Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Motorola

WATCH: Motorola Demos Ice Cream Sandwich In Action

Amit Chowdhry — Sun, 27 May 2012 17:49:49 +0000

Google Android Ice Cream Sandwich is expected to arrive before the end of June. Up until now, we did not know what the user interface for Android 4.0 would be like. The Motorola Japan RAZR division has posted a series of videos that demos Android Ice Cream Sandwich. The video demos Webtop 3.0, the lock screen, time lapse video, browser, dialer, notifications, etc. Check out the videos below (pages 1-16):

ITC Judge Says That Xbox Should Be Banned From U.S. Because Of Motorola Patent Violation

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 23 May 2012 17:14:13 +0000

International Trade Commission judge David Shaw said that he believes that the importing of 4GB and 250GB Xbox consoles into the U.S. from China should be suspended and that Microsoft should pay Motorola 7% of the value of any unsold consoles remaining in the U.S. This is based on a lawsuit that Motorola filed against Microsoft in 2010 over five patent violations that are allegedly related to the Xbox 360. The judge is also ruling that consoles already in the U.S. and not sold should be barred from sale through a cease-and-desist order. Microsoft protested and said that the suspension of the Xbox 360 would hurt competition in the marketplace. Shaw said that “enforcing intellectual property rights outweighs any potential economic impact on video game consol buyers.” The five patents most related to video codecs. If the ITC commissioners agree with Shaw, the recommendation will land on President Obama’s desk and his advisors will have 60 days to review it.

Motorola Wins Injunction To Ban Xbox 360 and Windows 7 In Germany

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:25:26 +0000

There has been a conflict in decisions between two different courts in Germany and in the U.S. over Motorola’s patent lawsuit against Microsoft. A judge in Germany has ruled overnight that Microsoft is violating two of Motorola’s digital video patents. This would have allowed Motorola to enforce an injunction of Windows 7 and the Xbox 360 in Germany. However a court in Seattle ruled that Microsoft can continue selling products in those contries for now.

U.S. District Judge James Robart granted Microsoft a motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent Motorola from blocking the sales of Windows and Xbox in Germany regardless of what a German court rules. There will be a hearing in Robart’s court next week.

Microsoft believes that the larger issue is not whether they violated the patents, but whether Motorola is making unreasonable demands for royalties on their technology.

Google is in the process of acquiring Motorola Mobility for $12 billion. The patents Google would gain from the acquisition would make them a legal powerhouse in the mobile industry. They will gain 17,000 patents as a result of the acquisition. Using their parents, Microsoft had been successfully able to receive patent royalties from Google Android manufacturers themselves.

“This is one step in a long process, and we are confident that Motorola will eventually be held to its promise to make its standard essential patents available on fair and reasonable terms for the benefit of consumers who enjoy video on the web. Motorola is prohibited from acting on today’s decision, and our business in Germany will continue as usual while we appeal this decision and pursue the fundamental issue of Motorola’s broken promise,” said Microsoft in a statement.

A Motorola spokeswoman said:
“We are pleased that the Mannheim Court found that Microsoft products infringe Motorola Mobility’s intellectual property. As a path forward, we remain open to resolving this matter.”

ITC Judge Rules Apple Violating Motorola Mobility Patent

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:04:46 +0000

International Trade Commission Judge Thomas Pender has ruled that Apple is infringing on a Motorola Mobility patent in making iPhones, iPads, and other products. Google is in the process of acquiring Motorola Mobility. Motorola filed lawsuits against Apple in Illinois and Florida district courts. In a preliminary hearing, Pender said that Apple did not violate three other patents. The whole commission will now review the decision by the judge.

Rumor: Google May Sell Motorola’s Hardware Division To Huawei

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:24:21 +0000

Google announced that they would be acquiring Motorola Mobility about 8 months ago for $12.5 billion. Between now and then, the government went from questioning the deal to approving of it. Google gained 17,000 patents through the acquisition to help them protect Android, but Motorola has massive overhead.

Motorola has about 20,000 employees across over 90 countries. No one in the industry knows what Google is planning on doing with all of these employees, but now there are rumors that Google is going to try and sell Motorola’s handset unit to Huawei. Other sources say that Google is going to utilize Motorola’s employees to create a serious competitor in the smartphone industry.

Lenovo became the world’s second largest PC manufacturing company after IBM sold them their PC division. Huawei may be able to pull off the same thing by buying Motorola’s handset division.

