Ruggedized connected devices are aimed at businesses, such as construction firms or for in-taxi connectivity

Motorola Solutions has made a bid to acquire ruggedised mobile device manufacturer Psion for approximately £128m ($200m). The firm, which is the part of Motorola not acquired by Google, said it wanted to buy Psion to strengthen its mobile-computing portfolio with ruggedised handheld products and vehicle-mount terminals.

Psion has focused on mobile computing solutions since its inception in 1980; it had been a pioneer of PDA devices and had contributed most of the technology to the Symbian mobile platform. It is headquartered in London, has around 830 employees and delivered  revenues of £176 million in 2011.

John Hawkins, chairman of Psion, said that the firm’s directors recommend this offer as the price offers a significant cash premium to both the current and recent market prices.

According to David McQueen, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms and Media, it is likely that the move is an attempt by Motorola Solutions to safeguard its fortunes in business market, which is being eroded by the rise of consumer technology players, such as Apple and Google, whose tablet devices are being increasingly used by business users.

“The problem with tablets is that they’re not really ruggedised and security is an issue,” he explained. “Taking an iPad or Android tablet into the office causes a headache for the CTO, because there’s very little security on them.”

He added that this makes ruggedised devices much better suited to work environments such as contruction sites and in-taxis. With business users are bringing different devices into the workplace, with differing screen sizes, operating systems and even different versions of the same device, enterprises need to ensure that they’re all secure, as there is often a lot of sensitive information on them.

“This [deal] might create more of a cost-effective way for a business to do this,” said McQueen. “Tablet devices are still not cheap and this may be a cheaper way of getting ruggedized devices into enterprises in a secure and unified manner.”

However, he cautioned that by acquiring Psion, Motorola Solutions may only be focusing on its short-term future.

“If they can get more control over the devices that go into vehicles and enterprises, that gives Motorola more time before the market catches up; sooner or later, in-vehicle computers will be built in and more tablets that are secure and ruggedised will enter the market,” he warned.

Intel aims to disrupt the smartphone market

Intel has used consumer gadget show CES as a platform to declare its arrival to the smartphone market, announcing a multi-year deal with handset maker Motorola Mobility and unveiling a Lenovo handset based on its new Atom processor platform. However, disrupting the current state of the market could prove to be a struggle for the firm, suggests one analyst.

The chipset manufacturer revealed that it has entered into an agreement with Motorola Mobility, which is the subject of a proposed takeover by Google. The two firms will work together on a range of smartphones and tablets over the coming years, and will begin shipping an Android smartphone based on the Atom chipset later this year.

Intel has been relatively anonymous in the smartphone market of late. Although it made strides in the early to mid-2000s, with its chipsets being used in various PDA devices and internet-enabled devices that predate the advent of the iPhone and the Android platform, today’s smartphones predominantly run on chipsets designed by Cambridge-based ARM. Intel recently admitted that its smartphone business accounted for less than one per cent of its revenue, however, according to the firm’s president and CEO Paul Otellini, the firm’s agreement with Motorola Mobility will put the company back on the map in the smartphone space.

“Our long-term relationship with Motorola Mobility will help accelerate Intel architecture into new mobile market segments,” he said. “We expect the combination of our companies to break new ground and bring the very best of computing capabilities to smartphones and tablets, which in turn will help to create powerful new experiences that connect and enrich people’s lives wherever they may be.”

However, Nick Dillon, analyst at Ovum, is sceptical about what impact Intel can really have in the smartphone market, given where the firm currently is with its market share and the reliance that the industry has come to have on ARM-based chipsets.

“Intel has come from a very different direction from ARM. ARM came to market with efficient low-power chips and scaled the processing power up, whereas Intel is coming from the PC end – with high power chips that are much more power-hungry – and with the Atom chip, Intel is trying to push it down to that low-power category, and low power consumption is a critical element in smartphones,” he said.

He added that the processing power advantage that Intel might have had given its PC roots has also largely been eroded by strides that ARM-based chips have made over the years.

“1.5GHz dual-core processors are already the norm, and quad core chips for smartphones are around the corner anyway, so any processing power advantage that Intel could have brought to the table has largely been removed already.”

“And then there’s the fact that Android handsets have been optimised around ARM-based chipsets, not only on a platform level, but also with apps. Power hungry apps have native code elements built in and are optimised for ARM chipsets, so they will have to be recoded to make the most of Intel. There’s quite a few challenges ahead of the company, even with the new deal that it has signed with Motorola.”

