Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 4th Aug 2011 21:38 UTC
The Google-Microsoft patent war of words is continuing. Yesterday, Google (rightfully so, in my book) accused Apple, Microsoft, and Oracle partaking in an organised patent attack against Android, instead of competing on merit, claiming that they bought up Novell's and Nortel's patents solely to attack Android and its device makers. Microsoft struck back, claiming Google was offered to join in on the bids for the Novell patents, but rejected the offer. Google has now responded to this accusation - and to make matters even more confusing, Microsoft responded back. A public shouting match between two powerful parties? Count me in!
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RE: Google & software patents
by BallmerKnowsBest on Fri 5th Aug 2011 00:46
in reply to "Google & software patents"
Member since:2008-06-02
The proliferation of Android phones has been driven purely by the carriers and marketing. The same thing happened when the carriers pushed Blackberry. iPhone came along, they pushed that, it became successful because it was simple yet powerful and feature rich compared to other offerings. But geeks wanted more and Apple wouldn't give it to them, so they stayed away in droves and lapped up Android when it came along. Many of those geeks work at phone retailers, and they sell Android phones on the back of their enthusiasm for it's power user features - things that the majority of the population would never use, and on Android couldn't work out how to use even if they wanted to. Just walk into a phone retailer and listen to them prattling on about multitasking this, tethering that, setting up a hotspot and customising your home screen, but ask them how to set up the device for visually impaired users or sync'ing it with your current iPod based music collection and they have a meltdown.
You know, MrHasBean, you already provided a ready-made rebuttal to that claim... earlier in the same comment, no less.
"So the dissertation(sic) here is that the people who purchase Android devices only do so because they're brainwashed by geeks at mobile carriers?
No possibility at all that there might actually be people who have very good reasons for either disliking Apple, their 'gated community' approach to the iOS ecosystem, and their very obvious - to some - attempts to erect barriers to competition in the handheld OS market?"
P.S.
Are you ever going to admit that you're MrHasBean posting under a sock account?
RE: Google & software patents
by JAlexoid on Fri 5th Aug 2011 01:14
in reply to "Google & software patents"
Member since:2009-05-19
Many people have bought Android phones on the recommendations of one or more of those tech connoisseurs, and from personal experience I know many that will never buy another, simply finding Android too confusing / complicated / inconsistent / unstable. Despite the rhetoric bandied around here, my personal approach is to tell people to go try out both, without the assistance of any salesperson, talk to non-techy people that they know who own one or the other, and make up their own mind. By a large margin those people have gone the iOS path.
And many more people don't have the techy friends. Or actually went into the store and decided that they were missing something in iOS. I have as much anecdotal evidence as you, yet it's very much irrelevant.
The only problem, is that you give non-techie people too little credit. A lot of them can easily select the right phone they need and evaluate all the upsides and downsides, especially women.
The proliferation of Android phones has been driven purely by the carriers and marketing.
And others got where they are due to magic dust?
RE: Google & software patents
by TechGeek on Fri 5th Aug 2011 03:54
in reply to "Google & software patents"
Member since:2006-01-14
Many people have bought Android phones on the recommendations of one or more of those tech connoisseurs, and from personal experience I know many that will never buy another, simply finding Android too confusing / complicated / inconsistent / unstable. Despite the rhetoric bandied around here, my personal approach is to tell people to go try out both, without the assistance of any salesperson, talk to non-techy people that they know who own one or the other, and make up their own mind. By a large margin those people have gone the iOS path.
The proliferation of Android phones has been driven purely by the carriers and marketing. The same thing happened when the carriers pushed Blackberry. iPhone came along, they pushed that, it became successful because it was simple yet powerful and feature rich compared to other offerings. But geeks wanted more and Apple wouldn't give it to them, so they stayed away in droves and lapped up Android when it came along. Many of those geeks work at phone retailers, and they sell Android phones on the back of their enthusiasm for it's power user features - things that the majority of the population would never use, and on Android couldn't work out how to use even if they wanted to. Just walk into a phone retailer and listen to them prattling on about multitasking this, tethering that, setting up a hotspot and customising your home screen, but ask them how to set up the device for visually impaired users or sync'ing it with your current iPod based music collection and they have a meltdown.
And the real giveaway is the tablet market. No carriers pushing it, after all there's bugger all dollars in it for them, and iOS is smashing Android despite there being about 10:1 advertising in the other direction. So again I ask, what has Apple got to be scared of? Anyone looking at this logically just sees a company doing what all companies who actually create anything do to protect their investment. If Google was in the business of creating, or should I say making money from their creations and not just from selling advertising, they'd be doing exactly the same thing.
The proliferation of Android phones has been driven purely by the carriers and marketing. The same thing happened when the carriers pushed Blackberry. iPhone came along, they pushed that, it became successful because it was simple yet powerful and feature rich compared to other offerings. But geeks wanted more and Apple wouldn't give it to them, so they stayed away in droves and lapped up Android when it came along. Many of those geeks work at phone retailers, and they sell Android phones on the back of their enthusiasm for it's power user features - things that the majority of the population would never use, and on Android couldn't work out how to use even if they wanted to. Just walk into a phone retailer and listen to them prattling on about multitasking this, tethering that, setting up a hotspot and customising your home screen, but ask them how to set up the device for visually impaired users or sync'ing it with your current iPod based music collection and they have a meltdown.
