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Apple and HTC Settle Patent Dispute
An anonymous reader writes "HTC and Apple have reached a global settlement that includes the dismissal of all current lawsuits and a ten-year license agreement. The license extends to current and future patents held by both parties. The terms of the settlement are confidential. From the article: '"HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation," Peter Chou, HTC's chief executive, said in a statement.
Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, also expressed relief in a statement. "We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation," he said.'"
HTC uesd to be a legitimate contender, so Apple did all they could to block them from the market. With all the resources HTC has diverted to the patent wars, they can't really compete anymore and Apple probably doesn't see them as a legitimate contender. Apple probably just figures they might as well suck whatever money's left taking from them. Borrowing from the Ars article on the same topic, HTC (read: the little guys) is just the upfront victim of the patent wars.
I have left slashdot and am now on Soylent News. FUCK YOU DICE.
the SCO Linux licensing agreements by this?
Of collective relief.
Could it be that HTC have started performing badly as a company, so Apple don't consider them worth the lawyer fees any more?
had an HTC Inspire 4G and hated it
HTC thought it would be a good idea to settle with a patent troll?
There can be no doubt anymore !!
The link appears to bring up a paywall for me, either that or a bunch of ad-laden crap that privoxy flushes.
Here's a better link
..HTC phones come with an added Apple Tax? The article doesn't mention what the patents in question were. I have a One X, and I'll say this - If I had to choose a manufacturer skin I'd go with Sense anyday over Samsung's Touchwiz. Can't imagine what HTC might have copied off Apple if it's UI related. They have a fully customizable home screen, themes, skins, extra widgets...none of which you'll find on any iPhone.
"..One hosts to look them up, one DNS to find them, and in the darkness BIND them."
Actually, the post was "Why you can't build your own smartphone", but that didn't fit.
It is impossible to build a smartphone without violating imaginary property laws. So no small, scrappy entrepreneur with a dream will ever be able to make one and sell it. The only people who can make smartphones are big-time players with the money to fight the lawsuits. The barrier to independent entrepreneurship to an impossible level.
Democracy Now! - your daily, uncensored, corporate-free
Want to increase productivity, reduce costs and foster innovation ?
Just kill all the lawyers.
Very curious about what happened here?
Maybe Apple gave them decent terms as long as HTC swallowed a bit of a poison pill: the patent license deal dies if HTC is purchased by, or merges with another company (Apple did something similar with RIM). The last thing Apple wants is consolidation that would make the Android ecosystem healthier.
Or maybe MS played a role? It was reported that HTC managed to get Microsoft on side, largely by agreeing to continue to make Windows Phones'. Maybe having Microsoft on their side helped in negotiations with Apple.
Maybe it's divide to conquer? If the weaker manufacturers in the Android ecosystem have a license to use all the basic touch screen methods, and the stronger ones don't then it could lead to greater inconsistency between Android phones and could weaken the strong players (i.e. Samsung).
Ultimately, Apple's biggest threats are Samsung and Google/Nexus. I mention Nexus in particular because there is nothing that Apple & MS could hate more then the low margins of the Nexus devices. Whether or not the Nexus 4 itself is a success, the nexus line has become a threat to the traditionally high margins on mobile devices and it must have re-inforced Apple's determination to kill Android.
The whole situation is beyond fucked-up.
It is not acceptable, that you have to license 250,000 patents (as stated in a recent /. "article"), just to build a mobile phone.
Yeah, people who did years of research for a great idea deserve something back. But 1. PEOPLE. Not companies. NEVER companies. 2. if they did years of research, but their result is shit and so barely worth anything, but necessary, then they do NOT deserve to name their own crazy extortion prices, 3. rounded corners are NOT patentable, 4. ideas are not patentable! ideas "on a computer" are STILL not patentable! (because impossible to enforce in practice, not because good ideas wouldn't be worth anything. [not that anyone nowadays really would have a good idea. they all just have "engineer ideas". which are really shitty ones, that get realized anyway, because the "inventor" is an idiot who tried to work ten times as hard to make his shitty "ideas" come true, and so they are the ones coming true.])
I, for one, won't give a fuck about patents! They stopped existing! Whatcha gonna do? Sue? Who? I am not the one who wrote that software. It is this "anonymous person on the Internet" that nobody can get at, and even if, would end up at Apple, Monsanto or another of those criminal bastard companies, so they can sue the shit out of each other.
Patents, Copyright, Trademarks, and all that imaginary property bullshit always was a crime, and always will be!
That's great news, Tim. You've got some catching up to do. :)
That's because us iPhone owners don't care
I change my wallpaper once every 6 months or so. I cant even remember if I even set my iPhone 5's wallpaper
"We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation,"
As opposed to what? 'not really focused' or 'cheap torch focused'
Cheers
The corporate-speak Nazi
That's because us iPhone owners don't care
I change my wallpaper once every 6 months or so. I cant even remember if I even set my iPhone 5's wallpaper
...but the market has noticed. The market is noticing that Apple are behind on both software and hardware, and better value phones are available elsewhere, which is why Android outsells Apple 5:1.
Maybe Apple should focus on providing a great experience so disappointing users, like those over maps will not happen again. Rather than pretending the opposition its working day and night to provide great products.
