Weekend Wrap-up: Lenovo Buys Motorola from Google; New Microsoft CEO Could Be Named This Week

Were you out of the loop this past week? Quite a bit happened in the tech space — fortunately, you live in a world where the Weekend Wrap-up exists. Watch the video and read the text. Absorb the past week in tech news. Become one with it.

Lenovo Buys Motorola from Google for $3 Billion

Acquisitions are typically big news in tech, but they’re even bigger when they involve major brands like Lenovo, Google and Motorola. Google decided to sell the mobile phone maker it moved to buy back in August 2011, handing the company over to Lenovo for a reported $3 billion. Lenovo had been itching to jump into the smartphone game and the Motorola acquisition now gives the company a running start. The only unfortunate thing about the purchase at this point is that we’ll have to see mash-ups of the brand names for the foreseeable future (Lenovorola! Motorovo! Just, no).

Microsoft CEO Could Be Named This Week

Steve Ballmer announced his intent to resign as Microsoft’s CEO back in August. Since then, the company’s been in a sort of awkward state. Ballmer is still technically the CEO, but the company has been searching for his replacement for several months. That search could be winding down; reports state that Microsoft could name its next CEO within the week. Who will it be? The smart money is on Satya Nadella, who many believe is the front-runner, but you never know — Microsoft may have a trick up its sleeve.

Samsung & Google Sign a Patent Licensing Deal

With all of the lawsuits flying around in mobile, seeing two companies come to an agreement for patent licensing is a rare sight. But that’s exactly what just happened between Samsung and Google. The deal inked by the two tech giants is good for ten years and gives each company access to the other’s patent portfolio. The scope of the deal is unknown at this time. According to Google’s general counsel, the two companies “can reduce the potential for litigation and focus instead on innovation.” Who doesn’t like the sound of that?

Facebook’s “Paper” App Coming Tomorrow

If Facebook and Flipboard had a child iPhone app, it would look a lot like “Paper,” the new spin on the News Feed that the company will release tomorrow. We got a sneak peek at the app late last week, which displays News Feed items as well as stories from news outlets in a magazine-like format. It almost certainly feels like Facebook’s attempt to invade Flipboard’s turf — but will it be successful? We’ll find out.