Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a deal more than nine months in the making, has finally been approved. The Mountain View-based search giant announced its plans to acquire Motorola’s smartphone and tablet business last August, and just recently promised to keep Android free and open for at least five years in order to secure regulatory approval from China.
Google CEO Larry Page announced the news in a post on The Official Google Blog on Tuesday morning. Page also revealed that Sanja Jha, the CEO of Motorola Mobility, has stepped down, handing over the reins to Dennis Woodside. Until today, Woodside was Google’s President of the Americas region. He was also responsible for building the company’s business in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Russia.
As SplatF notes, “Motorola will be Google’s most interesting project yet.” The company is known for its search and advertising business–which paved the way for its popular ad-supported online services–but it is new to hardware. The deal also potentially puts Google at odds with its other Android manufacturers. It will be most interesting to see how things play out.
