Category Archives: Rumour Control Central

Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility

Motorola was the coolest phone on the planet back a decade or so ago. The “brick” phone was a marvel of modern technology and marked you as a superstar. I saw my first one back in the ‘80’s, complete with a monstrous battery pack. I owned the fat brick and then the slimmer brick and was considered cool and groovy, as indeed I was. Upwardly mobile, I had power breakfasts where I prayed for the phone to ring so I could pose.

When Motorola came out with the “flip” phone, and I could be cool, groovy, and Captain Kirk I couldn’t be happier. When the flip phone diminished in size I was the first to have one in West Perth, despite the obvious problem of posing with such a small phone.

Nokia then came on with their myriad of models, speaking to the younger set with style, elegance, and price performance.

Suddenly, appearing from stage left was Steve Jobs, with the phone that changed the world forever. You see, what we want, but didn’t know we wanted it until we became tired of the endless fiddle to tailor our phones by ring, picture, and music, was the ability to personalise our phone easily. As yet, not one of the companies has come out with the simple idea of plugging your phone in to a PC, and with a click of a mouse button, back up, share, add ring tones, text, MMS, wallpaper-all the things we CAN do with most phones, but only after a really big fiddle. Then drop it and try to back up the lot successfully to your replacement phone. Oh yes, it CAN be done, but have you managed it with a few clicks? Not me.

Google Press Release –

“MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. & LIBERTYVILLE, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MMI) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Google will acquire Motorola Mobility for $40.00 per share in cash, or a total of about $12.5 billion, a premium of 63% to the closing price of Motorola Mobility shares on Friday, August 12, 2011. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.

“Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.”

The acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a dedicated Android partner, will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing. Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business.

Larry Page, CEO of Google, said, “Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.”

The rest of it is the usual blah blah from the Gods, saying nothing at all.

Motorola in its day had the most powerful team of software developers, deployed all over the world, with some fantastic ideas that they could never quite get to market. Ditto Nokia but they weren’t as fat and bloated in the executive area as Motorola was-and it killed them. Nokia, on the other hand achieved world dominance, and made the perfect phone in the 6310i, which marked their nadir.

We all love to hate market leaders. The small spark of independence grows impatient with being told things like how much I should pay for apps, how we can’t share this or do that or use Adobe. Android intends to beak the model of I phone dominance and good luck to them too. Google don’t know what they are going to do with Motorola, but then they rarely do know what they are planning to do, and wouldn’t tell you if they did because it would undermine their Importance.

Android still, to a large part, nestles on the sweaty bosoms of the geek and tech community, who love to get their sticky fingers in and jail break it (bless ‘em, to a large extent its open source anyway, but don’t tell them). It’s less expensive than the Iphone, and a little more “home boy”, with a sprig of Anarchy.

So, Google, show us your wuzzer. I want my Google phone to work with the galaxy of Google stuff. I want BIG BUTTONS because, like der, most of us baby boomers need glasses. . Give me the option. Give my nephew the option to have a zillion tiny icons on his screen, and the ability to kill Demons with Mohammed in Malaga. I want to know how much charge, money I have spent, and where my wife is so I can um greet her, and where the hell I left my car in that stupid car park?

I want to be cool and groovy again when I do find my car. Oh, by the way, make a phone that doesn’t need a protective cover, and spray on self cleaning nanites. Sorted?

If memory serves, ABB was short for Asea Brown Boveri, which isn’t a hot winter broth. They are an electrical power control flashy company and have been around since 1988, and despite being based in Zurich, have done very well. (Research note-ask the editor about confiscated duty-free in Zurich later)

Engine Ears

Peter Ustinov once stated that “Assets” are small female donkeys. Therefore Asset management software designed by MINCOM in Brisbane, Australia may well be a different type of creature, and thus a takeover target for ABB, which happened in May 2011 for many millions of dollars.  Well done to the founders of Mincom, who sold in 2007 to Francisco Partners for $315 Million dollars.  Its all about the large pulsing vein that is the mining industry in Australia-the ROW (rest-of-world, an American term I’ll adopt here) wants a part of our assets, you see, because we have very nice rocks here.  How the Swiss integrate MINCOM with Ventyx will be aswers with, thank heavens, many thousands of lines of code by some busy programmers.

Locally Peter Christie (no relation) is no donkey as MINCOM’s Business Development manager and loves Swiss Chocolate.

Independent contractors the essential handbook November 2010Independent contracts made simple November 2010In the authors lifetime at least two major wars have been fought over what was considered “the communist menace”. Right or wrong, win or lose, many thousands of Australian servicemen died for the right to “be free”. This includes the freedom to associate, religious freedom, and the freedom to be pretty much who you want to be. You can be a bricklayer, a lawyer, a banker, or you can be self-employed-currently pretty much anything including unemployed. In most cases you are protected by law from exploitation and inappropriate remuneration or what is called exploitation. If you want to trade freely as your own entity-say sub-contract, however, you come into the sights of the Australian Government, and in particular the Australian Tax Office, who are given the powers to strip you of your assets and dignity.

The Federal Government loathes subcontractors, and has treated subbies with complete disdain for as long as the author has been in the employment game-some twenty years. It is understood that there is a need for a part-time work force. It is understood that the lower socio-economic tier of labourers quite frequently require protection from exploitation-we get that. Clear, concise, precise and accessible laws are actually in place to protect Bob the Builder. The unions, bless their belligerent buttocks, are to a large part responsible for this When professional services comes into play they leave the Unions behind. Don’t need ‘em. Don’t like ‘em. Don’t want ‘em. Are we cool with that? Computer says no. The ICT industry has resisted Unionism for as long as it has existed, mostly due to the three “D’s”. Sensing a weakness in the force, the Feds have sought to penalise the ICT industry. Why? Is it because the average ICT worker earns more? Doesn’t wear blue? Seems to be too blithely happy? Just the vibe?

Grandad did it for Oz

For whatever reason there is not a clear cut, safe method of sub contracting. The thin ice that is current subcontract law shifts with the mood of the ATO. It’s deliberately thin, as evinced by the “Personal Services Income Test” for sole traders, which was cobbled together by someone very fond of cryptic crosswords and multisyllabic obfuscation.

To maintain subcontractors in the firing line they have no compulsion to superannuate like everyone else. There’s no easy way of paying tax. The state governments are generally cool with subcontracting, save for the idiotic state payroll tax grab. In this one case only they treat the subbies as employees.

Is it a coincidence that Australia is the only western democracy with no bill of rights?

Wake up Australia-we need a flexible workforce, and an easy way to do that legally. It’s good for our careers and our pockets. We learn so much more through flexibility and the clients don’t need us full time-once the implementation is over we skedaddle. Many of our clients can’t afford IBM and the big guns. Most subcontractors genuinely want to pay tax-they are not all stupid, so don’t treat the ICT professional world like they are nascent criminals. Get annoyed-I am!

Update here is a decision tool from the ATO. Ta.

Ølensvåg, Norway – 30 November 2010, Omega AS acquired all of the shares in Omniware AS. The transaction includes all subsidiaries of Omniware AS: Omniware Australia Pty Ltd; Omniware America Ltd; and Omniware UK Ltd. Proudly smiling as an unshaven example of Australian manhood, Shane Butt, recently Chief Technology Officer is pictured here without a coat despite the perpetual freeze that is Norway. What a guy ! Apparently Omega is in to oil and gas, project staff, and stuff like that. Just like Shane himself, they are “big enough to deliver, and small enough to care.”

Hang on….Santa’s from Norway, isn’t he ?