A U.S. trade judge said that the Microsoft Xbox video game console is not violating patents belonging to Google through the acquisition of Motorola Mobility. U.S. International Trade Commission Judge David Shaw sided with Microsoft in this case, but his decision is subject to review by a six-member commission.
When Google acquired Motorola, it was apparent that there would be cuts. Google is going to be laying off another 10% of Motorola’s staff according to The Wall Street Journal. A Wall Street Journal reporter said that he saw an e-mail from a Google employee that says “costs are too high, we’re operating in markets where we’re not competitive, and we’re losing money.”
Earlier this week Google Inc. chief financial officer and senior vice president Patrick Pichette spoke at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference and he said something quite candid (yet shocking). Pichette said that Motorola Mobility’s products were not up to Google’s standards and that they inherited a mess due to the acquisition.
Google has sold off Motorola Home, which is the broadband unit of Motorola Mobility. Motorola Home was sold to Arris, a broadband media technology company that specializes in the design and engineering of broadband networks. Arris is paying $2.05 billion in cash and around $300 million in newly issued Arris shares. Google will own around 15.7% of Arris after the transaction closes.
Google is expected to sell Motorola’s set-top box division today. There are multiple bidders for the business and Google may be able to sell the set top box business for between $1.5 and $2.5 billion according to the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ is citing numerous sources familiar with Google’s mergers and acquisitions. The deadline for the bids may extend into next week. Three of the bidders are believed to be Arris, Pace, and Technicolor. Google may retain some of the intellectual property and sell off just the hardware distribution aspect of the business.
Motorola Mobility attempted to ban the Xbox 360 by claiming a patent violation. The International Trade Commission agreed that Microsoft was infringing on the patents, but Microsoft was claiming that Motorola wanted too much money to license the standards-essential patents so they fought the ban.
Samsung Electronics recently added the iPad Mini, fifth generation iPod Touch, and fourth-generation iPad to a list of devices that violate their patents in a lawsuit. Now Motorola Mobility is considering adding the same devices to their patent lawsuit in the Southern District of Miami, Florida.
U.S. Cellular has just announced that they will be adding the Motorola Electrify M to their line of handsets. The Electrify M has 4G LTE support, a 4.3-inch borderless display, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 8-megapixel rear camera, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, 2,000 mAh battery, NFC, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
