Motorola HC1: Google Goggles for the enterprise
Motorola Solutions has unveiled a head-mounted, voice-controlled computer that's targeted at the military and other industries where workers need hands-free access to information.
Called the HC1, the device runs on an ARM processor and has an optional camera to send back real-time video over a wireless network.
Unlike Google Goggles, though, the HC1 is aimed at the enterprise market with a price tag of $4,000-$5,000 per unit.
Areas the company has been experimenting with include "high-end repair markets," such as aircraft engines, said Paul Steinberg, CTO of Motorola Solutions (which is the part of Motorola Google did not acquire). "Emergency medical personnel at trauma centers might be looking at this too." Read more...
Microsoft scores victory in German patent fight with Motorola
Google-owned Motorola Mobility is infringing a Microsoft patent related to text input, a lower regional court in Munich decided on Thursday. The verdict will result in a sales ban on some phones and Motorola will also be liable for damages if an expected appeal is unsuccessful, the court said.
For Microsoft, the verdict in Munich -- which is related to patent EP1040406, which describes a method for handling communication between a keyboard and an application -- is a victory in a series of infringement cases against Motorola in Germany.
"We're pleased this decision builds on previous rulings in Germany that have already found Motorola is broadly infringing Microsoft's intellectual property. We will continue to enforce injunctions against Motorola products in Germany and hope Motorola will join other Android device makers by taking a license to Microsoft's patented inventions," Microsoft said in an emailed statement. Read more...
Motorola launches Razr i smartphone with 2GHz Intel Atom processor
Google-owned Motorola Mobility launched its first smartphone with an Atom processor from Intel, the companies announced at an event in London on Tuesday.
The Razr i is the first smartphone with a 2.0GHz Atom Z2460 processor: Existing Atom smartphones run at 1.6GHz. The faster clock speed will result in smoother browsing and better video performance, according to Eric Reid, general manager for Intel's Mobile and Communications group.
The smartphone still uses version 4.0 of Android, although it will be possible to upgrade it to Android 4.1. Motorola has not set a date for the upgrade's availability. Read more...
Motorola’s Xoom tablet does not infringe on Apple’s designs, German court rules
Motorola's Xoom tablet does not infringe on some of Apple's community designs, the regional court of Dusseldorf ruled on Tuesday. Apple wanted a Europe-wide ban on the Motorola tablet, a court spokesman said.
Apple tried to get the Motorola Xoom banned in Europe because it said Motorola infringed on three of its community design rights, unitary industrial design rights that protect the intellectual property of products sold in the European Union. The judge decided that the Xoom does not resemble the iPad enough, said Andreas Vitek, spokesman for the regional Dusseldorf court.
Motorola filed a counter claim against Apple, demanding that the court decide that Apple's community designs were invalid, Vitek said. However, the judge also denied that claim, he said, adding that while both companies lost their claims, Apple had to pay two thirds of the litigation costs and Motorola should pay one third. Vitek could not say how much each company had to pay. Read more...
Motorola, Microsoft suspend some patent disputes until trial
Motorola Mobility and Microsoft have agreed to suspend their patent claims against each other in three U.S. cases until a November trial on Microsoft claims that Motorola has not lived up to promises to license some video and Wi-Fi patents on RAND (reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms.
The two companies, involved in three patent lawsuits in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, agreed to stay their lawsuits against each other while the two sides concentrate on the RAND license issues to be addressed in Nov. 13 trial, according to court documents. On Tuesday, the two companies filed a joint motion to stay all patent infringement claims. Read more...
European Commission opens antitrust investigation of Motorola Mobility
Europe's top competition regulator has launched two antitrust investigations into Motorola Mobility.
Following complaints by Apple and Microsoft, the European Commission will assess whether Motorola Mobility has failed to license standards-essential patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms as required by both the Commission and standard setting organizations.
Standards-essential patents are those that must be licensed in order for products to operate according to developed industry standards such as 3G, GSM or the video standard H.264. Because the patents are crucial for all market players, standards bodies often require that patent holders such as Motorola Mobility that are party to the development of the standards must license their patents on FRAND terms. Read more...
Apple loses first round in ITC case against Motorola
Apple is on the losing end of an initial ruling by the U.S. International Trade Commission in the companys battle with Motorola.
On Friday, an administrative law judge at the ITC made an initial determination that Motorola does not infringe claims in three Apple patents. The ITC took on the case in November after Apple asked it to forbid Motorola from importing certain phones to the U.S. that Apple alleged infringe the patents.
The ruling is now subject to review by the full commission.
