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Google’s $12.5 billion acquisition of cellphone maker Motorola Mobility has won approval of European antitrust regulators, moving Google one step closer to completing the biggest deal in its 13-year history.

European Union antitrust regulators on Monday approved Google’s acquisition of the U.S. cellphone maker Motorola Mobility without conditions, but added a stern warning: Play fair in markets for smartphones and tablet computers, or face tough sanctions.

As far as years in technology go, 2011 was one for the record books. It wasn’t just about big battles like Apple vs. Samsung, Microsoft vs. Google, AT&T vs. the world, or Hewlett-Packard vs. itself. It wasn’t just about the growth of apps and the ever-increasing pervasiveness of the Web in our daily lives, though there were plenty of amazing developments both these realms. It wasn’t just about hardware or software. And it wasn’t just about towing the line or trying to hold onto it.

The Galaxy Nexus, a smartphone that arrived in Verizon Wireless stores on Thursday, is huge -- and not just because of its unusually large size. The new Android phone, which has been available in Britain for weeks, is the first to run Android 4.0, the latest version of the popular mobile operating system that also goes by the adorable name Ice Cream Sandwich. This is a very significant update to Android for smartphones.

Read 'Android conquers marketshare, Apple conquers profits: Who's winning?' on Digital Trends. As Android entrenches itself as the leading smartphone platform in terms of sales, most of the smartphone money seems to be going to Apple. What matters more: money or marketshare?

Repairs to Android phones cost wireless operators billions, revealing a potential downside to the rapid expansion of Google's mobile operating system. A study by wireless services firm Wireless Dat Service, or WDS, found hardware failures are more common on Android devices than on Apple's iPhone or Research in Motion's BlackBerry.

Google and Samsung announced the Galaxy Nexus, the first LTE-enabled smartphone to feature Android 4.0 — better known as Ice Cream Sandwich — on Tuesday night.

Samsung and Google have agreed to delay the public announcement of a new mobile-phone product following the death of Steve Jobs.

Apple needed to compete with Android, so it now has phones that are free and phones that cost $400.

Following a nearly four-month trial period, Google is taking its mobile commerce application, Google Wallet, nationwide. In a blog post announcing the news, the search giant said it needed the time to extensively test the app, which lets users pay for goods by tapping their smartphones against special wireless readers, which are powered by MasterCard’s contactless “PayPass” technology.