EU and US Approve Google-Motorola Deal

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EU and US Approve Google-Motorola Deal

Posted by Unknown on Monday February 13, 2012 @01:10PM from the rocka-google-rola dept.

angry tapir writes "European regulators have given Google the green light to take over Motorola Mobility. The U.S. $12.5 billion deal faced strong opposition from open source and consumer rights advocates, including Consumer Watchdog, but the European Commission announced on Monday that the acquisition could go ahead, without conditions." Later in the day the DOJ announced an end to its investigation, greenlighting the acquisition in the U.S. as well.

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Let the lawsuits begin! by kilodelta · 2012-02-13 13:18 · Score: 4, Interesting

And with Motorola Mobility it seems Google gets a nice little patent war chest. I can't wait until they sue Apple out of existence to be honest.
1. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by lucm · 2012-02-13 13:39 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Yes, because its rational for you to passionately love one company (an ad network)
  I stopped reading after "ad network" because someone who describes Google as such is either biased against Google or for Apple, which makes your comment no more rational than the first post.
  
  --
  lucm, indeed.
2. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by jmeboi · 2012-02-13 13:39 · Score: 1, Flamebait
  
  Apple has the most brand loyal customers on the planet, every steaming pile of shit they serve up is pute gold to these people. I mean, look at the generations of iPhones, these people were literally willing to pay for the same piece of garbage several times over, each "generation" being only slightly more technologically advanced than the predecessor and all of them miles behind the HTCs and Samsungs - and yes, even Motorola's on the market. With a customer base like that Apple is indeed the goose that shits golden eggs and I don't see them getting sued out of existence I hate to tell you. My hope is that it will force them to become true innovators again and make products worth owning, but as long as they are spinning shit into gold I doubt that will happen either.
3. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by symbolset · 2012-02-13 13:41 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  They won't be suing Apple, nor Microsoft out of existence. But at least they've finally brought their gun to the OK Corral. They can probably achieve a Mexican standoff.
  
  --
  Help stamp out iliturcy.
4. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by arose · 2012-02-13 13:43 · Score: 2
  
  In this case it's downright amusing. They are an electronics manufacturer now!
  
  --
  Analogies don't equal equalities, they are merely somewhat analogous.
5. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 13:44 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Apple isn't "an electronics maker". They design electronics, buy a lot of Samsung components and have poor Chinese people work 18 hours a day to assemble them.
6. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 13:52 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  If you can't recognize that the iPhone is a good phone, you're just as bad as Apple "fanboys".
7. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Savage-Rabbit · 2012-02-13 14:03 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Apple isn't "an electronics maker". They design electronics, buy a lot of Samsung components and have poor Chinese people work 18 hours a day to assemble them.
  Apple and every other company that outsourced it's production and assembly to places where they can get lots of cheap labour and can rely upon the local government to ignore corporate abuses and crack down hard with riot police, teargas, water-cannon and gestapoesque security services every the workers decide they have had enough and stage a protest. No matter how you turn it you are supporting worker abuse somewhere every time you go to the supermarket and buy something. Even if you only buy those "Fair trade" politically correct products, the cargo ship that brought those goods to your country was built by abused shipyard workers who work 16 hour per day 7 days a week to churn out ship hull components under totally miserable conditions and is crewed by Russian and Philippine sailors who don't even enjoy the minimum in safe and proper working conditions and it goes on from there.
  
  --
  Only to idiots, are orders laws.
  -- Henning von Tresckow
8. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by stephanruby · 2012-02-13 14:12 · Score: 1
  
  They won't be suing Apple, nor Microsoft out of existence.
  Motorola will be doing most of the suing I bet (at least for the patent portfolio it's already holding). Since Apple and Microsoft are using intermediaries to do some of their suing, I would expect Google to do a little bit of the same as well. Using proxies would compartmentalize some of the risks of losing some lawsuits (I would assume).
9. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by devleopard · 2012-02-13 14:13 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  You're an idiot if you think this was a acquisition meant to destroy Apple. It's quite the opposite: it's a defensive acquisition. It's a bunch of Cold War maneuvering: you fire, I fire. Any lawsuit big enough to destroy Apple (doing my best to type that without laughing) would surely come at the hands of Apple firing everything they have. Hopefully this will just keep everyone's lawyers at bay, and everyone can focus on making cool stuff.
  
  --
  The best thing about a boolean is even if you are wrong, you are only off by a bit.
10. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by kelemvor4 · 2012-02-13 14:20 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Apple isn't "an electronics maker". They design electronics, buy a lot of Samsung components and have poor Chinese people work 18 hours a day to assemble them.
  Importers and purveyors of Chinese electronics seems like a good description to me.
11. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by kelemvor4 · 2012-02-13 14:25 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  If you can't recognize that the iPhone is a good phone, you're just as bad as Apple "fanboys".
  iPhone is an OK phone, but the 4s is quite dated. Any company marketing a flagship cellular device with no 4G support at this stage in the game has missed the boat. That goes double for iphone since the data consumption on the thing is legendary.
12. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Fluffeh · 2012-02-13 14:25 · Score: 1, Interesting
  
  This will be very interesting. I see three different players in this standoff:
  Apple:
  Decent hardware - not totally high end, but certainly enough for what they allow on them.
  User-friendly operating system - Most of the "masses" think it is wonderful and easy to use.
  Microsoft:
  Aging Hardware - I think that while they had great phones ten or fifteen years ago, they haven't been keeping up with the curve save a few notable exceptions. (I could be wrong, feel free to correct me. Wasn't the N900 the last good thing before it was shitcanned?)
  Poor? operating system - I don't know many people with a Windows phone, but I haven't heard a single positive review (Not counting net articles, where anyone can find a small army supporting their argument).
  Google:
  Aging Hardware - Again, I can't really think of the last fantastic Motorola that everyone wanted to rush out and buy.
  Fastest Growing (and Most Used now unless I am mistaken?) operating system.
  Given that Samsung has pretty much the shiniest hardware in their phones/tablets and they use Android, I can see an interesting bond forming between the two. Game theory would suggest that these two buddy up and have the best hardware AND the best software and try to run the market. I can't really see this going fantastic for MS in this case, seems that both Google and Apple have a good and bad aspect to the business, but MS seems to have two poor ends of the stick - the best of nothing - and I don't think that a Microsoft/Apple alliance is very likely, even with the threat of a Google/Samsung bond.
  I actually think there will likely be a lot of courtcase banter going around as they square off and basically touch gloves. Once it is evident who is going to come out on top though, I don't think there will be any really super serious outcome courtcases, I think the only lawyer talk will really be the pre-match quibbling.
  
  --
  Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
13. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by devleopard · 2012-02-13 14:26 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  Hilarious that this was marked as flamebait. I honestly think that what you're describing is as bad, if not worse, than "fanboyism". Of course, this is Slashdot, where hate is the word of the day. For years, it was Microsoft. Everyone cheered at the various court decisions: the monopoly ruling, the EU requirements. They were just salivating over the day when Microsoft would be disassembled by the courts and destroyed by Linux's inevitable victory in the desktop space. (LMAO even typing that) None of it ever happened: today Microsoft is daily losing relevance not by some great savior of the open source world, but by entropy: their business model is failing.
  Yesterday it was Microsoft. Today it's Apple. Tomorrow it'll be? Someone. Probably Google. (When someone's profit is based on your information, a mantra of "Don't be Evil" directly conflicts with corporate goals.)
  
  --
  The best thing about a boolean is even if you are wrong, you are only off by a bit.
14. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by icebraining · 2012-02-13 14:38 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  And yet, if you refuse to buy because of that, you're supporting even worse life conditions than those abuses.
  And more: Chinese factories are already automating because of rising labor costs, so even if you force wages to rise that might be counter-productive if you really want to help the workers, since they'll simply be replaced by machines.
  
