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HTC looking at purchasing an OS of their own

September 12, 2011 | By Surur

The Next Web reports that HTC’s Chairwoman Cher Wang has confirmed the company was mulling over purchasing their own operating system.

“We have given it thought and we have discussed it internally, but we will not do it on impulse,” Wang said in an interview with the Economic Observer of China, via FocusTaiwan.tw.

Recent moved by Google in its purchase of Motorola has created uncertainty amongst Android OEMs, resulting in Samsung moving Bada development into high gear.

The only OS of note that’s currently up for purchase is webOS, which has a significantly damaged brand.

Wang however said there was no urgency to purchase another OS at present, as HTC itself was not dependent on the underlying operating system:

“We can use any OS we want. We are able to make things different from our rivals on the second or third layer of a platform,” Wang said. “Our strength lies in understanding an OS, but it does not mean that we have to produce an OS.”

HTC however continued to express support for the Google purchase of Motorola, saying it was not clear how Google would go forward with managing the company, especially in terms of branding, but that Google did need the patents to protect Android development.

On the back of the rumours of Samsung itself turning towards Bada instead of Windows Phone 7, it suggests Microsoft is not doing enough to position Windows Phone 7 as a viable alternative to counter Google, and that Microsoft’s relationship with Nokia may be seen as negatively by OEMs as Google’s with Motorola.

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Microsoft adds Acer and ViewSonic to its Android licensing program, working its way up to Motorola

September 8, 2011 | By Surur

Microsoft has continued to succeed in its efforts to convince Android OEMs to pay Microsoft for the privilege of using the supposedly open source OS.

Microsoft announced today it was adding Acer and ViewSonic to its licensing program, with the companies joining HTC, Itronix and Velocity Micro. Microsoft is said to be in negotiations with Samsung already, and being close to getting Motorola’s handset imports into USA banned.

Much have been made of Microsoft possible earning more revenue from its Android licensing than from selling Windows Phone 7 licenses, but if the rumour that Google makes $6 from each Android user holds true, Microsoft may be making significantly more than even Google from Android.

Via Engadget.com

Thanks Milad for the tip.

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Google Korea offices raided due to Android anti-trust concerns

September 7, 2011 | By Surur

Google has been accused on multiple occasions of strong-arming their Android partners, despite the OS supposedly being free. Google’s recent move to purchase Motorola also did not go over very well in South Korea, who felt an increased impetus for an independent home-grown OS.

Seemingly in response to this Google’s Korean offices were raided by authorities today, looking for evidence of these practices.

Responding to accusations that they force their services on Android OEMs Google commented:

“Android is an open platform, and carrier and OEM partners are free to decide which applications and services to include on their Android phones. We do not require carriers or manufacturers to include Google Search or Google applications on Android-powered devices.”

“We will work with the KFTC to address any questions they may have about our business,” Google said.

Google also facing anti-trust action in USA, with the Federal Trade Commission also looking into issues of its own.

Via AllthingsD.com

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Mobile YouTube page returns, now much better

September 6, 2011 | By Surur

We posted yesterday about the failure of the mobile YouTube webpage, but it seems that was just a prelude to something much better.

The page has now returned and is better than ever, offering full access to the videos with a much better and cleaner looking UI.

Maybe Google isn’t that evil after all?

Thanks Tee for the tip.

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Microsoft’s YouTube app breaks

September 5, 2011 | By Surur

I never use Microsoft’s own YouTube app, it being merely a shortcut to Google’s mobile web page and some underlying code to pipe the video stream to the media player.

That would explain why I never noticed that it is no longer working, and according to the tweets above for at least a few days now.

We know some bad blood exists between Google and Microsoft after the later refused to allow Microsoft to build a much better dedicated YouTube app. It seems Google has now managed to break even Microsoft’s limited effort.

Via simplemobilereview.com

Thanks Javonny for the tip.

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Microsoft has a “passive economic interest” in Mosaid/Nokia deal

September 2, 2011 | By Surur

Showing once again that there is quite a bit going on behind the scenes, and that Nokia and Microsoft is even closer than one thinks, it seems Microsoft will be a beneficiary of Mosaid’s licensing and litigation with ex-Nokia patents.

Horacio Gutierrez, Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel told Mary Jo Foley:

“Over the years, Nokia has developed one of the world’s highest-quality patent portfolios in the mobile phone industry, representing decades of innovation as a worldwide leader in the field. We are pleased to have secured a license to the Nokia patents now acquired by MOSAID for Microsoft’s products and services. In return, we have a passive economic interest in the revenue generated from the licensing of those patents to third parties. The marketplace for intellectual property is incredibly dynamic today, and this agreement is an effective way to make these Nokia innovations available to the industry and to unlock the considerable value of this IP portfolio.”

Apparently Mosaid will be splitting the licensing revenues from the deal with Nokia and Microsoft, keeping a 1/3 to itself.

Microsoft itself will continue to have access to a number of Nokia’s patents, including those covering phone cameras, lenses, hinges and various industrial-design components, Microsoft officials said.

The news of the patent offensive comes on the heel of news that Google basically bought a pig in a poke with its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola.

