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Are Facebook and Microsoft Teaming up Against Google?

April 24, 2012 by

Yesterday Microsoft sold $550 million worth of patents to Facebook. The deal is somewhat surprising since just days earlier Microsoft had spent $1 billion on those and other patents when it purchased them from AOL.

Why not let Facebook simply purchase them from AOL itself? As Facebook’s $1.1 billion purchase of Instagram showed the company does not lack the resources to go out and quickly make a high dollar deal.

Well the devil is in the details and it looks like the two giants are looking to use this deal to help immunize themselves from at least a portion of the patent lawsuit virus that seems to be plaguing hi tech these days.

Facebook gets approximately 645 of the 925 AOL patents that Microsoft acquired, but it also gets a license to the rest of the patents that Microsoft owns and Microsoft has a license to use the patents that it just sold to Facebook.

Microsoft said that this enables it to recoup half of the cost of the deal will still achieving its goal of having unfettered access to the AOL patents. However the New York Times, among others, positions the deal as a tool that will also help the two against Google.

Google increasingly competes with both companies with everything from Google Plus to free apps. With its purchase of Motorola Mobility it will have a significantly enhanced patent portfolio as well. It really looks like the conflict between the Microsoft/Facebook alliance against Google could get heated.

Filed Under: Apps, Facebook, Google, Lawsuit, Microsoft, Motorola Tagged With: , , ,

Friday Grab Bag: The Olympics are 98 Days Away!

April 20, 2012 by

Next week in pro football news, the ever popular draft is coming. One interesting thing about the NFL regular season schedule being released this week is that Las Vegas already has lines on the games! Not sure if it is time yet to lay a dime on Green Bay giving the points however.

Intel delivers high capacity solid state drives for consumers
Intel has delivered the Solid-State Drive 330 Series, a lineup that is directly targeted at the consumer market. Now being a consumer you might wonder why you would want one of these drives and the answer is easy. They have the capacity to store your growing digital music/video/images collection that might not fit on your smartphone or tablet, or even computer.

The drives will be available in the 60GB, 120GB and 180GB capacities and is a SATA 6Gb/s-based SSD. The difference between a SSD and what is probably in your computer is that a traditional hard disk drive has rotating material and so is much more prone to damage from dropping or other accidents. A SSD is what is in your smartphone, or at least the underlying technology is.

Exercise cycle delivers feedback wirelessly
Ever ridden an exercise bike and found that the data that it provided was worthless, or like at my gym, the data technology always seems to be broken? Well a company called Body Bike wants to fix all that with a wireless solution that can provide feedback using Ant + wireless technology developed by Ant Wireless.

The Body Bike Connect uses the wireless technology to send a wide range of information including VO2 max, calories, distance, and average, percentage and maximum values to an Ant enabled console. It also can be used to handle personalized settings.

Foursquare tops 20 million users
Now I have to admit I am not a Foursquare user. I don’t care that you are buying a cup of coffee or getting your haircut. Why do you think that is interesting to anybody but stalkers and home thieves? Well enough of the rant, as I see that the location-based check-in service startup has 20 million users, up from 15 million in December.

Google’s Motorola plans driving partners to rivals?
There is growing speculation that part of Google’s plans for its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility is to emulate what Apple is currently doing, becoming a vertically integrated developer. What that means is that it would develop the hardware, the operating system and possibly even the chip, for future Android devices. Currently it helps partners design products that are sold as Nexus systems.

This would make it very tough for partners to compete with Google’s own products, and could be a major impetus for them to look for alternatives. While Apple’s iOS is out two alternatives remain that already have at least a bit of mainstream acceptance.

The two are Research in Motion, which reportedly is in talks to license its technology to Samsung. The second and possibly more viable alternative is Microsoft. Its Windows 8 is due soon and it has Intel helping to promote the technology.

Apple and Samsung to settle?
Among the many patent battles being fought across the globe, two of the bigger participants are Apple and Samsung with over 20 cases between the two pending, and now it looks the top bosses will be talking face to face about how to settle the issues.

The two companies have agreed to settlement talks that will be presided over by a San Francisco-based magistrate judge. At the meeting are expected to be Apple chief executive Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung, as well as the general counsel for both companies.

BBC will stream all Olympic games
The BBC is taking an aggressive broadcasting stance for the upcoming Summer Olympics. With the games in its own backyard the broadcasting giant said that it will be broadcasting up to 24 streams of live HD sports to cable and satellite broadcasters for television viewing.

This will enable viewers to watch every Olympic sport, if they were so inclined. The move is an expansion of its previous plan that had called for all of the games to only be broadcast online. In addition it will be broadcasting on BBC One and BBC 3 as well as radio coverage.

