HTC, Samsung and the gang have nothing to fear - Motorola will not be given preferential treatment when it comes to Android as a result of Google's imminent takeover.

That's the message from executive chairman of the Mountain View based search giant, Eric Schmidt, who was speaking to reporters during a visit to South Korea.

"In general, with all of our partners, we told them that the Motorola deal will close and we will run it sufficiently and independently, that it will not violate the openness of Android...we're not going to change in any material way the way we operate," he said.

In August, Google agreed to buy Motorola Mobility, the phone and tablet arm of the electronics giant, for $12.5 billion in a move it said would "supercharge" Android. This news led to reports that key Android players such as HTC and Samsung would have to play second fiddle to Motorola, although Google was keen to play down these fears.

"Android will remain open," said Google co-founder and CEO Larry Page. "We will run Motorola as a separate business. Many hardware partners have contributed to Android’s success and we look forward to continuing to work with all of them to deliver outstanding user experiences."

Schmidt also spoke of Steve Jobs during the press gathering, describing him as "a fantastic human being" and someone he would miss very dearly.

He went on to play down reports of Jobs' criticism of Android, saying: "As a general comment, I think most people would agree that Google is a great innovator and I would also point out that the Android effort started before the iPhone effort."

The statement comes following revelations in Walter Isaacson's authorised biography that the late Apple CEO described Android as "a stolen product".