  --
  Dilbert RSS feed
15. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by ThePeices · 2012-02-13 14:49 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  The iPhone is a good phone, so are a few Android phones.
  The fanbois show their true colours when they cannot accept any other phone or brand is as good as theirs.
  They also do when they go on and on and on about how crap all the other phones are and how wonderful theirs is.
  Reality, as always, is usually smack down the middle.
16. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Cimexus · 2012-02-13 14:56 · Score: 1, Informative
  
  4G (well, LTE which really is still a 3G technology that American marketing droids have decided to wrongly call 4G) isn't yet available in very many places at all, globally speaking. Even in the US it's only in the large cities, and remember that Apple sells far more iPhones outside the US than in it. Plus given that the iPhone 4S supports HSPA+, that allows speeds that are more than fast enough for a mobile device already, regardless of all this 3G/4G/infinityG OMG terminology. (Remembering also that LTE comes with a tradeoff: rather crap battery life compared to HSDPA/HSPA/HSPA+)
  Once you see 4G rolling out to more than a handful of places I'm sure it will be in the iPhone. In fact it will probably be in the next iteration due for release in the next 6 months.
17. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by RobbieThe1st · 2012-02-13 15:27 · Score: 1
  
  While I'm no Apple fanboy(Apple free and loving it), I agree here.
  Up in the Northwest USA(washington/idaho), it's actually hard to get even 2.5g GSM service everywhere, and 3G is relegated to the cities mostly. I'm on T-Mobile, btw, which has roaming agreements with AT&T, so I get both networks... yet there's still areas I /cannot/ get signal with either.
18. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 15:29 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Aging Hardware - Again, I can't really think of the last fantastic Motorola that everyone wanted to rush out and buy.
  Seriously? The Droid Razr is one of the hottest phones out right now.
19. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by RenderSeven · 2012-02-13 15:50 · Score: 1
  
  Google gets the Motorola name and distribution agreements with the carriers and 3rd party retailers. The hardware has been a commodity for some time now. Well, not for Apple but everyone else. Let HTC and Samsung make the phone, put a Motorola label on it, load an Android thats one generation ahead of everyone else, and profit! Oh, also Google finally has the clout to force carriers to take phones packaged more or less crapware-free the way Google has always wanted to sell them (G1 and G2 anyone?).
20. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 16:17 · Score: 1
  
  Poor? operating system - I don't know many people with a Windows phone, but I haven't heard a single positive review (Not counting net articles, where anyone can find a small army supporting their argument).
  So what did you hear from the people who do have them?
  And it's not about a supported argument, it's about objective reporting and detailing the features in comparison to other platforms:
  Just read through these. Certainly it's not without fault, but it doesn't appear worse than any of its competitors and does do things a bit differently and offer a different perspective on smartphone usage, just as Android differs from iOS. It's down to personal preference, and obviously some people are going to be quite overzealous about their smartphone operating system choice regardless of which platform they choose.
  
  Personally i found it to be very good, it has its strengths and weaknesses just as Android and iOS do. I'd attribute much of its lack of success in the market to its association with the Windows brand - maybe they should have tied it more to XBox - since the OS is really surprisingly good.
  
  Naturally take that as anecdotal evidence but i urge you to at least try it - if you don't like it that's fine but it's certainly worth giving a go :)
21. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Beeftopia · 2012-02-13 16:24 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  "If you can persuade your customer to tattoo your name on their chest, they probably will not switch brands."
  -- An Indiana University professor on Harley Davidson owners
22. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by rinoid · 2012-02-13 16:27 · Score: 1
  
  >> Apple has the most brand loyal customers on the planet, every steaming pile of shit they serve up is pute gold to these people
  This was modded as insightful?!
  Yes, I've been on /. a while but that doesn't mean I stop hoping for intelligence.
23. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 16:31 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  And with Motorola Mobility it seems Google gets a nice little patent war chest. I can't wait until they sue Apple out of existence to be honest.
  I think this move by google is an excellent one from a business perspective because they did indeed buy Moto Mobility for the patents and this will now allow them to have real leverage and ownership of key patents that are used on mobile telephony.
  It will also ensure that android continues to be actively developed.
  People need to start treating these companies a bit more fairly, a lot is a stake and the more competition there is, the more innovation there is and the better (i.e. lower) prices we pay as consumers.
  IMHO if apple had their way, everyone would have an iphone, ipad, imac, itunes account, icloud storage and apple undies to go with it. That would lead to them winding back on innovation and leave us with no other choices....a very boring world to live in. They would also charge way more for their over prices products then they do as is in that scenario.
  Lets also be honest here and admit that apple does not play real fair at the manufacturing/patent levels with other companies, competitors and also how they handle production by way of out sourcing it. IN fact they royally screw us over on pricing here in Australia so I am all for anything that forces them to give us the end user a fairer deal and better value for our hard earned dollars.
  Now before anyone says i am anti this or that, I have an apple macbook pro and I also use MS products extensively in my role at work. After 15yrs in the industry i care more for things being fit for purpose then i do for brand names so save me the flame.
  peace.
24. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by kelemvor4 · 2012-02-13 16:49 · Score: 1
  
  4G (well, LTE which really is still a 3G technology that American marketing droids have decided to wrongly call 4G) isn't yet available in very many places at all, globally speaking. Even in the US it's only in the large cities, and remember that Apple sells far more iPhones outside the US than in it. Plus given that the iPhone 4S supports HSPA+, that allows speeds that are more than fast enough for a mobile device already, regardless of all this 3G/4G/infinityG OMG terminology. (Remembering also that LTE comes with a tradeoff: rather crap battery life compared to HSDPA/HSPA/HSPA+)
  Once you see 4G rolling out to more than a handful of places I'm sure it will be in the iPhone. In fact it will probably be in the next iteration due for release in the next 6 months.
  I guess I'm just spoiled. In the area I live in, almost every carrier has 4g service. Even second rate carriers like Metro (aka Cricket I think) have 4g around here. It may not be "true 4g" but it's much much faster than 3g. On Metro (my kids have this carrier) they get about 5Mbps on average and on Verizon it's closer to 40Mbps (for about twice the price). That's faster than my fiber connection to the house, btw. Either way, both smoke what I've seen for 3g speeds around here.
25. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by bigstrat2003 · 2012-02-13 17:04 · Score: 1
  
  Even in the US it's only in the large cities...
  That's actually not true. I live in Appleton, WI (which I would classify as a small city), and Verizon rolled out LTE here about 3 months ago. It doesn't diminish the rest of your point, but LTE is more widespread in the US than one might expect.
  
  --
  "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
26. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by tooyoung · 2012-02-13 17:08 · Score: 2
  
  Begun, the phone wars have.
27. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by cats-paw · 2012-02-13 17:14 · Score: 1
  
  and so, I should continue to support companies that pay subsistence wages ? and ensuring that they will always be subsistence wages helps them how, exactly ?
  I'm not clear what your point is.
  The fact is that these countries could easily enforce policies where the employees would get paid better and we would still be able to buy cheap crap. You forget that they get shit wages because Mitt Romney doesn't have enough houses, not because that's what they have to be paid to be competitive.
  Why is it that the race to the bottom is always such a popular "free market" slogan ?
  
  --
  Absolute statements are never true
28. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by pegasustonans · 2012-02-13 17:17 · Score: 1
  
  And yet, if you refuse to buy because of that, you're supporting even worse life conditions than those abuses.
  And more: Chinese factories are already automating because of rising labor costs, so even if you force wages to rise that might be counter-productive if you really want to help the workers, since they'll simply be replaced by machines.
  That sounds like rationalizing if I ever heard it. Let's face it, you can either take a stand or not.
  There's no amount of talking or pragmatic compromise that will solve a basic problem of disrespecting human dignity in the workplace.
  If you're genuinely okay with this behavior, then that's one thing. If you're not okay with it, don't reason away your ethics because you want an iPhone.
  
  --
  And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. --Will
29. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Cimexus · 2012-02-13 17:34 · Score: 1
  
  Well yeah, another factor is that not all 3G is created equal. Here in Australia, Telstra has HSPA+ networks that you can easily pull 20 Mbps+ off, real world speed. So the impetus for 4G is less than, say, you were stuck with a 3G network that only managed a few Mbps (which is quite common).
30. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Cimexus · 2012-02-13 17:40 · Score: 1
  
  Heh I'm very familiar with Appleton actually ... I spend several months a year in the Fox Cities. I suppose I should have qualified my post with "LTE is not available ~on GSM networks~ in many areas yet". The US CDMA carriers (i.e. Verizon, Sprint) are ahead of the game when it comes to LTE deployment. And I keep forgetting the iPhone comes in a CDMA variant now in the US (doh!)
  However, I'm not American and thus when I'm in the States I'm roaming using my unlocked (GSM) phone (or using a local AT&T SIM). So I kinda forgot about those "other" non-GSM carriers, since they may as well not exist for me, and it's only in the US that a CDMA iPhone exists. Nonetheless I still think you'll see LTE in both variants of the iPhone next version.
31. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by aztracker1 · 2012-02-13 18:44 · Score: 1
  
  Having now used several android and ios devices, recently been toying with webos.. I have to say, HP dropped the ball on this one... if it weren't for lack of apps/support, would sobe my goto mobile OS... only thing I really miss on te touchpad over my android or ipad tablets is netflix support.
  
  --
  Michael J. Ryan - tracker1.info
32. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by aztracker1 · 2012-02-13 18:50 · Score: 1
  
  I actually like Windows Phone 7... development for it is as nice as anything else (save maybe webos, which I also really like) I use android mostly because I like to tinker.. I have yet to see a really good out of the box experience with it that matches WinPhone, or webos... but hey... iOS and Android are the big kids in the playground now.
  
  --
  Michael J. Ryan - tracker1.info
33. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Daniel+Phillips · 2012-02-13 18:59 · Score: 1
  
  I don't know about loving Google but it makes sense to hate Apple for their bad corporate behavior, among other reasons.
  
