I think some of you might be missing the point here. Motorola has been (for a couple years now) the least developer friendly manufacturer on the market, with locked bootloaders etc, while at the same time, making some of the most desireable devices on the market. With Google's buyout, Motorola will be forced to comply with Google's guidelines, meaning (possibly) unlocking devices from the gate, and scrapping the Blur UI. Although the new "Blur that isn't Blur" isn't really all that bad, I would expect all Motorola devices to ship with vanilla Android from here on out, which is great news.
Also, I don't think this will have an adverse effect on companies like HTC or Samsung at all. Motorola was the Android platform's single largest holder of patents…patents which, if "open sourced" to other manufacturers (namely HTC), could help them protect themselves during this assinine patent war that Apple has kicked up. It would be in Google's best interests to make those patents available to the other companies that support the platform, as a way to ensure the survivability of the OS. Google is buying more than a company here…they're also buying protection; protection for the platform against the pirates at Apple, and protection from consumer and developer backlash, over the locked down state of Motorola's devices. If all Moto's devices ship unlocked from here on out, I would expect the other manufacturers to follow suit. The aquisition could also signal Google's move to support 3rd party firmware, like CM, DC, and Liquid, along with launcher developers like Fede, AnderWeb, etc.
Google may also end up with a tighter grip on the retail market as well (Verizon especially), as carriers will be all but forced to comply with the parameters set forth by Google, or risk losing their biggest sources of revenue. If tethering, for instance, is a native feature on Motorola devices in the future, Verizon will be backed into a corner in regards to charging extra for giving us the "privilage" to use our paid data any way we see fit.
Guys, this is more than just a merger, aquisition, or partnership…this is an insurance policy and a paradigm shift for the entire Android platform. I see nothing but good things on the horizon. Get ready…change is coming!
PS…I don't think this will effect the Bionic at all. It's already cleared FCC, and is due out next month. If changes were to be made, it would mean another 5-6 month delay, which would set many Verizon customers on the warpath.
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