Motorola buys Aloqa for Smartphone location software

Motorola Inc., maker of the Droid smartphone, agreed to buy privately held Aloqa GmbH for software that allows handset users to receive information about nearby events and bargains.

Aloqa will be integrated into Motorola Mobility, the mobile-devices unit that the company plans to spin off in the first quarter. The terms of the acquisition weren't disclosed, Schaumburg-based Motorola said today in a statement.

Motorola will combine Aloqa's program with its Motoblur software, which delivers content to its phones. Aloqa's software can identify phone users' location, allowing advertisers to send them information about places, events or promotions in the region. More than 1 million users have downloaded the program, which is compatible with Google Inc.'s Android operating system.

Motorola has found some success in rebuilding its handset business around Android. Motorola's Droid X sold out at Verizon Wireless and Best Buy Co. stores after its debut in July. Android smartphones compete against Apple Inc.'s iPhone and Research In Motion Ltd's Blackberry.

Aloqa, based in Munich, is run by Chief Executive Officer Sanjeev Agrawal, a former Google product marketing head, according to its website. Aloqa has 17 employees and its U.S. offices are in Palo Alto, California.

Motorola fell 7 cents to $8.30 at 10:22 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock had increased 7.7 percent this year before today.