  --
  Have you got your LWN subscription yet?
34. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by aristotle-dude · 2012-02-13 19:00 · Score: 2
  
  Yes, because its rational for you to passionately love one company (an ad network)
  I stopped reading after "ad network" because someone who describes Google as such is either biased against Google or for Apple, which makes your comment no more rational than the first post.
  What is their primary source of revenue? How do you think they subsidize Gmail, google earth, Google search, Google Translate and their other "Free" properties? Do you really think there are no strings attached?
  Some of you have the gaul to call Apple device users blind fanboys and yet you would blindly cheerlead for a company that views you as their product? Look at their balance sheets and that will tell you what their primary business is.
  
  --
  Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
35. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Daniel+Phillips · 2012-02-13 19:09 · Score: 1
  
  Motorola will be doing most of the suing I bet...
  I bet not. Would you care to put a dollar figure to the size of your bet?
  
  --
  Have you got your LWN subscription yet?
36. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by aristotle-dude · 2012-02-13 19:14 · Score: 1
  
  If you can't recognize that the iPhone is a good phone, you're just as bad as Apple "fanboys".
  iPhone is an OK phone, but the 4s is quite dated. Any company marketing a flagship cellular device with no 4G support at this stage in the game has missed the boat. That goes double for iphone since the data consumption on the thing is legendary.
  You have a funny idea of "dated". LTE was pretty useless in a lot of countries until recently so having it is really nothing other than a battery drain in regions with no or spotty LTE coverage whereas the 4S supports HSPA+ speeds in more countries and regions that LTE is offered.
  The supposedly "faster" CPU in the Nexus is hampered by a combination of unoptimized software and poorer GPU performance. See the following video encoding example.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhu8zfIVZ40&feature=related
  
  --
  Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
37. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by hairyfeet · 2012-02-13 20:37 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  How is THAT insightful mods, seriously? MSFT may have other revenue but the majority comes from Windows and Office so it would be logical to call them an OS and Office software company, yes? Apple gets most of its money from consumer devices so they can be called a consumer devices company, following?
  Show me where Google makes more than a tiny pittance on ANYTHING bsides ads, lets hear it. Not android because they are product dumping that to the tune of a billion bucks in development a year, not ChromeOS, again they are dumping it gratis, Chrome? nope, hmmm...how are they able to dump billions in software for absolutely no money? Are they making the money from rainbows and puppy farts?
  That would be ADS paying those billions PLUS billions in revenues AND profits friend. You can gussy it up all you want, pretend it don't exist all you please, but if you shut down Google's ad business they would be gone in less than a year. Now what would that make Google, could it be, oh I don't know...an AD company perhaps?
  Seriously I don't know when all the damned corporate cheerleading started but when someone gets a +4 just for going "Nuh uh, you must be teh shill for not loving teh googles!" this place is getting seriously fucked up. its a fucking company okay, do you wear Google PJs too? Its like the old Mel Brooks bit "All go to hell except cave 76!" because its nothing but pointless flag waving and perception bubbles all around. None of the above companies are your pal, none of them frankly give a flying fuck about you okay? And if any of the big three could see their profits go up by 15% by throwing you in a cage with a horny silverback you'd be getting gorilla loving before you could say "Do no evil!". so just cut the crap okay? We're supposed to be geeks not sheep.
  As for TFA I don't if this could be considered a good thing or a bad thing for Google. Google obviously thinks its a good thing but what company is gonna want to use Android on a phone if they have to compete with the OS developer's phone? While this will give Google an Apple style solution, with the ability to integrate hardware and software nicely which looks to be the way the other guys are gonna all do it, MSFT and Nokia, Apple making their own, and now Google with Motorola, what company is gonna want to run android when it will be inferior to the Google Phone? On a positive note maybe this will breathe new life into WebOS as all the OEMs left out in the cold by this deal can simply customize it to their hardware and like Android is gratis.
  
  --
  ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
38. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Rockoon · 2012-02-13 21:59 · Score: 2
  
  That sounds like rationalizing if I ever heard it. Let's face it, you can either take a stand or not.
  
  There's no amount of talking or pragmatic compromise that will solve a basic problem of disrespecting human dignity in the workplace.
  The rationalizers here are the ones that are trying to assign the conditions of prosperity to dirt poor countries. China GDP/Capita, after adjusting for inflation and purchasing power, is about US$6500.
  
  That pie only goes so far no matter how you slice it. You can stick your head in the sand and ignore this fact, but that neither makes you right nor gives you the moral authority to criticize others. You simply dont know what you are talking about, but instead have to throw around worthless sound-bites like "disrespecting human dignity in the workplace" in order to push an idea that you are not equipped to actually defend in any other way.
  
  The Chinese are leaving their subsistence farms for those factories because they believe that they will be better off doing so. It is as if you think that they do not have a right to a better life, argued by using your twisted bullshit logic that its "not better enough." Bullshit. They are becoming rich in the same way that every western country did; by increasing their GDP through manufacturing.
  
  They cannot reap the rewards of being a rich nation until they actually are a rich nation. They cannot become a rich nation until a large portion of the population in involved in wealth creation. It is the mobilization of resources, enabled by production, that will make them rich. Your ideas will keep them poor, and for that you should be ashamed.
  
  --
  "His name was James Damore."
39. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by JImbob0i0 · 2012-02-13 22:46 · Score: 2
  
  They have more income than just advertising.... admittedly it is a large amount of their revenue but there is more than just that.
  For example here in the UK the ISP Sky Broadband uses Google Apps for its customer email. I think the last financial update was 11-12 million customers or so... Each of those has a Sky email account with Google.... and those dont' come that cheap at that bulk...
  I'm sure other ISPs do the same - and that's before looking at businesses or educational institutions using it and the relevant income form there.
  And then after that there's Google Search Appliances for customer networks, income from providing search services (search.sky.com for instance you can see uses Google and they have to pay per query or something like that) and so on....
  Just saying they are an ad company does them a great injustice.
40. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by sincewhen · 2012-02-13 23:37 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, defensive.
  
  --
  -- Braden's law of data: All data spends some of its lifetime in an excel spreadsheet.
41. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Jimbookis · 2012-02-14 00:33 · Score: 1
  
  Some of you have the gaul to call Apple device users blind fanboys
  I'm a Gaul you insensitive clod! The gall!
42. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by erroneus · 2012-02-14 00:35 · Score: 1
  
  Christian? American? Republican/Democrat?
  I generally agree with this "Fight Club" point of view. You are not the money in your bank account, your car or your brand name preferences. But I would go further.
43. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by erroneus · 2012-02-14 00:39 · Score: 1
  
  Are you under the mistaken impression that if you are against Apple that you're a Google supporter? (or vice versa for that matter) That would be a gross simplification of the matter. Or perhaps I'm just weird in that I trust neither. They are what they are and I recognize them for what they are and trust them accordingly.
44. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Asic+Eng · 2012-02-14 00:55 · Score: 1
  
  That argument makes no sense. Google is not an ad network it gets it's money from ads - there is a world of difference. You could call a TV station an ad network with the same justification, and it wouldn't make sense there either. The TV station needs to bring you shows and movies you want to watch, Google provides services and products people want to use - that's why they can sell advertising space.
45. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by GameboyRMH · 2012-02-14 01:41 · Score: 2
  
  My current phone and the 2 phones I had before it (that is, all the PDA-phones I've owned) let me download, install, compile, run and freely distribute any apps I want for it, no fees or special licensing required. By that difference alone all iPhones are inferior.
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
46. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by GameboyRMH · 2012-02-14 01:44 · Score: 1
  
  Oh and since I'll be called a Google fanboy for dissing an Apple product, none of them were Android phones. All those phones allowed open development and app distribution out of the box and were manufacturer-supported as such.
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
47. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by GameboyRMH · 2012-02-14 01:47 · Score: 2
  
  The Droid 4 has the best hardware of any phone right now, I'm not a big fan of the software but I'm considering buying one and changing the OS (running some kind of GNU/Linux on it, or rooted Android if I have no other choice).
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
48. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by hobarrera · 2012-02-14 01:54 · Score: 1
  
  So you have no reason to hate nazi germany, since:
  * you work for neither
  * neither has attacked you, your family or your friends
  * and likely neither even competes with you, your family or friends
  I dislike google a lot, but I'd really prefer to see Apple disappear ASAP. You know, with them being patent trolls and stuff.
49. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by icebraining · 2012-02-14 03:25 · Score: 1
  
  Despite your ignominious ad hominem, I don't have to rationalize anything, since I don't have a choice: I can't afford iPhones even if I wanted one.
  
  There's no amount of talking or pragmatic compromise that will solve a basic problem of disrespecting human dignity in the workplace.
  Sure. Stop buying the stuff and the disrespect for human dignity in the workplace goes away, because the workplace part ceases to exist. Of course, there'll be a new problem called famine and worse poverty, but since that's not caused directly by you, it's fine, right?
  