Intel also used CES to showcase a new Android smartphone, the Lenovo K800, based on the Atom chipset, which will be available in China in the second quarter and will run on China Unicom’s 21Mbs network. The handset uses the Z2460 Atom processor, support for HSPA+ with the Intel XMM 6260 Platform, and the Lenovo LeOS user interface for a localised experience in China.

Apple's iPhones and iPads could be banned in Germany

Apple faces the prospect of having its iPad and iPhone devices banned in Germany, just months after securing a ban on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the country with a similar ruling.

Motorola Mobility, which is the subject of a prospective takeover by Google, won a ruling in a German court against Apple’s European sales company, Ireland-based Apple Sales International, based on a patent relating to a “method for performing a countdown function during a mobile-originated transfer for a packet radio system”.

The Court has granted Motorola Mobility’s requests for an injunction and damages, the company said. The news will come as validation for Google, which is pursuing the business primarily for its patent portfolio.

“We will continue to take all necessary steps to protect our intellectual property, as our patent portfolio and licensing agreements with companies both in the U.S. and around the world are critical to our business,” said Scott Offer, senior vice president and general counsel of Motorola Mobility.

“We have been negotiating with Apple and offering them reasonable licensing terms and conditions since 2007, and will continue our efforts to resolve our global patent dispute as soon as practicable.”

Unsurprisingly, Apple announced plans to appeal the decision.”We’re going to appeal the court’s ruling right away,” read a statement from the firm emailed to Dow Jones Newswire. “Holiday shoppers in Germany should have no problem finding the iPad or iPhone they want.”

The move is the latest twist in an ongoing patent saga between Apple and Google’s Android hardware partners.

Apple recently failed to secure a ban on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia, after an Australian High Court rejected an appeal to keep the device off shelves. It was also denied a preliminary injunction to block the sale of Samsung’s touchscreen smartphones and tablets in the US, while Samsung too lost out in its attempts to ban sales of Apple’s iPhone 4S device in France.

Patents are killing innovation, said Saadi

The ongoing patent disputes between Apple and Google and its Android partners is killing innovation, according to Malik Saadi, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.

In the US, HTC is suing Apple after acquiring technology patents from Google, while Apple has been aggressively pursuing Google’s Android hardware partners with patent lawsuits. It currently has more than ten ongoing legal cases filed against Samsung alone for Android-based devices.

HTC acquired nine patents from Google, which itself took ownership of the patents less than a year ago, with four of the patents originating from its acquisition of Motorola Mobility, three from Openwave Systems and two from Palm.

The handset vendor is now filing a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) and the US District Court of Delaware for patent infringement by Apple’s Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod product lines.

“We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC phones,” said Grace Lei, general counsel, at HTC.

And Google’s protection of its industry partners is a key factor in these ongoing patent disputes, according to Malik Saadi, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms and Media.

“HTC’s patent portfolio is not as strong as Apple’s, but it is one of the prime partners of Google when it comes to Android, so you have to view Android as an ecosystem,” he said.

“Google’s aim is to get that ecosystem as widespread as they can, so that they can capitalise on it. Google has a business model where they are not making money from hardware but they want their software to be everywhere so that they can capitalise on that widespread presence.”

He added that Google’s acquisition of Motorola will not deter hardware partners from working with it, because it has acquired a strong patent portfolio to protect not only Motorola, but the whole Android ecosystem.

“All Android partners will, in fact, have a vested interest in welcoming Google’s acquisition of Motorola,” added Saadi.

And with Apple targeting Google’s Android partners with its own lawsuits, because they represent the strongest competitor to Apple’s mobile and portable product lines, Saadi added that these ongoing patent disputes are having a destructive impact on the tech industry.

“Initially, the goal of patenting was to protect innovation. Now, the target of patenting is to prevent innovation, because of this protectionism,” said Saadi. “That is really bad for the industry, when you see companies just buying patent rights to use them as legal battle against others – that really kills innovation.”

However, a resolution could come in the form of a bill to overhaul the operations of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, which is speeding toward a conclusion. With software now driving innovation, rather than hardware, Saadi believes the proposed bill will calm the patent problem down.

“In Europe, software players don’t traditionally patent software, they have intellectual property copyright instead. In the US, software is hugely patentable. Copyright keeps negotiations open and you can create agreements to use it. But when you patent something, you don’t give anyone a chance to even explore or experiment with that type of code,” said Saadi.

