????近三個月前，谷歌公司（Google）在科技界毫無心理準備的情況下，以125億美元的天價收購了摩托羅拉移動公司（Motorola Mobility Holdings）。此后的11周它到底是如何度過的？這11周里，谷歌先是撓頭，接著開始后悔不迭，再接著又作了些大膽的分析，這之后又變本加厲地開始撓頭。那么，谷歌到底從這樁交易里得到了些什么呢？

????也就是說，除了專利，還有別的什么收獲？畢竟，對這樁交易的原因最直接、最顯而易見的解釋就是，谷歌之所以出手，是垂涎于摩托羅拉公司手里的17,000項現有專利和7,500項待批專利。谷歌當時迫切需要采取行動，在專利訴訟中自保。但分析人士稱，摩托羅拉的專利最多值30億美元。那么，谷歌為什么要多花95億美元來買這些專利呢？更別提在這樁交易宣布之前，這樁收購已經讓摩托羅拉每股價格大漲了63%。

????谷歌的葫蘆里到底賣的什么藥，現在我們或許可以看出一些端倪了。首先，一旦摩托羅拉并入谷歌，很可能發生大規模裁員。這種大換血已經開始啟動了。就在這次并購發生之前，摩托羅拉的19,000名員工中就已經有800人遭到解雇。本周，摩托羅拉稱，與裁員有關的遣散費將高達3,100萬美元。

????而另一個跡象則是摩托羅拉推出了Droid Razr智能手機。Droid搭載Android 系統，是摩托羅拉旗下廣受歡迎的智能手機。作為這一系列的最新款，Droid Razr據稱將在11月10日在威瑞森公司（Verizon）無線網絡推出。盡管它不可能從蘋果公司（Apple）那里奪取iPhone的粉絲，但卻能幫摩托羅拉從三星公司（Samsung）手中奪回一些市場份額。上一財季，三星公司的手機銷售收入大漲40%，而摩托羅拉僅有20%的增幅。

????Droid Razr的提前評測反響良好。的確，這又是一款Android手機，但是，這是一款融合了刀鋒系列（Razr）翻蓋手機纖薄設計的產品。正是這種設計，使摩托羅拉的刀鋒系列成為智能手機大行其道之前最后一款經典手機的象征。刀鋒系列于2003年推出，一度曾是人們的必選手機。在著名電視劇集《迷失》（Lost）和《火線警告》（Burn Notice）中，它們也閃亮登場。四年間，它售出了1.3億部，并讓摩托羅拉成為手機行業響當當的頭號品牌。

????Droid Razr試圖重新煥發這種風靡一時的魅力，甚至希望利用過去刀鋒機主們的懷舊心理，再次獲得他們的垂青。摩托羅拉稱，這款手機的厚度僅有7毫米，比iPhone和三星的Galaxy S II還要薄一毫米多，重僅4.5盎司。它的機身采用了雕刻的金剛玻璃（Gorilla glass，新型高強度耐刮擦玻璃——譯注），堅韌的凱夫拉纖維（Kevlar，高強度合成纖維——譯注）機殼以及防水涂層。

????摩托羅拉還宣稱，Droid Razr是市面上最纖薄的智能手機，比iPhone還要薄。它內置一顆雙核的1.2G處理器，擁有4.3英寸的AMOLED屏幕。據摩托羅拉稱，這一屏幕令它成為首款能夠播放網飛公司（Netflix）高清視頻的智能手機。這款手機的電池據稱充電一次連續通話時間長達12小時，對一款支持4G LTE功能的手機來說無疑非常理想。蘋果公司今年之所以沒有發布支持4G LTE功能的iPhone，部分原因正在于目前可驅動這種手機的芯片極為耗電。

????目前正是各家移動運營商大舉建設高速LTE網絡的4G時代，因此，Droid Razr就讓摩托羅拉站在了充滿希望的新起點上。而同樣重要的是，它似乎也是該公司至今推出的對谷歌系統最友好的Android手機。Droid Razr將搭載當前版本的Android，但在谷歌未來推出下一代Android，即“冰淇林三明治”（Ice Cream Sandwich）的幾周后，它也會支持這一升級系統。通常來說，這個過程需要耗時幾個月。

????當然，Droid Razr不會是首款最早運行“冰淇林三明治”的智能手機。這一榮譽要歸屬三星的Galaxy Nexus手機。但跟這款手機不同的是，Droid Razr將很快成為谷歌旗下的手機。谷歌一直以來的所作所為表明，首款Nexus面世后，谷歌也很想生產自己的手機。盡管Nexus銷售慘淡，但至少它跟谷歌自己設想的Android手機相去無幾。

????Droid Razr將把摩托羅拉的硬件設計和谷歌的軟件設計融為一體。一旦擁有了摩托羅拉公司，谷歌就能借助全球頂尖的手機公司之一的品牌和專業技術，完全按照自己的想法設計智能手機。這正符合我所猜測的驅使谷歌收購摩托羅拉的真正動機：除了看中后者的專利寶庫之外，谷歌對于自行生產智能手機后將發生的情況心中沒底。實際上也沒人有把握。但對谷歌來說，想要弄個水落石出，就必須勇于嘗試。

