Motorola and Microsoft Team Up in China
Google really means business when they said they will boycott China. That being said, where does that leave China users when it comes to their Android operating system mobile phones?
Well, Motorola is not planning to wait around, the threatened pullout has pushed the American multinational company to start new partnerships in order to sustain their Android based phones. And apparently, Microsoft is the answer.
Non-Google map and search functions will be provided by Microsoft via their Bing services. Existing mobile phones with Google services installed will have updates to have them replaced. According to Motorola, this is a global deal but there has been no definite word on which countries will utilize the Bing service and to what extent.
In China however, Motorola is not going to allow their supporters to be in the losing end of Google’s spat with the Chinese government. Christy Wyatt, the corporate VP of Motorola software and services had this to say:
“We believe that consumer choice is one of the most critical components to ensuring a rich and seamless client experience. Motorola and Microsoft have enjoyed a longstanding collaboration and the addition of Bing services to our Android-based smart phones in China is another important step in empowering our end-users.”
Motorola has consistently been fast to acting on these types of crises. After Google’s announcement of their pullout from China, Motorola has revealed a deal with Baidu.com, a search engine provider that is one of Google’s biggest Chinese rivals. There has been no formal word how this move to ally with Microsoft is related to Motorola’s deal with Baidu but based on their VP’s statement, giving users an option to use other search and map service providers as an alternative is not that far behind.
Motorola Android phones in China are bound to have the Bing services installed as a default sometime this quarter.
Visit Engadget for more about this latest deal between Moto and Microsoft.
