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Comment by samstave | Hacker News Reader

Motorola made a lot more than just phones. Did Google buy all their radio business as well.

Think about every Law Enforcement vehicle in the US; every single one of them has a motorola comm system in them. Will Google be making these?

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Motorola split into Motorola Solutions (the robust, profitable part you're thinking about) and Motorola Mobility (the volatile, floundering part that was weighing Motorola down) early last year. Motorola Mobility are mobile phones and cable top boxes, that's the part Google bought. That other stuff is Motorola Solutions.

After the split Motorola Mobility went into "ah oh, somebody better buy me or I might do something stupid" mode playing Microsoft and Google against each other. This is also when Motorola was leaking the rumors of a full private Android fork that cuts Google out (replacing the market, gps/navigation libraries, etc), threatening to sue other Android manufacturers, etc. After Microsoft/Apple et al got the Nortel patents, Google couldn't afford for Microsoft to also get Motorola's.

Great info.

Thanks!

Thanks for the comment. I seemed to remember that Google was acquiring a division of Motorola (Mobility, specifically), but I couldn't decide if the headline was either sensationalized or I completely missed out on something. You've quelled my surprise!

The public safety and radio businesses are a part of Motorola Solutions. Google's acquisition move is on Motorola Mobility. You might already know that Motorola Solutions and Motorola Mobility are separate companies after the recent split. Mobility stays with consumer focused mobile devices, home and media.

They bought all of Motorola Mobility which includes all of their radio business.

It doesn't look like it would include government communications hardware: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Solutions

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