Motorola Buys 3LM for Android Enterprise Push

In its first acquisition since its spin-off, Motorola Mobility announced it has bought Three Laws Mobility (3LM), a stealthy startup by ex-Google employees that builds security software for Android devices. The acquisition will help Motorola as it looks to expand the presence of Android into corporate settings.

3LM’s technology is designed to help businesses better manage and secure Android devices while lowering the cost of device and support management for IT shops. Motorola said it will operate 3LM as a business unit that will be able to work with other existing Android vendors, such as Samsung, HTC, and LG, to name a few. 3LM reportedly has signed deals with other device makers. Motorola expects to begin selling 3LM software by the second quarter.

3LM, which was started by Tom Moss and Gaurav Mathur, both of whom worked prior on Google’s Android team, reportedly received $ 1.5 million in funding in July from Accel Partners and others. The name of the firm is a take on the three laws of robotics and is meant to underscore 3LM’s dedication to device security.

Android devices have increasingly been adopted in corporate environments as workers bring in their personal phones for support. But IT managers have been slow to embrace Android because of lingering security and management concerns. Google has tried to address this with better enterprise features but there is still a big opportunity to make Android devices ready for work.

Motorola previously built smartphones on Microsoft’s Windows Mobile platform, but it has gone all-in on Android lately, and sees enterprise sales as an important part of its business. Motorola also announced the Motorola Pro on Monday, a European version of the Droid Pro, a candy-bar QWERTY device reminiscent of BlackBerry devices, the de-facto enterprise standard for many businesses.

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