Google's Bid to Be Everything to Everyone

A rumored audio device and new testing facilities hint at the search giant’s hardware ambitions

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By Peter Burrows

February 17, 2012 at 12:58 AM UTC

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This article is part of the February 20, 2012 issue of businessweek.

Rarely has any company put so much on the line as Google has with its purchase of struggling cell-phone maker Motorola Mobility. When the $12.5 billion deal was announced last August, analysts focused primarily on what Motorola’s more than 17,000 patents (rather than its hardware expertise) would do for Google, which was in the midst of an escalating legal skirmish with Apple and others over its Android smartphones.

Turns out Google has greater ambitions than just building out its patent portfolio. On Feb. 10, the Wall Street Journal broke the news that Google is working on an audio-streaming device for the living room. Since Motorola is already the market leader in cable set-top boxes, it’s likely such a device could also be used to distribute television, movies, and other digital fare. The San Jose Mercury News subsequently reported on $120 million in new architectural projects at the Googleplex in Mountain View, Calif., including advanced hardware-testing facilities.