Google Vs. Apple: Clash Of The Titans In Wireless

Google will buy Motorola’s cell phone division to take on Apple. We’ll look at the clash of titans in wireless.

Search giant Google is big and has made plenty of big acquisitions. But early yesterday, Google announced its biggest acquisition ever, by a long shot. $12.5 billion for Motorola Mobility, Motorola’s wireless operations — the company that made the first commercial cell phone.

It’s a huge rock in the wireless pond. A play for Motorola’s treasure chest of patents, Google said. To clear the path for Google’s Android smart phone operating system. There’s a giant battle underway for the future of wireless.

This hour On Point: the future of smart phones, and the clash of titans –- Google, Apple and Microsoft.
-Tom Ashbrook

Scott Steinberg, head of the technology consulting firm Tech Savvy Global and acclaimed gadget expert and high-tech entrepreneur.

Ken Auletta, has written the "Annals of Communications" column for The New Yorker since 1992; author of eleven books including Googled: The End of the World As We Know It.

Steven Levy, Wired senior writer; previously chief technology writer and a senior editor for Newsweek, author In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives and The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness.

Ars Technica "Google announced plans to acquire Motorola Mobility this morning for $12.5 billion in cash. One of Google's biggest motivations for the purchase is to bolster its patent profile, which has been under relentless attack by companies including Microsoft and Apple. With the purchase, Google will gain control of more than 17,000 mobile-related patents worldwide, with 7,000 more Motorola patent applications in the pipeline."

International Business Times "One reason why Google said it will acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion is to increase traditional search traffic. The other is to bash rival Apple in the swelling market for smartphones and tablets, where more search is more likely to reach more people quickly."