"On January 14, 2009, Nortel filed for protection from creditors in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, in order to restructure its debt and financial obligations.[5] The period of bankruptcy protection has been extended to December 14, 2011" But not without first developing a portfolio of patents that would be the very future of wireless data. The auction for ownership has ended on July 1st and this post discusses the winner, the losers and our internet/mobile future. But first the back-story of all 3.
Android, a brief history;
Android was founded in 2003 by a guy names Andy Rubin. Rubin operated secretly and told the world only that Android inc. was "making software for mobile phones." That being said, the same year Rubin ran out of money and a guy named Steve Perlman (huge name) brought him $10,000 in an envelope and refused a stake in the company.
Google acquired Android inc. in 2005 and kept their founding team of 3 (Rubin, Rich Miner and Chris White)
These men maintained their secretive way.
This acquisition meant that Google was about to enter the mobile market but no one knew why....
Rumors trickled out that Google wanted their search engine to go mobile.
"Google had lined up a series of hardware component and software partners and signaled to carriers that it was open to various degrees of cooperation on their part."
2006- Google via the BBC and The Wall Street Journal explained that they wanted their search and apps on mobile devices. Plot thickens.
"In September 2007, InformationWeek covered an Evalueserve study reporting that Google had filed several patent applications in the area of mobile telephony."
The Open Handset Alliance
"On November 5, 2007, the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of several companies which include Broadcom Corporation, Google, HTC, Intel, LG, Marvell Technology Group, Nvidia, Qualcomm,Samsung Electronics, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and Texas Instruments unveiled itself. The goal of the Open Handset Alliance is to develop open standards for mobile devices.[13] On the same day, the Open Handset Alliance also unveiled their first product, Android, a mobile device platform"
Google makes good with the largest communication companies in the world. Then in October 2008 they released the G1 (HTC Dream) on T-Mobile......................................
Apple a brief history;
'Apple Computers' was started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne to sell the first Apple computer, the 'Apple I Personal Computer Kit'. In fact Wozniak hand made them! After many marketing issues and even some management changes. After a lawsuit with Microsoft in 1998. (Great read here) Apple made a stand with the first version of Macromedia's Final Cut, the iPod and 2002's Garage Band software and 2003's iTunes. Then in 2007 Steve Jobs announced that Apple Computers would drop 'Computer' from their name "because computers were no longer the main focus of the company." The same day he announced the iPhone.
2011, So where is Apple in all this current Nortel business?
Apple stands with the alliance's competition including Nokia, and Samsung to name a few.
So, with Google offering their Mobile system (Android) free to all the phone companies what were Apple and Microsoft to do?
They have had no choice but to push for lawsuits. This slows the Android saturation and Google realizes that they have to stand their ground so then what? It is now a patent war. Those lawsuits are for in 'use patents'. What does this mean? New patents is where the defense will lie... in 2011 who has these patents? Nortel owns the patents to the Long Term Evolution of wireless data (LTE).
The analysts claimed that the bidding "may go as high as 1.6 billion dollars." For some reason it seemed obvious to me that these world dominating patents would go for much more and much more they did.
Google had reportedly 36.7 billion dollars in the bank since March 31st and kicked it off with a 900 million dollar bid. According to an article on Reuters.com
"It became clear that they were bidding with the distance between the earth and the sun. One was the sum of a famous mathematical constant, and then when it got to $3 billion, they bid pi," the source said, adding the bid was $3.14159 billion. Then "They bid through $4 billion and tapped out."
Microsoft and Google Partnership?! PFFF!
Microsoft offered Google the chance to partner with them in order to "afford" bidding higher on the patents. According to an article here, Google's Kent Walker replied with this email to Microsoft's Brad Smith;
"Brad
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you - I came down with a 24 hour bug on the way back from San Antonio. After talking with people here, it sounds as though for various reasons a joint bid wouldn't be advisable for us on this one. But I appreciate your flagging it, and we're open for discussing other similar oppertunities in the future.
I hope the rest of your travels go well, and I look forward to seeing you again soon."
Sounds like someone was FURIOUS the day before, sounds like a blowoff, sounds like Google would never share the world with Microsoft, sounds like;
Oh yeah, sorry I didn't get back to you on that whole 'world communication domination' venture we could have made happen yesterday...
Once the auction saw 20 rounds of bids Google let it go.
"A group of six companies -- Apple, Microsoft, RIM, EMC, Ericsson and Sony -- won the auction of 6,000 Nortel patents and patent applications with a $4.5 billion bid."
So what does Google do to ensure those lawsuits don't kill Android and also still have a chance to fight the new Apple regime? They acquire Motorola for 12.5 Billion.
This was obviously the plan if the Nortel bidding got out of hand. Now they have a set of 17000 patents and a mobile device company. Google has now rushed into the software/hardware mobile market with plan B tactics, a possible monopoly issue and already pending Motorola/Apple lawsuits over Xoom in Europe.
Here is my proposal. Google is obviously on the run. If things don't work out very, VERY well on their first release of hardware/software integration sporting the age old Android operating system, Google's demise will be easily calculated.
Here is what Apple will do;
Apple search engine. I said it, it's the exact move that will be aggressive enough to push Google while they are very off their balance. While focusing on dominating mobile data word-wide via their new patents and 13 satellites launching 2013, much is to be said about Google's aggressive acts.
Besides iPhone 5's eminent revelation, here are some basics on how you would attack Google as an opposing company right now.
- Apple is already focusing on the anti-Google China market. So, provide a censored Search Engine for China in addition to the iPhone for them.
- Every iPhone uses Google in some way. That means that Apple has every iPhone users Google preferences. So, blocking or replacing Google on iPhones and Macs with their own search perhaps?
- Next leveling the anti Flash war.
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