TMCnet Feature

In the aftermath of the antitrust approval of EU and US regulators concerning Google’s (News - Alert) move to acquire Motorola Mobility, rumors are flying that Google is aggressively shifting into the realm of hardware.

The speculation frenzy was further fed by reports that Google was planning to develop some sort of “music streaming system,” building a so-called “Project X” hardware lab, and advancing into the retail industry.

The issue of Google’s involvement in hardware does raise some legitimate concerns, but these concerns are overblown. Google already has a substantial cache of hardware in the form of well over half a million servers. They also have a fleet of robotic cars.

Whether or not they plan on expanding into the consumer market is anyone’s guess. But the mediocre performance of the “Google phone” in the wireless technology market nonetheless galvanized the success of Android (News - Alert), the main competitor of iOS.

And who needs cell phones when you can make calls on Google Chat and Google Voice? Google’s current status in the wireless market obviates its need to develop hardware platforms within it.

If this supposed “music streaming system” were anything but profound, Google would be foolish to waste its time on it. In reality, we don’t know what it is; only that it utilizes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, just like my RAZR I had in 2004.

Nowhere in the FCC (News - Alert) application does it mention music or streaming, as alleged by the above-cited Wall Street Journal article that started these rumors. Even more absurd is the fact that, based on a tiny, ambiguous paragraph in the application, the WSJ divines that Google is moving towards an “Apple approach.”

But Google is like Apple in that they both have paid hefty royalties to Motorola (News - Alert) for the use of 3g, H.264, WiFi etc. They had already sued Motorola for excessive licensing fees for the latter two and they announced that they will drop native support for H.264 on Chrome due in part to “significant royalties.” Not only does the acquisition free Google from such fees, it also gives it ownership of around 24,000 patents and patent applications relating to H.264, 802.11, 3G, and 4G.