I knew about the Google's acquisition of Motorola many years ago and how profitable it was for them. Those patents are worth more than you think. Among these are some fundamental patents that allow phones to even work, so it's a passive income for Google for just holding the patent while everyone has to scramble and pay them. Though you put it very nicely together and packaging information is a really great business nowadays. Bravo.
Oh it's so much worse than you even think, well beyond Motorola... The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) used to have it's own legit dedicated government site. Used to... Now you find all those documents under "Google Patents". There's something seriously wrong with this picture.
they had their own it make no nsense to keep Motorola that isn't known (for android phones) in the market to competes with other product, unlike realme, oppo, vivo(these brand owned by the same company)that had their own place in the market
It served the purpose it was meant to serve ... It would have been a bad move at that stage for Google to blatantly compete against it's partners. They would have defected away from Android.
Actually Google bought Motorola not to fight against Apple and Microsoft, but to fight against Samsung. In 2011, Samsung was trying to replace Android with their own OS quietly. Google could use Motorola to ramp up its own major handset business and the market would be theirs, and this leverage made Samsung very nervous, to the point where their handset business could obliterate. Once they signed a deal with Samsung where they (Samsung) promised not to play around with Android, Google sold Motorola to Lenovo and managed to keep 23000 patents. that's what we call masterstroke.
2 things can be true at once! They fought against Apple, Microsoft and Samsung. Samsung at the time was already selling devices running both their own Tizen OS and Android, they were not willing to fully bet on Android. They still actively develop Tizen to this day. Tizen runs on Samsung TVs, smartwatches and some of their older fridges. *Edit: Samsung also sold phones running Windows Mobile. They were practically the best phone OEM and were not willing to limit themselves to just one OS.
The prospect of having Apple and Microsoft (now the two biggest private companies in the world) spare no cash trying to stop your project must be terrifying. Glad all three companies did really well and created great products.
atleast with android you can go install your own os and get rid of all the trackers and data stealing :) I run a pixel 6 pro that's degoogled running graphene os, its encrypted out the box and runs amazing
Another thing to note is purchasing Motorola also threatened samsung at a time when they were considering launching their own operating system as well. It would have been based on AOSP from what I remember but basically Google buying Motorola gave Samsung the message that Google was still in control, at least that's what I recall
It wouldn't have been based by AOSP (it would've been based by MeeGo I think) (being based by aosp basically means it's android) (tbh this was a dick move from google because they just set a monopoly by suing anyone who would use something that isn't android.)
They also introduced the "Hey Google" and always on display in android after the acquisition, which was the main feature of Moto X. These features were revolutionary at that time...
My old dad, who was living in a small town in Turkey, and who had nothing to do with company acquisitions, told me back then that Google bought Motorola, and that they did this likely for the patents. So I can't believe other people couldn't really see this.
A lot of people only had memory of Motorola being a cell phone manufacturer, being the most succesful of all of their ventures and iconic. Most of their "smaller" projects (more like unknown to the general public) was mostly known only by those in the industry and enthutiasts alike, until recently.
Adding to the comment above, the media knows this, and ofc they are gonna focus the public attention by saying these things to get views, clicks etc... None of the "experts" are gonna go on TV and reveal whatever they know for the public lol It could also be that many "experts" didn't see it too...
Same can be said of Samsung, except worse because Samsung also takes it personal with the advertising. Samsung attempted to sue Toshiba, Panasonic, Sharp, and other Japanese companies for display technology, battery technology, and semiconductor technology that they took from others to claim as their own. Samsung basically is based on the technology of everyone else. What Apple does is a drop in the bucket compared to Samsung.
It was in the news that Lenovo also wanted to buy Motorola same time as Google but Lenovo went to the wrong division of Motorola. However after watching your video, I think Lenovo still couldn't afford Motorola in the first place with all those patents. Essentially Google gave Lenovo a discount by keeping almost all of those patents for Google's use.
I'm using a Motorola G62 right now. So to the people who are wondering why's motorola's been quiet or what the hell they're up to, they've actually been very active these past few years on the android phones market. Their latest devices are really good.
The Samsung vs Apple was completely different products cause of the layout decisions. Apple just didn't want other people to have a home button to exit out of a operating system that uses borderless applications. Ridiculously greedy.
They only bought them for the patents. If Samsung wouldn't have threatened to make their own OS, Google would've kept Motorola. Sad story, but Lenovo is doing good things now.
I actually like Lenovo and think they are a unique company. They aren’t the typical Chinese CCP spy company, but they’re more mature and westernized: so much so that the Chinese don’t like Lenovo being so western friendly. I really like what they’re doing with Motorola and I think Motorola finally got the investment and care they deserved from Google. Google was in it only for their own benefit.