"It’s an immense mistake," Martin says in an interview on Bloomberg, referring to Google’s blockbuster $12.5 billion patent acquisition of Motorola Mobility. "What they’ve bought is crap. Motorola [had already] sold off its good assets. Back in the early years, Motorola sold off some MPEG patents to GE … After that, they took a bunch of the Freescale patents and sold those off. [Motorola's current patent estate, which Google is trying to buy,] actually has a huge dependency on Freescale, and Freescale actually has an Apple link."

That video, which is a must-see, can be seen after the break.

Continue reading →

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Art imitating life

August 29, 2011 | By rush24

Reading thenextweb’s article on the new organizational hierarchy at Apple, I remembered these two articles (this and this) which highlighted the differences in structure between Apple, Microsoft and Google. That difference between the aforementioned companies is profound. Check out the images after the break to see what I mean!

Continue reading →

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Microsoft the ‘Vital New Underdog’

August 24, 2011 | By Surur

A mobile duopoly looms, and Microsoft is the only one who can save us.

Xconomy’s Wade Roush have published an interesting editorial on the mobile market, and notes that with HP dropping out of the phone business, and RIM rapidly crashing out of the market, he is rooting for Microsoft as the new mobile underdog.

He notes the ecosystem needs a “strong third option” to he healthy and stable, according to the “Rule of Threes”.

There’s a concept in economics called the Rule of Three. It’s the tendency observed across many types of markets for customers to clump around three generalists—that is, companies competing to sell a full line of products. Think of United, America, and Delta; Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian; or, in the old days, ABC, NBC, and CBS, or Ford, Chrysler, and GM. Such markets tend to function best when no single player controls more than 40 percent or less than 10 percent of the market—at least, that’s what marketing professors Rajendra Sisodia of Bentley College and Jaqdish Sheth of Emory University found in a study of more than 200 industries.

Together, the three leaders usually control 70 to 90 percent of a market. But if one competitor gains more than a 40 percent share, Sisodia and Sheth found, it often becomes too expensive to operate and attracts anti-monopoly scrutiny. If it falls below 10 percent, it risks becoming a niche player, forced to spend its energy fending off other small specialists.

Wade notes Microsoft may not be Apple’s equal when it comes to user-centric design, but is “way ahead of Google, where engineers clearly rule and designers have had a notoriously hard time being heard.”

He conclude:

Microsoft is now the only force that can save us from an Apple-Google duopoly in mobile computing—which increasingly means all consumer computing. … I never thought I would hear myself saying this—but a stronger Microsoft means more innovation for everyone.

So there we have it, a perfectly rational reason for rooting for Microsoft in the mobile wars.

Read the full editorial at Xconony here.

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Microsoft starts ITC trial against Motorola, asks to block all Droid imports

August 22, 2011 | By Surur

The case has been rumbling for a while but Microsoft is finally having its day in court with Google’s new fiancé, Motorola.

Microsoft’s case against Motorola at the ITC in Washington has started today. Microsoft is accused Motorola Mobility of infringing seven of its patents which Microsoft calls “essential to the smartphone user experience,” including ways to synchronize e- mail, calendars and contacts; schedule meetings; and notify applications of changes in signal strength and battery power.

“We have a responsibility to our employees, customers, partners and shareholders to safeguard our intellectual property,” David Howard, Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for litigation, said in an e-mail. “Motorola is infringing our patents and we are confident that the ITC will rule in our favor.”

Motorola has promised to “vigorously defending” itself but according to FOSSPatents Motorola’s own countersuit has been postponed to the second half of 2012, while Microsoft’s case will conclude by March 2012, meaning the ITC could potentially block all imports of Motorola phones for months before Motorola even has chance to respond.

Administrative Law Judge Theodore Essex is scheduled to release his findings in the case Nov. 4, and the commission has a target to complete its investigation by March 5, according to information on the agency’s website.

Via Bloomberg.com

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Analyst: Google going Motorola exclusive would doom Android, boost Windows Phone

August 19, 2011 | By Surur

Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster has weighed in on the GooMoto issue, and found that if Google closes of Android and go the Apple route of doing both the hardware and software, it would have a pretty disastrous effect on Google’s market share, with the OS dropping from more than 40% to around 20% market share by 2015.

Conversely, in that scenario, while Blackberry and Symbian would continue to decline, the ‘Other’ category, which consists mainly of Windows Phone, would see strong growth, climbing to 47% market share in 2015.

Because of this Munster thinks the scenario is pretty unlikely, and expects Google to spin of the company shortly while hanging onto the patents.

“As a strategic move, we believe buying the entirety of Motorola for its patents was one of the few ways for Google to acquire meaningful IP without being outbid by Apple/Microsoft who have more capital to make aggressive bids to keep patents away from Google. We believe the potential for Apple/Microsoft to bid on Motorola is low given the risk that if Google bows out, Apple/Google would need to deal with breaking up the acquisition or going through with it and owning a business of which it likely wants no part.” – Munster of Piper Jaffray

Here’s hoping Google continues to be stupid then.

