Earlier reports stated that Google sent letters to standards organizations such as theEuropean Telecommunications Standards Institute, a nonprofit recognized by the European Union, to assure them that their acquisition of Motorola Mobility will not affect licensing patents or violate antitrust regulations.

Google’s “good deed” seemed to have its desired effect as people familiar with the matter stated that the U.S. Justice Department will probably give its go signal for the Google-Motorola acquisition sometime next week.  If the deal is approved, Google will add 17,000 patents for mobile-phone technology in their portfolio.

Motorola Mobility

While waiting to be gobbled up by Google, Motorola is busy with product launches. Motorola is launching the MOTOLUXE in the UK.  The smartphone features a 4-inch touchscreen, an 8-megapixel autofocus camera with flash, Bluetooth and GPS technology, and utilizes the MotoSwitch user interface – the intuitive UI that puts your most used or important contacts and information front and center.

“Not only does this smartphone have a big screen and the latest, greatest entertainment tools, it’s affordable and won’t take a bite out of your budget,” said Motorola Mobility Europe senior marketing director Marcus Frost.

MoMo is said to be looking at producing “life-proof” tablets for school and hospital use. They want to offer products that are affordable, user-friendly, and durable – able to withstand daily physical stress as well as handle software updates for years to come.

Motorola is also asking Apple to pay a royalty of 2.25% on iPhone sales, which Apple will probably refuse.  Whatever road Apple takes, it would be favorable for MoMo – if Apple pays, MoMo gets rich(er); if Apple doesn’t pay up, MoMo could easily file for injunction against infringing products, which could result to Apple losing money.

But on a darker note, a former Motorola employee was found guilty of stealing Motorola’s trade secrets, but not guilty of economic espionage against the United States.  In 2007, Hanjuan Jin was caught and detained at the O’Hare International Airport by federal agents for illegal possession of thousands of Motorola’s trade secrets on her computer and in other forms of digital storage.

T-Mobile’s Valentine Deal

If you still haven’t figured out what to get your special someone for Valentine’s, better head to the nearest T-Mobile store on February 11, Saturday, and choose from the range of free smartphones, select tablets or hotspots.  You just need to sign up for a two-year subscription plan with a qualifying Classic or Unlimited Value plan,  pay up front and send in a mail-in rebate form.

The T-Mobile Valentine promo includes the Samsung Galaxy SII, Nokia Lumia 710, BlackBerry Bold 9900 4G and if you’re looking for an affordable tablet that has all that and more, better get the T-Mobille SpringBoard while it’s on sale.