I remember, at the time of Google's impending acquisition of Motorola, reading many web articles about how this would allow Google to use Motorola's patents against Apple... So maybe not many mainstream media knew it, but certainly most in the tech world did.
*patents. But yes I remember this very well too. Microsoft gets about 50 cents for every android phone sold due to its mobile parents. They charge every android every manufacturer EXCEPT Google because of Goog's extensive mobile patent portfolio they purchased from Motorola. If MS went to court with Google then Google had enough patents to not only defend itself but also countersue for any MS mobile product that is sold. Not sure how much of this is still true in 2022.
Big win for Giggles. Not only did they get Apple off their backs, they were able to start cell phone manufacture with Motorola's knowledge base. Pixel 7 is maturing into a fine product.
@@stevefan8283 the system of patents replaced the system of medieval guilds and oaths which was used to protect trade secrets in the medieval era. The military still rely upon such secrecy. Owning and controlling knowledge is a big problem, as are the majority of the systems of advantage which maintain the power structures of human society.
Patents do promote innovation, but then stifle competition. The problem is the barrier to what can be patented. Apple managed to patent the rectangle, absolutely absurd. Medieval guilds worked on a different level. They didn't protect the products, they protected the skills to make the products. I'm sure mafia tactics would be used against people selling a product outside guild rules, but that was extralegal.
@@weareallbeingwatched4602 secrecy will hinder more progress.. patents are both good as long as they expires and licensed generously, without them people won't aspire to built new tech if anyone can copy and steal their work.
As I remember it, at the time it was very clear that the patents were what Google wanted. I suspect that most of the hype around how much Google allegedly "wasted" was from parties wanting to put Google down (none named, none forgotten), rather than talking about the broader economic picture. And it was hugely worth it, also to others than Google, to be able to significantly cool off the wave of patent trolling-like litigation about broad concepts being classified as exclusive IP. Like the dead simple (but good) idea about operating a smartphone with a sideways swipe to unlock. Very logical thing to do with good touchscreens, and allowing such things to be patented is a major failure of the patent system.
I'm an Android guy. Definitely the fact I can personalize my phone exactly how I wanted, is the best user experience ever. In the end we all use the same apps.
People never saw the over of the picture. Although I am sure Google tried to make Motorola its flagship phone at that time, the biggest key word here was patents. Motorola was on the phone industry years before Apple in the end Google had the upper hand. It just sucked that they couldn't make it up their. I bought 2 Google phones Moto X and the Nexus 6 they were fantastic phones and very cheap. They had solid quality. What made it even crazier they were made in the USA.
Ironic how I left OnePlus for Motorola phones because of the software, features, and even trade in deals. It truly is my smartphone brand of choice now.
Two main takeaways from this: Motorola was undervalued, which is a coincidence because I had bought shares of them, and also of google, and when Google bought them its value went up. Secondly that the Android OS is cheaper IE free and customizable which is vastly superior to Apple iPhone, this is evidenced by their market share as well.
Another speculated reason is that, at the time Samsung was planning to release their own OS for a few their phones alongside using heavily modified Android on their remaining phones. Motorola's success in the budget section and Nexus at the premium meant that Samsung had to finally drop their OS plans. Also they signed a contract with Google stating that they'll concentrate on using core features of Android and reduce the modifications. 2 days after signing the contract with Samsung, Google sold Motorola to Lenovo.
This is very interesting for me. I remember Google coming out with the Moto X at the time with the grey thin logo, but when I saw the title I had totally forgotten about the acquisition. Great video
Very well laid out. Thank you Harry. P.S. : of course I'm a fan of open source software. Open source code is the only warranty of security and open competition. In less than five years, as the race for the higher clock frequency and the higher core count will slowly end, and the new competition between Android, Apple and the forks will be about the hardware accelerators and AI functions. New smart functions will suddenly appear; as the new AI developments are often more art than science (bot/neural networks training is mostly trial&error), the Android open structure will allow more "tuned" coders and programmer's to develop the new program structures; a great advantage for Google - if they keep their mind open...
I am watching this video on my Motorola Edge 30. It is a really nice phone with good features and competitive price. The only thing that stands out is their near to stock OS. They add their bunch of tweaks in the OS which makes it more user friendly. The only thing moto needs to work on is providing early software updates. I will definitely recommend this over any other phone.
Defence of Android was necessary! Else we wouldn't have so much innovation without that. Most of us would've been stuck with OS without many features which no one wanted like Samsung Tizen and pricey Phones like iPhones.
Motorola are making some of the best handsets out there these days. Was disappointing that Google decided to sell them after they purchased them. Wish they revived the Moto maker online again.
Before the Razr I had the StarTac Digital. That was a much better phone but the market was much smaller then. Actually as far as the phone goes, it's been downhill since then. It's a good thing these new cell phones can do so much other things because as far as the phone app goes. It's pretty bad. Bad but worth putting up with to have a mini computer in your pocket and with all the other forms of communications it has the actual phone part does get used less and less.
