Motorola to buy maker of smart phone software

Cellphone maker Motorola Inc. said Friday that it was buying BlackBerry rival Good Technology Inc., a deal that should boost the prospects for its new Q device as consumer demand for e-mail phones explodes. Terms were not disclosed.

The deal underscores efforts by the handset manufacturer to sell more business-oriented mobile devices. In September, Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola agreed to the $3.9-billion purchase of Symbol Technologies Inc., a maker of portable bar code scanners and customized hand-held computers.

Motorola said Santa Clara, Calif.-based Good Technology, a privately held firm that provides computing software and services for the Treo and other smart phones, would join its mobile devices unit, which has flourished in recent years thanks to the runaway success of Razr phones.

Ron Garriques, president of Motorola’s mobile devices division, said Good Technology’s services, products and customers complemented its business.

“This acquisition will continue to strengthen Motorola as a leading provider of mobility devices and solutions both for enterprise customers and consumers,” he said.

Hoping to come up with another Razr-like blockbuster in the fast-growing smart phone category, Motorola this year introduced a QWERTY hand-held device, called the Q, to vie with the BlackBerry and the Treo, which also runs on Good Technology software.

Albert Lin, an analyst for American Technology Research, said Good Technology was probably the best available acquisition for Motorola in the category short of buying Research in Motion Ltd., the Canadian maker of the BlackBerry.

The deal is probably bad news for Treo maker Palm Inc., Lin added. “The last thing they need is another challenger that is reenergized or has a better balance sheet behind it.”