iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, Android reviews

Google has just announced that they’re buying Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in an attempt to supercharge the Android platform. While the move will bring Google into the handset manufacturing business for the first time, potentially setting them up to deliver the same type of unified, integrated experience Apple is famous for, Google maintains they’ll be running Motorola as a separate business. Which raises some important questions:

How will the play out for other Android licensees like HTC and Samsung? (Microsoft making the Zune killed the PlaysForSure alliance.)Will all future Nexus-type devices come from Motorola going forward?Will all future Motorola phones run stock Android going forward? (no more Blur.)Is Motorola’s patent portfolio strong enough to provide cover against Microsoft and Apple lawsuits?

Quotes from Larry Page and Sanjay Jha after the break.

[Google PR, Google Blog, Android Central coverage]

Larry Page, CEO of Google, said, “Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.”

Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobility, said, “This transaction offers significant value for Motorola Mobility’s stockholders and provides compelling new opportunities for our employees, customers, and partners around the world. We have shared a productive partnership with Google to advance the Android platform, and now through this combination we will be able to do even more to innovate and deliver outstanding mobility solutions across our mobile devices and home businesses.”

Andy Rubin, Senior Vice President of Mobile at Google, said, “We expect that this combination will enable us to break new ground for the Android ecosystem. However, our vision for Android is unchanged and Google remains firmly committed to Android as an open platform and a vibrant open source community. We will continue to work with all of our valued Android partners to develop and distribute innovative Android-powered devices.”

Just to remind us that Google will still be Google — unabashedly hypocritical to the last — Page added the following by way of the Official Google Blog:

We recently explained how companies including Microsoft and Apple are banding together in anti-competitive patent attacks on Android. The U.S. Department of Justice had to intervene in the results of one recent patent auction to “protect competition and innovation in the open source software community” and it is currently looking into the results of the Nortel auction. Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google’s patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies.

Are “anti-competitive patent attacks” worse than “anti-competitive patent violations”? Google’s a big boy company now, facing regulatory scrutiny and lawsuits over their own practices, including their treatment of rival SkyHook, so how about we can the rhetoric and just make us some great new Googlerola phones, would you please?

UDPATE: Google’s ODM partners have responded to the news… in a way that makes us suspect Google snuck into their houses late last night and replaced them all with Android-powered Replicants. [Android Central]

Peter Chou, CEO, HTC:

“We welcome the news of today‘s acquisition, which demonstrates that Google is deeply committed to defending Android, its partners, and the entire ecosystem.”

Bert Nordberg, President & CEO, Sony Ericsson:

“I welcome Google‘s commitment to defending Android and its partners.”

Jong-Seok Park, Ph.D, President & CEO, LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company:

“We welcome Google‘s commitment to defending Android and its partners.”

J.K. Shin, President, Samsung, Mobile Communications Division:

“We welcome today’s news, which demonstrates Google’s deep commitment to defending Android, its partners, and the ecosystem.”

Yeah, like Georgia said, “we welcome our new Motogoog overlords…”

Holy heck! Waking up to the news of Google buying Motorola Mobility just shows you how fast our industry is moving and changing. But what does it mean for Apple, iPhone and iPad? Will Google really continue to run Motorola “as is” without much change, and Droids and Xooms will just come out again as they came out before? Or will Google start to copy the Apple model more and give Motorola exclusive Nexus handsets with much better, and even more competitive integration? Or will HTC, Samsung, and other Android OEMs feel screwed by this whole deal and start looking more seriously at Windows Phone or maybe even webOS, resulting in less choice for consumers on the Android side?

What do you think, TiPb Nation? Will Motorola for one welcome their new overlords and remain status quo, or is this the beginning of a new galactic order when it comes to iPhone and iPad competition? Vote in the poll above and give me your analysis in the comments below!

*UPDATED* The Google+ iOS app has been removed from the App Store, due to an early version of the application being made available.  The new version is being seeded, however it’s not appearing in any store at the time of writing.  According to Google’s Punit Soni, to see if you’re using the latest version of the app, click the ‘gear’ icon on the Google+ app’s start screen and if it has any other version number except 1.0.1.1809, then you’ll need to delete it and reinstall the new one.  He provided this link for US App Store users, which lists some bug fixes and performance improvements, but no additional features or iPod support. *UPDATE ENDS*

The latest social networking sensation, Google+, has finally hit the App Store with the release of the official Google+ client which keen users will be able to download soon download here.  The app is quite simple and in many ways recalls the Facebook app, with a central collection of icons for accessing your Stream, Circles, Photos and creating a ‘Huddle’ for group chat.

It’s location sensitive so it can search for nearby users, and the interface is smooth, quick and sensibly laid out.  You can post to your stream, +1 posts and comments, upload pictures and browse through your own profile.  For me, it has worked perfectly in the 30 minutes or so I’ve tested it so far, but there are reports of some instability – however this could be influenced by your popularity on the network!

If you’re not a power-user though, this version 1.0 should do fine for sharing a few posts and pictures while out and about.

There are however, two drawbacks to the Google+ app.  The first is the highly unusual decision to make it only available in the US App Store, a very strange choice given the amount of international users populating Google+; and the second is the lack of universal support for the iPad.

Google say iPad owners can use the mobile version through Safari, but as anyone who is still lamenting the lack of an official Facebook app for the tablet, this system is less than ideal – in fact, it has never worked for me each time I’ve tried it!  Another very odd decision.

Still, just like Google+ itself, the iOS app should be viewed as a beta release, and we’d expect these problems to be fixed in the future.  For now, give Google+’s iPhone app a try and let us know what you think about it in the comments.

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