Motorola G5 and G6 had an amazing feature, that being navigating with the fingerprint sensor. No more annoying swiping around getting the navigation bar on screen, just swipe left, right or tap the center and your phone acts accordingly. (This was also only optional, so you could turn it off if you wanted to.)
I didn't realise that Google bought Motorola. I had a Razr flip phone. The hardware was great but the software sh*t. Motorola was a super respected manufacturer of blue light organization radios and early mobile phones and broadcast equipment. It made sense to marry Motorola hardware skills with state of the art software. Good move.
Nice work, but need more background research. You completely left out Nortel patent auction won by a consortium of frenimies (Apple, Microsoft, Sony, RIM, EMC and Ericsson). Apple had cross licensing deal with Nokia and Microsoft bought Nokia. Google had nothing to protect them and had bid high (4+ b$) for Nortel patents and lost to the consortium. So Google was desperate to get their hands on Motorola patents and that is what gave Motorola the leverage to ask for a much higher price. All said and done, this is a good informative video.
That ringtone you played at the beginning was Telekom's ringtone, all phones operated by them had the same for a while (Nokias, even Android smartphones from various brands, etc). Just so you know.
Only older computer-savvy people may remember this, but back in the 80s Motorola also made a well-designed and fast series of CPUs (the 680x0 series) that threatened to replace Intel processors. Intel was mainly saved because Microsoft / Windows sticked to the quirky PC platform.
Motorola had long since divested themselves of that part of their business, spinning out Freescale in 2004. The 68000 series didn't really threaten the x86 series: they were incompatible, and IBM had long lost control to the clone manufacturers, which is part of the reason your computer is likely a PC, while the 68000 series was mostly used in closed platforms.
@@talideon Yes, 68k did not catch on. And of course it was the incompatibility between Motorola 68k and Intel x86 and lack of effort & resources to overcome this that did not leave a chance for 68k after IBM decided to use Intel and Microsoft wrote the software for them. The points I was trying to make is that a) the 68k was the better processor at the time when the PC was designed, and IBM considered using the chip in the PC design, but decided to use Intel instead because they had peripheral chips available in quantity (plus better development support and a cheaper price). And b) once they went down this road, it was Microsoft’s resistance (and probably also inability) to offer Windows and development support for other platforms like the superior 68k that closed the door for the 68k platform. (Compare this with how Apple made different choices at different times and moved from 68k to PowerPC, then on to x86 and now ARM.) Of course, many factors played a role, one of them being the early lack of fast emulators for “legacy” software (that Apple added later with Rosetta). But my main point remains that 68k was a threat to Intel x86, that back then it was a better design for years, that it was actually under consideration in the design of the PC, and that it was subsequent lack of support by Microsoft and others that led to the 68k’s relative failure.
One big omission in this article was the passing of Steve Jobs. Tim Cook was a lot more pragmatic with regards to android. Jobs still was re-living his lost war with Microsoft with regards to Windows.
For all the flaws in android and especially Google. I'm glad that we live in a world where the most popular Mobile OS can install any app with one checkmark in the settings. Imagine a world where IOS was the only option.
Not acquiring/pooling patents is probably where The Free Software Foundation, FSF, ( GNU Project ) went wrong. Even Open Source Software projects are using patent pools and copyright collectives now.
In my opinion Microsoft and apple were trying to create a monopoly but Microsoft failed miserably in the smartphone race and apple was so busy trying to crush any competition.
It kinda sucks that still to this day no android developer was able to come up with a version stable enough to compete with ios and dynamic enough to ease apps development and maintenance, that's honestly all they need; to make an android version that's light code wise, dynamic and stable, maybe go back to Unix instead of Linux based
TLDR: Samsung had huge global market share and was using copy cat UX to get people to switch to tizen unknowingly. With Motorola in hand, Google could theoretically cut off Samsung from using Android
@@bemedhruv I dont think, google would have cut-off Samsung Android. Instead, Google was like -> use Tizen and get sued (with our Moto patents) OR Use Android on your hardware, and no sues happen (+ we will also help to defeat iPhones) We know what Samsung choose
@@shre6619 On 27 January 2014 Google and Samsung signed a wide-ranging global patent deal which will last a decade. Buried within it was an agreement that Samsung would tone down TouchWiz, refocus on core Android apps over its own customisations and cancel more radical customisations such as its ‘Magazine UX’ interface. Two days later Google announced the sale of Motorola Mobility to Lenovo showing both agreements had been working in parallel
Great video, I had no idea about any of this other than the fact that Google at one time owned Moto. Very interesting. I had thought they bought Moto just to develop and get to the Pixel so they could compete directly with Samsung and Iphone. Very interesting.
