In an absolutely astounding move announced by its CEO Larry Page, Google has purchased Motorola's consumer handset division, Motorola Mobility.

Given Android’s phenomenal success, we are always looking for new ways to supercharge the Android ecosystem. That is why I am so excited today to announce that we have agreed to acquire Motorola.

Motorola and Google have recently been at-odds in a dispute over Google forcing Motorola to drop the SkyHook location database in favour of their own. While some may say it's an easy way to win a lawsuit, Google makes it very clear as to the true reason for the buy-out.

Motorola has a history of over 80 years of innovation in communications technology and products, and in the development of intellectual property...

They go on to talk about the recent 'anti-competitive' pursuit of a consortium lead by Microsoft and Apple to obtain patents from the sale of Nortel, a consortium which they were offered to be part of only to refuse and go it alone. This is a huge move by Google to cement Android's position in the smartphone marketplace, and I would expect to see trademark and patent lawsuits such as this to be commonplace. promoted forum item