  Unlike the starving subsistence farmer, the women and children in the sneaker factory are working at slave wages for our benefit--and this makes us feel unclean. And so there are self-righteous demands for international labor standards: We should not, the opponents of globalization insist, be willing to buy those sneakers and shirts unless the people who make them receive decent wages and work under decent conditions.
  This sounds only fair--but is it? Let's think through the consequences.
  First of all, even if we could assure the workers in Third World export industries of higher wages and better working conditions, this would do nothing for the peasants, day laborers, scavengers, and so on who make up the bulk of these countries' populations. At best, forcing developing countries to adhere to our labor standards would create a privileged labor aristocracy, leaving the poor majority no better off.
  And it might not even do that. The advantages of established First World industries are still formidable. The only reason developing countries have been able to compete with those industries is their ability to offer employers cheap labor. Deny them that ability, and you might well deny them the prospect of continuing industrial growth, even reverse the growth that has been achieved. And since export-oriented growth, for all its injustice, has been a huge boon for the workers in those nations, anything that curtails that growth is very much against their interests. A policy of good jobs in principle, but no jobs in practice, might assuage our consciences, but it is no favor to its alleged beneficiaries.
  
  http://web.mit.edu/krugman/www/smokey.html
  
  --
  Dilbert RSS feed
50. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by icebraining · 2012-02-14 03:48 · Score: 1
  
  and so, I should continue to support companies that pay subsistence wages ? and ensuring that they will always be subsistence wages helps them how, exactly ?
  My point is that subsistence wages are better than no wages.
  And subsistence wages won't "always be". Wages in China have been rising year after year, much like what happened in other places where the process started earlier.
  But force the raise too soon, and you'll ensure a transition to a richer society never happens.
  
  The fact is that these countries could easily enforce policies where the employees would get paid better and we would still be able to buy cheap crap. You forget that they get shit wages because Mitt Romney doesn't have enough houses, not because that's what they have to be paid to be competitive.
  Sorry, but that's not true. Certain Chinese factories are already using machines instead of workers because the wages are rising fast. Raising the costs of employment would just accelerate that process.
  
  --
  Dilbert RSS feed
51. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by schnell · 2012-02-14 04:05 · Score: 1
  
  I'm on T-Mobile, btw, which has roaming agreements with AT&T, so I get both networks...
  Actually, you don't - at least not in most places. In order to decrease roaming charges (and prevent phones from draining battery deciding between two sets of towers) your home carrier only allows roaming in geographic areas (called LACs) where they have no infrastructure at all and another carrier does. So your carrier could have only two towers in a county and another carrier has 50, but since your carrier has some infrastructure there you are not going to see any towers from the other carrier. You are only going to see the "other network" in areas where your carrier has no presence at all, so when you see you are on "other carrier's network" you see their coverage in that particular area, but you have no idea if their coverage is good or bad in other areas.
  All the US carriers have detailed coverage maps on their websites and that's probably the best way to figure out who has what where.
  
  --
  "95% of all Slashdot .sig quotes are incorrect or completely fabricated." -Benjamin Franklin
52. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Yogs · 2012-02-14 04:08 · Score: 1
  
  Google is not the voice of the people. While they might have a nicer company culture for the time being, in the long term it will inevitably dilute and they will bow to the same pressures as any publicly traded company and there are plenty of signs that they're moving in that direction.
  So any win here is short term at best and only if Google uses the patents defensively rather than offensively. That is more likely for now, but saying " I can't wait until they sue Apple out of existence". Really? Should we cheer if another maker of good products and the strongest android competitor goes out the business? Seems like a recipe for cell phone SUCK.
  And of course, this is continuing the ingrain a dangerous rubber stamp mentality we have on green-lighting clearly anti-competitive mergers. We were frankly darn lucky to avoid the AT&T T-Mobile merger debacle. We can't apply our criteria based on who we like or pretty soon everything goes.
53. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by lucm · 2012-02-14 04:45 · Score: 1
  
  Seriously I don't know when all the damned corporate cheerleading started but when someone gets a +4 just for going "Nuh uh, you must be teh shill for not loving teh googles!" this place is getting seriously fucked up. its a fucking company okay, do you wear Google PJs too?
  I simply pointed out that someone who defines Google as an "ad network" is biased and no more rational than the guy he complained about. If in that simple comment you see "corporate cheerleading" and you feel the need to ask me if I have Google PJ, then yes, in your own, personal reality, things must be deeply f*cked up.
  I am no shrink so I can't tell if this is just an emotional problem or a symptom of something deeper, but maybe you should get a medical opinion because my friend it really does not take a lot for you to get the gears in overdrive.
  
  --
  lucm, indeed.
54. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by GoatCheez · 2012-02-14 05:54 · Score: 1
  
  I really want to see what Google does with the Droid series. I can't wait for the Droid 5.
55. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by alexo · 2012-02-14 06:41 · Score: 1
  
  I simply pointed out that someone who defines Google as an "ad network" is biased and no more rational than the guy he complained about.
  Excerpts from Google's fiscal report for 2011 (emphasis mine):
  We generate revenue primarily by delivering relevant, cost-effective online advertising. Businesses use our AdWords program to promote their products and services with targeted advertising. In addition, the third parties that comprise the Google Network use our AdSense program to deliver relevant ads that generate revenue and enhance the user experience.
  We generate our revenues almost entirely from advertising, and the reduction in spending by or loss of advertisers could seriously harm our business.
  How We Generate Revenue
  Advertising revenues made up 97% of our revenues in 2009 and 96% of our revenues in 2010 and 2011. We derive most of our additional revenues from our enterprise products, as well as our display advertising management services to advertisers, ad agencies, and publishers.
  Please explain how a corporation that consistently derives over 95% of their revenues from ad-related services is not an "ad network".
56. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by RobbieThe1st · 2012-02-14 07:51 · Score: 1
  
  I do know that out where I am, when I have low signal(which is most places off the highway), it'll switch back and forth between t-mobile and AT&T.
  At my home, it seems to switch almost randomly between them... and niether have over one bar, if that. So I use VOIP at home.
  Also, coverage map wise? Niether have anything out where I am, yet I still get /some/ intermittant signal, so there's some coverage.
  'course, I could always switch from GSM networks, but A, T-mobile has pay-by-the-day internet, and B, my Nokia N900 and Nokia N9(50) requires it, so...
57. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Dog-Cow · 2012-02-14 09:40 · Score: 1
  
  Apple is not a patent troll. Unless you can point out a patent they are suing over which they themselves have no product for.
58. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by hairyfeet · 2012-02-14 09:51 · Score: 1
  
  And by using it you give them more data to mine and more ways to serve you....drumroll...ADS! Jesus man surely you can't be THAT damned blinded can you? they aren't giving you these things because they love you, because they give a wet fart about FOSS or kittens or saving the whales, they do it because IT MAKES THEM BILLIONS and as we have seen with buzz and wave and a hundred other projects anything that doesn't give them the ROI they expect gets shitcanned.
  Dude quit drinking the koolaid and step away from the RDF, if their products work for you that's fine but just remember YOU ARE THEIR PRODUCT because they are selling YOUR ass, YOUR eyeballs and YOUR data to the advertisers who are their REAL customers. this isn't some non profit you know.
  
  --
  ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
59. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by hairyfeet · 2012-02-14 10:15 · Score: 1
  
  Thank you. This argument that somehow Google is just this hippie software factory that makes all this stuff and gives it away for freedom and kittens and love of their fellow man is frankly as delusional and full of shit as saying MSFT is a cell phone company because they make WinPhone even though that thing hasn't made a red cent. The ONLY reason Google makes all this software is BAIT for their REAL GOAL which is eyeballs which are their PRODUCT. they then sell the data they mine and those very same eyeballs to companies in return for really fat checks. as you so perfectly posted Google admits right there in black and white that is where their money comes from, they certainly are not in any way trying to hide this, so WTF is it with all this "do no evil" RDF bullshit and cheerleading? I mean reading the posts in this thread you would think half of the guys here work in the marketing dept of Google!
  So lets just call a spade a spade okay? Apple is a consumer devices company, MSFT is a business software and OS company, and Google is an AD company, why is that so damned hard for the perception bubble impaired to accept? Does apple and MSFT have other products? Yes but that isn't where the majority of their money comes from so saying MSFT is a cell phone company or Apple is a business server company wouldn't be very accurate would it? So saying Google is this free software firm that passes out FOSS like rainbows and puppies is just as much bullshit, they make these thing because the more eyeballs they capture the more money they make, THAT IS ALL. As we saw with buzz and wave any software that doesn't give the requisite ROI will be canned, same as I predict ChromeOS will go next as it isn't giving them the ROI they expected and it overlaps with android. They don't care if you used these services and products, they don't care what you think, its strictly business. Why is that so hard to understand?
  
  --
  ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
60. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by mjwx · 2012-02-14 14:28 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, because its rational for you to passionately love one company (an ad network)
  I stopped reading after "ad network" because someone who describes Google as such is either biased against Google or for Apple, which makes your comment no more rational than the first post.
  But it does raise a good point. Most of Googles revenue comes from advertising and this was a key factor in their decision to buy Motorola Mobility.
  