Nerds like me know Motorola best for its 68k architecture, not for its early radios or its later phones. In fact that architecture is still going strong in the embedded and space segments.
Motorola has absolutely revived and is now stronger than ever. They have even displaced samsung as most sold phone brand in Mexico in some trimesters even though they were at the floor three years ago. Nowadays they are considered the most bang for your buck phones in the world even ahead of Xiaomi. Lenovo has known what to do with the brand they are pushing the limits of giving the best quality at the lowest price.
Google just bought Motorola? What! I just got the Moto Edge Plus 2022. Since they shut down Stadia that was the deal breaker for me getting the Pixel 7 Pro. I will never look at Motorola the same.
No, Motorola was Google before Lenovo bought it. Today Motorola is Lenovo's. This video is about when Google bought it I think like a decade ago, before they sold it.
Software Patents are very problematic and protect alot of technological advancement that’s more evolution than revolution Patents look to protect ownership of innovation. I think most would agree that the revolving door is a genuine innovation that all of us would want to make as much money off as possible if we invented it. Instead of pressing a physical button to ‘wake’ your phone up, you swipe up(or whatever). Both the revolving door and the ‘swipe up’ are merely altering how one gets into either a building or a phone. Google didn't want ‘Moto’, but its patents made the inevitable litigation far easier(still millions of dollars a years to pay the army of patent lawyers). One upside in the patent office having granted overly broad software and consumer electronic patents is that many patents have all or parts of itself protected in a separate patents.
I knew about the Google's acquisition of Motorola many years ago and how profitable it was for them. Those patents are worth more than you think. Among these are some fundamental patents that allow phones to even work, so it's a passive income for Google for just holding the patent while everyone has to scramble and pay them. Though you put it very nicely together and packaging information is a really great business nowadays. Bravo.
Thanks man!
Oh it's so much worse than you even think, well beyond Motorola...
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) used to have it's own legit dedicated government site. Used to...
Now you find all those documents under "Google Patents". There's something seriously wrong with this picture.
rola is still doing fine with lenovo,they have certain PR's to keep.
@@southernflatland govt was probably in on whole motorola acquisition,that's why people never trust the droid
P pp nç j h.09 mo koo0
Google should have kept Motorola brand... it was a well known brand and with some work it would turned into serious contender on smartphone market...
they had their own it make no nsense to keep Motorola that isn't known (for android phones) in the market to competes with other product, unlike realme, oppo, vivo(these brand owned by the same company)that had their own place in the market
What is Lenovo doing with the brand? Why don’t they do something with it?
@@TheBooban Motorola phones exist
Pixel
It served the purpose it was meant to serve ... It would have been a bad move at that stage for Google to blatantly compete against it's partners. They would have defected away from Android.
Actually Google bought Motorola not to fight against Apple and Microsoft, but to fight against Samsung. In 2011, Samsung was trying to replace Android with their own OS quietly. Google could use Motorola to ramp up its own major handset business and the market would be theirs, and this leverage made Samsung very nervous, to the point where their handset business could obliterate. Once they signed a deal with Samsung where they (Samsung) promised not to play around with Android, Google sold Motorola to Lenovo and managed to keep 23000 patents. that's what we call masterstroke.
Google 4d chess move.
I was Samsung BADA os user
Imagine if they bought it for both reasons? Gigabrain
2 things can be true at once! They fought against Apple, Microsoft and Samsung. Samsung at the time was already selling devices running both their own Tizen OS and Android, they were not willing to fully bet on Android. They still actively develop Tizen to this day. Tizen runs on Samsung TVs, smartwatches and some of their older fridges.
*Edit: Samsung also sold phones running Windows Mobile. They were practically the best phone OEM and were not willing to limit themselves to just one OS.
As if 2 things cant be true at the same time. They hit 2 birds with 1 stone
The prospect of having Apple and Microsoft (now the two biggest private companies in the world) spare no cash trying to stop your project must be terrifying. Glad all three companies did really well and created great products.
For real hahaha, the pressure
You mean public
atleast with android you can go install your own os and get rid of all the trackers and data stealing :) I run a pixel 6 pro that's degoogled running graphene os, its encrypted out the box and runs amazing
@@theATF is the graphene os good?
@@zoneboy7091 if you can live without Google products, then yes.
Another thing to note is purchasing Motorola also threatened samsung at a time when they were considering launching their own operating system as well. It would have been based on AOSP from what I remember but basically Google buying Motorola gave Samsung the message that Google was still in control, at least that's what I recall
Yeah had Samsung been successful it would have kneecapped google in their transition to mobile
It wouldn't have been based by AOSP (it would've been based by MeeGo I think) (being based by aosp basically means it's android) (tbh this was a dick move from google because they just set a monopoly by suing anyone who would use something that isn't android.)
