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Google Confirms Motorola Mobility Will Acquire Viewdle

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by Roy Alugbue on
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We knew Google was quietly on its way to making facial recognition just a little bit better, but now it has finally confirmed what the world already knew. A Motorola Mobility spokesman states:

 

“Motorola Mobility today announced that it has acquired Viewdle, a leading imaging & gesture recognition company. Motorola and Viewdle have an existing commercial agreement and have been collaborating for some time. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.”

 

Now that the cat is out of the bag, the formal acquisition will mean a few things. The first thing is Viewdle’s technology will allow it to allow Google users to easily tag photos of friends and family across Google+, Picasa and of course, Android. And hey, we can’t have too many means to tag and identify our favorite contacts on the web, right?

 

source: CNet

 

 

Apple and Motorola Strike Licensing Deal in Germany

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by Ed Caggiani on
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On Monday, a filing was made with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in which Motorola Mobility (Google) and Apple entered into a standard-essential (FRAND) patent license agreement. The agreement states that Apple is now licensed to use Motorola’s FRAND patents in Germany. The royalty rate has yet to be set.

Now you have to understand, when it comes to standard-essential patents, the patent owner (Moto) must agree to a licensing deal with a competitor (Apple) if that competitor makes an offer to accept a licensing arrangement. The patent holder cannot refuse without blatantly violating antitrust law. That also means that Apple is essentially admitting to infringing the patents and is liable for past damages.

The filing only covers “cellular standard-essential” patents, leaving Wi-Fi and video codecs open for a later fight. Or separate licensing deals could be struck for those if both parties are tired of fighting.

Hmm, perhaps Microsoft had the right idea all along avoiding the courts and sleeping with its enemies instead. It sure is much less expensive.

source: foss patents
via: engadget

ITC rules Apple did not violate Motorola wifi patent, case headed back to courtroom

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by Jeff Causey on
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Folks in Cupertino and Apple fans around the world are surely in a good mood going into this weekend with the recently announced results of the Apple v Samsung trial in which Apple has prevailed (at least for now). More good news for Apple came out of the ITC today in determining that Apple had not violated a Motorola patent on some wifi technology. The ITC commission also exonerated Apple with regard to two other patents.

An ITC judge had originally ruled in Motorola’s favor and Apple was facing a ban of their devices had the commission’s review not gone in their favor. The possibility of a ban still exists as the case has been sent back to the original judge for a new review regarding the possibility that Apple violated a non-standards-based patent. This will effectively “reset” the case, so it will likely drag on for at least another year. In the meantime, Motorola has started a new action against Apple alleging more patent violations.

source: Engadget

Details emerge in Motorola’s new patent lawsuit against Apple

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by Jeff Causey on
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Last Friday Google’s Motorola Mobility unit filed a new lawsuit against Apple alleging a variety of patent infringements. Filed with the U.S. International  Trade Commission (ITC), Motorola is seeking a ban on imports of most of Apple’s product portfolio. Any device that “utilize(s) wireless communication technologies to manage various messages and content” is covered by the lawsuit. This covers not just mobile devices like iPads and iPhones, but computer devices like the iMac or MacBook Pro as well.

The ITC made the full complaint available on-line so we are now able to review which seven patents Motorola is claiming Apple has infringed upon: » Read the rest

Motorola Avoids U.S. Import Ban Of Smartphones & Tablets

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by Roy Alugbue on
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Looks like Motorola Mobility has recently been proactive in avoiding a ban of the imports of its various devices. According to reports, there was a recent International Trade Commission ruling that specified certain MOTO devices infringed on technology that makes it possible for MOTO device users to use the devices in order to generate meeting requests and schedule gatherings. The devices named are: the Atrix, Backflip, Bravo, Charm, Cliq, Cliq 2, Cliq XT, Defy, Devour, Droid 2, Droid 2 Global, Droid Pro, Droid X, Droid X2, Flipout, Flipside, Spice and the Xoom tablet. While Apple immediately comes to mind for most Android users, it’s actually Microsoft who believes MOTO infringed on certain patents, as highlighted by spokeswoman Becki Leonard:

 

“While we can’t share specific details, we have employed a range of proactive measures to ensure there is no continuing infringement under the ITC’s interpretation of this single Microsoft patent”.

 

For those of you unfamiliar, here’s a quick rundown to help refresh your memory: Microsoft accused Motorola Mobility of infringing nine patents in a complaint filed in October 2010. Both companies ended up in a quiet, but significant legal battle in which MOTO was found not guilty on infringement of all but one of the patents. Fast-forward to May and we find the ITC ruled that Motorola Mobility infringed on the one patent, which leads us to MOTO now trying to avoid a ban of imports for its different devices.

