Google finalizes $12.5 bn deal for Motorola Mobility takeover

PanARMENIAN.Net - Google Tuesday, May 22 finalized its $12.5 billion deal for Motorola Mobility, a key manufacturer of smartphones and other devices which puts the Internet giant in head-to-head competition with Apple, AFP reported.

The completion follows approval by Chinese, U.S. and European regulators, amid concerns that Google would keep Android, a free operating system, out of the hands of competitors in the mobile device market.

Conditions from China's Ministry of Commerce included Google keeping its Android software for gadgets such as smartphones and tablet computers free and open for at least five years.

Regulators in the U.S. and elsewhere have stressed that they will be watching to make sure that the Mountain View, California-based company does not use Motorola Mobility to obtain an unfair advantage in the market.

Google will acquire 17,000 patents with the purchase of Motorola Mobility and has been strengthening its patent portfolio as the fight for dominance in the booming smartphone and tablet market increasingly involves lawsuits claiming infringement of patented technology.

Motorola Mobility was created in 2011 when US-based Motorola Inc. split the company into a mobile devices unit and a government and public safety division known as Motorola Solutions.