They also introduced the "Hey Google" and always on display in android after the acquisition, which was the main feature of Moto X. These features were revolutionary at that time...
And yet, the stock android always on display doesnt even come close to what motorola has nowadays. Seriously, I couldnt love my phone more.
Yep, it's really the most functional and minimalist display around
I don't understand why others won't copy it
I remember reading an article back in the time that stated that google wanted the patents
Looks like they saw the writings on the wall
I think everyone at the time knew what they were doing. Journalists were reporting on it all over the place.
My old dad, who was living in a small town in Turkey, and who had nothing to do with company acquisitions, told me back then that Google bought Motorola, and that they did this likely for the patents.
So I can't believe other people couldn't really see this.
A lot of people only had memory of Motorola being a cell phone manufacturer, being the most succesful of all of their ventures and iconic.
Most of their "smaller" projects (more like unknown to the general public) was mostly known only by those in the industry and enthutiasts alike, until recently.
Adding to the comment above, the media knows this, and ofc they are gonna focus the public attention by saying these things to get views, clicks etc...
None of the "experts" are gonna go on TV and reveal whatever they know for the public lol
It could also be that many "experts" didn't see it too...
@@3ormorecharactersmaybe5 But most older people should remember them producing desktop processors, for example.
@chraman169 May I ask where you got your new dad from?
@@HabitualLine-Stepper May I ask why you display such fatherless bavior trying to be funny?
Apple has always struck a nerve with their practices. Sueing and condemning companies for infringement while doing the same on a larger scale
That's what the left always does. Coincidence?
Same can be said of Samsung, except worse because Samsung also takes it personal with the advertising. Samsung attempted to sue Toshiba, Panasonic, Sharp, and other Japanese companies for display technology, battery technology, and semiconductor technology that they took from others to claim as their own. Samsung basically is based on the technology of everyone else. What Apple does is a drop in the bucket compared to Samsung.
It was in the news that Lenovo also wanted to buy Motorola same time as Google but Lenovo went to the wrong division of Motorola. However after watching your video, I think Lenovo still couldn't afford Motorola in the first place with all those patents. Essentially Google gave Lenovo a discount by keeping almost all of those patents for Google's use.
I'm using a Motorola G62 right now. So to the people who are wondering why's motorola's been quiet or what the hell they're up to, they've actually been very active these past few years on the android phones market. Their latest devices are really good.
I'm also using Motorola Edge 30..
I'm using moto g71 5g and I'm much happy with it
@@nomiconkun same (edge 30 fusion version) and these phones are very good and underrated.
Motorola one power (my dad's old phone)
A far cry from the innovation of the original moto line tho. I desperately want a phone that could even compete in its ergonomics
The Samsung vs Apple was completely different products cause of the layout decisions. Apple just didn't want other people to have a home button to exit out of a operating system that uses borderless applications. Ridiculously greedy.
This is one of your best videos, i knew about all of the components, but never put them together. Thanks
Thank you Balpreet!
They only bought them for the patents. If Samsung wouldn't have threatened to make their own OS, Google would've kept Motorola. Sad story, but Lenovo is doing good things now.
I actually like Lenovo and think they are a unique company. They aren’t the typical Chinese CCP spy company, but they’re more mature and westernized: so much so that the Chinese don’t like Lenovo being so western friendly. I really like what they’re doing with Motorola and I think Motorola finally got the investment and care they deserved from Google. Google was in it only for their own benefit.
I remember, at the time of Google's impending acquisition of Motorola, reading many web articles about how this would allow Google to use Motorola's patents against Apple... So maybe not many mainstream media knew it, but certainly most in the tech world did.
*patents. But yes I remember this very well too. Microsoft gets about 50 cents for every android phone sold due to its mobile parents. They charge every android every manufacturer EXCEPT Google because of Goog's extensive mobile patent portfolio they purchased from Motorola.
If MS went to court with Google then Google had enough patents to not only defend itself but also countersue for any MS mobile product that is sold. Not sure how much of this is still true in 2022.
Yeah. It was well reported during the acquisition that the main focus was the patents.
Big win for Giggles. Not only did they get Apple off their backs, they were able to start cell phone manufacture with Motorola's knowledge base. Pixel 7 is maturing into a fine product.
The pixel would be due to HTC. Google acquired most of their smartphone division in 2016
And some people still say patents promote innovation. They are the biggest clowns
Capitalism will exploit any commodity or property. The alternative to patenting is secrecy, which is still very popular.
@@weareallbeingwatched4602 are you sure patent is not 'open secret'?
@@stevefan8283 the system of patents replaced the system of medieval guilds and oaths which was used to protect trade secrets in the medieval era. The military still rely upon such secrecy. Owning and controlling knowledge is a big problem, as are the majority of the systems of advantage which maintain the power structures of human society.
