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Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

arstechnica.com

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Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#121

Post by throwaway98604 »

jemeshsu wrote: post #92
throwaway98604 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's only partially about taking the morally high ground; I'm afraid Apple is going to start losing significant market share. i.e. I always hear of friends and colleagues who switch from the iPhone to Android (and not vice-versa). And from what I've seen Google is also actually making significant improvements Android's API instead of Apple's method of just making aesthetic changes (and some argue making it worse).

You must be kidding if you think iOS 7 is just aesthetic changes. So Apple iOS engineers took one year leave and left their designer colleges update iOS 6 to new look?

Significant consumer-facing iOS 7 Changes:

    UI
    Inter-app audio
    Background fetch
    P2P (arguably, this isn't a new feature, it's essentially a wrapper to dns_sd)
    Airdrop
Significant KitKat changes:

    *Actual* SMS/MMS API
    Storage access framework
    Printing framework
Plus, Inter-app audio and Airdrop are essentially wrappers to P2P (which is also a wrapper to dns_sd), so the only real added feature was background fetch.

You could say the same about KitKat (except for SMS), so really it boils down to this:

iOS 7:

    UI
    Background fetch
KitKat:

    SMS/MSS API
Which Android still wins, IMO.

Plus, Android already has way more features than iOS already, not to mention the ability to install unsigned software, NFC, custom lockscreens/launchers and who knows what else.

Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#122

Post by mayhew »

grej wrote: post #56

You have to wonder what Microsoft's goal is here, given that some estimates have them earning over $3B/yr in licensing fees on Android sales.

Locking people into their mobile ecosystem is probably worth way more then that in the long term. That's what these companies are all about, after all.

Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#123

Post by axman6 »

interpol_p wrote: post #112

This article is very emotionally loaded. Containing a lot of phrases designed to evoke an emotional response: 'Nuclear', 'DEFCON 1', 'Attack', 'Shocking'. It actually doesn't mention what Rockstar is suing Google for (i.e., whether it's monetary compensation, banning the sale of products, etc.) The article seems designed to get fans of these companies to react. I think this will play out as a much more boring, length…

But OH MY GOD it's APPLE and MICROSOFT, didn't you see that? It's literally the devil incorporate trying to DESTROY GOOGLE who have NEVER done anything wrong ever!!! How dare they use the law to their own advantage! and besides, APPLE have never invented anything at all and stole it all from Google even before Google released it!

Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#124

Post by 6thSigma »

37prime wrote: post #81
curveship wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You realize that suit was from before the two companies merged.

The suit was filed after google struck the deal to buy Motorola, but not officially finalized. Google announced Motorola Mobility acquisition in 2011. The suit was filed in 2012.

I believe they were still seeking regulatory approval of the acquisition when the lawsuit was filed. Either way, Apple sued Motorola first in 2011.

Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#125

Post by ekianjo »

serge2k wrote: post #90
ekianjo wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good thing you realize it now. Better now than later. Do take action if you are serious about the philosophical implications of your work. Anyway, we can see that even in the absence of Steve Jobs, Apple is certainly serious about "going nuclear on Android". They'll follow their former leader's thinking even beyond the grave. That's sad.

Probably because they can see what happened with PCs happening again. If they don't fight android with everything they have now then in 5 or 10 years they might not have the chance.

Their market share is already going away progressively. There's way more Android devices being sold than Apple ones nowadays. They still have a clear edge on tablets, but for how long ? I can't see how Apple's growth can be sustainable unless they come on new segments (just like they did with the iPhone and the iPad in the first place). Fighting to the death on existing segments is not going to cut it in the long term.

Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#126

Post by waqf »

serge2k wrote: post #84
bpodgursky wrote: post #18

I know it's been said before, but to reiterate: outrage doesn't help anything, but buying products from these companies DOES hurt. If you're truly outraged enough to want to take action, take action - writing to your representatives - donating to the EFF or other organizations - by not donating another $2k to Apple for a new Mac*, implicitly endorsing these bullshit tactics - not developing for those platforms (App S…

but the screen on my new macbook is so nice :( Besides, google isn't exactly a wonderful company lately. Their ads and related policies, ugh.

Have you seen the screen on the Chromebook Pixel?

Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#127

Post by fpgeek »

threeseed wrote: post #95
pg wrote: post #61

It's a little early to say for sure, but I predict this will do more to hurt Apple's reputation in the tech community than anything they've done before. And that is not a good community to alienate. I would not be surprised if they look back on this move one day and feel that they ended up net worse off as a result. Apple used to be careful not to alienate hackers. And Microsoft has been gradually digging itself out…

Google's continued abuse of the FRAND process has done nothing to hurt their image in the eyes of most. And likewise this suit won't affect Apple or Microsoft's reputation one iota.

By dragging out negotiations for years and then trying to use the courts to establish a ceiling (but not a floor) on FRAND licensing costs, I think Apple has done more to undermine FRAND. They've developed a "heads I win, tails you lose" playbook.

Remember, Motorola has been talking to Apple about licensing their FRAND patents since 2007. Over six years later, what do they have to show for it? I bet plenty of companies will start thinking that FRAND and royalty-free aren't all that different.

Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#128

Post by derleth »

pinaceae wrote: post #89
pg wrote: post #61

It's a little early to say for sure, but I predict this will do more to hurt Apple's reputation in the tech community than anything they've done before. And that is not a good community to alienate. I would not be surprised if they look back on this move one day and feel that they ended up net worse off as a result. Apple used to be careful not to alienate hackers. And Microsoft has been gradually digging itself out…

Google threw the gauntlet when it took a billion dollar investment into a mobile OS and gave it away for free. these dumping tactics ruined the market for licensed OS like Windows. did anybody truly believe the rest of the software industry would take it up the ass from google without fighting back? bing, apple maps, patents, etc - all part of the war. how much money does MS already make off android due to lost paten…

> Google threw the gauntlet when it took a billion dollar investment into a mobile OS and gave it away for free.

Seeing as how MS sold Xbox consoles at a loss so they could sell expensive games, I doubt MS has much of a leg to stand on with this claim. Apparently, the Xbox One is the first Xbox to be sold at a profit or break-even from day one; this was such a bold move that Forbes devoted a whole column to it: http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/09/06/microsoft...

(Other articles indicate that most consoles are sold at a loss. I'm picking on MS because it was mentioned in the article as a party to this suit.)

Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#129

Post by pinaceae »

cromwellian wrote: post #113
pinaceae wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google threw the gauntlet when it took a billion dollar investment into a mobile OS and gave it away for free. these dumping tactics ruined the market for licensed OS like Windows. did anybody truly believe the rest of the software industry would take it up the ass from google without fighting back? bing, apple maps, patents, etc - all part of the war. how much money does MS already make off android due to lost paten…

How dare they! And how dare Linus Torvalds "dump" Linux on the industry, or Mozilla "dump" Firefox. They should be required by law to charge high fees!

comparing Linux to Android is ridiculous. Linus released and built it from genuine, ulterior motives. google wanted a platform to display ads.

Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#130

Post by axman6 »

grej wrote: post #17
rurounijones wrote: post #9

'One patent filed in 1997, for a "navigation tool for graphical user interface," describes a way of navigating through electronic documents. Another describes an "Internet protocol filter," and a third patent describes an "integrated message center."' Well with earth-shaking innovative patents like that I hope they succeed. I would never have thought of an integrated message center for anything.

...a third patent describes an "integrated message center." This is just comically ridiculous. The only benefit to Google being the target of this suit is that if it goes all the way, there is a chance that some of these might be invalidated because at least they have the cash reserves to stand and fight (if they choose to do so).

Have you read the patent?
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