????手機行業仍然年輕，它競爭激烈，發展迅速。因此，這個行業的本性就是難以預測的。因此，說谷歌會因收購摩托羅拉而感到后悔，正如說它今后會將這樁交易看成是一筆精明的投資一樣，都是說得輕巧。這樁交易無疑暗藏風險，或許根本就不會取得成功。但話說回來，哪里有風險，哪里就有回報。

????那么如果真不成功呢？谷歌會面臨一段下坡路，但那也并不會有多糟糕。谷歌可以關停手機生產部門，或是再次將其出售。或者，最有可能的情況是，將其剝離給某個子公司，并讓摩托羅拉重返公開市場。當然，專利還得攥在自己手中。

????譯者：清遠

????It's been nearly three months since Google caught the tech world off guard by offering to buy Motorola Mobility Holdings for $12.5 billion. That's 11 weeks of head scratching, followed by second guessing, followed by some daring analysis, followed by more head scratching. Just what is Google getting out of this deal?

????Aside from patents, that is. The immediate and most obvious explanation for the deal was that Google (GOOG) was interested in the 17,000 existing and 7,500 pending patents that Motorola (MMI) owns. Google needed to move aggressively to protect itself from patent litigation. But analysts valued Motorola's patents worth $3 billion at most. So why would Google pay a $9.5 billion premium for those patents, not to mention a 63% premium over the value of Motorola's shares before the deal?

????We may be starting to see some signs of what Google was thinking. First of all, there are likely to be substantial layoffs once Motorola is absorbed into Google. The bloodletting is already happening. Motorola is laying off 800 of its 19,000 workers even before the merger takes place. Motorola said this week it will incur $31 million in severance costs related to the layoffs.

????But another hint may lie in the release of Motorola's Droid Razr. The latest in Motorola's popular Droid line of Android-powered phones, the Droid Razr will reportedly launch on Verizon's (VZ) wireless network on Nov. 10. While it's unlikely to lure any iPhone lovers away from Apple (AAPL), it could help Motorola gain back some market share from Samsung, which saw revenue from mobile handset sales rise 40% last quarter, compared with a 20% rise in Motorola's mobile devices.

????Early reviews of the Droid Razr are positive. Yes, it's another Android phone, but it's one that incorporates the sleek design elements in the hardware that made Motorola's Razr line of clamshell phones the last iconic phone before the rise of the smartphone. Released in 2003, Razr's were once the must-have phones. They were featured in TV shows like Lost and Burn Notice. They sold 130 million units in four years, and made Motorola a top name in the mobile industry.

????The Droid Razr tries to recapture that allure, and even tap into nostalgia for any former Razr owners. Motorola says it's 7 millimeters thick, more than a millimeter thinner than the iPhone or the Samsung Galaxy S II, and weighs 4.5 ounces. Its case uses sculpted Gorilla glass, a tough Kevlar backing and a water-resistant coating.

????Motorola also claims the Droid Razr is the thinnest smartphone on the market, two millimeters thinner than the 1.9-millimeter thick iPhone. Inside is a dual-core 1.2 Gigaherz processor and a 4.3-inch AMOLED display that helps make it, according to Motorola, the first smartphone that can stream high-definition video from Netflix (NFLX). Its battery promises 12 hours of talk time on one charge, which is good for a 4G LTE phone. Apple balked at releasing a 4G LTE iPhone this year in part because chips available to power those phones drain away batteries.

????So the Droid Razr offers Motorola a promising start in the 4G era as mobile carriers build out their high-speed LTE networks. But just as importantly, it looks to be the most Google-friendly Android phone the company has produced to date. The Droid Razr will launch with the current version of Andriod, but will support the next generation of Andriod, Ice Cream Sandwich, several weeks after Google releases it. Normally, that process can take several months.

????Of course, Motorola's Droid Razr won't be the first smartphone to run Ice Cream Sandwich early. That honor goes to Samsung's Galaxy Nexus. But unlike that phone, the Droid Razr will soon become a Google-owned phone. Google has acted like it wanted to manufacture its own phones ever since the first Nexus, which saw disappointing sales but at least came close to Google's own vision of what an Android phone should look like.

????The Droid Razr will combine Motorola's hardware design with Google's software design. Once it owns Motorola, Google can design smartphones exactly as it wants them to be, only with the brand and expertise of one of the world's top mobile firms. Which gets at the real reason I suspect motivated Google's purchase of Motorola, beyond its patent portfolio: Google has no idea what will happen if it manufactures its own smartphones. Nobody does, really. But the only way for it to find out for sure is to try it.

????The mobile industry is young and competitive and rapidly evolving. It is by nature unpredictable. So it's just as easy to say Google will regret buying Motorola as it is to say it will look back on the deal as a shrewd move. This is a risky transaction that my not pan out, but where there is risk, there can also be reward.

????And if it doesn't pan out? There is a downside, but it's not so terrible. Google can shut down its phone manufacturing operations, or sell it off. Or, most likely, spin it off into a subsidiary and let Motorola return to the public markets. Minus the patents, of course.