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Here at TiP we like to check out the competition every once in a while. (We’re trying to make that more regular.) Last time out I compared the iPhone 4S with Google’s flagship device, the Galaxy Nexus. This time around, it’s the Gingerbread loaded, custom skin-wearing Motorola RAZR. This is the GSM version. Specs are virtually identical to the 4G LTE…
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Here at TiP we like to check out the competition every once in a while. (We’re trying to make that more regular.) Last time out I compared the iPhone 4S with Google’s flagship device, the Galaxy Nexus. This time around, it’s the Gingerbread loaded, custom skin-wearing Motorola Droid RAZR. This is the GSM version. Specs are virtually identical to the 4G…
View full post on TodaysiPhone.com
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Having lost one court case against its biggest rival, Samsung, Apple will be relieved that another loss was not suffered at the hands of Motorola. The former giant of mobile phones had taken the iPhone makers to court due to an infringement of a 3G/UMTS patent. The judge, Andreas Voss ruled that there was no basis for the suit. He also concluded that…
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It’s been nearly a month since Verizon officially spilled the beans on the QWERTY-packing, LTE-sporting Motorola Droid 4, and now we finally have a release date to go with it. According to the nation’s largest wireless provider, the oft-delayed Droid 4 is due to hit sales channels on February 10 complete with a $199 price tag.
Though its slimmer brethren have enjoyed most of the limelight lately, the Droid 4 is still a welcome addition to the Verizon lineup as their second LTE device with a full physical keyboard.
While it doesn’t yet run Ice Cream Sandwich, the rest of its feature list — 1.2 GHZ dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4-inch qHD display — make for an attractive little package. Additional features like government-grade encryption, a sprinkling of enterprise-friendly apps, and support for Motorola’s Lapdock 500 only sweeten the deal, especially if you’re looking to dump that work BlackBerry for something a bit more robust.
To celebrate the release of the Droid 4 (and a buy-one-get-one promotion on the Droid RAZR family), Verizon is also reviving their double-data promotion, so penny-pinching phone shoppers may want to jump on the deal before it disappears again. Of course, if Verizon keeps doing what they’re doing, there’s a real chance we’ll see that double data promo rear its head once another noteworthy LTE smartphone comes down the pipeline.
View full post on TechCrunch » Mobile
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Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a website called Apple.de. And on this website, in historical Deutschland, there lived three iPhones and an iPad. They were a happy bunch: some wise but slow with old age, others quick and lean, but they all had one tragic flaw in common.
According to a court in Germany, all four of them are infringing on Motorola patents related to embedded 3G/UMTS wireless technology, FRAND standards essential patents to be specific. This means that the technology within the patents is now a standard across the industry, and the company that owns said technology is required to license it to competitors under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms.
That said, the Mannheim Regional Court has enforced a permanent injunction on the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G and the iPad 2 3G. Luckily for German fanbois, the ban only affects Apple’s online presence. Customers can still purchase all four products in various retail locations, including Apple brick-and-mortar stores.
This all comes back to a ruling in December, where the Mannheim court issued a preliminary injunction against Apple’s infringing products.
German: “Derzeit nicht verfügbar”
English: “Not currently available.”
You may notice one wireless Apple device — the one that speaks — missing from the list. That’s likely because the iPhone 4S uses a Qualcomm chip as opposed to an Infineon/Intel chip. FOSS Patents suggests that Moto and Qualcomm have a licensing deal already in place, which would mean that Apple is covered by extension with regards to the 4S.
In other Apple/Motorola/Germany-related news, Moto also won a permanent injunction today against Apple’s iCloud push email feature. This means Apple customers in Germany will likely be forced to revert back to the old method of push email, rather than using iCloud.
Update: According to AllThingsD, Apple will have its banned products back online and available on its German site very soon. Apple was in the midst of appealing the ruling while it was removing the products from its online storefront, and the appeal has won the Cupertino-based company a suspension of the injunction.
Here’s the official statement from Apple:
Apple appealed this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago.
View full post on TechCrunch » Mobile
