X

Motorola to buy Linux set-top box specialist

Chipmaker plans to acquire Kreatel Communications to boost Internet-based TV services.

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Expertise Processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science. Credentials
  • Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
See full bio
Stephen Shankland
Motorola plans to acquire Kreatel Communications, a Swedish developer of television set-top boxes that use Linux and Internet Protocol-based services, the company said Tuesday.

Kreatel's system includes not just the operating system but also higher-level application and infrastructure software for sending TV signals over the Internet. Kreatel customers include Telefonica in Spain, TeliaSonera in Sweden and KPN in the Netherlands.

The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first quarter of the year. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Motorola is among the companies hoping to profit by use of Linux in embedded computing devices--systems other than conventional PCs or servers, such as network gear. Motorola expects most of its mobile phones to use Linux eventually.

The Kreatel technology is complementary to Motorola's products that deliver home video via cable, DSL (digital subscriber line), and fiber-optic lines, Schaumberg, Ill.-based Motorola said. Kreatel's managers and employees will become part of Motorola's Connected Home Solutions business in Horsham, Pa.