  I'm not saying the 17k patents were not not a factor in that decision but Google's primary motivation is diversification, they have been trying like buggery to diversify precisely because most of their rev comes from advertising alone.
  
  --
  Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
61. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by mjwx · 2012-02-14 14:35 · Score: 1
  
  Apple and every other company that outsourced it's production and assembly Here's the difference. A lot of manufacturers have simply bought factories in China. Asus, HTC, Toshiba, Sony, Samsung, all own their own factories in China. So they not only do the design, but they also do the manufacturing. In the case of Asus and HTC, being Taiwanese companies they have to provide the same labour conditions to Chinese workers as they do to Taiwanese workers (it's just that a 6 KM2 factory complex will cost a fortune using Taiwanese real estate compared to Suzhou, China).
  
  Apple on the other hand outsources everything except the marketing to other companies.
  
  --
  Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
62. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by mjwx · 2012-02-14 15:02 · Score: 1
  
  If you can't recognize that the iPhone is a good phone, you're just as bad as Apple "fanboys".
  If you insist on forcing your opinions on others, you're worse then the Apple fanboys.
  
  I have to carry an Iphone for work, it does SMS and phone calls and that's it. compared to my Android phone (Desire Z), Nokia E72 and Nokia 6500 C and out of all of those the Iphone is the worst phone I've used. The formatting for SMS's is terrible. Loading on new notification tones is too hard (so everyone with an Iphone has the same damn notification tone). Trying to access a list of recently called numbers is a lot more difficult then it needs to be, adding a contact from that list is again, more difficult then it needs to be. Layout of the on screen back buttons is annoying, having to go back to the home screen to get from phone to messages is an utter PITA.
  
  My list goes on. It also loads slower then my Desire Z, that's just covered up by animations.
  
  I really need to emphasise how bad the SMS formatting is, I get automated alerts and having half the screen taken up by useless white space, then half the screen taken up by the keyboard means I've got 1/4 of the screen left for the message.
  
  I've made it clear to my employer that when this contract is up, I will not be accepting another Iphone because it fails at this simple task so completely.
  
  --
  Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
63. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by mjwx · 2012-02-14 15:13 · Score: 1
  
  Begun, the phone wars have.
  Where have you been for the last 2 years?
  
  The phone wars have been raging for some time now. This is just escalation to a nuclear level.
  
  --
  Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
64. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by kelemvor4 · 2012-02-14 15:23 · Score: 1
  
  You have a funny idea of "dated". LTE was pretty useless in a lot of countries until recently so having it is really nothing other than a battery drain in regions with no or spotty LTE coverage whereas the 4S supports HSPA+ speeds in more countries and regions that LTE is offered.
  The supposedly "faster" CPU in the Nexus is hampered by a combination of unoptimized software and poorer GPU performance. See the following video encoding example.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhu8zfIVZ40&feature=related
  I never mentioned the nexus in particular. I'm pretty sure that every smartphone manufacturer except Apple has 4g products on the market these days. I said dated because 4g smartphones have been around since at least 2010 (htc evo 4g http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Evo_4G), so that puts apple about 2 years behind. In my opinion, 2 years behind in the tech industry certainly qualifies as "dated".
65. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by bigstrat2003 · 2012-02-14 15:49 · Score: 1
  
  Heh, small world! I never would've imagined that I'd bump into a non-resident who frequently visits my locale.
  
  --
  "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
66. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by aristotle-dude · 2012-02-14 18:51 · Score: 1
  
  You have a funny idea of "dated". LTE was pretty useless in a lot of countries until recently so having it is really nothing other than a battery drain in regions with no or spotty LTE coverage whereas the 4S supports HSPA+ speeds in more countries and regions that LTE is offered.
  The supposedly "faster" CPU in the Nexus is hampered by a combination of unoptimized software and poorer GPU performance. See the following video encoding example.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhu8zfIVZ40&feature=related
  I never mentioned the nexus in particular. I'm pretty sure that every smartphone manufacturer except Apple has 4g products on the market these days. I said dated because 4g smartphones have been around since at least 2010 (htc evo 4g http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Evo_4G), so that puts apple about 2 years behind. In my opinion, 2 years behind in the tech industry certainly qualifies as "dated".
  Ok, but you seem to not understand that LTE is no more "4G" than HSPA+ and the latter is more widespread currently. You also seem to have completely glossed over the fact that the Galaxy Nexus was the top of the line Android phone with a faster clocked CPU than the 4S and yet it gets its arse handed to it in CPU and GPU bound tasks. You can have a fast clock speed but if you don't have fast hardware acceleration of encoding/decoding and optimized software to take advantage of it, then it is all for not.
  
  --
  Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
67. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by Cimexus · 2012-02-14 20:45 · Score: 1
  
  Yep, met a cheesehead on the Internet a decade ago and now we're married. Living in Australia (my hometown) at the moment but thinking about trying the US out for a few years soon. Probably Madison rather than the GB area though ... don't want to live ~too~ close to the in-laws haha.
68. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by aztracker1 · 2012-02-15 04:34 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, I have to agree.. as soon as they get the hardware issues worked out for ICS on the touchpad, I'll probably jump over... I have to say that I really like the WebOS task/application management interface though.
  
  --
  Michael J. Ryan - tracker1.info
69. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by hobarrera · 2012-02-15 06:00 · Score: 1
  
  They do have products for them, but some are ridiculous.
  Imagine if Chevrolet patents the wheel, and sues over that. They HAVE products with wheels, but they'd still be patent trolling.
70. Re:Let the lawsuits begin! by symbolset · 2012-02-17 22:19 · Score: 1
  
  In a Mexican Standoff everybody wins, or everybody loses.
  
  --
  Help stamp out iliturcy.
Opposition from open source? by Cstryon · 2012-02-13 13:25 · Score: 3, Interesting

Correct me I'm wrong, as I'm not in the know, but wouldn't this be a plus for rom development on motorola droid phones?

--
Indoctrinate : to instruct especially in fundamentals or rudiments Educate : to develop mentally, morally, or aestheti
1. Re:Opposition from open source? by c0lo · 2012-02-13 14:11 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Seriously, guys, anyone that can provide some links that shows "strong opposition from open source"?
  
  --
  Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
2. Re:Opposition from open source? by stephanruby · 2012-02-13 14:23 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Correct me I'm wrong, as I'm not in the know, but wouldn't this be a plus for rom development on motorola droid phones?
  It could.
  With HTC officially unlocking its bootloaders and Samsung officially hiring the Cyanogen guy (and then encouraging him to continue doing his custom rom development on the side -- with a healthy salary and no strings attached), custom Android rom development is looking very promising all around.
3. Re:Opposition from open source? by Xest · 2012-02-14 04:41 · Score: 1
  
  He supposedly did something in Europe to do with FOSS a long time ago.
  Nowaday's he's employed by Microsoft, and the use of the term FOSS is merely a weak attempt to add legitimacy to his FUD.
4. Re:Opposition from open source? by CowTipperGore · 2012-02-14 05:38 · Score: 1
  
  Seriously, guys, anyone that can provide some links that show "strong opposition from open source"?
  I've yet to see it and I note that despite your original question sitting at a score of 5, no one has attempted to provide a serious answer.I doubt you'll find it anywhere but dishonest shills like Mueller or his ilk that post here.
  
  Aside the shilling (and his schillings), what I fail to understand is how FM has something to do with Open Source. I may be worth whooshing...
  Mueller was once a darling of the open source movement but then become a paid shill for Microsoft. He still pretends to be in support of open source and claims to be an expert in patent law. He maintains the FOSS Patents blog and gets himself quoted in industry rag stories about the Apple/Google fight on a regular basis. Shills like Bonch love to quote him.
  Back to your original question, it might be useful to look at the summary a bit deeper. angry tapir references the earlier story submitted by Bonch, a well-established anti-Google and pro-Apple shill/troll, and mentions Consumer Watchdog by name. Consumer Watchdog is a well-funded astroturfing group associated with Grassroots Enterprise who offer services such as:
  
  # Engaging them over time via a variety of online communication techniques, including, of course, email (***this is the step most people leave out, but it’s the most critical)
  # Monitor the online universe — news sites, blogs, the social media, etc. — to figure out how our client or its issues are being perceived, and actively shape that perception.
  # Create and execute online programs that drive stakeholders to join our client’s campaign (through paid advertising, buzz building, viral marketing and earned media)
  # Work with our 50-state field network to find “grasstops” influentials — individuals with unique relationships in key markets that we can leverage
  # Build in-depth behavioral profile of each stakeholder, and identify mavens (or Multipliers) in the mix
  # Spur stakeholders to take action we want, measure results in real real-time, and adjust the campaign as necessary
  None of the links mention opposition by any specific open source groups. The primarily link to techworld.com quotes someone from, surprise, Consumer Watchdog. Or, if you don't like that article, you could try this one which is identical in the first few paragraphs but instead quotes Florian Mueller.
5. Re:Opposition from open source? by mjwx · 2012-02-14 15:27 · Score: 1
  
  Correct me I'm wrong, as I'm not in the know, but wouldn't this be a plus for rom development on motorola droid phones?
  It could.
  With HTC officially unlocking its bootloaders and Samsung officially hiring the Cyanogen guy (and then encouraging him to continue doing his custom rom development on the side -- with a healthy salary and no strings attached), custom Android rom development is looking very promising all around.
  With Samsung and Cyanogen, they're motives aren't entirely altruistic.
  