This move, coupled with NBC Sports promising to put a huge amount of the games online mean that viewers can now see events that they wish to rather than simply the ones that the broadcasters have determined that viewers want.

No Greek Warship for Olympics?
A Greek trireme powered by 170 rowers has been scratched from the opening ceremonies of the upcoming London Olympics- the reason is that they are afraid that it will be too popular, causing I guess people to actually want to come to the opening ceremony.

That is really too bad because it not every day you see a replica of the Olympias, an ancient warship that was used in one of history’s most important battles sailing by. I hope they are not planning on canceling the basketball portion of the Olympics because I hear that is very popular as well.

Filed Under: Android, BBC, Contests, Cycling, Golf, Google, Humor, Lawsuit, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, Microsoft, Monday Night Football, NBC Sports, NFL Draft, Olympics, Samsung, Skiing, Smartphone, Startup Tagged With: , , ,

Will Google’s Android Issues Benefit Windows 8?

April 18, 2012 by

The just started Oracle vs Google legal battle has been billed by one observer as “The World Series” of IP lawsuits and while I know that many do not pay much attention to the legal battles between tech giants, this one could have a very direct impact on any user of an Android device and possible app developers as well. On the flip side other rivals may prosper.

The reason goes to the crux of the lawsuit, which claims that Google knowingly and willingly used a variety of patents and technologies that belong to Oracle, all of the them related to the Java language that it purchased from Sun.

So far the trial, which is being covered pretty closely by many in the tech world due to its potential major impact on Android, has been very interesting. With what looks to be damming internal e-mails from inside Google hurting its chances to Oracle’s CEO Larry Ellison admitting that he does not know if the charge for Java helping Google, I am sure it will continue to be interesting. In some cases Java is free while in others a license is required. Who is correct? Who knows?

Oracle wants billions in damages and Google is simply seeking to not get a permanent injunction against its using the technology in question. That could shut down Android for a while as they either work out a deal or Google develops a work around. This would have the potential to killing, in the near term, Android tablet developers that are still trying to establish themselves and on the flip side has the potential to be a major boost for Microsoft and its partner son the Windows Phone side, so stay tuned.

Filed Under: Android, Apps, Google, Lawsuit, Microsoft Tagged With: , , ,

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Preliminary Windows 8 Tablet Specs

April 16, 2012 by

Intel takes wraps off of Windows 8 tablet specs
Intel has showed the expected features and capabilities of the Windows 8 tablets at its Developer Forum in Beijing last week, a nugget that was dug up by Cnet. Not surprising is the chip powering these next generation devices will be Intel’s Z2760 ‘Clover Trail’ processor.

The chip is a multithreaded dual core processor with a feature called ‘burst mode’ that enables it to accelerate performance for short periods of time. There will be two basic designs, one a 10-inch model and the second a slightly larger 11-inch that will feature a keyboard.

It will have an estimated 9-hour battery life, support 3G/4G and also have NFC (near field communications) and Wi-Fi Direct. Its weight will be roughly 1.5 pounds and it s expected to be 9 mm thick. A second half 2012 release date is expected for the tablets based on the specs, but that is based on Microsoft releasing Windows 8 in that time frame.

Expect a wave of tablets of all size in next few months
A host of tablet manufacturers have tablets in the pipeline and they will start appearing on shelves very shortly, according to multiple reports. Samsung, Nokia, and even possibly Apple have products that should be are nearing the market.

The Asus Transformer Pad 300 is expected to hit the streets next week with a 4G LTE supporting pad that is expected to have a $399 price tag for a 32GB model. Amazon reportedly has three Kindle Fire models on the designing board including a 8.9-inch one.

Then there is the long awaited Google Nexus Tablet that has been rumored for some time and s expected to be built by Asus. It is believed to be a 7-inch tablet that will have a $199 starting price point. For more information on these and others including Nokia, Apple and Samsung’s potential offerings head over to the International Business Times site.

Apple loses appeal on ‘push’ email
Chalk one up for Motorola Mobility as a German court has upheld a ban that prevents Apple from using ‘push’ email in its iCloud and MobileMe service in Germany. The court, based in Mannheim, confirmed that Motorola owns the patent and that Apple must pay to use it.

The ruling keeps the services shut down in Germany and Apple is liable for damages and has been ordered to provide information that will enable the courts to determine the amount of the damage.

A look at how the current patent wars are hurting the market
A nice, general piece on the growing problem of patent conflicts and how it has erupted into major warfare. The rise of patent trolls, including corporate ones and how companies now go out and buy patents simply for protection. Nothing groundbreaking but nice to see that the issue is making more news.

On the same topic the fact that most of the patents in the smartphone area are held by international companies could stunt the growth of home grown developers in China, the world’s largest smartphone market.

