Motorola Mobility

Google's Sundar Pichai, who heads both the company's Android efforts as well as its Chrome OS, said that users should not expect any kind of merger between the two in the near future. In an interview with  Wired , his first since taking over as Android chief in March from Andy Rubin, Pichai also lowered expectations for the company's I/O developer conference this week, saying there will not be "much in the way of launches of new products or a new operating system."

One of the biggest announcements at Google I/O is likely to be the introduction of the long-awaited Google X Phone, rumored to be manufactured by Motorola Mobility and scheduled to launch in the second half of 2013. How could the Google X Phone affect Google's relationship with leading Android smartphone makers?

The European Commission sent a preliminary antitrust complaint to Google's Motorola Mobility, alleging that the company is abusing its dominant position by seeking an injunction against Apple in Germany for infringing on its wireless standards patents.

Google's $12.4 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility was premised, in part, on giving Android licensees protection from patent litigation via the shield of Motorola's more than 17,000 patents--but so far that has not worked out that well for Google or its licensees.