  As someone who has been running modded Android for 2.5 years now. The features we have in Android ROMS are the features people get in official ROMS 12-18 months down the track. Samsung knows this and is staying ahead of the game. For example, I had WiFi and USB tethering in Android 1.5 on my HTC Dream, it became commonplace in Android 2.2. Aftermarket ROMS are great for Android manufacturers as they get to gauge responses to designs and features before putting the work into them.
  
  --
  Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Thank heavens by drhodesmumby · 2012-02-13 13:26 · Score: 5, Insightful

Hopefully this will give Apple and Microsoft reason to pause for thought on its lawsuits against the Android ecosystem.
I'm getting tired of reading about a new assault every week; 17,000 patents should even things out enough to force the big players to negotiate and co-operate (assuming of course that Apple won't try to continue the Jobs dream of killing competition entirely...).
Also, I'll love seeing any hardware to come out of this.
1. Re:Thank heavens by oodaloop · 2012-02-13 13:35 · Score: 2
  
  I'm skeptical Apple will stop its lawsuits. Samsung has plenty of patents, and yet they go back and forth. I'm with on the hardware part. I'd love to see Google/Moto fight it out with Apple with some kickass tablets and phones running Jelly Bean or Krispy Kreme, or whatever those letters end up being.
  
  --
  Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
2. Re:Thank heavens by lucm · 2012-02-13 13:44 · Score: 1
  
  17,000 patents should even things out enough to force the big players to negotiate and co-operate
  It is a well-known fact that an arms race is a proven method to increase cooperation between the big players. The unfortunate side effect is that once one of the big players crumble, their weapons end up sold to terrorists and megalomaniac dotcom tycoons.
  
  --
  lucm, indeed.
3. Re:Thank heavens by stephanruby · 2012-02-13 14:01 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  ...some kickass tablets and phones running Jelly Bean or Krispy Kreme, or whatever those letters end up being.
  Krispy Kreme is trademarked. Jelly bean seems not to be.
  A little known fact, the reason Android is now using generic pastry names is because they were originally using well-known android names, but they were afraid they'd get sued by the IP owners of those Android characters.
4. Re:Thank heavens by girlintraining · 2012-02-13 14:21 · Score: 1
  
  17,000 patents should even things out enough to force the big players to negotiate and co-operate
  Yeah, the only thing keeping smaller players in the game as it is right now is that the large manufacturers aren't cooperating. Should this cooperation you speak of happen, you can bet it'll be cooperating to decide who gets to monopolize what. Basically, like the RIAA and MPAA do now: One business per industry please.
  
  --
  #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
5. Re:Thank heavens by NemoinSpace · 2012-02-13 14:39 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  17,000 patents should even things out enough to force the big players to negotiate and co-operate
  The advent of IPv6 allows the requisite number of phone home patent chips to allow auto-negotiation of any lawsuits that may come about from now on.
  But to limit the number of complaints about patents on Slashdot, I suggest we set an arbitrary limit on the number of patents allowed to exist at any one time.
  I think 640K ought to be enough for everybody.
6. Re:Thank heavens by Daniel+Phillips · 2012-02-13 19:12 · Score: 1
  
  I'm skeptical Apple will stop its lawsuits.
  I have every expectation that Apple will stop its lawsuits because I am familiar with the capabilities of the Google legal team. And no I don't mean its outside contracters :-)
  
  --
  Have you got your LWN subscription yet?
Apple might be the ultimate loser by Taco+Cowboy · 2012-02-13 13:37 · Score: 4, Insightful

With Google standing behind Motorola and Microsoft standing behind Nokia, Apple will be facing tough challenges, both in marketplace and in courtrooms around the world

--
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
1. Re:Apple might be the ultimate loser by Daniel+Phillips · 2012-02-13 19:06 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  With Google standing behind Motorola and Microsoft standing behind Nokia...
  Interesting analogy. Please allow me to extend it a little, if you will. "Google standing behind Motorola, owning it, and Microsoft standing behind Nokia with a garrot around its skinny corporate neck..."
  
  --
  Have you got your LWN subscription yet?
2. Re:Apple might be the ultimate loser by mjwx · 2012-02-14 14:51 · Score: 2
  
  With Google standing behind Motorola and Microsoft standing behind Nokia...
  Interesting analogy. Please allow me to extend it a little, if you will. "Google standing behind Motorola, owning it, and Microsoft standing behind Nokia with a garrot around its skinny corporate neck..."
  Google is helping Motorola out of the water, Microsoft is holding Nokia under the water.
  
  --
  Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Google really does hold back the evil. by pecosdave · 2012-02-13 13:42 · Score: 5, Insightful

They're by no means perfect, but when compared to other companies their size Google does proportionately less evil.
I'm hoping their search engine finds the "nuclear" patent holed up somewhere in Motorola's recently acquired portfolio that allows them to put an end to the other companies sue everyone else wars between Apple, Samsung and every other manufacturer out there. The "one patent to trump them all" wielded by Google that could put everyone else in a hurt locker unless they calm down and agree to play nice would be a dream and allow honest development and competition to resume.
I'm dreaming I know. I would like wielding of patents as a weapon to go away, but hopefully a big one in the rights hands could fix some issues.

--
The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
1. Re:Google really does hold back the evil. by pecosdave · 2012-02-13 23:10 · Score: 1
  
  Well, there's another approach.
  Instead of threatening to sue everyone into oblivion if they don't calm down they can at least use "prior patent" to deflate everyone else's claims and offer licensing at the mentioned reasonable fee, or even free to Android manufacturers.
  That's assuming they find something they can deflate the other claims with.
  
  --
  The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
2. Re:Google really does hold back the evil. by pecosdave · 2012-02-14 23:09 · Score: 1
  
  I actually like and use Google+, but I will admit low levels of participation is sometimes a pain to deal with. At least I see less kitty pictures and stock repeat crap on it.
  
  --
  The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
That's just a fad by Taco+Cowboy · 2012-02-13 13:51 · Score: 1

Apple has the most brand loyal customers on the planet
It's just a fad
Just like any other fads, this "Apple frenzy fad" will become stale, people will lose interest in Apple, once a new-kid-in-town with new fangle tricks appears

--
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
1. Re:That's just a fad by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 14:10 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  Just like any other fads, this "Apple frenzy fad" will become stale, people will lose interest in Apple, once a new-kid-in-town with new fangle tricks appears
  Where have you been since 1984? Apple users are not customers, they are a fan club.
2. Re:That's just a fad by kelemvor4 · 2012-02-13 14:22 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Apple has the most brand loyal customers on the planet
  It's just a fad
  Just like any other fads, this "Apple frenzy fad" will become stale, people will lose interest in Apple, once a new-kid-in-town with new fangle tricks appears
  I used to say the same thing. Now I'm starting to think they've secured a niche as a status symbol. Much like Gucci or Prada handbags, many people buy apple because they want other people to see them walking around with that apple product. Have you seen vehicles with a white apple bumper sticker? I think the mere existence of such a thing is proof of this.
3. Re:That's just a fad by exomondo · 2012-02-13 14:48 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Just like any other fads, this "Apple frenzy fad" will become stale, people will lose interest in Apple
  Assuming they don't really have specific uses for Apple products, but then again it's not expensive to have one lying around for compatibility just as many people have Windows machines (or VMs) for that. Apple do make great products and they are high quality but there's no denying they've lost their exclusivity, the iPhone 4 (pretty sure this is still true) is the single most common smartphone in the world and the 3GS is dirt cheap (i've got 2 in my drawer, one relegated to being my workout ipod) which does push them into commodity device territory, like owning a Nokia in the late 90s/early 00s. But hey, if they can maintain their 'cool' image, continue to build high quality products and keep pace with industry innovation then there's no reason to think they will fall from their lofty position.
4. Re:That's just a fad by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 14:51 · Score: 1
  
  people also drive around with "AAA" bumper stickers...means nothing
5. Re:That's just a fad by RenderSeven · 2012-02-13 15:43 · Score: 2
  
  Yet driving around with an "AA" bumper sticker means something. Wait, what were we talking about again?
6. Re:That's just a fad by aristotle-dude · 2012-02-13 19:05 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Apple has the most brand loyal customers on the planet
  It's just a fad
  Just like any other fads, this "Apple frenzy fad" will become stale, people will lose interest in Apple, once a new-kid-in-town with new fangle tricks appears
  I've heard that mantra so many times before when the iMac came out, when the iPod came out, when the iPhone came out, when the iPod touch came out and when the iPad 1 came out. Are you seeing a pattern here? I keep on seeing people on slashdot predicting the demise of Apple year after year.
  
