Motorola partners with Microsoft, will use Bing search and maps on Chinese Android phones

Uh, whoa. When we heard Google's threatened pullout of China had prompted Motorola to seek out an alternative search provider for its China-bound handsets, we can't say we were expecting a partnership with Microsoft to result. But here we are, staring at a press release announcing the Bing search and Maps will be the default on Moto's Chinese Android phones starting in Q1 -- and the partnership is described as "global," so there's a chance it could spread. That's just one more slap in Google's face from Moto, following the release of the Yahoo-powered AT&T Backflip -- and another step away from the tight relationship that produced the Droid. And does this mean Motorola might yet build a Windows Phone 7 Series device, despite a very public commitment to Android? We'd say Eric and Sanjay have some unresolved differences to work through.

[tekdemon Posted Mar 11th 2010 11:06PM]

@uansari1 I think it's the right call for Motorola. In fact it's the only thing Motorola can really do. Who wants to sell millions and millions of phones loaded with Google maps and make the phone reliant on Google search but then have Google suddenly stop working in that country? Motorola wants to sell phones in China and they don't want their phones to suddenly choke up because Google decides that it's leaving. And who cares, it's not like they're blocking people from installing Google maps or using Google.com, they're just covering their butts in case Google pulls out.

[sfox8 Posted Mar 11th 2010 2:41AM]

I'm a big Google and Android fan but I have to say, I think things like this issue and the fragmentation are examples of why a completely open OS is never the ideal solution. If Android is going to really continue to grow and be a force to be reckoned with, Google's going to have to take control at SOME point. Hopefully they realize this.

There are ways for Android to still be somewhat open with customization options while still being controlled minimally through certain actions from Google. Microsoft seems to be taking a good approach as far as preventing OS fragmentation.

Bottom line, Google really needs to rethink their strategy for Android. In the end, some kind of action from Google is going to be necessary to keep Android afloat and from just taking off in too many different directions. A happy median.

[benny90 Posted Mar 11th 2010 3:10AM]

I'm sure they were really ticked off at Google for releasing the Nexus One so soon after the Droid was released. That was a pretty huge slap in the face and it would prompt me to think of other partnership for the future if I was in charge at Motorolla.

And, pleeeeeeeeaseeeee Moto, make a badass WP7S phone!!!!

[BoomUnknown Posted Mar 11th 2010 3:39AM]

I'm a big Microsoft fan, and with this addition too it, simply states, android is headed without Google laying down the law, says you can't always be a happy median,selling built custom linux builds for cold, hard cash and besides evenly if you don't want sub-versions of them that the way it is no matter what you think about it,

The best would have to be back-stab AT&T withdrawing Yahoo and Yahoo becoming Microsoft's, back-hand dealing with other companies, make customized unknown phones specialized in each sect and combine them in secretly, and release about 1/2 or 1/4 of the complete unknown specialized phone

Build seemly proportional sub-systems that about lesser then to the original proportion with all of that

Now here we have a reversal where Microsoft gets the cash at Google's expense. I like that :)

Bottom line,Microsoft and Motorola , must be the underdog with seemly small limitations, that are actually big connections that appear once and is well hidden to the others, also need some backbone of force from physical to mental , from the tech sawyer developers, to the mafia, and also independent critics' to enforce it's own rule of ignoring what people from the "Main-Stream" and heeding the words from the "Underground" which is far more "Superior" then them,since they are years ahead by one single fact and that fact is let insanity and fear control you and live no matter what people say about you and just live the life that you want to be alive don't care about the success and failures in everything

[trendscenedental Posted Mar 19th 2010 2:30PM]

@BoomUnknown
I don't know if English is a second language for you or something, but this post is almost entirely incomprehensible for me...

[wmArcadecom Posted Mar 11th 2010 3:48AM]

holy cow.. thats a big blow for Google

[TekWarrior Posted Mar 11th 2010 9:26AM]

This just feels wrong somehow...

Like the universe has suddenly gone crazy, like MS is going to buy Google or something (oh wait, been there, didn't do that)...

[TerrorX Posted Mar 11th 2010 9:35AM]

That's just wack. I have yet to meet a person who actually likes bing. I have been making a list of all the problems with the computers in my school and one of those just happens to be that some use bing as a default search engine. I'd be happy to fix that up and set it back to google but thanks to a little thing called Deepfreeze, I can't do jack about it.

[jareth86 Posted Apr 26th 2010 2:36PM]

Maybe this is best for Motorola. HTC has done amazing things with android, but all Motorola has produced is the ungodly mess known as moto blur, and an under clocked Droid which is somehow choppier with stock android than the Eris is with all its enhancements and half the processing power.

HTC is a company who can think outside the box. Motorola needs that box. The box was made for companies like Motorola.
In this case, WP7 can't be modified or messed with, which is exactly what Motorola needs: mittens pinned to their jacket.

[johnsry Posted Apr 27th 2010 2:35PM]

Posing a hypothetical here:

What if no matter what search is loaded on your Android phone, the Android API bites a chunk of cash out of any ad run on the phone, or no matter what map systems or alternate app is run Google still gets its data from the OS. In that scenario, it doesn't matter whose search is run on the frontend, Google still makes a (albeit smaller) profit from your use of the Android OS. If the data is valuable, then there is no technical reason that they could not still get it from other apps. If it's the ad space, imagine making money off of your competitors (who are technically making money off of you). That's win win.