This is the 15th Android-related contract.
http://www.fosspatents.com/2012/11/apple-htc-settlement-is-already-15th.html
Meanwhile, Federal Trade Commission staff have formally recommended that the government sue Google over anti-trust violations involving the licensing of FRAND patents.
Tim Cook wouldn't know innovation if the zombie corpse of Steve Jobs rose from the dead and bit him in the face.
This is the 15th Android-related contract.
http://www.fosspatents.com/2012/11/apple-htc-settlement-is-already-15th.html
Meanwhile, Federal Trade Commission staff have formally recommended that the government sue Google over anti-trust violations involving the licensing of FRAND patents.
LOL android is free. Patent abuse will of course continue, with Microsoft, and Apple abusing the system for there own gains. The bottom line is Microsoft phones have hit a high of...2%, and Apples are down from 23.1% to 14.9%. Clearly they should be innovating instead of litigating.
The reality is though Patent settlements are what the mobile industry have *always* been about. Hell its part of the reason why FRAND exists.
Only with bigger screens, more memory and better performance. Unless there is a prohibitive per-unit cost, they will also be cheaper. Apple may have made a boo-boo.
For two reasons, I thin HTC won't be commissioned by Google to make a Nexus device:
1. HTC is on its last legs, more or less. They are ready to make deals with any and all, and their willingness to have prominent Windows phones is a sign of that (I know Samsung also makes Windows phones, but in case of Samsung, they are just symbolic gestures). That makes HTC a liability, to the Android ecosystem.
2. The deal with Apple likely includes a poison pill, and Google may not want to touch HTC anymore.
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
My bet is that they came to an agreement because HTC hold some LTE patents that Apple need:
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I can t speak for eveyone - but I had an HTC phone as my first android phone. It was OK and it wasnt enough to put me off HTC. HOWEVER... when I went looking for a new model to replace it I took my bad experiences with the phone with me when I was looking. I wanted a phone with an SD Card (micro) slot. My new phone runs a 64 GB micro SD card. That makes a huge difference over a 16GG non expandable phone.
Power was (and is) an issue on weekend days when Im using the phone a lot and Im not near a power point - so I looked for the biggest battery and reviews that said good battery life. (and since then - Ive added the ability to access and change the battery - I now carry 2 spare Batteries in my backpack. They provide me with MORE power than I can use in a day NO MATTER what I do or run on the phone.
To a lesser degree - but still something I looked for were CPU speed - and all the models I looked at just lagged a little bit behind the best - memory (no better than anyone else) and the Camera - Ive stopped carrying my point and shoot camera's because although my android phone ISNT as good - its easy, fast, always on me and I can upload any pics I take - on the spot. HTC's cameras just didnt seem to match the others....
The locking down of the bootloaders also DID NOT impress me - although its a decision they have backed away from - but with me and others it made the company seem customer unfriendly.
Where HTC DID seem to excel was in audio quality but that wasnt something I care enough about (I wear out headphones every few months and so I dont spend the money on headphones to make audio the decisive quality. WHAT DO OTHERS THINK. Why are you not buying HTC phones ?
Apple's flagship product is thug lawsuits. Apple will continue business as usual.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation," Peter Chou, HTC's chief executive, said in a statement. Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, also expressed relief in a statement. "We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation,"
That's hilarious! HTC is. HTC is pleased. Yeah, HTC. HTC can FINALLY focus on innovation instead of litigation.
Isn't focusing almost exclusively on litigation APPLE'S thing?
This article sums it up the best: http://www.androidanalyse.com/is-the-htc-apple-deal-a-good-thing-for-android/ - Apple is not going to soften up on Android at all.
Even if ip rights weren't a problem, making sure your spiffy new phone doesn't blow up or having the kind of industrial capacity to build these things are bigger barriers to entry.
Try again.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
Its ipod shares have shrunk to nothing
What exactly did you mean by this? What product has taken over the 4"-class Wi-Fi tablet market from the iPod touch?
or maybe it was because one was about operating systems and the other was about smartphones.
They're both about operating systems, as I understand it. Some of the features that Apple claimed are common to all smartphones that run the Android operating system.
The US market is irrelevant
The major English-speaking markets as I understand them are the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Two-thirds of the population of these countries lives in the United States. Slashdot is also operated and hosted in the United States. So how does this make the United States market irrelevant for the purpose of a Slashdot discussion?
So Samsung is on its way out as a supplier in the Apple chain ... and HTC has design expertise on at least the LCD panels front. Could this all be part of HTC angling to win the supply chain inside track for Apple?
"Ahh! I see you're in that indeterminate Schrodinger state where - oh, uh
We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation
Actually, because laser beams have a gaussian intensity cross-section, they are a pain in the ass to focus. He'd get a much tighter focus spot with plain old regular light (or even better, UV, since the diffraction spot scales with wavelength).
So there.
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
Slashdot is overrun with loudmouth fandroids who are on some kind of god-given mission to prove to everyone around them that Android is The Way and the Truth (or something like that)
So what is The Way and the Truth? Assume for a moment that someone wants to buy a mobile device and run applications distributed under a free software license on it. The device's operating system would have to meet these two requirements:
What mobile operating system other than Android meets these two requirements?