After what seems like an eternity, the most promising Android Wear hardware has finally hit the market. While the LG G Watch and the Samsung Gear Live were first to market, the Moto 360 has always felt like the flagship device for Android Wear.
As we inch towards the end of summer in the United States, we also get a bit closer to the release of possibly one of the most anticipated Android Wear devices of the year, the Motorola Moto 360. Although it was announced in March and teased at Google I/O, we have heard very little information about the Moto 360 since that time. Interestingly, it looks like tech blogger, Luca Viscardi aka Mister Gadget, has gotten his hands on the device and has given his first impressions.
The Nexus line is definitely not dead. Over the weekend, a report from Android Police claimed Google and the soon-to-be Lenovo-owned Motorola are working together on a 5.9-inch Nexus phone. Today, a separate report from The Information (subscription required) corroborates the earlier report and provides additional details.
By selling Motorola Mobility to Lenovo, Google is ending a combination that never really worked out while keeping assets that could prove valuable down the road.
In a deal announced on Wednesday, Lenovo agreed to buy the venerable handset maker for US$2.91 billion, pending regulatory approval. That's far less than the $12.5 billion that Google paid for Motorola in 2011, even counting what it already got for selling off the company's set-top-box business. But Google will retain most of Motorola's patents, potentially a valuable warchest in the lawsuit-strewn mobile industry.
Google's Motorola Mobility unit has made offers to Microsoft in hopes of settling a pair of contentious patent infringement suits in which Motorola's smartphones were using Microsoft's patented ActiveSync software, while Microsoft's Xbox 360 was using Motorola's patented video compression system.
Google sealed its $12.5bn purchase of Motorola Mobility on Tuesday, marking the company's biggest ever acquisition with a change at the top.
Google CEO Larry Page said in a post on Google's official blog earlier that the deal was closed with Motorola Mobility CEO, Sanjay Jha, stepping down and being replaced by president of Google's Americas region, Dennis Woodside.
Motorola’s Droid 4 has been waiting for a long, long time for the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system update, but it seems as though there is no end in sight to the amount of patience required for this wait.
Apple has lost its battle to force Motorola to turn over data about Google's development of its Android mobile-phone operating system and planned acquisition of the mobile-phone manufacturer.
U.S. Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner, who in June will preside over back-to-back patent trials pitting Apple against Motorola, denied the production request in a single-paragraph order: “The motion is vague and overbroad and Motorola’s objections are persuasive,” Posner wrote. The mobile-phone maker’s opposition to Apple’s March 16 demand was filed under seal.
Google has all but acquired Motorola Mobility, having won Department of Justice and European Commission approval. Okay, so now what? Good question.
Google got exactly what it needed today to close the book on its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility. With approval from both US and European authorities, Google is set to acquire one of the biggest Android hardware makers and a portfolio of 17,000 patents.