And the real giveaway is the tablet market. No carriers pushing it, after all there's bugger all dollars in it for them, and iOS is smashing Android despite there being about 10:1 advertising in the other direction. So again I ask, what has Apple got to be scared of? Anyone looking at this logically just sees a company doing what all companies who actually create anything do to protect their investment. If Google was in the business of creating, or should I say making money from their creations and not just from selling advertising, they'd be doing exactly the same thing.
Either you are wrong or Apple has no case. The way you describe Android, there is NO WAY anyone who isn't retarded would ever confuse Android and iOS. Android is just so bad that its not even comparable. So why is it that Apple is suing anyone for copying iOS. If its a copy, then that's saying its the same. So which is it? Are Android and iOS the same proving that there was copying? Or is Android such a pale comparison as to be an original creation?
To be honest, I think they are the same and that both Apple and Google copied from the people that came before them. That is why the two are so similar. But I don't expect Apple to ever admit that. Nokia had touch screen internet tablets long before iOS came out. Running a form of gnome or kde I can't remember atm.
Edited 2011-08-05 03:55 UTC
RE[2]: Google & software patents
by przemo_li on Fri 5th Aug 2011 05:04
in reply to "RE: Google & software patents"
Member since:2010-06-01
Apple is not suing anyone for coping iOS!
Google did not infringed copyright hold by Apple!
Apple sue Google for infringing ideas, Apple have patents for.
Problem with patents for software is that every piece of code is ONLY idea. So you can patent anything, anytime. Also giving monopole is very bad idea in software! You then get companies not carring to innovate more (just because they can stop others).
And also because copyright is there in place to stop outright copping source code (and thats case Google vs Oracle). Software is unique field "protected" by copyright and patents. Oh and 20y protection is just crazy. After 5-10y you just get things as granted and build on them new innovation. If patents last so long, you just cant do (cause you can not make innovation without crossing tooo many of them).
RE[2]: Google & software patents - gnome
by jabbotts on Fri 5th Aug 2011 19:19
in reply to "RE: Google & software patents"
Member since:2007-09-06
RE: Google & software patents
by Neolander on Fri 5th Aug 2011 08:31
in reply to "Google & software patents"
Member since:2010-03-08
Don't reply to mrhasbean, don't reply to mrhasbean... Ah, man, I can't, this one is just too big.
And the real giveaway is the tablet market. No carriers pushing it, after all there's bugger all dollars in it for them, and iOS is smashing Android despite there being about 10:1 advertising in the other direction.
[citation needed]. Here, iPad ads are *extremely* commonplace, while I've yet to see an ad for an Android tablet outside of techie websites.
(On a related note, I've recently sent a mail to Gruber about a flaw which I was seeing in one of his articles. The mail was detailed and polite, explaining clearly where I thought the issue was and heavily giving him the benefit of doubt. He didn't reply. I should really stop believing that trolls can be saved.)
RE[2]: Google & software patents
by Thom_Holwerda on Fri 5th Aug 2011 08:40
in reply to "RE: Google & software patents"
Member since:2005-06-29
(On a related note, I've recently sent a mail to Gruber about a flaw which I was seeing in one of his articles. The mail was detailed and polite, explaining clearly where I thought the issue was and heavily giving him the benefit of doubt. He didn't reply. I should really stop believing that trolls can be saved.)
Pointless. Why do you think he has no comments on his site?
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/25/13 0:45 UTC
"So in summary... Google has pulled the plug on support on a protocol they've helped popularize, after years of promising interoperability, for reasons that are dubious at best, and in a way that leaves people who don't jump to the new Hangouts app unable to talk to their contacts without any feedback that their IMs aren't getting through... And they've done that with no warning to anyone. I imagine there's a bunch of people out there wondering where some of their buddies have gone, or why their messages aren't getting responses, because this isn't documented anywhere." Google really messed this up. Such a dick move.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 23:59 UTC
The Tizen Greek Community has some screenshots of a very recent build of Tizen running on a Samsung GT-i8800. It looks wholly unremarkable.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 22:33 UTC
Joint statement to The Next Web from Microsoft and Google: "Microsoft and YouTube are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube's API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks. Microsoft will replace the existing YouTube app in Windows Phone Store with the previous version during this time." Good to know these children stopped acting like little pricks. Can we have full Google support in Windows 8 now, please?
