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Blackberry Competitor Announced
conq wrote to mention a BusinessWeek article reporting that NTP has licensed its wireless email patent to a new Blackberry competitor. Essentially, they're creating a competitor to Blackberry out of whole cloth, and bolstering their case against the popular handheld device maker. From the article: "The deal comes amid dwindling options for RIM, seller of the popular BlackBerry e-mail paging service. NTP four years ago successfully sued RIM for infringing on NTP's wireless e-mail patents. After a tentative $450 million settlement fell apart in June, RIM has battled back through court appeals, holding out hope that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) will strike down NTP's patents." This has not been a good month for RIM.
My Pocket PC PDA phone finally failed after I ripped out the charging jack by accident. A family member had an unused Blackberry 7100 phone that I threw my SIM card into. I've been using in for 2 days and I honestly believe the Blackberry is one of the worst produced handhelds I have ever seen. The scroll wheel is efficient only if you use the push e-mail, but the device does not seem very powerful, intuitive or expandable. Simple can be a good thing, but not if simple means "simple enough for the mentally challenged."
If Blackberry's major market was offering non-techie CEOs an easy to use device, I guess it works fine. Yet as common PC users become power users, I'd guess they'll outgrow the device and want more power and expandability (and customizable user interface). Using it right now reminds me more of an etch-a-sketch combined with a speak-and-spell. The Blackberry with T-mobile doesn't even use T-mobiles GPRS Internet plan, they want me to get some Blackberry plan. Even my old Nokias use the GPRS Internet plan (a great backup if you break phones as often as I do).
If Blackberry beats out the patent problems, will they have much of a future with a product that seems outdated by almost 5 years? Do many users here use their Blackberry and like it? I've been using PDAs since before the original Newton, and this device is just hokey. I feel like I have a trophy wife that looks nice but doesn't actually do anything. What am I missing?
So Visto have managed to licence what appears to be a non-existant set of patents from a company no-one has heard of. They must be betting the barn that the US legal system continues to come down hard on RIM and they have to shut up shop. Visto aren't new though, they've been around providing push email services for a while.. so perhaps they just bottled out when the NTP lawyers turned up.
One final point.. do you think that RIM would be having these problems if it was a US company rather than a Canadian one? Microsoft gets away with infringing patents all the time, but it's yet to be proved that RIM actually *has* and yet they are punished far more harshly than Microsoft ever was.
Never email donotemail@WeAreSpammers.com
So what were you using previously?
I'm on the look out for a good PDA phone and need some recommendations.
This seems relevant, and it's been on my mind for a while, so I might as well ask it here.
Does anyone here have a working understanding of how software patents came about in America, or how they got so out of hand? This one strikes me as particularly idiotic, being that they patented... wireless email.
Hell, I sent out an email a few minutes ago and I'm currently on a wireless LAN. Does that mean I or Yahoo! (technically) owe these fucks royalties?
The only thing it has going for it is the push email. My MS Smartphone receives email but only when it connects and checks my mailbox. Maybe if I had an important email that was received 1 minute after it just checked, I'd have to wait 29 more minutes to have it automatically check again. If my almost half-hour were THAT important to me, I would consider a BB.
You're right though.. they SUCK as a PDA but that's because they aren't supposed to be PDAs. It's an email terminal and nothing else. The user interface is complete crap, the scroll wheel is impossible to get used to. The only thing it does well is make and receive calls and email push.
Reviews with a twist! http://www.sardonicbastard.com
With such a generic patent (wireless email) and success against RIM, will they go after the Treo next? Other "smartphones" ?
I'm not sure what the secret to success is, but the secret to failure lies in trying to please everyone -Bill Cosby
From Canada'a Globe And Mail:
M .20051214.wrimm1214/BNStory/Technology/
http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGA
Of note from the story:
"Donald Stout, a patent lawyer and co-founder of NTP, said the deal should help his firm's case before the patent office. "RIM has been saying our patents are no good, but we have had three major companies sign up to license them. If there was nothing there, no one would deal with us," he said. "This suggests we can do business with people and licences get worked out.""
This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
1. Go back to old way patents were done - which includes working implementation upon application. Thus ideas become unpatentable. Same with business methods. It will also render 90% all the unreadable legalese to obscure what you are patenting obsolete.
2. Punish non-English application. No, I don't mean application in a foreign language, just the ones that read like they are. Plain english is a must. Jail time in Gitmo otherwise.
2. Raise price to apply for patent to $10,000 - while it may seem to screw the "little guy" it actually will kill corporations trying to patent every little thing. Even a little operation will be able to afford to patent 1 worthwhile application, but will corporate America still be able to afford to apply for 10's of thousands of trivial patents?
