Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Android

The Jury Voted 9-3 In Favor Of Google Against Oracle

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:48:41 +0000

Yesterday we reported that the jury voted in favor of Google. As part of a follow-up to that article, I just wanted to add that the jury was split 9-3 in favor of Google. Jury foreman Greg Thompson spent time answering questions for reporters while Oracle’s lawyers had listened quietly. It turns out that Oracle did not have a chance to win all along. Oracle had to convince the jury that some portions of their Java APIs can be classified as protected. Google uses these APIs as the foundation for the Android operating system. Judge William Alsup even prompted to consider Java APIs as being copyrighted.

“A lot of the jurors were focused on functionality versus creativity,” stated Thompson. He added that the majority was “putting greater weight on functionality.” However the jury was not too pleased with how Google relied heavily on a blog post that was written by former Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz. Schwartz’s blog post congratulated Google on Android’s launch. Thompson said “we felt like it wasn’t a good business practice to rely on a blog – Some of us had an underlying feeling that Google had done something that wasn’t right.”

The jury couldn’t see Java APIs as being a protected art. “The more tech savvy a person is, the more difficult it might be to convince them of something that would limit [technology]… and future expansion of the common good,” said Thompson.

The VIA Android PC Is Only $49

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 23 May 2012 03:43:31 +0000

VIA is a Taiwanese hardware company that has announced a new device called the Android PC System (APC). The APC is a seven-inch ARM board that ships a custom version of the Android mobile operating system. The device will be available starting this July. Below is a list of the specs for the APC:

- VIA ARM11 SoC
- 512MB of RAM
- 2GB flash storage
- VGA/HDMI video outputs
- Speaker
- Microphone jacks
- microSD slot
- 4 USB ports
- Ethernet port
- Hardware-accelerated video decoding

The board consumers only 4 watts when idle and 13.5 watts under maximum load.

Another company known for developing a low-cost computer is the Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi partnered with two manufacturers, but struggled to meet the demand for the product. The VIA computer will ship as a bare board without a case. The board measures 7 x 3.5 inches. The software environment is based on Android 2.3, but works better with a keyboard and mouse input. Compared to the Raspberry Pi, the APC has more USB ports and twice as much RAM.

HTC Attempting To Get Around Apple Patents By Shipping Custom Android Builds

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:41:17 +0000

The HTC One X and EVO 4G LTE got stuck at the border due to a delay at the U.S. Customs pending an Apple patent investigation. The HTC One X and EVO 4G LTE are now shipping with a custom version of Android to avoid infringing upon an Apple patent. The ITC is investigating whether the two phones are still in violation of Apple’s “data tapping” feature. HTC designed a U.S. only settings screen that is not present on the international version of the HTC One X.

This helps HTC avoid the infringing issues that are found in the default Android messaging app and the Android browser. The U.S. version also has an “app associations” setting screen where users can specify the default apps. It is unknown whether these changes to Android are enough to make the One X and EVO 4G LTE in compliance with the ITC order.

Samsung Galaxy S III Confirmed As Official Olympic Phone

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:10:47 +0000

Last month, it was rumored that the Samsung Galaxy S III would be the official smartphone of the 2012 summer Olympics. Visa announced has officially announced that the S III would be the official London 2012 Olympic Games smartphone. Visa will provide NFC payments to athletes while they are competing in the city. The S III is Samsung’s flagship Android smartphone.

The phone has a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED screen (1280×720 HD display), 1.4GHz Exynos 4 Quad processor, 8 megapixel camera, 32GB of internal storage, and voice-/eye-tracking software features. Visa and Samsung will launch a limited edition Galaxy S III Olympic handset for the game with a themed version of its payWave Android application in partnership with Lloyds TSB to offer contact-less payments to competing athletes in a number of retailers across the city.

Visa aims to have over 140,000 contact-less terminals across the U.K. Taxis, retailers, and the Olympic Park will have the terminals. Visa’s payWave technology will require customers to hold their NFC-enabled phone in front of their contact-less readers to purchase an item. The app won’t require interaction for payments under £15 — anything above this amount will require a passcode. Users will also be able to see a list of recent transactions and view their balance in real-time.