Linked by Howard Fosdick on 05/24/13 21:41 UTC
Yahoo is acquiring Tumblr, the microblogging and social networking website, for $1.1 billion USD. Tumblr offers little revenue but lots of eyeballs if Yahoo can monetarize them. Now Yahoo is bidding for Hulu, the streaming video service. After years of ineffective responses while Google, Facebook, and others took large chunks of the online advertising market, Yahoo is fighting back. Can Yahoo reignite the momentum it had at the turn of the century? What do you think?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 14:44 UTC
"Sources have described iOS 7 as 'black, white, and flat all over'. This refers to the dropping of heavy textures and the addition of several new black and white user interface elements." I couldn't be happier.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 23:22 UTC
"Ilja van Sprundel, a security researcher with IOActive, has discovered a large number of issues in the way various X client libraries handle the responses they receive from servers, and has worked with X.Org's security team to analyze, confirm, and fix these issues."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 22:04 UTC
"Google is facing a new antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission into whether the company is using its leadership in the online display-advertising market to illegally curb competition, people familiar with the matter said." Sucks to be Google today, apparently.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 22:01 UTC
"In the midst of the major press blitz surrounding its annual I/O Conference, Google dropped some unfortunate news about its instant messaging plans. In several places around the web, the company is replacing the existing 'Talk' platform with a new one called 'Hangouts' that sharply diminishes support for the open messaging protocol known as XMPP (or sometimes informally Jabber), and also removes the option to disable the archiving of all chat communications. These changes represent a switch from open protocols to proprietary ones, and a clear step backward for many users." That's why I always say: only suckers trust companies.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 17:52 UTC
"The wave of departures is a sign of internal struggle, but amidst all the bad news, there is a glimmer of hope. According to an anonymous HTC executive cited by WSJ, the crucial HTC One is selling 'pretty good so far'. The executive revealed that HTC sold about five million One units since launch, a performance that is deemed encouraging. However, sales have been limited by the persisting supply issues that still plague the production of the HTC One." Finally some good news for HTC. Five million units amidst supply constraints is very impressive.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 22:23 UTC
"Sony gave the PS4 50% more raw shader performance, plain and simple (768 SPs @ 800MHz vs. 1152 SPs & 800MHz). Unlike last generation, you don't need to be some sort of Jedi to extract the PS4's potential here. The Xbox One and PS4 architectures are quite similar, Sony just has more hardware under the hood. Weâll have to wait and see how this hardware delta gets exposed in games over time, but the gap is definitely there. The funny thing about game consoles is that itâs usually the lowest common denominator that determines the bulk of the experience across all platforms. On the plus side, the Xbox One should enjoy better power/thermal characteristics compared to the PlayStation 4. Even compared to the Xbox 360 we should see improvement in many use cases thanks to modern power management techniques." AnandTech does its usual in-depth thing.More News »
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Member since:
2011-05-12
No shortage of Google ads on OSNews, an obvious sign of distrust?
So the dissertation here is that the only people who are against Google on this are people who are Apple lovers?
No possibility at all that there might actually be people who have very good reasons for either disliking Google, their nefarious data collection, and their very obvious - to some - future goals? Or people who maybe support non-trivial software patents because they are as important to innovation has non-trivial hardware patents?
There are just as many people beating this insane drum about Google being a major threat to Apple. How exactly? Ever thought that like thousands of other companies out there Apple're doing everything they can within the limits of the law to grow their business and protect their investments?
Why would they be scared of Google / Android? When it comes to accessible functionality for the masses iOS is streets ahead of Android. The article geeks frap about for a comparison doesn't in any way compare the actual OS user experience from a noobs perspective, it is purely a comparison of apps. In another more valid comparison of the actual OS this was the conclusion:
The functionality, flexibility and fun of Android 2.2 simply leaves iOS 4 in its dust. It might not be as straight forward, it might be easier to throw off kilter, it might not even be quite as smooth running but it keeps you interested in your mobile phone and all the magic it can perform for longer.
Many people have bought Android phones on the recommendations of one or more of those tech connoisseurs, and from personal experience I know many that will never buy another, simply finding Android too confusing / complicated / inconsistent / unstable. Despite the rhetoric bandied around here, my personal approach is to tell people to go try out both, without the assistance of any salesperson, talk to non-techy people that they know who own one or the other, and make up their own mind. By a large margin those people have gone the iOS path.
The proliferation of Android phones has been driven purely by the carriers and marketing. The same thing happened when the carriers pushed Blackberry. iPhone came along, they pushed that, it became successful because it was simple yet powerful and feature rich compared to other offerings. But geeks wanted more and Apple wouldn't give it to them, so they stayed away in droves and lapped up Android when it came along. Many of those geeks work at phone retailers, and they sell Android phones on the back of their enthusiasm for it's power user features - things that the majority of the population would never use, and on Android couldn't work out how to use even if they wanted to. Just walk into a phone retailer and listen to them prattling on about multitasking this, tethering that, setting up a hotspot and customising your home screen, but ask them how to set up the device for visually impaired users or sync'ing it with your current iPod based music collection and they have a meltdown.
And the real giveaway is the tablet market. No carriers pushing it, after all there's bugger all dollars in it for them, and iOS is smashing Android despite there being about 10:1 advertising in the other direction. So again I ask, what has Apple got to be scared of? Anyone looking at this logically just sees a company doing what all companies who actually create anything do to protect their investment. If Google was in the business of creating, or should I say making money from their creations and not just from selling advertising, they'd be doing exactly the same thing.