Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 5th Jan 2013 14:53 UTC
And so this situation is starting to get ridiculous - and consumers are, as usual, caught in the middle of it all. Google has just blocked Windows Phone devices from accessing Google Maps on their phones. In addition, it also seems Windows Phone users are now restricted to the basic HTML version of the mobile GMail website. While understandable from a defensive perspective - Microsoft's extortion scheme targeting Android device makers and all that - it's still a massive dick move that only hurts consumers. Update: the media attention has worked - Google is backpedalling, and will remove the redirect. "We periodically test Google Maps compatibility with mobile browsers to make sure we deliver the best experience for those users. In our last test, IE mobile still did not offer a good maps experience with no ability to pan or zoom and perform basic map functionality. As a result, we chose to continue to redirect IE mobile users to Google.com where they could at least make local searches. The Firefox mobile browser did offer a somewhat better user experience and that’s why there is no redirect for those users. Recent improvements to IE mobile and Google Maps now deliver a better experience and we are currently working to remove the redirect. We will continue to test Google Maps compatibility with other mobile browsers to ensure the best possible experience for users."
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RE[10]: Why does HTML5 exist?
by Valhalla on Sun 6th Jan 2013 10:54
in reply to "RE[9]: Why does HTML5 exist?"
Member since:2006-01-24
But, eventually, even Barnes and Nobles took a royalty bearing license.
If they really thought they could win, and all of Microsoft's patents were invalid, and had prior art, blah blah blah, then they would've let the legal system work.
If they really thought they could win, and all of Microsoft's patents were invalid, and had prior art, blah blah blah, then they would've let the legal system work.
LOL what? Barnes and Noble refused to pay, brought in the DOJ which in turn had Microsoft stop litigating and offer them a $300 million investment in a joint venture where Barnes and Noble holds 82.4% ownership.
By refusing to pay Microsoft's android patent-extortion fees and deciding to take it to court Barnes & Noble where given a sweet deal in order to 'stop making a fuss!!'.
You trying to spin this off as some verification of the validity of Microsoft's patent claims is hilarious.
RE[11]: Why does HTML5 exist?
by Nelson on Mon 7th Jan 2013 00:27
in reply to "RE[10]: Why does HTML5 exist?"
Member since:2005-11-29
Did Barnes and Noble take a license? Yes.
That's the whole point, a vast majority of these patent issues are settled out of court, and a lot of patents are invalidated in courts. In fact, way more than are ever used for injunctions.
This irrational hate for our judicial system, despite it working quite well, is tiring. It has been a pretty consistent avenue by which to litigate such matters.
If Microsoft was able to work out a scheme to license patents that was favorable to Barnes and Noble, then good for them. I don't think it shows a relative weakness in Microsoft's position, but more, a pragmatic approach to ensuring that intellectual property is licensed.
I think it was even more amusing watching your White Knight eventually sign on to mean old Microsoft's protection racket.
RE[10]: Why does HTML5 exist?
by lemur2 on Sun 6th Jan 2013 11:55
in reply to "RE[9]: Why does HTML5 exist?"
Member since:2007-02-17
But, eventually, even Barnes and Nobles took a royalty bearing license.
More like Microsoft gave enough money to B&N to get them to agree to a deal, so that Microsoft would not lose their patents.
If they really thought they could win, and all of Microsoft's patents were invalid, and had prior art, blah blah blah, then they would've let the legal system work.
Not that it matters much that Microsoft paid B&N in order to get out of this case, it turns out that at least some of the feeble Microsoft patents in question might get invalidated in any case:
http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1066794-torvalds-invalidates-micr...
http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/VFat-patent-could-be-invalid...
Edited 2013-01-06 11:57 UTC
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:
2005-11-29
But, eventually, even Barnes and Nobles took a royalty bearing license.
If they really thought they could win, and all of Microsoft's patents were invalid, and had prior art, blah blah blah, then they would've let the legal system work.