Yesterday's announcement that Google is selling Motorola Mobility to Lenovo was nearly as surprising as Google's move to buy the phone manufacturer in 2011.

Lenovo is largely known as PC maker; it purchased IBM's PC manufacturing business nine years ago. While the company does make phones, none are for sale in the United States, which is the main reason Lenovo wants Motorola –an in with U.S. consumers and their wallets.

While $2.91 billion bought Lenovo the Motorola brand and Motorola Mobility's lineup of phones, it didn't include the "vast majority" of Motorola's patents, which are still owned by Google and will be licensed to Lenovo. Breaking free from Motorola, Google CEO Larry Page said, "will enable Google to devote our energy to driving innovation across the Android ecosystem, for the benefit of smartphone users everywhere."

Lenovo will be the third-largest smartphone vendor when the acquisition is complete. “The acquisition of such an iconic brand, innovative product portfolio and incredibly talented global team will immediately make Lenovo a strong global competitor in smartphones,” said Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO of Lenovo in a statement. "We will immediately have the opportunity to become a strong global player in the fast-growing mobile space."

Given that Lenovo has a weak presence in North America, you'd be forgiven for not knowing anything about its smartphones. They do indeed exist, but could use a dose of Motorola magic. Until we see the first Lenovo-Motorola smartphone, check out some of the companies' phones in the slideshow for a taste of what's to come.