  --
  Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
7. Re:That's just a fad by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 23:31 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Here's another idea. Perhaps Apple now represents a recognisable, trusted brand. People may think (rightly or wrongly) that anything Apple sells is probably well made, works well, and is reasonably priced for a name brand.
  Much like HP used to be. Once upon a time you could trust that anything HP made was high quality, and well designed and therefore probably worth the money. Even if there were cheaper alternatives, you could "trust" HP.
  Now, perhaps interest and "fanboyism" over Apple will fade. But unless they start making crap, or damage their reputation in other ways, I suspect they will retain much of their brand loyalty.
8. Re:That's just a fad by Dusty101 · 2012-02-14 01:18 · Score: 1
  
  Well, they do give them away with their products, but of course, not everyone elects to stick them on their cars.
  Some people just stick them on their home-built Hackintoshes instead, so that they can comply with the Mac OS X licensing requirement that it only be run on "Apple-branded computers"...
9. Re:That's just a fad by peppepz · 2012-02-14 02:02 · Score: 1
  
  The cult of personality that their leader attained has no match in any "brand loyalty" phenomenon in history.
  Just an example of how his figure was perceived: a communist party in Italy found that they had nothing better to do to help the proletariat than covering Rome with posters of grievance for the death of Steve Jobs - the sweatshop-exploiter and employee-firer.
10. Re:That's just a fad by MonsterTrimble · 2012-02-14 03:59 · Score: 1
  
  Now I'm starting to think they've secured a niche as a status symbol. Much like Gucci or Prada handbags
  That might be the most insightful thing I have read in a long time.
  
  --
  I call it 'The Aristocrats'
11. Re:That's just a fad by Beat+The+Odds · 2012-02-14 05:55 · Score: 1
  
  Apple has the most brand loyal customers on the planet
  It's just a fad
  Just like any other fads, this "Apple frenzy fad" will become stale, people will lose interest in Apple, once a new-kid-in-town with new fangle tricks appears
  I've heard that mantra so many times before when the iMac came out, when the iPod came out, when the iPhone came out, when the iPod touch came out and when the iPad 1 came out. Are you seeing a pattern here? I keep on seeing people on slashdot predicting the demise of Apple year after year.
  Oh ya, well this year for sure!!!
Link from Ars (WTF???) by elashish14 · 2012-02-13 13:58 · Score: 4, Insightful

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/02/regulators-to-google-you-can-buy-motorola-but-we-still-dont-trust-you.ars
FTA:

But regulators on both sides of the pond went out of their way to warn Google not to abuse the patents, with the Justice Department comparing Google's patent statements unfavorably with what Justice views as more responsible statements made by Apple and Microsoft.

The fuck are they smoking? Am I missing something gigantic staring at me in the face? How is Google's record of 'patent statements' remotely close to being worse than those of Apple and Microsoft? Does the US DOJ actually look favorably down on Apple continuous patent 'I'll sue you out of business' hissy-fits? When has Google ever abused a patent? Has Google ever even attacked another company with patents?
In any case, what I'd love to see is for Google to create a pool with these patents (haven't they done this already?) where anyone who enters the pool consents to agree not to sue others in the same pool. It wouldn't do much to stop patent trolls though, unless they find a way to kick out members who support them. Am I dreaming? Or should a legitimately don't-be-evil company do this?

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1. Re:Link from Ars (WTF???) by ganjadude · 2012-02-13 14:09 · Score: 2
  
  all that means is that apple and microsoft have paid ... i mean lobbied to ensure that google doesnt take their billions and push it against the will of the people.... negating the billions that they have
  
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  have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
2. Re:Link from Ars (WTF???) by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 14:20 · Score: 1
  all that means is that apple and microsoft have paid ... i mean lobbied to ensure that google doesnt take their billions and push it against the will of the people.... negating the billions that they have
  According to influenceexplorer.com lobbying for 2009-2010 by both companies:
  
  Apple: $191,456
  Google: $1,488,974
  So Apple spent 1/7 as much money on lobbying as Google but politicians are giving Apple special favors over Google... ummmm, why again?
3. Re:Link from Ars (WTF???) by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 14:35 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Motoroogle made some pretty bizarre statements about their FRAND patents last week, to the EU and IEEE. And they're demanding 2.25% of the retail price from Microsoft (for H.264) and Apple (for cell shit). If all the FRAND players charged at that rate, patent licenses would exceed 100% of the retail price.
  Yeah, H.264. Google is pushing WebM because they're afraid of H.264 patent trolls. To date, Motorola is the only H.264 patent troll.
  Plus attempting to cancel Apple's license (via Qualcomm's chips), which is to say they refuse to license their patents to Apple and then complain that Apple doesn't license their patents.
  Note that Motorola initiated the patent lawsuits against Apple. Maybe it was in anticipation of Apple suing them, but the reality is Motorola's is losing money and their a minor player in the android world and any copying that they're doing is far less blatant than Samsung.
4. Re:Link from Ars (WTF???) by future+assassin · 2012-02-13 15:48 · Score: 1
  
  With the US economy going from manufacturing to consuming and litigating its in the best interest of the US law to set precedents so that US companies can win cases easily.
  
  --
  by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
5. Re:Link from Ars (WTF???) by oxdas · 2012-02-13 16:05 · Score: 1
  
  Your numbers look a little low. According to House of Representative lobbying disclosure forms (available online), Apple spent about $2.4 million on Congressional lobbying for 2011. Compare that to $9.5 million for Google for 2011 and a paltry $40,000 for the U.S. Apple Association. The House of Representatives has a pretty handy search tool, but you must enter your searches in all caps for some reason.
  FYI, this is only direct lobbying and not how much they spent on campaigns, pacs, etc. Unfortunately, in America between pacs, superpacs, other issue advocacy groups, direct lobbying, campaign contributions, etc. it is really difficult to get an accurate view of how much money a company spends unless they don't care that you know.
6. Re:Link from Ars (WTF???) by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-13 17:17 · Score: 1
  
  http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/02/regulators-to-google-you-can-buy-motorola-but-we-still-dont-trust-you.ars
  FTA:
  
  But regulators on both sides of the pond went out of their way to warn Google not to abuse the patents, with the Justice Department comparing Google's patent statements unfavorably with what Justice views as more responsible statements made by Apple and Microsoft.
  The fuck are they smoking? Am I missing something gigantic staring at me in the face?
  Yes you are missing something gigantic. Microsoft and Apple have pledged to not use FRAND patents to sue someone out of existence. Google has basically said that if you use one of their FRAND patents in a $2. part on a BMW , then they are owed about 2% of the value of the BMW. Have you been ignoring news for the last month?
7. Re:Link from Ars (WTF???) by makomk · 2012-02-13 22:17 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  The main result of how the EU - and now apparently the US - are interpreting FRAND and standards seems to be that companies who've spent a fortune on actual R&D to make mobile networks and smartphones actually possible will find that they aren't actually allowed to sell phones using the technology they developed because someone else has got a huge thicket of patents on daft things like detecting phone numbers in messages and offering to call them. Worse still, they'll have to offer up the technology they developed to the company driving them out of business at a knock-down price.
  There's a reason why mobile phone companies have insisted on comprehensive cross-licensing deals in the past. What the EU is doing is effectively favoring crap patents over ones based on actual, fundamental R&D that everyone benefits from. Do you think there'll be any companies willing to help develop the next-generation 4G and 5G standards after this, if they won't actually be able to make any money from it?
8. Re:Link from Ars (WTF???) by sincewhen · 2012-02-13 23:47 · Score: 2
  
  I think they are concerned about this.
  Contrast with the statements Apple and Microsoft have made.
  They don't even have to "neuter" their patents - they only have to agree to licence any essential patents on reasonable terms.
  
