Hasta La Gadget!

If you haven’t noticed, the mobile patent wars have been heating up lately, and Motorola hasn’t exactly been sitting quietly on the sidelines. In the past year, the company’s been in the courtroom with a number of major players, including Apple and Microsoft, and now the outfit seems poised to go after other Android handset makers. According to Unwired View, during a keynote speech at the Oppenheimer Technology and Communications conference, CEO Sanjay Jha signaled that Motorola could soon go on the offensive when it comes to the competition:

I would bring up IP as a very important for differentiation (among Android vendors). We have a very large IP portfolio, and I think in the long term, as things settle down, you will see a meaningful difference in positions of many different Android players. Both, in terms of avoidance of royalties, as well as potentially being able to collect royalties. And that will make a big difference to people who have very strong IP positions.

If Motorola does indeed intend to differentiate itself from its competitors by clutching tightly to its patent portfolio, could we soon see a replay of Microsoft’s recent royalty collection binge? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Sanjay Jha hints at Motorola’s plans to collect patent royalties from Android competitors originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Aug 2011 13:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple may be hard at work creating the one phone to rule them all (around the world), if this latest patent application is any indication. The filing, first submitted in April of last year, describes a software-based method of determining carrier rankings, allowing owners to browse through a database of network-specific features, such as voice and data, to determine their best fit and sign-up for service. Ideally, this future iPhone set-up would come courtesy of a truly global phone, packing all the necessary radios and software to surf along the globe’s wireless frequencies sans extra SIM cards. Rumors of an open handset have been circling Cupertino for a bit, much to the dismay of operators who fear the move would diminish their function as the industry’s gatekeeper, shifting power to consumers. Certainly, Jobs and co. have a high hurdle to overcome if this purported world phone is to ever become a reality. In the meantime, why not just snag an unlocked device?

[Thanks, Neil]

Apple’s carrier ranking patent application hints at global iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Aug 2011 13:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HEY ASSHOLES, MY IPHONE SCREEN IS BROKEN AND YOU WILL GIVE ME A REPLACEMENT. Was that this gun-toting Swissmister angle? Or was he just a member of the military, allowed an open carry? What the hell is possibly going on? More »

FTC reportedly focusing on Android, search placement in Google probe originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Beats Electronics’ Jimmy Iovine: ‘we have got to get to the phone’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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