The infringement claim is indeed a serious one, MOTO at least knew there was an easy workaround in order to keep its devices on retailers’ shelves. The main option is simply removing the meeting-scheduling technology from its smartphones and tablets since Microsoft originally believed MOTO should have licensed the technology.

source: Latinos Post

 

 

Eric Schmidt On Google: “We Always Wanted To Be In The Hardware Business”

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by Roy Alugbue on
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Google head honcho Eric Schmidt recently stopped by the Allen & Company conference in Sun Valley, Idaho to share with the fine folks in the audience Google’s new Nexus 7 and Nexus Q. While offering a show-and-tell of both products, Schmidt took some time to also share Google’s vision for the future and what it has intended to do all along when it comes to the hardware business. Schmidt highlights:

 

“We always wanted to be in the hardware business. Larry and Sergey have always wanted to do hardware in one form or another. This was a way to get into it quickly.”

 

While there’s no indication Google is trying to be a hardware company (after all— the company’s foundation is on both its search engine and advertising), Google obviously is looking above and beyond. After all, it has special projects in the making such as the famed Project Glass and lest we forget— it did acquire a certain handset maker last year which Schmidt himself promises will bring “a new batch of products” soon-to-be ready for prime time. Now that we know Eric, Sergey and Larry are clearly working on some goodies behind the scenes, one has to wonder what else the world can be treated to.

source: New York Times

Atrix HD Will Have Locked Bootloader, But Providing User-Unlock Method Is Motorola’s Goal

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by Ed Caggiani on
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Motorola confirmed tonight, in a series of tweets, that the Atrix HD will indeed have a locked and signed bootloader. This means that altering the kernel on the Atrix HD will not be possible, limiting the customization possibilities of the phone. In other words, no custom ROMs. The phone, however, should still be rootable.

It’s not the end of the world, though, since Moto also tweeted the following:

“…our goal is still to provide a way to unlock the bootloaders on our devices to those who wish to do so, more details to come.“

So it seems that although the Atrix HD will launch with a locked bootloader, an unlock method may be coming in the hopefully not-too-distant future.

source: motorola mobility (twitter)
via: android police

Motorola Reveals RAZR V MT887 And MOTOLUXE MT680, Now Available In China

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by Ed Caggiani on
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We previously heard about Motorola preparing to release a whole slew of new handsets, including the RAZR V (MT887), for Chinese markets. Yesterday, Motorola made it official with a press release announcing both the RAZR V and the MOTOLUXE MT680.

The specs for the RAZR V include the following:

  • Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
  • Dual-core 1.2GHz processor
  • 4.3-inch screen
  • 8MP rear camera
  • 1880/2010 of TD-SCDMA, HSPA; GSM 900/1800/1900, EDGE
  • Water-splash guard body
  • 8.35mm thin
  • Available in black, white and shocking pink

Both phones are now available in China, with the RAZR V going for RMB3,299 ($518) and the MOTOLUXE MT680 for RMB1,999 ($314) off contract (or free with a China Mobile Beijing monthly contract).

Hit the break for the full press release.

» Read the rest

Schmidt Says “A Lot More Focus On Android” With The Future Of Motorola Mobility

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by Joe Sirianni on
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The world is eagerly awaiting to see what Google does now that the company has successfully acquired Motorola Mobility, especially OEM’s like LG, HTC, Samsung and more.  Who can blame them for thinking there’s a possibility that Motorola could gain the upper hand if they obtain inside access to Android’s latest builds of the operating system?  And while though Google’s plans are still unknown to the masses, there are still rumors afloat that the search giant may consider selling off the handset portion to Huawei as well as the cable box portion to another lucky bidder.  In recent news, The Guardian has quoted Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, stating that Motorola will have “more investment in products and a lot more focus on Android and the tools even than they have today.”  This seems to be corroborated with what newly-appointed Motorola Mobility CEO, Dennis Woodside, stated when the deal was final.

“Google has always been interested in hardware” and “my job is to make Motorola as successful as possible and deliver innovative hardware as a licensee of Android.”

So, here’s to hoping Motorola gets back on track quickly when it comes to smartphone product quality, innovation, services and sales.  We’ll be keeping a close eye on the company so as to track their movement going forward, so stay tuned and feel free to offer up your own opinion in the comments section below.

source: The Verge

China Says OK For Google To Buy Motorola As Long As Android Stays Free And Open For 5 Years

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by Ed Caggiani on
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We just heard about China finally approving Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility, but now we learn that in order to get China’s approval, Google had to promise to keep Android open and free for anyone to use for at least the next five years. There’s no reason given for this request but it stands to reason that China wanted to make sure that Motorola wouldn’t be given special treatment over other Android manufacturers. This is interesting since Google has never given any indication of not keeping Android open and free. They’ve actually said just the opposite.

It makes sense, though, for China to want to ensure Android’s continued openness since Chinese manufacturers and carriers often build heavily customized versions of Android on many devices, and this assurance from Google would keep their gears turning for some time.

The Google buyout of Motorola Mobility hasn’t closed yet, but the Chinese condition won’t slow it down. Google assures everyone that their stance has not changed and they will keep things running as they are. A Motorola spokesperson stated “we are pleased that the deal has received approval in all jurisdictions and we expect to close early next week.”

There’s no reason to believe Google has any plans to change the way they handle Android. Why fix what isn’t broken?

source: wall street journal
via: the verge

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