Google and LG sign patent cross license agreement

Patent disputes have been a constant cause of
headaches in the smartphone industry, but at least we
know that Google and LG Electronics won’t be hauling
each other down to the local courthouse anytime soon.
The two technology giants have just announced a long-
term global patent cross-licensing agreement.
The agreement doesn’t only cover smartphone patents,
it includes a whole range of products and technologies.
Given that Google now has its home automation and
TV products and that LG has a long history in
consumer electronics and is an influential Android
partner, it seems like a rather fair deal.
By working together on cross-licenses like
this, companies can focus on bringing
great products and services to consumers
around the world.
The deal includes all existing patents held by each
company and extends to cover all patents filed within
the next 10 years as well. Google and Samsung signed
a similar decade long deal back at the start of 2014 ,
with the aim of proving that cooperation is more
beneficial than squabbling.
The two companies have seemingly been on quite good
terms since hashing out a deal for LG’s well received
Nexus smartphones. This patent agreement indicates
that the two giants are happy to continue a mutually
beneficial arrangement over the coming years.

Android 5.0 Lollipop changes the way your SD card works

Google has brought a new set of tools for developers to
leverage the SD card on your phone or tablet with
Android 5.0 Lollipop . Using a new intent, applications
can now have read and write access to directories on
removable storage — even directories they do not own.
Google at its developer conference this summer
announced it would be addressing this issue, and today
things were made more official with an announcement
on the Android-platform Google group.
Here's what you need to know.
Hey all, in KitKat we introduced APIs that let apps read/
write file in app-specific directories on secondary
storage devices, such as SD cards.
We heard loud and clear that developers wanted richer
access beyond these directories, so in Lollipop we
added the new ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT_TREE intent.
Apps can launch this intent to pick and return a
directory from any supported DocumentProvider,
including any of the shared storage supported by the
device. Apps can then create, update, and delete files
and directories anywhere under the picked tree without
any additional user interaction. Just like the other
document intents, apps can persist this access across
reboots.
This gives apps broad, powerful access to manage files
while still involving the user in the initial selection
process. Users may choose to give your app access to a
narrow directory like "My Vacation Photos," or they
could pick the top-level of an entire SD card; the choice
is theirs.
OK. If you're not an Android application developer, that
looks pretty complicated. In fact, it is pretty
complicated, so it's a good thing that Google did most
of the work. But we can try and simplify things a bit.
Using this new method, a developer can now declare a
permission on installation (that's part of that list of
items we usually gloss over) to do "things" on device
storage — including removable (read: SD cards) storage.
One of the things they can do is allow you to choose
what folder(s) on the SD card you want the application
to be able to change. This could be one folder — like
"Music" — or the top level folder. Anything inside this
directory can be read, written, and possibly deleted.
Simply put, this means that an app like Poweramp can
now edit tags on the songs you have in the Music
folder. Or a photo editor can save to the Pictures folder,
and not just its own folder. Or a file manager can move
files around on the SD card. All the developer needs to
do is update the app with the new methods.
There will be issues with some apps. We can count on
that. And you'll need to allow for a new permission that
gives an app almost unfettered access to your device
storage — both internal and external. But this is a
(mostly) safe way to allow applications to have access
to the storage on your device that bypasses standard
filesystem commands in favor of a document model.

Via : Android Central

Boot loops and crashes cried some iphone 6 and 6 Plus owners

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have been out for
more than a month now, and while the launch went
well for the Cupertino-based company, it would seem
some owners are experiencing less-than-stellar issues
with their handsets.
Within the Apple Support community, many owners of
128GB variants of both the iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6
are reporting issues with repeated crashes of their
handsets. Some owners are even experiencing boot
loops after their device crashes and tries to restart.
According to a report published by MacRumors, the
issue seems to be plaguing owners of the
aforementioned variants that also have a large app
library on their handset.
It is believed that it could be a hardware issue with the
128GB models, but the exact cause of the issue is still
unknown at this point.
However, BusinessKorea is reporting that “industry
contacts” speaking to the publication suggest the
problem could lie with the triple-level cell (TLC) NAND
flash included in these particular models. Previous,
Apple utilized a multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash:
“Some in the industry point out that considering that
technical defects mainly occur in the 128GB version
of the iPhone 6 Plus, there might be a problem in the
controller IC of triple-level cell (TLC) NAND flash.
[...]
As numerous reports of low read performance of the
Samsung SSD 840 and 840 EVO using TLC NAND
flash have surfaced on the Internet, a problem in the
controller IC is considered to be the more likely
cause of the defects.“
As noted, the only way to fix the issue is to bring the
plagued iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus back to Apple and
have it replaced.
Have you experienced any of these issues with your
own 128GB iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus?
Via : MacRumors