Apple declined to comment on the ruling. Motorola said it was pleased with judge's decision. Read more...
Intel fights for its future with smartphone deals
With Intel finally breaking into the burgeoning smartphone market, analysts say the company is moving to defend its turf -- and possibly even its future stability -- against an encroaching competitor.
On Tuesday, Intel CEO Paul Otellini told an audience at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) here that the company has inked deals to provide its upcoming Atom chips to both Motorola and Lenovo for their smartphones. Intel has been virtually shut out of the lucrative smartphone arena, so this is a big step forward for the chipmaker.
It's also a major defensive move against ARM chips, which have dominated the smartphone chip market. And with more and more users depending on their smartphones for a lot of their computing needs, the PC market -- an Intel strong point -- has suffered as well. Read more...
Google, Motorola file for merger clearance in many countries
Google and Motorola Mobility plan to file for pre-closing antitrust clearances for the merger of Motorola with a Google subsidiary in a number of jurisdictions including Canada, China, Israel, Russia, Taiwan, and Turkey, in addition to filings in the U.S. and before the European Commission.
The companies have already filed for clearance to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice on Aug. 29 under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, and the request is still within the usual waiting period of 30 days, Motorola Mobility said in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.
The U.S. agencies can either allow an "early termination", or if either agency determines during the waiting period that further inquiry is necessary, it can in a "second request" call for additional information and documents beyond the waiting period. Read more...
Will tablets soon be free?
The price of touch tablets used to make sense. Apple's iPad has cost between $499 and $829 since it first shipped a year and a half ago. And for a while, competitors all hovered around that price.
The Motorola Xoom and RIM's BlackBerry Playbook both start at $499 and go up from there with added connectivity and storage.
Hewlett-Packard's TouchPad used to cost about the same.
This $499-and-up range was considered a reasonable price for these powerful and useful little computers. It's a price point that works, right?
Well, no. It's a price point that lets Apple run away with the market. So in the last month or so, we've seen touch tablet pricing go nuts. Read more...
Windows Phone may be cheaper than Android – Inq boss
Google's proposed acquisition of Motorola has obliged one operator to look more closely at Windows Mobile. So says Inq boss Frank Meehan, who runs the Hutchison-owned handset company. He has a very interesting reason, which might surprise some of you.
with the Cloud Touch
Meehan says he thinks that the software cost of Windows Phone may now be lower than that of an Android phone. Android is nominally free: you download it and compile it. But the sticker price of the OS doesn't reflect the final software cost. A manufacturer needs to stump up for the royalties covering the wireless stacks. They may also be hit by other, unexpected royalty demands. And that makes Android a lot more uncertain than a supplier who can guarantee no nasty surprises, or insure against them. Read more...
Google claims Microsoft improperly showed Android code to expert
Google asked the USITC (U.S. International Trade Commission) yesterday to block the testimony of a Microsoft expert witness in the latter's 10-month-old action against Motorola over patents allegedly used by Android.
In a motion filed with the ITC Wednesday, Google asked that Robert Stevenson, an expert hired by Microsoft, be barred from testifying about the Android source code at an upcoming hearing because Microsoft violated a confidentiality agreement struck between Microsoft, Motorola, and Google.
According to Google, Microsoft did not ask permission before showing Stevenson the Android source code. Read more...
Apple also filed suit against Motorola Xoom in Europe
Apple isn't just going after the Samsung Galaxy Tab in Europe, it's also attacking the Motorola Xoom.
Apple's lawsuit, which was filed in Germany and led to Tuesday's injunction barring sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Europe, makes reference to a separate complaint against the Motorola Xoom.
Patent expert Florian Mueller found the original lawsuit, filed in Dusseldorf, Germany, and pointed out the Motorola action.
The reference in the suit says that Apple has also filed a complaint over the design of the Motorola Xoom, which runs the Android operating system. But it's unclear if Apple is seeking an injunction that would immediately prevent Motorola from importing the tablets into Europe. Read more...
Motorola Mobility posts strong Q4 but warns about Q1
In its first earnings report since becoming a standalone company, Motorola Mobility said it was profitable in the fourth quarter of 2010 and shipped more than twice as many smartphones during the quarter as it did in all of 2009.
However, the company said it expects a net loss of $26 million to $62 million for the current quarter, indicating that competition in the smartphone market continues to be heated.
That loss may come specifically from new competition from the iPhone. Motorola, which has strong sales through the Droid franchise at Verizon, said it is already suffering from competition from the Verizon iPhone, even though that phone doesn't go on sale until February. Read more...