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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Does Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility comes with implications for cable television?

On Motorola and Google TV [Zatz Not Funny!] 

Google-motorola-e1313420620220Our deal with Time Warner got pushed off the front page quickly when Google and Motorola Mobility announced a mammoth deal yesterday for the search giant to acquire Motorola's mobile device business. Initial thinking suggests that the acquisition points directly to Google's ambitions with the Android operating system and owning patents in this space to position itself among manufacturers using Android.  Owning the operating system and the mobile device isn't a new concept as Steve Jobs might suggest. While the Android ecosystem will likely see some changes as a result, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it may have some ramifications for the floundering Google TV product as well.

Google TV was rolled out last year in an attempt to overlay Internet video and traditional video melded with Google's core search functionality. Despite much talk about the product leading up to the launch, Google TV failed to catch on and many of the Google TV equipped products have since had their prices drastically cut.

Some have suggested that the Motorola deal could open up some new doors for Google TV. Instead of trying to add an over-the-top layer to cable television, Google could work directly with pay TV providers using Motorola's digital set-top product line and the technology behind these services. Motorola is a significant provider of hardware and software for cable providers, including Insight, all across the country. By acquiring that technology, Google could seriously upgrade its presence in the traditional television space as it just did in mobile.

Posted at 05:10 PM in Broadband Internet |

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