Fully Charged: Lenovo to buy Motorola, the ultimate Apple coffee table book and Sony’s plans to revolutionise tablet photography

Report: Lenovo to buy Motorola from Google

A big business story from the world of smartphones here: Chinese computer-maker Lenovo has reportedly reached an agreement to acquire Motorola Mobility from Google for something in the region of US$3 billion (£1.8 billion).

Google paid over US$12.5 billion (£7.5 billion) for Motorola’s mobile wing in 2012, which makes it seem as though the search giant has made a colossal loss. However, we suspect that Google will keep its hands on many (if not all) of the patents it acquired along with Motorola Mobility – and patents are worth a heck of a lot of money in the tech world.

[Source: TechCrunch]

This book gives an amazing insight into Apple’s early years

If you want to gain a real insight into the inner workings of Apple’s design team in the company’s youth, a new book should be right at the top of your wish list.

Keep It Simple: The Early Years is written by Hartmut Esslinger, a designer who collaborated with Steve Jobs from 1982. The weighty tome is full of pictures and sketches that illustrate the workings of this partnership and how Apple’s reputation for simple, user-friendly products came about. Looks like an essential adornment for any gadget enthusiast’s coffee table.

[Arnoldsche via Mmminimal]

Sony wants to turn your tablet into a lean, mean photography machine

The first rule of tablet club may be “never take photos with your tablet in public”, but Sony is going all out to convince slate owners to do just that. According to Xperia Blog, the company is preparing to launch a SPA-TA1 attachment that will allow its DSC-QX10 and DSC-QZ100 smartphone lens add-on modules to be fitted to almost any tablet.

The SPA-TA1 will reportedly arrive in Japan on 4th April, priced at the equivalent of £21. We’d expect it to go on sale in Europe soon after.

[Source: Xperia Blog]

112 years on, the world’s first Porsche is discovered

The first ever Porsche car, the P1, had its maiden outing on 26th June 1898 – but in the 112 years since then its whereabouts have been unknown. Until now.

Porsche announced that it has acquired the original P1 – which looks more like a horse-drawn buggy than a car, but could travel at up to 21mph thanks to an electric motor – from a barn, where it had lain locked away and untouched since the 19th century.

The P1’s body has been lost, but its frame remains fairly intact – quite amazing considering no restoration work has been undertaken. Porsche said it will exhibit the car at its museum in Stuttgart.

[Source: Yahoo! News]