This Day in Tech: Google acquires Motorola for $12.5B, buys patent protection

Too busy to keep up with the tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET for Monday, August 15.

• Google is acquiring Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion to buy itself patent protection. Motorola Mobility has 17,000 patents and 7,500 patent applications. "Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google's patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies," CEO Larry Page said in explaining the acquisition. Here's a roundup of the deal, but the acquisition is likely to set off some regulatory red flags.

• Elinor Mills sums up all the recent computer and hacks that have been occurring recently. Check out the chart of the cyber attacks.

• The Millenniata M-Disk can save your data forever.

• The FCC is reviewing a decision by Bay Area Rapid Transit officials to shut down cell service prior to a planned protest last week. In response, the group Anonymous planned a protest scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. PT. "The move to shut down a communication channel, while regularly done in the Middle East, including Egypt and other regimes attempting to thwart pro-democracy and human rights demonstrations, is something previously unseen in the United States," Elinor Mills wrote on CNET.

• iPhone shipments are expected to hit 95 million this year, according to DigiTimes.

• It's natural to get excited about new technology, but gadgets such as tablets, Internet TV, and augmented reality don't just pop out of thin air. According to Gartner's 2011 Hype Cycle Special Report, technology adaption occurs in cycles: technology trigger, peak of inflated expectations, trough of disillusionment, slope of enlightenment, and a plateau of productivity.

• Adobe debuts Muse, a program that lets designers make Web sites without requiring them to learn how to write computer code. "What they kept telling us is that they want to be able to create a Web site or other kinds of digital content as easily as if they're working in InDesign, Illustrator, or Photoshop," said Jane Brady, the senior product marketing manager of Adobe's creative suite.