  --
  -- Braden's law of data: All data spends some of its lifetime in an excel spreadsheet.
9. Re:Link from Ars (WTF???) by ganjadude · 2012-02-14 06:27 · Score: 1
  
  Also let us remember thant apple and microsoft have a much much longer relationship with the government simply because google is the new big kid on the block
  
  --
  have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
10. Re:Link from Ars (WTF???) by ravenscar · 2012-02-14 06:52 · Score: 1
  
  One of the more insightful comments I've read of late. Wish I had mod points to spend.
FUD? by binarstu · 2012-02-13 14:00 · Score: 4, Insightful

According to the linked articles in the post, consumer advocates (or, more accurately, at least one consumer advocate that is associated with Microsoft) are opposed to this move because it gives Google "unprecedented dominance" in the mobile market.
None of the linked articles give any evidence of "strong opposition from open source... advocates". Can anyone explain or give examples of this supposed "strong opposition"? As is, this appears to be a mostly invented controversy.
1. Re:FUD? by CowTipperGore · 2012-02-14 05:53 · Score: 1
  
  As I pointed out in another post above, you will not find the strong opposition from open source groups. There are two main versions of this story floating around most of the IT rags today - they share the same first paragraphs (which mention the strong opposition in passing, as if it is a well-known fact) but differ in the shill quoted. One version, as linked to in the summary, quotes John Simpson from the astroturfing Consumer Watchdog and the other quotes Florian Mueller. A template news release with interchangeable shills as the quoted experts? Best news money can buy.
2. Re:FUD? by binarstu · 2012-02-14 13:51 · Score: 1
  
  Thanks, CowTipper. Very interesting, and exactly what I suspected.
ICS on Moto Hardware by kmahan · 2012-02-13 14:20 · Score: 2

Now maybe there is a chance I can get ICS on my Moto droid 3. Admittedly the Droid 3 only had a lifespan of 6 months. But it would be nice if Moto actually supported it.

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Good Hardware/Software by Darkness404 · 2012-02-13 14:20 · Score: 1, Informative

I think it will be interesting to see what hardware/software combos come out of this. Hopefully Google can make well supported Android phones without all the crap that current ones have, and make them be upgrade friendly for official updates instead of having to guess which handsets will be popular enough to get an upgrade.

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Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Unlock the bootloaders? by ZipR · 2012-02-13 14:23 · Score: 2

Perhaps Google will persuade Motorola to unlock the bootloaders of their phones, to give a bit of assurance that the kevlar-encrusted, gorilla-glassed, nano-coated hardware will have up-to-date software on it for the duration of a 2-year contract? That would be great. And I might buy one...
1. Re:Unlock the bootloaders? by Daniel+Phillips · 2012-02-13 20:13 · Score: 1
  
  Perhaps Google will persuade Motorola to unlock the bootloaders of their phones...
  Assuming Google owns Motorola, pursuasion becomes unnecessary.
  
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  Have you got your LWN subscription yet?
Ohhhhhhhhh yeahhhhhhhh by drinkypoo · 2012-02-13 14:40 · Score: 1

I don't have any illusions that this will lead to more freedom for users or anything, or even that it will lead to more choice in the marketplace, but I'm pretty damned sure that it's going to result in more products that I want to buy because they're not taking a gigantic shit on me any time I try to use them the way I want to use them.

--
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Color me weird. I like both. by backspaces · 2012-02-13 15:16 · Score: 2, Insightful

I like both Apple and Google, use lots of both.
But when I got my latest phone, I decided against Android simply because the handset makers and the carriers pissed all over Vanilla Android to "improve" it.
So now I get Google building a standard. Unlocked. Updateable. Frequency agile. GSM. Mobile world wide.
Heck, I even want Google to build their own cellular network or at the least a MVNO.
This is not a fight between Apple and Google. Its a fight against both of them against the horrid carriers and clueless handset mfgrs.
Let the battle begin!
Re:Bonch? He got modded up in other thread !! by dch24 · 2012-02-13 16:20 · Score: 1

Haha you've achieved the "troll density" achievement.

Your scoring breakdown:

claiming housewives took over /. = -20 troll
claiming suburbanites are on /. = -5 unlikely
claiming upper-middle-class cares about /. = -5 unlikely
bonus for Romney tie-in = -20 troll

Your total: -50
Motorola Mobility has a big chuck of the cable sys by Joe_Dragon · 2012-02-13 16:51 · Score: 1

Motorola Mobility has a big chuck of the cable systems TV and HSI / phone.
Re:Apple tops Google in poll on corporate image by pseudofrog · 2012-02-13 16:56 · Score: 1

Wow thanks. I can totally see how this has something to do with the topic at hand.
Re:Color me weird. I like both. by wasme · 2012-02-13 18:09 · Score: 2

So now I get Google building a standard. Unlocked. Updateable. Frequency agile. GSM. Mobile world wide.
Uh, that's more or less what the Google Nexus (Nexus One, Nexus S, and now currently the Galaxy Nexus) phones are. (Although Google is sometimes a little slow at pushing out updates, but they get there eventually.) The Nexus phones all come with stock Android - no extra vendor software or configuration.
Although I'm not sure about 'Mobile world wide'. Your ability to use your phone somewhere (like, say, another country) will always be dependent on your service provider. But everything else you want is there.
Why only the US & the EU? by sirdude · 2012-02-13 18:23 · Score: 1

I'm curious as to why Google & Motorola need the permissions of only the US and the EU. What about the rest of the world?
This spells doom for IP terrorism by Daniel+Phillips · 2012-02-13 18:45 · Score: 3, Informative

This spells doom for the IP terrorist policies of Apple and Microsoft, and is a probable "limiting factor" for Microsoft's phone ambitions. And obviously, this is all fine for Linux.

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Re:Apple tops Google in poll on corporate image by Daniel+Phillips · 2012-02-13 18:54 · Score: 1

Just looks like paid-for reality distortion to me.

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Re:Color me weird. I like both. by Daniel+Phillips · 2012-02-13 18:57 · Score: 1

Let the battle begin!
Continue, you mean. And Apple's orc army is not doing particularly well.

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Consistent pattern, in fact by Kupfernigk · 2012-02-13 20:35 · Score: 3, Interesting

So, bloviating aside, you're saying Slashdot readers tend to oppose monopoly capitalism and support variety and individual rights? And that the European Competition Commission agrees with them?
Incidentally, over the next few years for much of the world outside the USA, the primary means of computing and access to networks will be a very small computer (phone or tablet) running a POSIX-compliant OS. Linux on the desktop is happening; it is just happening on the next evolution of the desktop.

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From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
It is about lawsuits by einhverfr · 2012-02-13 21:35 · Score: 2

Namely Apple suing Motorola over patent infringements regarding Android. Apple has been careful not to sue Google, so Google took the hint and bought one of the defendants, namely Motorola.
This is a good thing. It means that Apple can no longer go around intimidating Android vendors regarding patents without confronting the software vendor. The short-term verdict will probably be a mixed loss on both sides, but the long-term victory will be to Google and Android.

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LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
Privacy? by sgt+scrub · 2012-02-14 01:22 · Score: 1

There is a cell phone provider that doesn't rape its customers for personal information? At least Google isn't a multimedia company sniffing customer traffic for file sharing.

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Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
Strand trouwjurken by thomise8 · 2012-02-14 01:26 · Score: 1

Gelukkige Valentijnsdag,strand trouwjurken
Odd name by Dogtanian · 2012-02-14 01:32 · Score: 1

Is it just me, or does "Motorola Mobility" make it sound more like a company that makes disabled scooters and wheelchairs?

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1. Re:Odd name by GameboyRMH · 2012-02-14 01:58 · Score: 1
  
  Haha I always thought the same thing.
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Re:Apple tops Google in poll on corporate image by GameboyRMH · 2012-02-14 01:55 · Score: 1

It can't be Eric "privacy is for criminals" Schmidt?

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"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Good phones? by phorm · 2012-02-14 03:35 · Score: 1

Actually, as much as I love my smartphone, I'd have to say that neither type are "good phones", though they are good internet-enabled smart devices.
Requiring a touchscreen to dial, answer, and hang-up/reject calls makes for a crap phone IMHO. This is especially true in places where cold weather is prevalent. Ever try to answer your smartphone with gloves on?
Full-size touchscreens are great for smart-devices, but actually quite crappy for phones. I can still dial, answer, and hang-up on a "dumbphone" much faster than any touchscreen phone. Although I have an Android myself, I must give kudos to Apple for at least including a physical "vibrate only" switch on their phones, but it would be much better if manufacturers would *BRING BACK* the physical answer/hang-up buttons. There's still plenty of room for these near the edges of most phones, and android (Motorola/Samsung) tends to have a central physical button with surrounded by a few sensor-buttons. Make those all physical, and capable of doing the above, and the "phone" part of the device would be a lot better.
Re:Bonch? He got modded up in other thread !! by CowTipperGore · 2012-02-14 04:30 · Score: 1

It has been interesting watching Bonch lately. He drops off the radar for a few days, then suddenly has the first post on numerous stories for a day or two. All of his first posts are modded +5 the instant the story hits. Any posts like these that point out his shilling and trolling are immediately modded -1 Troll. Now I can't turn away from any Apple or Google story until I find Bonch or his other accounts and see how they've been pumping the thread.
My only negative mod in six months or more was this recent post in a Bonch-submitted story.
Other Countries by andersh · 2012-02-14 05:22 · Score: 1

Most sources actually mention that it is subject to approval by many other countries such as China, Taiwan and Israel.
The EU and US however are the biggest markets, they're also the markets that lead/dictate the standards [due to their market power]. See how the EU set the standard for electronics world wide by requiring RoHS compliance [for products to be sold in Europe], and how California legislates the car industry in their state but affects the whole US.