Via Slashgear.com

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The Patent War Saga: From the Eyes of a Teenager

August 19, 2011 | By adriel623

As a young adult and technology enthusiast growing up in a world where technology is changing and improving as fast as one can blink I am very much amazed and captivated by the goings-on. What has me particularly captivated at the moment however, is the mobile spectra and at them moment the kind of weapons race that goes on behind the scenes. The goings-on that even at this feisty stage are not even known by the so-called end users who just care about having a phone in their hands and have not the slightest care about how it got there. I should make it clear off the bat, that I am of the belief that if one sheds blood, sweat and tears working on something, that they should reap the benefits of it in the way that they’ve dreamed of. I am also of the knowledge that Microsoft was once the big bad wolf of monopolizing the tech world but I like others also believes that those time have somewhat changed and Microsoft is more about the people now (Win7 and WP7 are perfect examples). I also believe that the old Microsoft skin has fallen over or has been modified to fit Google, who’s "Me too" attitude I somewhat despise. Of course this is my opinion and everyone is free to have their opinion too.

All of the research I’ve done on the tech world, whether by reading from Engadget, BGR, Bloomberg, CNET, ZDNET, ArsTechnica, GigaOM has led me to believe that Google is really about providing their Android software for free so that the manufacture can gobble it up and Google can have more platforms to make money from advertising (Which is what they’re buit on). This I know must be true yet the hordes of Fandroids as they are oft called fail to acknowledge and blindly follow Google into the bottomless pits of deception. If I at this ripe age can understand this why can’t the multitude of older generations pick this up as well?

What annoys me is when fandroid like to cry out in unsion that Android is free! Android is open! Android can be customized You can do whatever you can with Android and will fight it to the death. I used to have a bit of disdain for Apple products but the more the Fandroid cry out about how free Android is the more I’ve favored Apple as second to Microsoft in my book. Wake up Fandroids half of those that own Android phones buy them for their prices and don’t know about the tons of "advanced" features that the carriers and manufacturers hype their phones up to offer. Those that claim that Android can be hacked this or that way don’t recognize that the majority of the population have no interest in those things.

Most of the regular people may just be attracted by a phone with a pretty big and vibrant screen and a nice camera, probably the ability to play the movies, songs or pictures via some external hardware using HDMI, DLNA, use the internet, play games and they’re all set. They most likely came from non-smartphones, sidekicks, flip-phones and were enthused that they could get a "smartphone" so conveniently. But if Google were about the people Android would’ve been far more usable and pleasant experience for it’s users instead of now scrambling to make tweaks here and there (this is where they copy too) and get critical acclaim from it’s users.

What the Fandroids people need to understand however is that, Android didn’t just appear out of thin air, it was someone’s work that created it and Android can’t be free because evidently it also includes software bit patented by other companies. Even if your argument is that that bit of software is too minute to consider, one must understand that someone’s effort went into thinking of and creating that little bit! Also if it were so insignificant then Google’s engineers would’ve been quick to replace the infringing bit eons ago and we wouldn’t be in this patent mess.

So in all what I am saying is may the "man" who put the effort, the blood sweat and tears into getting us where we are in mobile technology win this current patent war and that people should be informed before blindly selling themselves to a company.

(I am a budding journalist and may not have constructed all of my thoughts well but I hope you go the gist of it)

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Did Microsoft impending major Motorola patent licensing deal forced Google’s hand?

August 15, 2011 | By Surur

The Google Motorola purchase plot has thickened further, with the news that Google was in fact not being pro-active but reacting to Microsoft’s efforts to secure a major patent licensing deal with Motorola.

Business Insider reports Microsoft was close to settling its patent dispute with Motorola, and signing a cross-licensing deal like it’s done with HTC and other companies. This may have been whatwas behind Sanjay Jha’s comments from the weekend, where he said he was open to adopting Windows phone 7 if he had as good a deal as Nokia had. His comments likely spurred Google into offering an even larger premium the company which has frankly been sliding these last few quarters.

Motorola had already signalled that it was prepared to go on the patent offense, using its patent library to raise licensing revenue from other Android OEMs. Google is seems had no real alternative to buying Motorola.

Microsoft on the other hand is set to position themselves as the more open platform without the massive conflicts of interest Google has now inherited, and is now, according to Business Insider, even less likely to purchase Nokia or RIMM.

The Register however reports the deal may in fact be a dud, with the patents Google purchased not close to as relevant or valuable as Google imagined.

To add a Machiavellian twist, did Microsoft just force Google to blow $12.5 billion on nothing useful. How is that for a “false gotcha”?

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Federal anti-trust investigators also to probe Google’s Android business

August 11, 2011 | By Surur

In what is turning out to be a pretty evil company, the increasingly friendless Google is now being accused of stopping their Android OEMs from using competing services in their phones. This includes services like Bing for search and Skyhook for geo-location.

The Federal Trade Commission is already probing the company for scraping information from other websites such as Yelp reviews for use in its own products (like Google Places) and then demoting those sources to lower positions in its search ranks while promoting its own products.

Unfortunately the probe at present does not include dumping Android on the market using funds garnered from their monopoly search business while completely disregarding the intellectual property of others, but I am sure it will be just a matter of time.