3. Part of application fee (say 1/2) will go as a bounty to anybody who can disprove it - in other words show prior art, etcetera. This could be anybody - college students, professors, employees of another company.
That's it:)
NTP has promised to exempt government employees from the shutdown, so noone in congress will be impacted: CNN link about it.
The BB has probably the best j2me support. Very easy to program for. Supports many JSRs without much nonsense. I don't care for the form factor or the scrollwheel though. The push email is very nice, though not necessary, for me. .Net for it, but again, this was not a huge deal. I don't like the keyboard much, but otherwise, not too shabby.
The Treo 650 is a pretty sweet device. This is my primary phone/pda.The latest software patches seem to have made it fairly stable. The keyboard is the best, the screen is amazing. Developing daemon software for it in j2me is not feasible, however, since the device suspends java apps when the screen turns off (which is all the time). However, we are dedoing our app in Palm's native stuff, and it is not bad.
The windows phones are not too bad either (Sprint 6600, 6601, 6700). We did have to redevelop our software in
So, for anyone to select what they like from these devices for daily use, it would probably come down to personal preference. My favorite is the Treo 650. But the others definitely have their own stuff that can make them more attractive to users of a different profile.
-naeem
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not being entirely sure of the phrase's meaning:
Cut out of whole cloth
CUT OUT OF WHOLE CLOTH - "Wholly false; without foundation of truth. Back in the fifteenth century, 'whole cloth' was used synonymously with 'broad cloth,' that is, cloth that ran the full width of the loom. The term dropped into disuse along in the eighteenth century, except in the figurative sense. In early use, the phrase retained much of the literal meaning, a thing was fabricated out of the full amount or extent of that which composed it.But by the nineteenth century it would appear that tailors or others who made garments were pulling the wool over the eyes of their customers, for, especially in the United States, the expression came to have just the OPPOSITE meaning. Instead of using whole material, as they advertised, they were really using patched or pieced goods, or, it might be, cloth which had been falsely stretched to appear to be of full width." From "A Hog on Ice" by Charles Earle Funke (1948, Harper & Row)
So when they say "they're creating a competitor to Blackberry out of whole cloth", what are they implying?
There is much cruelty in the universe, John.
Yeah, we seem to have the tour map.
There are many devices that do a lot of things better than a BlackBerry, but no one does Email better than a BlackBerry does. When you have full Enterprise integration with wireless sync, it's almost like having Outlook everywhere you go. If you read a new email on your BlackBerry, it gets marked as read in Outlook (via Exchange). Reply to an email and it shows up as "replied" and a copy of your email is inserted into your Sent box. It takes some time to get used to, and I didn't like it at first, but now I can't imagine going back to not having it, and I know MANY people that can't live without it.
If you're using a BlackBerry device with only POP3 accounts or with Exchange without Wireless Sync, there are many other devices, particularly Treos, that are much better suited. The 7100 (which is what I have) has much better phone functionality than previous BlackBerries, but it's not nearly as good as modern, dedicated phone interface (like a Samsung or Sony Ericsson). You really have to be close to your email to appreciate a BlackBerry.
The only thing it has going for it is the push email. My MS Smartphone receives email but only when it connects and checks my mailbox. Maybe if I had an important email that was received 1 minute after it just checked, I'd have to wait 29 more minutes to have it automatically check again. If my almost half-hour were THAT important to me, I would consider a BB
My T-mobile h6315 had "push e-mail" too. An SMS notification came in to the phone, was captured by software that hid the SMS and downloaded the e-mail to your client. It was transparent and nearly instantaneous -- I'd get e-mails literally 30 seconds after the sender sent it. It worked flawlessly for a number of accounts.
It isn't just for non-techie CEOs. It's pretty much for ANY non-techies. That includes Salespeople and middle management.
The Blackberry with T-mobile doesn't even use T-mobiles GPRS Internet plan, they want me to get some Blackberry plan.
This is most likely because the BlackBerry really shines when connected to the push email server (via the BlackBerry Enterprise Server). If memory serves, T-Mobile has their own BES servers, and that's what the special plan is for. Also, I don't think older BlackBerries had their own TCP stack, so the BES server would be required for data transfer. The newer OS allows you to completely bypass the BES servers, so you might actually be able to use one with normal GPRS Internet... until they catch you.
Do many users here use their Blackberry and like it? I've been using PDAs since before the original Newton, and this device is just hokey. I feel like I have a trophy wife that looks nice but doesn't actually do anything. What am I missing?
