Anyone been following this?

http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/02/the-co ... t-android/

Software patents are ridiculous.

Here's Google's response:

“We are not a party to this lawsuit. However, we stand behind our Android operating system and the partners who have helped us to develop it."

Yea, Apple has some pretty ridiculous patents. There was one in there about unlocking a touch screen device with a motion. So lame. I hope the judge throws it in their face.

I'm following this, of course. In most cases, a lawsuit like this would end with the companies pulling out their cocks/patents to show each other, and then agreeing to a blanket cross-license for large swaths of their respective portfolios. Whoever was convinced they had the weaker portfolio would pay some money for the privilege. Apple could go another route and actually try to prevent others from competing with them in certain areas -- like, say, multitouch (although that doesn't even seem to be at issue in this case) -- by seeking an injunction against the company's practicing that patent, but against HTC (who rightly points out they've been patenting the shit out of phones since the iPhone was merely a glimmer in Steve Jobs' beady eye) that would be nuclear war. So this will drag out painfully and then result in a cross-license, and then Apple will sue Motorola and anyone else shipping Android phones, and then they'll sue Google (unless Google steps in before that happens and negotiates a license on behalf of all its partners).

EDIT: and yes, software patents are ridiculous. Hi five, Dalen.

Sounds like good work for IP lawyerly types, Haq.

This comes down to Apple being afraid of Android's momentum.

They also probably realize they're going to lose some serious cash once the iFail is released, and are trying to make it back somehow.

just call it by it's name. that's fail enough.

Yeah, I'm sure they are losing sleep over it...Apple knows how to maximize profits as well or better than pretty much any company out there even if what they are selling is selling less individual units, which in this case is not really an issue yet since...



Android phones sold less than 7 million units and even if they sold 70 million, I don't think Apple would be concerned unless they felt like some of the things that make their product more desirable were being out and out stolen without attribution or compensation.

And I'm not defending Apple here; fuck, didn't they pretty much steal the whole windows thing (that microsoft stole from them) from xerox?

Jobs/Apple sees the momentum and increased interest with Android. They're not worried about previous sales, they're worried about sales from here on out, and how those Android sales will cut into their profits. There's going to be close to 100 devices released this year with Android (not just phones), and seeing how it's superior in many ways to Apple, you better believe they've got Android in their sights.

Palm recently admitted that their Android phones are a disappointment, and then blamed Verizon for poor sales.

Palm doesn't make Android phones, and I'm guessing they didn't say their phones were a disappointment. You mean their sales figures? Anyway, Palm is a complete non sequitur to this conversation.

Jesus - To be exact, they said that the pre and pixie (???) were a dissappointment to their stock holders. Obviously, they mean sales figures because that's how people who sell things ultimately judge their own products. I'm sure that's the only momentum that Apple would fear.

The article I read said they were android phones. Their mistake not mine. I'd never buy one of these things so I'll take your word for it. If it were an android phone, then it would not be a non-sequitor. Based on the supposed motivation of Apple as supplied by Dalen.

link to the article.

and i'm pretty sure there hasn't been a disappointing Android device yet from a sales point of view. the Nexus was/is an entirely new sales model.

Android and Palm's WebOS are both based on Linux -- as far as I know that's the only similarity. Palm's sales have been a disappointment because they've done the opposite of what Google did with Android. They kept their platform as closed as Apple (at least to begin with) and tied it to their devices. That worked for Apple because they had a first-mover advantage, but Palm never had a prayer doing things that way.

Dalen's theory is probably partly right. Android's market share has been growing steadily, and there are now Android phones on nearly every carrier. Most notably, Verizon is selling them, so you can get functionality similar to the iPhone on a much better network. So Android will continue to eat iPhone's lunch, or at least its tater tots. So I think Apple is doing what an innovator often does when its lead starts to shrink -- it's diverting some of its attention from further innovation to squeeze more money from its prior success.

Except you can't use the web and talk on the phone at the same time on the Verizon network which is hot garbage.

Ah, I didn't realize that. I don't use Verizon. That is garbage. But just a different sort of garbage than a patent lawsuit.

Is this the article you are referring to in last Friday's Wall Street Journal?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 64054.html
They never mentioned their phones were Android instead referred to their Web OS.

omg too much work to call someone back.

I got a VZW phone because in Duck, NC you can't use the iPhone to talk and use the web at the same time or independently or in any way at all because the shit flat-out doesn't work there.

do a lot of you actually use the web on your phone during a phone call? ive never felt the need

Everyday. But I'm actually on the road running a business, not sitting in an office most of the time.

Yes, constantly. I would never switch to CDMA for this reason alone, thus I'm left with ATT or TMO. Luckily, my plan on TMO is super cheap and coverage is perfect for me.

I agree that Apple is certainly becoming concerned about Android's momentum. The suit against HTC is a shot at the most prominent maker of Android handsets with the weakest patent portfolio. This lawsuit is anticompetitive and sucks (in my opinion). I do think that Google will throw some of its patent expertise behind HTC to battle the lawsuit, so it's not nearly as bad for them as it could be.

It is, if one can land it.

I know virtually nothing about this lawsuit or the patents which are the subject of it, but the whole idea of patents is to prevent others from using a person's or company's invention(s). Thus, patents are meant to (and often do) encourage innovation, and resultant competition, by competitors designing around and coming up with the next new thing.

Techcrunch:

Google Gains, Apple Stays Steady, And Palm Loses In Smartphone Share

No wonder Apple is suing HTC for patent infringement over its Android phones. In the three months between October and January, Android’s overall share of smartphone subscribers in the U.S. rose 4.3 points to 7.1 percent, according to mobile market share data released by comScore. Android showed the biggest single gain of any of the top five smartphone platforms. Apple’s share was virtually flat at 25.2 percent (up 0.3 percent), while RIM’s Blackberries saw a 1.7 percent gain to 43 percent.

Overall, 42.7 million people in the U.S. owned a smartphone during the period, up 18 percent. So even though Apple’s relative share didn’t go anywhere, it still grew with the market. But watching RIM and Android phones take share cannot be pleasant for the folks at Cupertino. The iPhone still rules the mobile Web, but again here Android is catching up fast.