Local handset manufacturers sold 455 million units last year but have been warned that they may be violating copyright laws with their devices. The news came from The Mobile Terminal White Paper, issued by the China Academy of Telecommunication Research.

Twitter tried to buy Instagram first
I did not hear about this when the huge deal went down with Facebook but apparently there was more than one company lining up for the photo sharing company. Seems that Twitter co-founder and Chairman Jack Dorsey had tried in the past to purchase the company, but failed to get any real traction on a deal.

However, since Dorsey was one of the investors in Instagram, he will be seeing a pretty penny from the deal. For a nice look at Instagram head over to the NY Times for this piece.

Pew study highlights technology rift
A recent study by the Pew Research Center shows how much of a gap still exists between have’s and have not’s in terms of technology. While a full 19% of Americans now have some form of tablet, be it a fully loaded Apple iPad or a bare bones Barnes & Noble Nook, a greater percentage, 22% do not even have Internet access.

The report is focused on digital access in this country and provides some great snapshots of who uses which technologies including cell phones and laptops as well as tablets, and that is broken down by a variety of demographics.

It is interesting to see that a fairly large number of adults that do not have Internet access do so because they believe that it adds nothing to their lives. Also the rise of mobile Internet access has helped level the playing field in areas that had traditionally lagged n terms of access and use.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Android, Apple, Apps, Asus, Barnes & Noble, Facebook, Google, iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Lawsuit, Motorola, Samsung, Smartphone, Social Media, Tablets, The New York Times Tagged With: , , , , , ,

U.S. Justice Department Charges Apple, 5 Publishers with Price Fixing

April 11, 2012 by

High flying Apple, whose market value recently topped $600 billion, has been hit by charges from the United States Justice Department alleging that Apple and five publishing partners have engaged in price fixing.

The charges allege that Apple and five publishers: Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette, Penguin Group (USA), and Macmillan conspired to end competition on ebooks and set a higher price, with Apple being guaranteed a 30% commission on each sale.

The deal was reached in 2010 the reports said, right when Apple introduced the iPad and was aimed at Amazon and was intended to limit Amazon’s ability to discount ebooks, which it was then selling at $9.99 for new and recently released offerings.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal three of the publishers have already reached an accord with the Justice Department and have said that they will terminate any such agreement with Apple. Those are Hachett, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins.

The overall outcome of this will be interesting to see. In the past the Justice Department has gone after some other major players in hi-tech, notably IBM and Microsoft, and has won its cases. Apple has been increasingly litigious in recent years but this is a much bigger foe than someone such as Samsung or Motorola Mobility.

However when you ask people about what Apple does, very few would mention that it makes a competitive e-reader. In fact some may not know that is a very valuable use of the iPad, showing that this is not really a major market for its products.

So why not settle? It has been reported that three of the publishers already have, but also that Apple has been fighting the charges. I suspect that in the long run Apple will find that it is cheaper simply to tag along on the settlements negotiated by its former partners.

Filed Under: Amazon, Apple, Apps, iPad, Kindle, Lawsuit, Motorola, Samsung, Tablets, Top News, Wall Street Journal Tagged With: ,

Microsoft to buy $1 Billion in AOL Patents

April 9, 2012 by

Patent protection is apparently the name of the game these days in the high tech world, and if so Microsoft just bought itself a chuck of protection in a deal with AOL that will give Microsoft 800 patents for approximately $1 billion.

The patents were sold after an auction in which other major consumer electronics and social media players reportedly participated. The deal is expected to close by year end 2012 and AOL said that it intends to pass a large portion of the sales down to shareholders. As part of the deal Microsoft is buying a business unit of AOL.

Patents are increasingly being used as a weapon against competitors, either being used to ban their products such as what Apple, Samsung, Motorola and others are doing in various places around the globe or being leveraged for financial purposes, such as Motorola demanding $4 billion a year in royalties from Microsoft.

This growing use of patents has lead to a number of major players making big buys similar to what Microsoft has done here. The Google $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility for example; Facebook recently purchased 750 patents from IBM and Sony and Apple gained a huge number of new patents via their $4.5 billion purchase of Nortel Networks.

From reports this looks like the bulk of the patents that AOL currently holds. It said that the company retains approximately 300 patents including ones in advertising, search and mapping. Microsoft will grant the company a license to the purchased patents as well.

I wonder what companies will feel Microsoft’s wrath in the patent market space. I believe that they must have had talks with AOL about what patents will protect them from rivals and which ones AOL believes are currently being violated. Stay tuned because it has probably never been a better time to be a patent or intellectual property lawyer.

Filed Under: Apple, Google, Lawsuit, Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung, Yahoo Tagged With: , , ,
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