If you were looking for the BlackBerry to replace your PDA, you will almost certainly be disappointed. It doesn't have nearly the power or software library that a Pocket PC offers. But for what it was designed for, it does far better than its competitors. It was designed for basic PIM, email and messaging. And the phone is an add-on. That means that if you are using it for email, calendar, task list and instant messaging, it's a great device. Compared to Pocket PC it's very stable and has a much, much longer battery life. My BlackBerry regularly goes for five or six days between charges, which includes moderate use as a phone. The push email provides more or less instant access to messages as they come in, and these days I wouldn't be caught dead without it. Oh, and with respect to the thumbwheel, you get used to it. For reading emails, it's much better than a stylus. You can do the whole thing one-handed.
Up until recently, there has been little or no competition for the BlackBerry infrastructure (which provides push email among other things). This is starting to change, and I predict that within the next year that Research In Motion will have to do something stunning to keep their hold on the market.
GreyPoopon
--
Why is it I can write insightful comments but can't come up with a clever signature?
Funny, most Blackberry lovers look at it in exactly the opposite way - that their devices are lean, functional, stable machines for doing real work. The Palm and Windows Mobile devices are "pretty" and have lots of useless gadgety features that make them unstable and unsuitable for critical applications.
Why do you think government, police and financial companies are some of the biggest die-hard Blackberry users? It's because they live and die by e-mail, and the Blackberry is the only device that is really reliable and has full e-mail functionality.
Half of the posts I read by Treo and Windows Mobile users say something like "sure it crashes or has weird error messages sometimes, but it plays MP3s and videos and has a camera and wi-fi and and and!!!". The Blackberry fits the opposite niche: sure it doesn't play MP3s or videos or have a camera or wi-fi, but it Just Works(tm).
BTW, to preempt nitpickers, I should say that there is a Wi-Fi BlackBerry with SIP VoIP capability, which it has in lieu of a GSM/GPRS or CDMA radio, not in addition to. It's called the 7270.
fnord.
I used to work for a company that had infringed on a seemingly obvious patent. The solution was to arrange a licensing arrangement that included indemnification of our clients against further suit. Fortunately for that company the patent expires in two years.
My point is, this isn't an uncommon arrangement.
These companies provide a valuable service in our economy:
You an inventor build a widget, X. You invest a lot of time and effort into this and, as a sort-of reward/encouragement, you are granted a monopoly on that invention for a period of, say, 20 years. So you spend 2 years trying to sell X and you aren't finding much success. In addition you find yourself kinda hating life because you always wanted to be an inventor, not an X-salesperson. But, you need to pay back that home equity loan you took out to pay for the work you did to invent X, so you don't really have a choice in the matter.
So, one day, you're riding the train back to D.C. from Boston after a particularly tough sales call that didn't pan out. You're a little worn out from the travel and kinda frustrated by the failed meeting. You start talking to the guy next to you in the dining car, telling him about your problems and your situation. As you describe your invention he gets this gleam in his eye.
"You know buddy, your problem is that you don't know how to pitch this thing." At first, you're a little offended that this guy, who doesn't know the first thing about your field, let alone your invention would say this to you. But then you remember all the failed sales meetings and realize he's probably right: you just aren't a sales person.
You're an inventory. If only you could capitalize on your invention and move on to the next one.
"Tell you what, I'll pay you $1million for your patent rights. You can take the cash and pay off that loan and start working your next super invention. I'll take the risk on making X sell. Maybe it doesn't sell, maybe it does. I'll take that risk. You move on. And, hey, maybe you come up with Y and we'll work out another deal."
So you take his card, give it some thought and come back with an offer of $750,000 plus 3% of any future sales he might make. You figure, hey, I still want to make out big if this thing goes sky high.
The point of my little story is that companies such as this one can, potentially, serve to make money by selling your idea. They allow for the transfer of risk as well as the focusing of resources to where they are best allocated.
This is, afterall, basically what all of the Pharma and BioScience companies are.
Where this all starts to fall apart, of course, is when the USPTO fails to make adequate judgements about what inventions and ideas are worthy of monopoly protection. Overly general patents fail to provide any societal benefit. Of course, that's what our legal system is supposed to be there for. Whether it works or not is yet another question.
I agree - I bought an 8700 a few weeks ago, and I'm already hopelessly addicted to this thing. I've been on a search for a decent smartphone for a year now, starting with the Treo 650, looking at Windows Mobile solutions, going to the old "flip phone + dedicated PDA" route, and finally landing on the BlackBerry. There's no going back (and yeah, OTA sync with a BES is incredible).
The only thing I wish for is a decent Exchange client for OS X (for some reason, Entourage won't connect to my Exchange server - it complains about a bad username or password, when they're both certainly correct).
Now you too can deal with the horrible USPTO PAIR website.
The only concrete example, in those you linked to, of RIM suing for patent infringement is for the QWERTY keyboard on a handheld device
Oh really? Well, here you go. You can pick through them on your own time, as there are an abundance of examples.