Vendor

mobile
August 15, 2011
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Google's Motorola buy could spell trouble for Android partners

By on August 15, 2011 at 1:01 PM.

Google's Motorola buy could spell trouble for Android partners

By now, you’ve no doubt seen the news: Google intends to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. What this will do is not only give Google access to Motorola’s vast patent library consisting of nearly 25,000 patents, but it will also give Google an end-to-end hardware and software strategy with smartphones, tablets and even with Google TV. The thing is, Google didn’t need to buy Motorola. Google could have just licensed the patents from Motorola. Google bought Motorola because it felt like control of the Android experience was slipping away. It’s apparent that one Nexus-like device from Google a year won’t be enough — MOTOBLUR has probably given Andy Rubin ulcers — and it’s apparent that a company that’s leading in many areas of the smartphone arena wants to control that entire experience. Open or not, it is Google’s, after all. Smartphones and tablets are also going to be the biggest categories in technology for the foreseeable future, and if you think Google is just going to play around with that, well, you obviously haven’t seen the company’s recent moves. Read on for more. More →

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mobile
April 21, 2011
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Apple overtakes Nokia, becomes world's largest handset vendor by revenue

By on April 21, 2011 at 8:00 PM.

Apple overtakes Nokia, becomes world's largest handset vendor by revenue

Strategy Analytics has published a report stating that Apple, Inc. has overtaken Nokia as the world’s largest handset vendor. “We estimate Apple’s wholesale revenues for its iPhone handset division stood at $11.9 billion in the first quarter of 2011,” said Alex Spektor, a Senior Analyst at the analytics firm. “Apple overtook Nokia for the first time, which recorded a lower $9.4 billion of wholesale handset revenues.” The report is determining the largest vendor by revenue earned during the first three months of 2011 — as opposed to market capitalization, handsets in market, or employee numbers. “Nokia remains the world’s biggest handset maker in terms of shipments,” the brief continues. “Nokia said mobile device shipments rose 1% in the first quarter to 108.5 million, while Apple said it had sold 18.6 million iPhones over the same period.” The Boston-based firm writes that it “expects the number of phones sold with Android to overtake those with Apple’s system by late 2011″ — although this cumulative figure would not, in all likelihood, put a single Android handset manufacture ahead of the iDevice maker in terms of revenue. Strategic Analytics also hypothesizes that Nokia’s partnership with Microsoft could catapult it back to the top revenue spot in subsequent quarters. More →

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Exclusive
February 25, 2010
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RIM sued over visual voicemail patent, could seek indemnification from App World vendor?

By on February 25, 2010 at 2:39 PM.

RIM sued over visual voicemail patent, could seek indemnification from App World vendor?

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Over the past several years Klausner Technologies, Inc. has been making headlines by suing large mobile companies, notably Apple and RIM, over alleged visual voicemail patent infringement on iPhone and BlackBerry devices. The company was founded by Judah Klausner — whose name sits atop the first PDA patent from 1978 (you can read more about him here). In 2009, Klausner Technologies named RIM in a lawsuit claiming ownership of several visual voicemail patents that RIM has filed and is now, obviously, making money from. Here is where the story takes a turn for the obscure… More →

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