Apple-Motorola patent war comes to a settlement

Fights over patent licensing aren’t about to be on their way out. One of the more high-profile ones recently has been the Apple-Motorola patent war.
It seems this particular one has taken an odd twist, however — apparently, both Apple and Motorola have gone ahead and voluntarily dismissed the suit, without a cross-licensing agreement between the two. Reuters notes that the two are working together on patent reform.
Something worth noting is the ongoing purchase of Motorola Mobility by Lenovo. Motorola’s current owner is Google, who will retain Motorola’s patents post-purchase.
Also of note is the fact that this is simply one of many major tech patent suits which have been ongoing in the past — notably, HTC, Samsung, and Apple have all been involved in high-profile cases.
This particular case began in 2010, and the companies warred about things such as the method by which phones connect to 3G networks. It is nice to see a patent suit finally not drag on for the rest of eternity, for sure.


Source: Reuters

Red HTC One (M8) Official in Taiwan, Blue in the UK

Tired of the HTC One (M8)’s Gunmetal Grey, Glacial Silver, and Amber Gold color schemes? The wait for new options may finally be over, depending on where you live. After a seemingly endless number of leaks, HTC confirmed what we already knew, that the rumored Red and Blue versions of the One (M8) are coming to market.
Starting today, the red-colored M8 is available for sale exclusively in Taiwan. The “Aqua Blue” version, meanwhile, can be purchased at UK-based retailer MobileFun for £550 (about $920) unsubsidized.
Company officials were mum on whether or not the Red M8 will make its way to more countries eventually, or other color variants for that matter. However, a previous leak of the Red version for Verizon was spotted in April.

Via: MobileFun

Google Planning Acqusition of Twitch for $1 Billion

Report from Variety suggested that Google was in the final stages to announce plans to buy video game streaming service Twitch for roughly $1 billion. A separate report from the Wall Street Journal, who must have much different sources, claims that the deal is still early, and that Twitch may decline whatever offer is made, opting for additional funding instead of selling off the company to Google.
For those not familiar with Twitch, it is a streaming website service that launched in 2011, but has grown exponentially. It single-handedly accounted for 1.35% of all downstream bandwidth usage in March of 2014. As big as YouTube has become at video sharing, they never seemed to get their finger on streaming, and that is where they hope Twitch can help.

The reported all-cash deal is expected to be announced sooner, rather than later, according to Variety. However, YouTube and Twitch are reportedly preparing to fight for the deal, as they expect US regulators will have something to say about the #1 video content site acquiring the #1 video streaming site. From the WSJ sources, who paint a much different picture, the public may never learn the actual value of the deal, and a lot of talks must be completed before anything official is announced. No YouTube or Twitch representatives have commented on the deal.
Only time will tell if this deal will benefit the consumers to all of this online content. Twitch has a fairly well-established monetization strategy with their channels, and we can only assume Google won’t mess with that.


via;variety

Sony forecasts sales of Xperia smartphones to rise 28% to 50 million units in the current year

Sony might be having problems with the company predicting that it will lose the equivalent of $489 million for its fiscal year that ends next March. But smartphones are not the reason for the manufacturer's expected loss. In fact, it forecasts that sales of its Xperia smartphone line will reach 50 million units during the current fiscal year, a 28% improvement from the 39 million units it sold in the fiscal year that ended this past March. That was up 18% from the 33 million smartphones that Sony had sold the previous fiscal year.
Sony has done well with the Xperia Z line that first came to the public's attention during CES 2013. The Sony Xperia Z displayed its ability to withstand submersion in water by continually getting dunked into a tank filled with liquid. Sony's internal rule to build a new flagship every six months then led it to build the Sony Xperia Z1, followed by the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact. Unlike most "mini" models, the Z1 Compact kept most of the specs offered by the full-sized version, including the quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU and the 20.7MP rear-facing camera. Many Japanese consumers found the Xperia Z1 Compact to be the better phone.The current flagship model, the Sony Xperia Z2, was unveiled late February at MWC, but has run into delays in some markets. And under Sony's six-month rule, we could see the Sony Xperia Z3 as soon as August. Meanwhile, results for the Xperia Z2 will be included in the next annual profit report, as will the just announced Sony Xperia Z2 Compact, aka the Sony Xperia A2. Unlike the Sony Xperia Z and Sony Xperia Z1, both of which were offered by T-Mobile, it looks like the Xperia Z2 will be available in the U.S. only from Sony's website. Despite rumors that the phone would be a Verizon exclusive, and marketing photos used by Sony that actually showed a Verizon branded model, the last word from Sony is that the only way to buy the Xperia Z2 stateside will be to pick up an unlocked variant from Sony's own website.The Sony Xperia line has come a long way since the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 was launched in late September of 2008. Powered by Windows Mobile, the device sported a 3 inch screen and used a panels UI that never caught on. Back then, the device was powered by a single-core 528MHz processor with 256MB of RAM.



