Microsoft makes $1B from Google software

Microsoft has a vast number of Android patent licensing
agreements with device makers worldwide, but a
Samsung court case has put a figure on exactly how
much money the software giant makes from Android.
Samsung paid Microsoft $1 billion in patent-licensing
royalties last year, a huge sum that has the pair locked
in a legal battle over contracts. Samsung originally
signed its patent deal with Microsoft in 2011, ahead of
its impressive dominance of Android shipments, but late
last year Samsung decided it was tired of paying on
time, or paying interest when a late payment was finally
made.
TWO TECH GIANTS BATTLE IN COURT
Microsoft has taken Samsung to court over the issues,
and the Korean company insists it wants to walk away
from the original deal because of Microsoft’s purchase of
Nokia’s phone business. Samsung claims the acquisition
invalidates the cross-licensing IP agreement, but
Microsoft doesn’t agree and wants the company to pay
$6.9 million in unpaid interest from last year. It’s clearly
an awkward court case, especially as Samsung
continues to build Windows-based smartphones,
tablets, and PCs.
With $1 billion in annual royalties at stake, Microsoft
seems confident it will force Samsung to pay what is
owed. "We are confident that our case is strong and that
we will be successful," Deputy General Counsel David
Howard said in a statement to Recode . "At the same
time, Microsoft values and respects our long partnership
with Samsung, is committed to it, and expects it to
continue." Microsoft may have convinced Samsung to
switch to Word following a visit from CEO Satya Nadella,
but a court will decide whether Samsung will pay up.

HTC turns profit in Q3

In the quarter ending September 30, HTC made $1.37
billion in revenue and $21 million in unaudited profit,
which isn’t much by the standards of large mobile
companies, but still above the $7.1 million forecasted
by 13 analysts polled by Reuters Thomson .
HTC made $2.17 billion in revenue and $75.5 million in
profit in Q2 2014, while in Q3 last year saw $1.55
billion in revenue and a stingy $98.6 million loss.
In other words, Q3 was down compared to last quarter,
but significantly better than the same quarter last year.
HTC’s small profit in the quarter that just ended was
thanks to cost cutting measures and improved
efficiency, as the company hinted in its previous
earnings briefing. That’s good news, but HTC needs to
swing to a profit based on good sales, rather than belt-
tightening.
Over the last three months, HTC relied on the sales of
the One (M8) , Desire 816, and One (E8) as the main
revenue sources, but now the company can look
forward to a new generation of revenue drivers, with
the new Desire 510 and Desire 820 at the mid-range, a
potential new One variant , and the Nexus 9 tablet , co-
developed with Google.
In other HTC news, shares reacted positively at the
appointing of 17-year HTC veteran David Chen as Chief
Marketing Manager , replacing Benjamin Ho, who left in
July. David Chen is also heading product development
for the company.

Apple to hold iPad event on October 16

Apple will hold Apple’s October
event, featuring iPads, on October 16th. According
to Paczkowski, the event will feature updates to Apple’s
iPad line as well as some new Macs. This includes the
Retina iMacs that we reported on earlier this week.
The event will also feature Yosemite, assumedly the OS
will be released soon after the event, if Apple follows
historic patterns.

Security researchers detail 'unpatchable' USB hack

Remember Karsten Nohl? The security researcher who
discovered how to infect just about any USB device
with scarily savvy malware and delivered a lengthy talk
about it at this year's Black Hat conference? At the
time he didn't want to share the code for his exploit,
but fellow researchers Adam Caudill and Brandon
Wilson figured out how to pull off some of the same
tricks and they've published their findings on GitHub .
Why? To try and force device manufacturers to get
their security acts together.
Nohl's reason for withholding his code the first time
around was because he thought it was "unpatchable"
-- that is, there wouldn't be an easy firmware fix for
this potentially huge problem. We do mean huge, too:
the so-called BadUSB proof-of-concept allowed Nohl
(along with Caudill and Wilson after the fact) to
manipulate files installed from an infected USB device,
make an infected gadget act as a faux-keyboard that
attackers could control, and in some cases relay
personal information to a remote server. Some might
argue that releasing this sort of information into the
wild is irresponsible and dangerous, but Caudill and
Wilson hope to get USB vendors thinking seriously
about this potential threat by proving that there's
nothing potential about it.
VIA: Wired
SOURCE: GitHub

Apple intends lowering beats subscription

Ten bucks -- that's what many on-demand music
streaming services like Rhapsody and Spotify cost per
month. But -- according to Recode -- Apple thinks
$10 is too damn high, so it's already talking to music
labels in an effort to bring Beat Music's price down
and entice users to choose it over its rivals. Back
when an Apple exec shot down rumors that the
company's sunsetting Beats Music, Recode said that
while the service will stay, there might be major
changes coming -- this cheaper pricing might be one
of them. It's now up to Cupertino to convince these
corporations (it's reportedly sussing out a new set of
rights with music labels, even as you read this) to
sign on the dotted line. Unfortunately, you won't be
seeing any of these big Beats Music upgrades until
next year, so you'll have to pony up a few more $10
bills for now.
SOURCE: Recode

Facebook mobile like button for iOS and Android

Facebook has become a ubiquitous brand over the
past several years, as a powerful social network that
over one billion people use to share the latest stories
and content with others. Aiming to take that immersive
experience one step further, Facebook on Thursday
officially launched a Mobile Like Button for iOS and
Android devices.
The new like button is available to all iOS and Android
mobile app developers and enables users to directly
like an app’s Facebook Page or any Open Graph object
and share on the social network. The like button
works seamlessly with anyone logged into their
Facebook account and using a native app on an
iPhone or other mobile device.
Facebook has outlined tips for developers to determine
the most relevant moment to show the like button and
how to position it for maximum engagement. The
social network provides documentation for developers
to implement the new mobile like button on both iOS
and Android, requiring just one simple line of code on
each platform.
The new Mobile Like Button was originally previewed
at the f8 conference earlier this year.
Look for the Facebook like button to appear in your
favorite App Store and Google Play apps coming soon.
[Facebook via TechCrunch ]

Lumia 735 "selfie phone" launches in UK

Lumia 735 is now available in the UK. Touted as "the
selfie phone" due its 5-megapixel front-facing camera,
the Lumia 735 -- an LTE-friendly brother of the Lumia
730 -- is a mid-range device with a 4.7-inch 720p
display, quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor
and 6.7MP main camera. Only O2 seems keen on day
one, offering the Lumia 735 for free on contracts of £21
per month and over, while Carphone Warehouse has a
number of carrier options starting at £17 per month
with the handset thrown in. MVNO Virgin is strangely
on the ball, with the Lumia 735 free from £15 per
month or £190 on pay-as-you-go . In terms of SIM-
free, unlocked models, Clove is leading the pack with a
£220 price tag, while other retailers are hovering
around the £225 mark currently.