“Intellectual property copyright encourages more sharing and innovation, while patenting is just becoming a legal tool and that’s the difference between Europe and the US. It’s becoming a case that these giants are trying to monopolise innovation and giving a hard time to anyone who wants to innovate their own circle.”

The Titan is HTC's flagship WP7 Mango handset

Taiwanese handset vendor HTC has previewed two Windows Phone 7 smartphones to consumers across Europe, ahead of the products’ commercial release in October. The Titan and Radar handsets are the first from HTC to run the latest version of WP7, dubbed Mango.

While Microsoft revamped its mobile OS programme, HTC—once a firm that was described by executives as having “Windows in our DNA”—adopted Google’s Android operating system, establishing itself as one of the leading Android players. With the Titan and Radar the firm is demonstrating an ongoing willingness to work with Microsoft, although the allegiance is not what it was.

Nonetheless, the firm praised Microsoft’s new platform, with global sales and marketing chief Jason Mackenzie saying it allowed HTC to “raise the bar with advanced photography, multimedia and social capabilities”.

Microsoft’s close partnership with Nokia, announced early this year, was felt by some observers to run the risk of alienating other vendor partners. But Nokia has yet to release a product based on WP7, and has lacked conviction when voicing its desire to deliver a handset before the end of 2011. So it may be that WP7 remains more open territory for other vendors than it appeared early this year.

For vendors that have aligned themselves closely with Android, the recent announcement from Google that it is to acquire the handset division of Motorola might well have forced a rethink for the same reasons that the Microsoft/Nokia partnership gave them cause for concern. HTC, which has established leadership in both camps as it has sought to build its consumer brand, could prove a useful bellwether.

Google can ill-afford to favour Motorola, analysts say

While Google’s acquisition of Motorola’s handset business brings potentially rich rewards in terms of intellectual property, the search firm must be careful to keep its new employees at a respectable distance, industry analysts have warned.

Malik Saadi, principal analyst at Informa, said that if Google were to extend any special privilege or exclusivity around Android to Motorola, it would send “a really bad signal” to other Android vendors, including HTC, Samsung and LG.

Meanwhile, Nick Dillon of Ovum said that Google’s move from “the position of partner to that of competitor to Android handset manufacturers” risked putting a “significant strain” on the Android ecosystem.

Dillon suggested that some kind of preferential arrangement between Google and Motorola was “not beyond the realm of imagination”, adding that Google risked pushing its other handset partners towards alternative platforms. Microsoft could be one beneficiary, he suggested, although it was precisely the same kind of arrangement established between Microsoft and Nokia that was judged by many to have damaged wider enthusiasm for Windows Phone 7 among the handset vendor community.

Saadi argued that Google was unlikely to favour Motorola. “There has been speculation about Google moving towards vertical ecosystems. But I don’t think this will happen. Google’s business case is not about hardware or software, it’s about getting the widest adoption of Android that it can and then leveraging its services over the platform.”

The deal will give Google its own hardware maker

Web giant Google has agreed to acquire handset vendor Motorola Mobility  for $12.5bn. “The acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a dedicated Android partner, will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem,” Google said.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of this year or early 2012 and will see Google shelling out a premium of 63 per cent to the closing price of Motorola Mobility shares on August 12.

Andy Rubin, senior vice president of Mobile at Google and one of the creators of the Android platform, said that Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business but will use the acquisition to increase competition in the handset space.

“We expect that this combination will enable us to break new ground for the Android ecosystem. However, our vision for Android is unchanged and Google remains firmly committed to Android as an open platform and a vibrant open source community. We will continue to work with all of our valued Android partners to develop and distribute innovative Android-powered devices,” Rubin said.

No doubt there are also a fair few patents involved in the deal, and the Motorola acquisition will help Google shore up its own portfolio. “We recently explained how companies including Microsoft and Apple are banding together in anti-competitive patent attacks on Android,” said Google CEO Larry Page. “The U.S. Department of Justice had to intervene in the results of one recent patent auction to ‘protect competition and innovation in the open source software community’ and it is currently looking into the results of the Nortel auction. Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google’s patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies,” he said.

“Having been outbid in the recent sell-off of Nortel’s patent portfolio, Google was clearly willing to look elsewhere to build up its arsenal of IP and in the light of the growing number of IP legal disputes in the smartphone market; this move will put Google in a stronger position competitively,” said Ovum analyst Nick Dillon.