source: WSJ

Nokia makes it snow in South Africa to start promoting the Nokia X in a new ad

The Nokia X is making the rounds and despite our experience that we recounted in our review, Nokia Microsoft wanted to make a point about the X, and did so using snow in South Africa.
What exactly was that point? Nokia created a snow slope in Cape Town as an analogy that the Android powered Nokia X will offer a smooth and fast app experience, by having a bunch of folks race down the hill in inflatable sleds.Each sled is an app, from BBM to Skype, from Angry Birds to Plants vs. Zombies, Nokia wants you to flow smoothly through your favorite apps. The commercial is clearly aimed at your mainstream consumer, and not the resident geek.In addition to being able to side load a bunch of Android apps, the Nokia X has a low price point as an appealing feature as well, with prices starting a bit above the $100 mark. All the color that Nokia is known for will be available as well. If you are in the neighborhood of Cape Town, does snow in South Africa get you excited for the Nokia X?

Nokia Lumia 630 available starting today as the world's first Windows Phone 8.1 handset

The Lumia 630 today became the world’s first commercially-available Windows Phone 8.1 handset. According to an announcement from Nokia Conversations, sales are starting in Asia this week, while Europe and the US should get the smartphone a bit later.  

Initially unveiled in early April, at the same time with the high-end Lumia 930 and the LTE-capable Lumia 635, the Lumia 630 is a device that should offer “an uncompromised Microsoft experience and Lumia experience at a low price point.” Its features include a 4.5-inch display with 480 x 854 pixels, 3G, 5MP rear camera, quad-core 1.2 Snapdragon 400 processor, 8GB of expandable internal memory, and a 1,820 mAh battery. The handset only has 512MB of RAM, but Windows Phone 8.1 (just like Android KitKat) is optimized to run smoothly with that amount of memory anyway. Prices for the single SIM Lumia 630 start at around $160 (€119), while the dual SIM variant is a bit more expensive: $176 (€129). Various color options are available, including black, white, orange, green, and yellow.Interestingly, although the Lumia 630 has Nokia’s logo on the front, the post announcing its release doesn’t mention the Nokia name at all, and that’s probably (or definitely) because Microsoft now owns Nokia’s Devices and Services business. Anyway, you can let us know in the comments if you’re looking forward to buying a Nokia / Microsoft Lumia 630. 

 

 source: Nokia Conversations

Business Korea: Samsung will release its “Gear Glass” at September's IFA 2014

With remarkable certainty, Business Korea claims that Samsung is going to release its smart-glasses in September. According to a insider at Sammy, the so-called "Gear Glass" will be unveiled at the yearly IFA conference, which takes place September 5-10 in Berlin, Germany. It would make sense for Samsung to take center stage with such an announcement, considering Google plans to take its hi-tech Google Glass spectacles out of Beta by the same time.
According to the source, the glasses will run a version of Tizen OS, and will combine an ear piece with a display. This will enable wearers to listen to music with their right ear and look at the display with their right eye. In addition, the glasses will omit the Galaxy branding, just like the Samsung Gear 2 and Gear Fit. The report also claims that Google is zeroing in on commercializing Google Glass by introducing "products with built-in lenses, augmented reality functions, a music player, and a smartphone-connected partial mobile function". The last presumably means making and taking calls. Meanwhile, Apple is still collecting smart-glass patents one by one, and recently got a patent for a head-mounted display that connects with its electronic devices. Microsoft and LG too are developing and patenting an "MS Glass" and a "G Glass".

 
source: Business Corea