Motorola Buys $1.17 Billion Of Stock Back From Carl Icahn

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:00:46 +0000

Motorola Solutions Inc. split in two about a year ago after Carl Icahn pressured the company. Motorola bought $1.17 billion of its stock from Icahn and said that his representative on the board is stepping down. The repurchase represents about 7% of shares outstanding. It is part of a $3 billion buyback program said Motorola Solutions. Icahn Enterprises G.P. Inc. director Vincent J. Intrieri has resigned from the board.

The other spun-off business Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. was bought by Google Inc. for $12.5 billion. Icahn pushed Motorola to spin off their mobile phone unit after four years of suggesting change. Motorola Solutions bought 23.7 million of its common stock at $49.15 per share from Icahn and his affiliates. As of January 1st, Icahn Associates Corp. owned 38.3 million shares of Motorola Solutions. Icahn has 14.6 million shares left and Icahn’s stake was cut to 4.6%.

[BusinessWeek]

Apple Files Complaint With EU Accusing Motorola Of Violating Fair Terms On Patents

Amit Chowdhry — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:02:42 +0000

Motorola Mobility said that Apple has filed a complaint with the European Union against them accusing the company of violating a pledge to license industry-standard patents on fair terms. Motorola was notified about the complaint by the European Commission. However Motorola Mobility spokeswoman Jennifer Erickson said that the company is willing to negotiate a patent license with Apple.

Apple and Motorola Mobility have been suing each other in the U.S. and Europe over the technology used in smartphones. Motorola’s lawsuit against Apple is requesting 2.25% royalties of iPhones being sold. Motorola Mobility has won two out of three rulings in lawsuits they filed against Apple in Mannheim, Germany. In one case, Apple had to remove older iPhones and iPad models from their online store in Germany.

“MMI has a long-standing practice of licensing our patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and we offered those to Apple,” stated Erickson. Google is acquiring Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion.

Google Receives Approval To Buy Motorola

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 03:28:00 +0000

Google’s $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility has been approved. However the U.S. and European Union government said that they will be ensuring that patents critical to the telecom industry would not be abused.

The government also approved of a consortium led by Apple to buy a trove of patents from Nortel Networks. Apple will also be able to buy patents formerly owned by Novell. Google will now own 17,000 patents an 7,500 patent applications filed by Motorola.

“This merger decision should not and will not mean that we are not concerned by the possibility that, once Google is the owner of this portfolio, Google can abuse these patents, linking some patents with its Android devices. This is our worry,” stated EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia.

Google’s Acquisition Of Motorola Expected To Close Next Week

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:39:18 +0000

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility is expected to close next week. This deal is just pending approval from the Justice Department. Google will gain access to 17,000 additional patents through the acquisition, which is already being used to sue Apple for 2.25% of sales royalties.

Antitrust enforcers in the U.S. and Europe are still concerned about Google’s commitment to license Motorola patents to competitors on fair terms and they will closely monitor the way that Google will be using the patents. Google said that they will honor Motorola Mobility’s existing essential patent licensing commitments and grant new ones going forward with a “a maximum per-unit royalty of 2.25 percent.” That just so happens to be the exact same number they are suing Apple for.

The Justice Department is also expected to soon clear a second tech patent deal raising antitrust concerns in the smartphone industry. A consortium of technology companies like Apple, Microsoft, and RIM will be acquiring patents from the bankrupt Nortel Networks telecom equipment company.

Google Android Update Alliance With Telecommunication Companies Starts To Fizzle

Amit Chowdhry — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 18:09:23 +0000

This past May Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) announced a partnership at the I/O conference that they have made a deal so that any new Android phone would receive OS updates for at least 18 months following the launch. The partnership is called the Google Update Alliance. Motorola, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sony Ericsson are a part of the Update Alliance. Sony Ericsson is the only company that has kept up with the partnership. In fact Sony Ericsson released new versions of Android to all phones that are less than 18 months.

The problem for users is that they are not getting the latest operating system updates. When Google updates their operating system, they add security patches and new features. When developers create apps that are based on the latest version of Android, they will not know how many people will be able to use them.

The problem with having an alliance like this is the bureaucracy of it all. Updating an operating system requires a lot of testing. Between these 7 companies, there are about 300,000 employees. There are analysts, project managers, directors, and executives to go through before an update is released. There is only so much Google can do to push everybody to get their jobs done.

[PCMag]