Patents do promote innovation, but then stifle competition. The problem is the barrier to what can be patented. Apple managed to patent the rectangle, absolutely absurd.
Medieval guilds worked on a different level. They didn't protect the products, they protected the skills to make the products. I'm sure mafia tactics would be used against people selling a product outside guild rules, but that was extralegal.
@@weareallbeingwatched4602 secrecy will hinder more progress.. patents are both good as long as they expires and licensed generously, without them people won't aspire to built new tech if anyone can copy and steal their work.
As I remember it, at the time it was very clear that the patents were what Google wanted. I suspect that most of the hype around how much Google allegedly "wasted" was from parties wanting to put Google down (none named, none forgotten), rather than talking about the broader economic picture. And it was hugely worth it, also to others than Google, to be able to significantly cool off the wave of patent trolling-like litigation about broad concepts being classified as exclusive IP. Like the dead simple (but good) idea about operating a smartphone with a sideways swipe to unlock. Very logical thing to do with good touchscreens, and allowing such things to be patented is a major failure of the patent system.
I'm an Android guy. Definitely the fact I can personalize my phone exactly how I wanted, is the best user experience ever. In the end we all use the same apps.
People never saw the over of the picture. Although I am sure Google tried to make Motorola its flagship phone at that time, the biggest key word here was patents. Motorola was on the phone industry years before Apple in the end Google had the upper hand. It just sucked that they couldn't make it up their.
I bought 2 Google phones Moto X and the Nexus 6 they were fantastic phones and very cheap. They had solid quality. What made it even crazier they were made in the USA.
Ironic how I left OnePlus for Motorola phones because of the software, features, and even trade in deals. It truly is my smartphone brand of choice now.
Now this twist wasn’t published mainstream, nice one hari.
Thank you Ashwin!
I remember the moto x 1st gen. A beautiful and practical mobile device.
my first smartphone! Felt like living in the future when I got it.
Two main takeaways from this: Motorola was undervalued, which is a coincidence because I had bought shares of them, and also of google, and when Google bought them its value went up. Secondly that the Android OS is cheaper IE free and customizable which is vastly superior to Apple iPhone, this is evidenced by their market share as well.
Another speculated reason is that, at the time Samsung was planning to release their own OS for a few their phones alongside using heavily modified Android on their remaining phones. Motorola's success in the budget section and Nexus at the premium meant that Samsung had to finally drop their OS plans. Also they signed a contract with Google stating that they'll concentrate on using core features of Android and reduce the modifications. 2 days after signing the contract with Samsung, Google sold Motorola to Lenovo.
Steve Jobs saying Android was a stolen product is golden.
Given everything apple does is stolen
This is very interesting for me. I remember Google coming out with the Moto X at the time with the grey thin logo, but when I saw the title I had totally forgotten about the acquisition. Great video
Very well laid out.
Thank you Harry.
P.S. : of course I'm a fan of open source software.
Open source code is the only warranty of security and open competition.
In less than five years, as the race for the higher clock frequency and the higher core count will slowly end, and the new competition between Android, Apple and the forks will be about the hardware accelerators and AI functions. New smart functions will suddenly appear; as the new AI developments are often more art than science (bot/neural networks training is mostly trial&error), the Android open structure will allow more "tuned" coders and programmer's to develop the new program structures; a great advantage for Google - if they keep their mind open...
Thanks man!
It was a smart move on their part.
No doubt
I am watching this video on my Motorola Edge 30. It is a really nice phone with good features and competitive price. The only thing that stands out is their near to stock OS. They add their bunch of tweaks in the OS which makes it more user friendly. The only thing moto needs to work on is providing early software updates.
I will definitely recommend this over any other phone.
I love the slim & light weight design. 144hz is buttery smooth.
For almost four years now I use a Moto G6 Plus, and it was the first phone I owned that didn't suck.
I remember back when this deal was announced, most people in tech knew that Google was after the patents of Motorola, not it’s products
let's not forget also that despite the financial losses, Google x Motorola made some of the best Android phones of all time
Defence of Android was necessary! Else we wouldn't have so much innovation without that. Most of us would've been stuck with OS without many features which no one wanted like Samsung Tizen and pricey Phones like iPhones.
Had no idea about this! Good info!
Thank you Bolsa!
Motorola are making some of the best handsets out there these days. Was disappointing that Google decided to sell them after they purchased them. Wish they revived the Moto maker online again.
Watching this on a Motorola
That nostalgic ringtone is called, the T- jingle from T-Mobile, my current Galaxy s22 ultra still has that ringtone preloaded on it.
Brother, thank you for all that you do!! Hope you have an amazing holiday weekend!!
You Daniel! You too!
