ll, that was unexpected most of you will have heard by now that just sold Motorola Mobility to novo for almost $3 billion, taking Android’s parent company back out of the hardware game, , possibly, putting the whole ecosystem on solid footing for the future.

Initial reaction to the deal has been largely positive. Having a direct subsidiary playing in the viciously competitive hugely profitable smartphone hardware marketplace riled Android partners like Samsung, who were making their own moves into software as a consequence.

Ars Technica calls the deal a “nuclear st-down,” asserting that it thaws the relationship between Samsung considerably, with positive results for the customer – we’re apparently to be spared Samsung’s ever-more-extensive mutations of the Android experience, a hardware-focused company like novo could get the most out of Motorola.

It’s worth pointing out that, superficially at least, absolutely took a bath on Motorola the difference between the 2011 acquisition price dnesday’s sale is almost $10 billion. But Readiteb points out that it’s actually not that bad a deal, when you look at the fine print. Given that had already sold part of the company in 2013 for $2.4 billion that it keeps most of the valuable patents it got in the original deal as part of the new one, the price isn’t totally dissimilar from other multi-billion dollar patent deals.

ong with the cross-licensing deal between Samsung announced days earlier, which should help head off any ugly patent lawsuits between the two most important companies in the Android world, the prevailing narrative is essentially a happy one for , Samsung novo.

novo’s existing smartphone lines get a badly needed facelift, the Moto br gives it presence in markets that it’s been essentially absent from thus far. Samsung’s relationship with thaws dramatically, freeing it up to focus more heavily on its hardware. benefits from this too, ridding itself of an unprofitable fixer-upper of a division that diverted time attention from software services.

at it will mean for the end-user, however, is less clear, which is why some of the more Android-fan-focused blogs were less strident in their praise. Android lice laments the effect of the deal on Motorola’s existing Moto X G products, says that Motorola phones won’t get the same media attention they did when the company was under ’s aegis. Android Authority speculates about the future direction of Motorola as well, urging novo to keep the focus on the user experience, rather than raw horsepower.

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As you might expect, speculation is now rife about potential follow-on effects from the deal, ranging from the future of the Nexus line to the exact nature of Motorola’s integration into novo. There’s also a lot of talk about rry ge’s note in the official announcement of the deal that ’s “other hardware efforts” would not be affected.

It’s also been noted that Motorola’s advanced technology group which is responsible for the oject Ara modular smartphone will remain in ’s hs.

(H/T: The Verge)

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l this has meant that the recent spate of Galaxy S 5 rumors has dried up fairly significantly of late, though the redoubtable @EVaks Twitter account did reignite speculation that the GS 5 would feature both a 2K-resolution display a fingerprint reader. I maintain that a 2K screen on a smartphone is absolutely overkill, but the leaked .apk pictures suggest that it’s coming. Not that specs for their own sake aren’t a common Samsung theme, of course.

(H/T: CNET)

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The Nokia X which is what GSM Arena says will be the name of the company’s long-rumored Android phone has popped up on AnTuTu benchmark, posting a somewhat lame score on a browser test. GSM Arena says also that the Nokia X won’t be -approved so no ay Store or official Services, meaning that you’ll have to rely on a separate Nokia app store or sideload apps directly. t’s hope the price is right, at least.