, that Google will be very tempted to design a great iPhone compete device. It's no secret that the iPhone is the best HW/SW integration on the market. For the first time Google can actually build something with no compromises w/ respect to Android.

I fail to see how this is a "problem". If Google keeps Android open, others can compete by doing great HW/SW integration as well. Competing via excellence is most emphatically NOT a problem.

[bad_user]

     Google will be very tempted to design a great
     iPhone compete device

Past experience shows that Google doesn't have it in their DNA to build something akin to the iPhone. And the iPhone isn't great just because of how it feels, it's the customers service too. It would be stupid if they tried.

No, your best bet for an iPhone killer is Samsung, if only they would pull their head out of their ass for a moment and realize that the SG II is a disappointment as far as software goes and they should just install the original Android on it. Samsung should just focus on their strengths and let Google worry about the software.

This is Google's best approach - their stated goal for Android was to increase competition in the mobiles market. This strategy worked well (after all, their products are now distributed on most smartphones sold, what else could they want?) and they should just continue this strategy with Motorola -- and let Samsung and HTC compete directly with Apple, making Motorola release good products from time to time, just to keep them under fire.

[rmrm]

the Nexus device gets a lot of press as its the first out of the gate with the new build, but realistically, even if that remains as they say it doesn't seem like it would matter much if Google does the rest of it right -- meaning stock Android, and Google updating the SW quickly and over decent time interval.

It seems most likely to me that the Nexus program will remain in place, but Motorola will have multiple "Nexus" type phones in the way that matters to consumers. Not first always, but with all the other properties of the Nexus. At least I hope that is where Google take this. It seems unlikely they would skin Android, and I'd hope they act as best of class in the SW update part of things.

Lots of interesting things here. This would make Google the #1 set top box provider in the country. I'm sure the mfg doesn't have too many degrees of freedom there, but still interesting.

[51Cards]

I too would like to see a whole line of Nexus devices. Pure Android with instant updates from all the manufacturers.

[Flenser]

"My son is going to have to bid to get the contract to build the new city building, just like anybody else. He will be on equal footing."

I won't believe it until I see a regular pattern of Moto not getting picked. That goes against too much human nature.

Equal footing in the bidding process doesn't mean that on average everyone gets an equal split. If Moto or any other company deserve to win the bid they should win regardless of how many times they've won it before.

[olalonde]

Well as far as I know, Google search doesn't tweak its algorithm to rank Google owned websites higher. This alone gives them some credibility...

[nicpottier]

Perhaps not, but they seem perfectly willing to use their search monopoly to help their Android business.

When the original Nexus launched they ran an add on the google.com homepage, right under the search bar, for what? Two weeks?

Can you imagine what that would cost any other manufacturer? I'm really surprised they haven't been called on it yet..

[recoiledsnake]

Except, of course, things like Maps and Places and stock quotes etc. etc..

[mahyarm]

That is not algorithm tweaking, that's a separate search.