NSN is reported to be unable to find a buyer for controlling stake in its JV

Nokia Siemens Networks’ search for a willing buyer for a stake in the ailing JV appears to have staggered to a halt, with reports emerging that Nokia and Siemens have agreed to rather invest more of their own cash in an effort to revive the partnership’s fortunes. Reports in the Wall Street Journal suggest that plans to sell a controlling stake in the venture to a consortium including private equity investors were about to fall through, with Reuters quoting telecoms analyst Earl Lum as saying that “Any potential investor would need to see some light at the end of the tunnel with regard to profitability for NSN.”

When NSN was launched in 2007, the 50-50 partnership between Nokia and Siemens was projected to hit double-digit returns over the course of a six year partnership. To date, the JV has only posted two profitable quarters. As such, it is widely believed that the price tag is a little too rich for investors. Earlier this month, two private equity groups were said to have walked away from a potential deal after months of discussion came to a halt.

Although NSN is the second-largest manufacturer of wireless networking kit in the world,  the JV is reported to have lost in the region of $1bn last year. The venture has been flirting with prospective buyers since last year but it is widely believed that the partners disagree about pricing. Nokia’s difficulties are well known and Siemens, perceived to be on steadier ground financially, is reported by the WSJ to be interested in taking control of the JV. This may be a tall order, given that Nokia currently controls four of the seven board seats. This morning, Nokia offered the somewhat enigmatic statement to Reuters that there were “multiple options” for the JV.

Earlier this year, NSN had engaged in a battle of wits with the Chinese authorities over its $975m purchase of Motorola’s network infrastructure assets. The deal finally went ahead in May, following months of foot-dragging from the Chinese Anti-Monopoly Bureau, which was reluctant to approve it, thanks in no small part to objections from home-grown kit-maker Huawei. The increased presence of Chinese kit makers in the global market has put pressure on western players like NSN and Ericsson; as the likes of Huawei and ZTE make a strong play on price as a differentiator, their western counterparts have begun viewing services and managed offerings as a revenue stream in saturated markets such as Europe.

HTC is on the hunt for device-specific Android apps

As Android’s march towards mobile OS domination appears to continue unchecked, device manufacturers are joining the scrum to differentiate themselves from the competition. HTC has joined the ranks of manufacturers increasingly looking to pull in the developers to create device-specific apps,  announcing a dev-friendly programme to be launched in parallel with an SDK for its Sense user interface.

According to HTC, HTCdev, which is scheduled to launch this summer, will feature access to “an extensive resource library of tutorials, best practices, documentation and support” through a new web site www.htcdev.com. The site will also offer a user feedback channel to HTC “for ongoing investments and improvements to the developer toolset and program resources.” The scheme is aimed at encouraging  developers to work on applications specifically for HTC devices.

HTC says that the OpenSense SDK will be the programme’s “core offering” that will enable Android developers to “more deeply integrate into the HTC Sense 3.0 experience.” The framework will also offer APIs and sample code for 3D display and the tablet pen.

HTC isn’t the only device manufacturer courting developers. Motorola is among those offering Android developers a support system and Samsung launched its developer forum in May this year. Samsung’s programme includes a remote test lab feature that allows developers to install and test applications on Samsung devices over the web.

NSN has offered Motorola base station users a migration path

Fresh from its recently completed acquisition of Motorola, Nokia Siemens Networks has announced technology that will connect existing Motorola GSM base stations to NSN’s Flexi Base Station Controller, creating an evolutionary path to 3G and LTE services.

According to NSN, the solution, which will be available from the end of June this year, will allow existing Motorola GSM radio network customers to reduce operational costs while improving network quality on existing installed base stations.

Head of GSM product management at NSN, Kimmo Virkki, said that the first network implementations with customers had shown “increased network quality, voice and data traffic and EDGE throughput with Motorola base stations in the field.” According to NSN, a single Flexi Base controller is effectively capable of providing the same support as up to 30 of Motorola’s installed controllers.

Earlier this week, NSN announced that it had finally closed its $975m purchase of Motorola’s network infrastructure assets. The move followed the Chinese Anti-Monopoly Bureau’s long-anticipated approval of the deal, which will see NSN taking on responsibility for 50 operators in 52 countries, as well as 6900 ex-Motorola employees. In addition, Motorola’s portfolio of GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, WiMAX and LTE products and services will transfer to NSN, giving the company access to a new customer base and a foothold in North America and Japan.