A look back on the past week

What a week to go away on vacation. I had barely sunk my toes in warm sand that Google announced it would buy Motorola. And the shakeups did not stop there. Only days later, HP dropped a surprise of its own, essentially giving up on webOS some 16 months after buying Palm. Just in case you were on holidays last week like I was, here is a short recap of some of the top stories:

Google acquires Motorola for US$12.5 billion
The Motorola acquisition will allow Google to “supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing.” Motorola Mobility will remain an Android licensee and will be run as a separate business. With the acquisition, expected to close in late 2011 or early 2012, Google gains over 15,000 patents (issued and pending) that it can use in its lawsuits with Apple and Oracle (among others).

WIND Mobile goes live in Kitchener-Waterloo and announces HSPA+ plans
As expected, WIND Mobile launched in Kitchener-Waterloo, its sixth latest WIND Zone. It also announced plans to expand this WIND Zone to Cambridge and Guelph in the coming weeks. It also announced that it was beginning to roll out network upgrades to support HSPA+ (up to 21.1Mbps).

HP halts webOS device development

HP announced announced that it was getting out of the webOS hardware business, a move that affects its TouchPad and webOS smartphones. According to HP, “The devices have not met internal milestones and financial targets. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.” Instead, it will “explore the options for webOS in today’s marketplace.” I have a feeling that we won’t be hearing much more about webOS.

HP will also refocus itself on “cloud, solutions and software with an emphasis on enterprise, commercial and government markets.” This could lead to the spin-off of its Personal Systems Group (PSG) business.

Fido launches Sony Ericsson Xperia pro

Fido became the first carrier this week to launch the Sony Ericsson Xperia pro. Powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and Google Android 2.3, it comes with GSM/HSPA connectivity, a 3.7-inch display, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, GPS, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, 512MB RAM, support for microSD cards up to 32GB, an 8MP camera, and an HDMI port. It measures 120 by 57 by 13.5 millimeters and weighs 142 grams.

Fido is offering the Sony Ericsson Xperia pro for CA$50 with a three-year contract or CA$350 without a contract.

If my Internet connection stops giving me trouble, I’ll add a few more stories later today.