German court rules Motorola Xoom doesn’t violate Apple’s iPad design patent

Motorola Xoom review

Apple filed a stealth lawsuit last summer alleging that the Motorola Xoom violated the design patent that underpins the iPad. While Apple has had some success leveling its big patent gun against Samsung, the same can’t be said for Motorola: a German court just declared that the reference Android tablet doesn’t infringe on Apple’s design claim. The ruling isn’t a complete win for Motorola, however, as the court wouldn’t invalidate the patent — it could theoretically be leveled against other tablets in the future. The loss will still sting for Apple, which now has to resort to a multi-touch patent claim (among others) if it wants to make Motorola feel the heat in Mannheim.

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German court rules Motorola Xoom doesn’t violate Apple’s iPad design patent originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 11:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guy Builds Bridge out of LEGO (Sorta)

We’re always talking about stuff made out of LEGO around here, and while I’ve even seen furniture and vehicles made from LEGO bricks, I can honestly say this is the first time I’ve seen a load-bearing bridge that uses LEGO.

lego bridge 1

Gotcha! What you’re looking at here is a clever painted LEGO brick illusion by graffiti artist MEGX, recently done on the underside of a concrete bridge in the town of Wuppertal, Germany.

lego bridge 2

If you happen to stop by Wuppertal (I just like saying that), you can see the LEGO bridge along Schwesterstraße, though I’m hot sure exactly where along the street it appears.

lego bridge 3

[via Whudat]


Nokia hits RIM with another triple-patent combo punch

Nokia hits RIM with another triplepatent combo punch

In the law of the playground, he who has the biggest rep holds court. In the world of mobile, though, it’s all about your quiver of patents. Nokia has its fair share, and already flexed its litigation-muscle against RIM (among others). Now, it’s popping another three in the chamber in this latest filing. It’s Germany, again, the Madison Square Garden of the mobile world — more specifically Munich. FOSS Patents asserts that Nokia has a much stronger IP portfolio than RIM, but that Waterloo will still likely countersue. So, perhaps another added benefit of concentrating on a smaller number of devices? Less patent toes to tread on.

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Nokia hits RIM with another triple-patent combo punch originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 05:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Facebook App Center goes globetrotting with 7 new countries, blankets all of the English-speaking world

Facebook App Center goes globetrotting with 7 new countries, blankets all of the Englishspeaking world

Facebook’s App Center is having its passport stamped quite a lot lately. Just days after the HTML5 app portal set foot in the UK, it’s making the leap to seven more countries. Brazil, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey will all get a crack at using web apps both on the desktop as well as in the Android and iOS native clients. The new group is coming onboard in the next few weeks. In the meantime, countries where English makes a frequent appearance — Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the US — now supply the App Center for every single user. To help speed along the virtual customs claims, Facebook is trotting out a translation tool to get developers on the right track. It shouldn’t be long before App Center is a mainstay of the entire Facebook world, even though we may end up cursing the company after hour three of a Jetpack Joyride marathon.

Continue reading Facebook App Center goes globetrotting with 7 new countries, blankets all of the English-speaking world

Facebook App Center goes globetrotting with 7 new countries, blankets all of the English-speaking world originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 12:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MasterCard and T-Mobile to bring NFC payments to Europe in Q3 (video)

MasterCard and TMobile to bring NFC payments to Europe in Q3 video

Poland and Germany could be the next two countries to get smartphone payments, powered by MasterCard and Deutsche Telekom. The SIM-based NFC solution will utilize the US bank’s ClickandBuy service for processing and will be available to T-Mobile customers, rolling out to Poland in Q3 of this year and Germany in 2013. This latest partnership comes on the heels of Vodafone’s pairing with Visa, which is also said to be making a push for the German market. What remains to be seen is whether or not there is in fact a demand for mobile payments — the technology has yet to take off in the US, despite an influx of funding and infrastructure from MasterCard and Google. NFC is no doubt the future of cashless transactions, but it likely remains a few years away from hitting the mainstream, with compatible devices still limited, on both the customer and retail fronts. Hit up the links below for a closer look at DT’s push to conquer the European market, one NFC-equipped SIM card at a time. Then jump past the break for a quick intro, compliments of Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann and MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga (the two seemingly random gentlemen that you may have noticed above as well).

Continue reading MasterCard and T-Mobile to bring NFC payments to Europe in Q3 (video)

MasterCard and T-Mobile to bring NFC payments to Europe in Q3 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 09:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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