Flipboard For Android Leaks

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:47:29 +0000

Flipboard for Android has been leaked for all Android users to download. Flipboard launched for the Samsung Galaxy S III late last week. Now it is unofficially available for everyone. The app was supposed to be exclusive for the S III for a set amount of time, but the 2.32MB APK went on XDA-Dev this morning, which can be installed on any Android device. If you go to XDA, you will see that forum user Valcho uploaded the APK. If you visit this website from your phone’s browser, you can download the file and it should prompt you to install the app. If you visit the forum from a desktop browser, then you can download the file and get it to your phone by e-mailing it to yourself or putting it on Dropbox and accessing the file from your phone.

Jury Finds Google Android Infringes Oracle’s Java Copyrights

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:43:41 +0000

A U.S. jury has found that Google Android is infringing on Oracle’s Java API copyrights. This gives Oracle a partial victory in the first part of a three-part trial against Google. The jury at a U.S. District Court in San Francisco was asked four questions about copyrights in Java code that is being used in Android.

The jury reached a unanimous decision on three issues, but they hit a deadline on part of the first question regarding infringement. The jury was unable to decide whether Google’s use of Java APIs amount to Fair Use under U.S. copyright law. Judge William Alsup has to rule on whether the Java APIs at issue are subject to copyright protection as a matter of law.

“We appreciate the jury’s efforts, and know that fair use and infringement are two sides of the same coin. The core issue is whether the APIs here are copyrightable, and that’s for the court to decide. We expect to prevail on this issue and Oracle’s other claims,” said Google and they are requesting a mistrial.

Oracle thanked the jury for their verdict. “The overwhelming evidence demonstrated that Google knew it needed a license and that its unauthorized fork of Java in Android shattered Java’s central write once run anywhere principle.”

Despite this victory, Oracle is unlikely going to win substantial damages in this case. The trial between Oracle and Google is expected to go on for another eight weeks.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson May Not Know How Android Gets Updated

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:01:15 +0000

How and when does Android phones get updated? When AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson was speaking at a conference in Los Angeles, he said that “Google determines what platform gets the newest releases and when. A lot of times, that’s a negotiated arrangement and that’s something we work at hard.” Google was clearly surprised by the answer AT&T gave because they make the latest Android updates available to anyone who wants it on their website.

Former Sun CEO Says Google Did Not Need Licenses To Use Java APIs For Android

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 04:43:08 +0000

Two former Sun Microsystems CEOs were witnesses in the lawsuit between Google and Oracle Corporation. The two had opposing views about how Sun saw the Java language being used by Google. Sun’s last CEO Jonathan Schwartz believed that Google was free to use parts of Java when building Android.

Scott McNealy said that it was common for Sun to allow other companies use Java, but only with a commercial license. The requirement is also that the licensee ensures that Java remains compatible.

Other phones by Nokia, RIM, and Motorola were compatible with Java applications, but Android was not. Oracle has been arguing against Google when it comes to compatibility. Oracle said that not only did Google violate their parents and copyrights, but they also said that Google went on to build their own incompatible version of Java.

Schwartz said he hoped Google would take out a commercial license, but said Sun opted “to grit our teeth” and support it as part of the Java community. Schwartz also said that Java opted not to sue Google over the issue. Oracle presented an e-mail from Schwartz describing Google as having taken Java “without attribution or contribution.” Schwartz went on to say “this is why I love scroogle.”

First Google Phone Prototype Looked Like A BlackBerry

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:50:08 +0000

The court battle between Oracle and Google has caused some documents to be opened up containing photos of the first Android prototype from 2006. This phone was a prototype for a “Google Mass Market Phone” and it shows a portrait QWERTY keypad with a landscape screen on top. The 2006 prototype would have had a 200MHz ARM Cortex v9 processor, 64MB RAM, 3G connection, USB connectivity, Bluetooth 1.2, miniSD memory expansion, and 2 megapixel camera on the back. “At Google, we believe we can be successful in transforming the mobile experience-in the same way we have revolutionised the fixed internet experience,” stated Google in a document from back in 2006. Google never released this prototype, but they did approach T-Mobile USA with this device and was considering releasing it for $9.99 per month with an unlimited data plan.

Instagram For Android Surpasses 10 Million Downloads

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 22:43:50 +0000

On April 10th, we reported that Instagram surpassed 5 million downloads on Android. Today if you check out the Instagram app on Google Play, you will notice that Instagram has passed 10 million downloads. Not bad considering that Instagram launched for Android about 22 days ago. Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion six days after it launched on Android.