Tag Archives: larry page

May 29

Google completes Motorola buy, installs own man at ...

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Google’s finally sealed the deal on its bid to buy Motorola Mobility, meaning that the search giant now officially owns the smart phone-spawning company.

Google boss Larry Page broke the news on Google’s blog, confirming that the $12.5bn (£7.9bn) buyout is finished at last. Page’s first action has been to install “long-time Googler” Dennis Woodside as Motorola Mobility’s new chief, with previous CEO Sanjay Jha stepping down.

Google was given the nod to proceed from Chinese regulators over the weekend. the deal means that Google — which deals primarily in software — now has a hardware department.

It’s thought that Google’s aim in buying the company was to take ownership of Motorola’s slew of valuable patents, giving Google legal ammunition in its fight to defend Android from the likes of Apple and Microsoft.

Despite having been invested in Android for a long time, and despite the impending Google purchase, Motorola’s recent tech has been more than a little lacklustre.

The Xoom was the first Honeycomb tablet on the scene, but proved too bulky to compete with the iPad. the recent Motorola Razr arrived running an out-of-date version of Android, as did the Xoom 2 and its Media Edition brother.

A condition of the purchase was that Android stay free for the next five years, so don’t expect other manufacturers to stop making Android-powered mobiles any time soon. Perhaps now though we’ll see Motorola using its relationship with Google to produce some really compelling smart phones.

A Google tablet is rumoured to be in the works — Asus is said to be building it, however, rather than Motorola. It’s reportedly going to cost around £125, have a 7-inch display and launch in July.

How can Google make use of Motorola? Let me know in the comments or on our Facebook wall.

Google completes Motorola buy, installs own man at the top

Apr 15

Google Targets Budget Tablets, CEO Says

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PC World — Google is set to push a new wave of budget tablets, Chief Executive Larry Page says. After the success of the Kindle fire, Google sees plenty of space at the lower end of the market; at the top, few are challenging Apple’s iPad.

Slideshow: 6 Alternative Tablet OSes

Tablets running Google’s Android OS are not as popular as their smartphone siblings, which dominate the market. the iPad, starting at $400, has the lion’s share of tablet users, while Android manufacturers have struggled to match the price and quality of Apple’s tablet — with one exception.

The Kindle fire from Amazon, an inexpensive $200 media tablet based on Android, has quickly become the number 2 tablet (still way behind the iPad in sales). But while the 7-inch fire runs on Android, Amazon forked the software so much that you don’t get to see any Google branded app store or media services — the entire experience is controlled by Amazon in a very Apple-esque way, without the price premium.

Going for the Lower End

Amazon sold more than 3 million Kindle fire tablets in just a few short months since launch, and Google is clearly aware of that.

Responding to a question during the company’s recent earnings call, Page said, “There’s been a lot of success on some lower-priced tablets that run Android, maybe not the full Google version of Android, but we definitely believe that there is going to be a lot of success at the lower end of the market. It’s definitely an area we think is important and we’re quite focused on.”

Page’s acknowledgement of the low-end Google tablet now lends credence to speculation last week that the company is looking to release its own sub-$200 tablet some time this summer. the tablet is said to have a 7-inch display, run Android 4.0 on a quad-core processor and no 3G connectivity (just Wi-Fi).

Something’s got to Give

According to a report citing unnamed sources from The Verge, Google is making this low-end tablet with Taiwan’s Asustek, not with Motorola (the buyout is almost done). But to make a powerful 7-inch tablet is not cheap. Google’s tablet is said to cost some $250, and the company pushed back the release date to later this summer so it can drag the cost down — probably matching the Kindle Fire’s $200 price tag.

It will be interesting to see where Google will make compromises to get a sub-$200 7-inch tablet. Amazon had to cut corners and ship a tablet with only 8GB of storage (unexpandable), no cameras or microphones, and a physical design that left some hoping for more refinement. even so, Amazon is reportedly selling the fire at a loss of a few dollars, in the hope to recoup the cost from after-sales of apps and media from its stores.

Android Synergy: not just a Dream?

Page also hinted at Google’s plans to make Android phones and tablets work together better. He said Google Play, the revamped Android Market, will help towards making Android more unified media hub: “You won’t have to manage all these devices. You want to think about all these screens around you working seamlessly.”

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Google Targets Budget Tablets, CEO Says

Apr 13

Motorola and Samsung tablets touted by ...

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This week in an interview that also included more volatile comments surrounding Apple’s press down on Android, Google’s Larry Page spoke on which devices he worked with on a daily basis. most interesting, though perhaps most obvious, were his choices for Android tablet. when asked if there were an Android tablet that he was happy with, he replied with two brands Google has worked rather closely with over the past few years: Motorola and Samsung.

Touting an unnamed Samsung tablet as his daily tablet driver currently, Google’s current CEO Page let the Businessweek interviewer know that up until recently he’d been working with Motorola tech. the Motorola XOOM tablet, aka the first Android working with an operating system tuned specifically for the tablet space, Android 3.0 Honeycomb, was Page’s everyday tablet until this year.

He also let the world know that Android and the tablet hardware it runs on will be increasing in quality as the show does go on:

“I think that those are great experiences, but they’re going to get a lot better. I think that we’re at the pretty early stages of this.” – Page

What Google will be bringing to the Android tablet show can be seen first off in the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich experience we’ve already had on the Transformer Prime. have a peek at our review of the first ever Android 4.0-certified tablet on the market here, and stay tuned for more Android tablet action!

Motorola and Samsung tablets touted by Google’s Page – SlashGear

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