Week in Review: Google and HP in acquisition shockers

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Wow. What a week! We thought it was going to be a relatively quiet one news-wise, being August and all that, but we couldn't have been more wrong.

Google started the week with a bang on Monday by announcing it planned to acquire the mobile arm of Motorola, Motorola Mobility, for a cool $12.5 billion. Those worried about what this deal meant for Android were quickly reassured by company execs who promised the platform would remain open.

But is this a good move for the tech giant? Indeed, has Google misfired by buying Motorola? Simon Brew ponders that very question in his feature.

Then things quietened down for a bit - aside from the continued legal spat between Apple and Samsung over sales of the latter's tablet computer.

Then, yesterday, HP waded into the big news week with a double whammy. It plans to buy Autonomy for $11.7 billion. But that's not all. One industry shaking announcement clearly wasn't enough, so without further ado, HP also said it is considering spinning off or selling its PC business.

While people struggled to pick their jaws up off the floor, HP had one more thing to say. Palm fans probably should cover their ears at this point. It doesn't see any future in the webOS or its recently launched TouchPad and will be culling both. What this means for the wider industry and user choice remains to be seen.

It's just gone four o'clock on a Friday afternoon and we've had enough tech excitement for one week. Who knows what next week will bring? Stay tuned to IT Pro to find out.

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