Before the Razr I had the StarTac Digital. That was a much better phone but the market was much smaller then. Actually as far as the phone goes, it's been downhill since then. It's a good thing these new cell phones can do so much other things because as far as the phone app goes. It's pretty bad. Bad but worth putting up with to have a mini computer in your pocket and with all the other forms of communications it has the actual phone part does get used less and less.
Depends on how often you actually use the phone app haha
Motorola G5 and G6 had an amazing feature, that being navigating with the fingerprint sensor. No more annoying swiping around getting the navigation bar on screen, just swipe left, right or tap the center and your phone acts accordingly. (This was also only optional, so you could turn it off if you wanted to.)
My mom still has the g6. It has a glass back & aluminium frame for only 14000 inr.
My mother uses G5s model I remember this feature
Love the video keep up the good work
Thank you Ridwan!
Good video, I always thought Google acquired Motorola to put Samsung in their place.
the phones which Motorola came out with under Google were something else 🌟❤️
Nokia
Motorola
Sony Ericsson were amazing phone according to the time in 90s
So much history
Motorola made a much better CPU than the Intel brand for many years . Their CPUs we're used for many brands because of the price AND performance .
Nicely packed video. Thank you for adding subtitles.
I didn't realise that Google bought Motorola. I had a Razr flip phone. The hardware was great but the software sh*t. Motorola was a super respected manufacturer of blue light organization radios and early mobile phones and broadcast equipment. It made sense to marry Motorola hardware skills with state of the art software. Good move.
What is that website you show a screenshot of at 10:03?
Nice work, but need more background research. You completely left out Nortel patent auction won by a consortium of frenimies (Apple, Microsoft, Sony, RIM, EMC and Ericsson). Apple had cross licensing deal with Nokia and Microsoft bought Nokia. Google had nothing to protect them and had bid high (4+ b$) for Nortel patents and lost to the consortium. So Google was desperate to get their hands on Motorola patents and that is what gave Motorola the leverage to ask for a much higher price. All said and done, this is a good informative video.
Very informative video - Thank you!
I find it funny that a monopoly is fighting another monopoly. In the end, no one wins
Don’t forget the ol’ Motorola StarTAC ! It came years before the Razr. I loved that little flip phone.
That ringtone you played at the beginning was Telekom's ringtone, all phones operated by them had the same for a while (Nokias, even Android smartphones from various brands, etc). Just so you know.
00:38 that's the t-mobile chime, not really a motorola ringtone
Only older computer-savvy people may remember this, but back in the 80s Motorola also made a well-designed and fast series of CPUs (the 680x0 series) that threatened to replace Intel processors. Intel was mainly saved because Microsoft / Windows sticked to the quirky PC platform.
Motorola had long since divested themselves of that part of their business, spinning out Freescale in 2004. The 68000 series didn't really threaten the x86 series: they were incompatible, and IBM had long lost control to the clone manufacturers, which is part of the reason your computer is likely a PC, while the 68000 series was mostly used in closed platforms.
@@talideon Yes, 68k did not catch on. And of course it was the incompatibility between Motorola 68k and Intel x86 and lack of effort & resources to overcome this that did not leave a chance for 68k after IBM decided to use Intel and Microsoft wrote the software for them.
The points I was trying to make is that a) the 68k was the better processor at the time when the PC was designed, and IBM considered using the chip in the PC design, but decided to use Intel instead because they had peripheral chips available in quantity (plus better development support and a cheaper price). And b) once they went down this road, it was Microsoft’s resistance (and probably also inability) to offer Windows and development support for other platforms like the superior 68k that closed the door for the 68k platform. (Compare this with how Apple made different choices at different times and moved from 68k to PowerPC, then on to x86 and now ARM.)
Of course, many factors played a role, one of them being the early lack of fast emulators for “legacy” software (that Apple added later with Rosetta). But my main point remains that 68k was a threat to Intel x86, that back then it was a better design for years, that it was actually under consideration in the design of the PC, and that it was subsequent lack of support by Microsoft and others that led to the 68k’s relative failure.
You neglected to mention the Motorola 68,000, which is iconic.
ringtone def bring back my dad memories
Very informative 👍🏻
This is awesome. We want more content like this
One big omission in this article was the passing of Steve Jobs. Tim Cook was a lot more pragmatic with regards to android. Jobs still was re-living his lost war with Microsoft with regards to Windows.
Motorola is now doing pretty good now under Leveno, at least here in India.
Yupp
Awesome video with great details thanks for this insight
At 4:56, I seethe actor Simon Baker. Since when did he work for google?
Awesome analysis!
That's the problem with monopoly they never allow new players, government should intervene.
For all the flaws in android and especially Google. I'm glad that we live in a world where the most popular Mobile OS can install any app with one checkmark in the settings. Imagine a world where IOS was the only option.
