Smartphone Race Heats Up as Google Buys Motorola Mobility

Google is turning up the heat on Apple with its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility announced today, giving Google the ability to manufacture its own smartphones running Android software.

Android recently moved ahead of the Blackberry and Apple's iPhone to become the No. 1 software in the smartphone field.  But Apple, which manufactures its own iPhones and also writes the software, had a leg up because of its software-hardware model.

No more.  Google announced its all-cash deal today, with CEO Larry Page calling it "an extremely important event in Google's evolution."

Yes, and possibly an extremely important event in the devolution of any number of other smartphone manufacturers, including Samsung, HTC and LG.  They've all adopted Android on at least some of their phones and could see today's deal as an invitation to a beheading.

But Page says the deal won't affect Google's relationship with other handset manufacturers and, in fact, will protect them by ensuring the sanctity of Android's patents.

With today's deal, Google is not only getting a manufacturing company, it's getting a boatload of patents crucial to its survival, removing or at least lessening the risk of big-time legal challenges in the future.

Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha has said his company has 17,000 patents and over 7,500 applications pending, a huge portfolio that should protect Android from threats by Microsoft, Apple and other companies.