Samsung looks set to continue with Galaxy S6

SamMobile states that the hardware
manufacturer is in early stages of development of the
handset, which is allegedly codenamed Project Zero
internally. Citing anonymous sources, the website also
revealed preliminary specs of the handset, which include
a QHD display, 16 or 20 MP camera, 64-bit CPU and
more.
Although there wasn't any mention of a screen size,
SamMobile mentions that the Galaxy S5 would feature a
QHD display, which is unsurprising considering the
trend in screen resolution we've been witnessing over
the last few years. Samsung is said to be debating
whether to use the same 16 MP sensor with OIS that was
introduced with the Galaxy Note 4, or shift to a 20 MP
sensor. At the front, hit looks like the vendor has locked
in on a 5 MP camera.
As for the innards, the Galaxy S6 is reported to feature
the 64-bit Exynos 7420 SoC Samsung launched last
month. Featuring four Cortex A57 cores and four Cortex
A53 cores, the SoC is said to include Samsung's first in-
house modem, the Exynos Modem 333, which offers LTE
connectivity. The manufacturer will still offer a
Qualcomm version, which is said to feature the
Snapdragon 810.
The internal storage gets a mention as well, with
Samsung allegedly looking to offer the device in
32/64/128 GB variants. In terms of connectivity, the
Galaxy S6 is said to include a Broadcom BCM4773 chip
that integrates GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity on
a single chip, which serves to decrease battery drain.
As is always with unconfirmed rumors, we advise you
take the news with the obligatory grain of salt. Seeing
as how there's a lot of time before the Galaxy S6 gets
any sort of official announcement, there is the very real
possibility that the hardware details mentioned above
may turn out to be entirely different from what is actually
included inside the device. That being said, what would
you guys like to see in the Galaxy S6?
Source: SamMobile

Apple shifts it's A9 chip production from Samsung to TSMC

Up until last year, Samsung had been the sole
manufacturer of Apple’s in-house chips used inside
the iPhone and the iPad. In a bid to diversify its
supply-chain this year, Apple shifted the majority of
the production of its A8 chips found inside the iPhone
6 and iPhone 6 Plus to TSMC.
In a bid to become the primary producer of the A9 chip
that will be used in the iPhone 7 and other iOS devices
next year, Samsung has now offered quotes lower than
TSMC to secure the order from Apple. To further
sweeten the deal, Samsung is also ready to
manufacture other flash based chips for Apple like
flash memory and perform other optimisation services.
According to industry sources close to
DigiTimes, Apple will finalise its primary supplier for
the A9 chip by the end of this quarter.
Apple shifting to TSMC for the production of its A8
chips had an adverse effect on Samsung’s logic chip
business as it profit fell sharply to $848 million in the
last quarter.
Apple’s upcoming A9 chip is expected to be based on
the 1X FinFET process. Its current A8 and A8X chip are
based on the 20nm fabrication process.

Royalties disagreement between Microsoft and Samsung

Samsung and Microsoft
reached an agreement on a cross-licensing deal
for Android phones and tablets, which
included Samsung agreeing to pay Microsoft a set
amount of royalties for specific patents used. Fast-
forward to the end of 2013, which is when Microsoft
announced that they would be purchasing Nokia’s
mobile division for 7.2 billion dollars. Interestingly
enough, Nokia went with Microsoft instead of Android
because they feared Samsung would dominate the
market if Nokia also ran under the Android name.
Samsung did however did go on to dominate the
market, Nokia didn’t do so well, and here we are now.
So why exactly is Samsung refusing to pay previously
agreed upon royalty fees?
To understand the reason behind this, you have to
keep in mind that back in 2011 when a cross-licensing
deal was reached, the two companies also reached an
agreement on something else: To cooperate in the
marketing and development of Windows Phone. That
naturally would involve Samsung sharing some
sensitive information with Microsoft. The deal also
stated that royalty fees for Android would be reduced,
provided that Samsung could reach specific sales
targets for Windows phones.
Crying foul
Samsung is now crying foul, stating that the purchase
of Nokia has now made Microsoft a direct hardware
competitor. Because of this, Samsung feels that
cooperating with Microsoft and openly sharing
sensitive information is no longer possible, and that it
directly violates the terms of the original 2011
agreement. Samsung also stated that it could create US
antitrust issues, and filed that “The agreements, now
between competitors, invite charges of collusion”.
Microsoft is so far very
confident that the original
agreement will stick, and
stated that they feel they
have a very strong case.
The Redmond company is
also seeking around 7
million dollars in damages as punishment for
Samsung’s late payment of the billion dollar royalty
fee from last year.
I can certainly understand both sides in this issue.
Microsoft is entitled to royalties, as there are Microsoft
patents in use with most Android devices. But did the
original agreement reached in 2011 stipulate that
Microsoft becoming directly involved in mobile
hardware would be grounds for voiding the deal
entirely? Samsung, who currently has their fair share
of problems , also has a point. How can Samsung, the
most dominant Android manufacturer in the world,
share hardware secrets with a partner/now competitor
company that develops their own hardware and
software within the mobile sector?
Via : Engadget

First Microsoft branding on Lumia

Microsoft revealed its plans to drop the Nokia moniker
on its Lumia smartphones last month, and it appears
that a new device with the new Microsoft Lumia
branding is on the way soon. Images from Chinese
regulator TENAA show a new Lumia handset with
Microsoft branding at the front and rear in what appears
to be a bigger version of the Lumia 530. The new device
is simply labelled RM-1090 for now, but it offers dual-
SIM support with what will likely be low-end
specifications.
As part of Microsoft’s official announcement, the
company did hint that a new Lumia would be launching
soon. This new handset appears to be the latest low-
end Windows Phone from Microsoft, an approach that
the company is using to try and push the overall
operating system market share as it struggles to
compete with Android on cost and features. Microsoft
has launched the Lumia 530, 630, 730 , and 830 over the
past few months, all with a focus on price and
availability. Little else is known about this newly leaked
handset, but an official unveiling before the holidays is
highly likely.
Via : The Verge