Not acquiring/pooling patents is probably where The Free Software Foundation, FSF, ( GNU Project ) went wrong. Even Open Source Software projects are using patent pools and copyright collectives now.
In my opinion Microsoft and apple were trying to create a monopoly but Microsoft failed miserably in the smartphone race and apple was so busy trying to crush any competition.
Amazing case study
Thank you Pranav!
It was widely reported back then that they were buying Motorola for defensive patents
Excellent video.
The first handheld cellular mobile phone was demonstrated by John F. Mitchell and Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1973
I love your videos! Didn't know about this. Thanks!!
Thanks man!
Google's best acquisition was AdSense, which they bought from Applied Semantics.
It's not even close.
Moto Phones under google were one of the best ones
The moto G changed the budget phone market in India
It kinda sucks that still to this day no android developer was able to come up with a version stable enough to compete with ios and dynamic enough to ease apps development and maintenance, that's honestly all they need; to make an android version that's light code wise, dynamic and stable, maybe go back to Unix instead of Linux based
Wow, such a powerful video with such an interesting perspective. Thank you!
Very interesting *THUMBS UP* will be sure to tune in next time.
0:39 dude... isnt that the Standard t mobile ringtone?
You missed an even bigger strategic move: Beating down Samsung's push for Tizen
I wasn’t aware of that, will have to look into it
I wasn’t aware of that, will have to look into it
TLDR: Samsung had huge global market share and was using copy cat UX to get people to switch to tizen unknowingly. With Motorola in hand, Google could theoretically cut off Samsung from using Android
@@bemedhruv I dont think, google would have cut-off Samsung Android.
Instead, Google was like ->
use Tizen and get sued (with our Moto patents)
OR
Use Android on your hardware, and no sues happen (+ we will also help to defeat iPhones)
We know what Samsung choose
@@shre6619 On 27 January 2014 Google and Samsung signed a wide-ranging global patent deal which will last a decade. Buried within it was an agreement that Samsung would tone down TouchWiz, refocus on core Android apps over its own customisations and cancel more radical customisations such as its ‘Magazine UX’ interface. Two days later Google announced the sale of Motorola Mobility to Lenovo showing both agreements had been working in parallel
The 16-bit Motorola CPUs are legendary as well
Great video, I had no idea about any of this other than the fact that Google at one time owned Moto. Very interesting. I had thought they bought Moto just to develop and get to the Pixel so they could compete directly with Samsung and Iphone. Very interesting.
I have a the first version of Moto G phone back then. I miss that phone so much.
I am still using it as my secondary phone.
I had a great memories with moto, while my classmates had a nokia woki toki i have my moto that can access internet way back in 2009-2010
1:43 Is that guy on the right the same person as the doctor who delivered the aladeen news?
Awesome video
Now Motorola is number 3 in cell phone sales in the US.
Nerds like me know Motorola best for its 68k architecture, not for its early radios or its later phones.
In fact that architecture is still going strong in the embedded and space segments.
Google, please make Motorola great again 🙏💞
Motorola has absolutely revived and is now stronger than ever. They have even displaced samsung as most sold phone brand in Mexico in some trimesters even though they were at the floor three years ago. Nowadays they are considered the most bang for your buck phones in the world even ahead of Xiaomi. Lenovo has known what to do with the brand they are pushing the limits of giving the best quality at the lowest price.
Weird, I remember many outlets talking about the patents Google acquired and kept. Apple was suing everyone using their ultra vague patents.
Didn't realize this remember when Motorola
was a top 10 company back in the day
even had a computer division
Fantastic insights
Google just bought Motorola? What! I just got the Moto Edge Plus 2022. Since they shut down Stadia that was the deal breaker for me getting the Pixel 7 Pro. I will never look at Motorola the same.
No, Motorola was Google before Lenovo bought it. Today Motorola is Lenovo's. This video is about when Google bought it I think like a decade ago, before they sold it.
What a well-done and fascinating piece. 👏
Cool, excellent video. The history and strategy of it totally makes sense now
Very interesting, thanks.
How do you do your research? It must be really stressful
Depends, oftentimes it’s super interesting. I always have all my resources in the description :)
Software Patents are very problematic and protect alot of technological advancement that’s more evolution than revolution Patents look to protect ownership of innovation. I think most would agree that the revolving door is a genuine innovation that all of us would want to make as much money off as possible if we invented it. Instead of pressing a physical button to ‘wake’ your phone up, you swipe up(or whatever). Both the revolving door and the ‘swipe up’ are merely altering how one gets into either a building or a phone.
Google didn't want ‘Moto’, but its patents made the inevitable litigation far easier(still millions of dollars a years to pay the army of patent lawyers). One upside in the patent office having granted overly broad software and consumer electronic patents is that many patents have all or parts of itself protected in a separate patents.