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Motorola rolls out a next-gen TV interface, but will Google keep it?

A new TV interface by Motorola Mobility cuts out the dreaded set-top-box search -- but comes just as Google is about to buy the company.

Larry Dignan
2 min read
A look at Motorola Mobility's new TV interface. Motorola Mobility
Motorola Mobility has introduced a new next-gen set-top box interface that makes it easier to discover what's on TV without searching. The interface lands just as the Google purchase of Motorola Mobility is about to close.
In a blog post, Motorola Mobility highlighted a Dream Gallery by Motorola Medios and how service providers -- cable companies for instance -- can get consumers to the content they want quickly. The quote to note:
Do you like searching for what to watch on TV? Neither do we. Our solution? DreamGallery by Motorola Medios. For consumers that translates to: less time searching, more time watching. For service providers it means: happier consumers and shorter development cycles.

Oops.
Motorola Mobility's new parent will like the shorter development cycles. The search free interface? Probably not.
More importantly, the Motorola Mobility interface, set-top box and TV code provide another interesting wrinkle for Google's $12.5 billion prize. Google reportedly is pondering Motorola Mobility layoffs and some analysts have speculated that the search giant will exit the hardware business completely when the company closes the acquisition.
In many respects, Motorola's Mobility's TV interface meshes with the company's Webtop efforts. As Jason Hiner has noted, Google will have to ponder the Webtop, its Chrome OS and how these development projects fit together.
Will Google let Motorola Mobility run with the set-top box interface? Such a move wouldn't be a bad idea given how Google TV flopped. One of the more underappreciated Motorola Mobility assets is its set-top business. Google has acquired a concrete way into living rooms. What Google does with its living room Trojan Horse remains to be seen.