To break new ground for the Android ecosystem while protecting it from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and others, search engine giant Google announced plans last month to acquire Motorola Mobility Holding s for $12.5 billion. The search engine giant said that this acquisition will also strengthen its product portfolio, including patents, to make it a strong competitor in the marketplace. Motorola is one of 39 manufacturers of handsets that use Google’s Android operating system (OS).

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Google bought Motorola Mobility to acquire its products and not just patents. Speaking to Salesforce.com’s chief executive officer Marc Benioff,

Google ‘s chairman Eric Schmidt said, “We did it for more than just patents,” as per Bloomberg Businessweek’s report. He added, “The Motorola team has some amazing products.”

The Bloomberg Businessweek report indicates that this deal will aid the search engine giant expand in smartphones to be a strong competitor to rival Apple, the iPhone maker. Bloomberg Businessweek’s reporter Aaron Ricadela wrote that the deal will bring over 17,000 patents that Google can utilize to protect its Android OS.

Further continuing his talk with Salesforce.com’s Benioff, Schmidt praised former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who stepped down last week, and said that “He’s ‘proud’ of his stint as an Apple director,” wrote Ricadela.

“It’s certainly the best performance of a CEO in 50 years,” Schmidt told Benioff. “We’ve all benefited from the tremendous innovation at Apple. And I say this as a very proud former board member at Apple,” Schmidt commented, as per Bloomberg’s report.

Schmidt was elected to Apple’s board of directors on August 28, 2006. In August, 2009, Schmidt resigned from the board of directors at Apple due to conflict of interests amid the growing competition between Google and Apple.

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