While everyone's talking about the possible implications of the Google-Motorola deal, have you ever wondered if Google may accidentally end up helping its competitors, primarily Microsoft, by acquiring the telecom giant? This could be an unfortunate reality for the search engine giant because manufacturers of Android phones - principally Samsung and HTC- may perceive Google to be a bit of a threat now that the company has its own hardware unit.

The threat, while probable, is not very possible, said Mr Anshul Gupta, Principal Research Analyst, Gartner. “Google has said that Motorola will be a separate unit. They will continue to operate as usual. It will depend on how Google will integrate Motorola. All this will only be clear in the days to come. The main question is, will Google change distribution policy? There are no serious changes - if there are, companies could look at the Windows platform.”

Another analyst who felt that Android will face no threat in the future was Mr Deepak Kumar, Research Director, IDC India. “When it comes to an OS for smartphones and tablets, the play today is more about that ecosystem, especially the app store around the OS. So it is the number of developers embracing an OS that would continue to determine its adoption on the devices. Given the success of Android on the app-store front, there is no immediate threat to its growth in the mobile device segment,” he said.

But while analysts felt that there was not much danger, a manufacturer of Android-based tablets felt that this would have an impact. When Business Line asked Mr Rohan Shravan, Founding Director, Notion Ink (creators of the Notion Ink Adam) , if companies which make their own hardware may feel that they are directly competing with Motorola and Google, he said, “Yes, definitely.”

Of course, it would be wrong to say that the analysts we spoke to sided exclusively with Android - in fact, they agreed that this deal could have a positive impact on Microsoft. When asked if the Google-Motorola deal could see people diversifying to other OSes, Mr Gupta said, “Windows Mobile could be an alternative. HTC and Samsung are already using Windows.” Mr Shravan too felt that Windows has a good future compared to Android. “Windows 8 is potentially the best alternative to Android. It is all about the developer momentum which is missing on Bada and other OSes,” he said.

But two things are clear- one, this deal, while protecting Google from Android patent-related woes, may not exactly help it to challenge Apple. Second, this may not help other wannabe OSes like Bada and Brew to get a leg-up in the smartphone OS race.

Explaining the reason why Apple will continue to reign supreme, Mr Gupta said, “Apple could do it because they invented a unique device on a unique OS. They provided a user experience and features not seen before.

They have a strong pool of applications and developers supporting the apps.” Mr Kumar said that while the Google-Motorola deal would lead to an increase in the device and application development around the Android platform, Steve Jobs had laid a roadmap that would take care of Apple's growth in the visible future.

Mr Gupta said that while Windows may get a better play in the market because of the confusion created by the Google-Motorola deal, it would not help Bada, a smart phone alternative from Samsung, or Qualcomm's Brew, an OS created for feature phones and not for smart phones. “Both Samsung and HTC have been using alternative OSes in the past, but neither has yielded good results,” he said. “I don't think they will focus on these platforms; Brew is only for feature phones and it is proprietary. To build smart phones, you need an app store, and Bada doesn't have this.”

Clearly, even after the Google-Motorola deal, the fight continues between Apple on the one hand and Android on the other, with Windows looking like it has got a slightly better chance depending on how the Google-Motorola deal pans out for the likes of HTC and Samsung.

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