The Moto X is the first phone that was developed after the Google acquisition of Motorola, but how much input did Google really have? It was said at the beginning that Motorola would operate independently. However, Google sent over 70 employees to Motorola, include Dennis Woodside, who is now the CEO of Moto. So in some ways, Google did have a heavy influence, but according to the Wall Street Journal, the Google Android team wasn’t all that helpful. It is probably the main reason why the Moto X isn’t shipping with Android 4.3, the latest version of Android. In fact, at one point, it wasn’t clear if the Chrome Web browser would make it on to the phone because Motorola wasn’t getting the support they needed from the Android team.
It appears the former head of Android, Andy Rubin, wanted it this way. He was against embracing Motorola because he didn’t want to tick off other Android manufacturers. The theory was that Motorola should be an equal, but the way Google treated Motorola, it might have given them a bigger disadvantage. “It’s not like we were equally disadvantaged—we were more disadvantaged,” one former Motorola employee said. Even relationships between Google and Motorola employees that were created before the transition changed in that emails went unanswered after the acquisition.
Now that Andy Rubin is out and Sundar Pichai is in, things are starting to improve. In fact, Motorola is now advising Google on many manufacturing projects, including Google Glass. It is very possible that Motorola could wind up being the manufacturer of Glass. “It could someday be an opportunity,” Dennis Woodside said.
We all knew that this was going to be an issue with Motorola and Google the minute they announced the acquisition. I think Google might have went a little too far though, and hopefully they will have a better working relationship moving forward.
source: WSJ
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