Google: Patently Absurd

post from Daring Fireball on 03 August 2011 08:03:51 PM. © Daring Fireball

David Drummond, Google senior vice president and chief legal officer, “When Patents Attack Android”:

But Android?s success has yielded something else: a hostile,organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple andother companies, waged through bogus patents.
They?re doing this by banding together to acquire Novell?s oldpatents (the ?CPTN? group including Microsoft and Apple) andNortel?s old patents (the ?Rockstar? group includingMicrosoft and Apple), to make sure Google didn?t get them;seeking $15 licensing fees for every Android device; attempting tomake it more expensive for phone manufacturers to license Android(which we provide free of charge) than Windows Mobile; and evensuing Barnes & Noble, HTC, Motorola, and Samsung. Patents weremeant to encourage innovation, but lately they are being used as aweapon to stop it.

So if Google had acquired the rights to these patents, that would have been OK. But when others acquired them, it’s a “hostile, organized campaign”. It’s OK for Google to undermine Microsoft’s for-pay OS licensing business by giving Android away for free, but it’s not OK for Microsoft to undermine Google’s attempts to give away for free an OS that violates patents belonging to Microsoft?

This anti-competitive strategy is also escalating the cost ofpatents way beyond what they?re really worth. Microsoft andApple?s winning $4.5 billion for Nortel?s patent portfolio wasnearly five times larger than the pre-auction estimate of $1billion. Fortunately, the law frowns on the accumulation ofdubious patents for anti-competitive means ? which means thesedeals are likely to draw regulatory scrutiny, and this patentbubble will pop.

First, the “estimate” of $1 billion was partially set by Google itself.

Then when the auction actually started, it’s OK for Google to bid over $3.14 billion, but when Apple and Microsoft bid $4.5 billion, that’s “way beyond what they’re really worth”. And if these patents are “bogus”, why was Google willing to pay anything for them, let alone pi billion dollars?

No one other than Nathan Myhrvold and his cronies sees the U.S. patent system as functioning properly, but Google’s hypocrisy here is absurd. Google isn’t arguing against a handful of never-should-have-been-issued software patents. They’re not arguing against patent trolls like Myhrvold and his shell companies like Lodsys — companies that have no products of their own, no actual inventions, just patents for ideas for products. They’re effectively arguing against the idea of the patent system itself, simply because Android violates a bunch of patents held by Google’s competitors. It’s not “patents” that are attacking Android. It’s competing companies whose patents Google has violated — and whose business Android undermines — who are attacking Android.

Google supporters claim that Google only wants to use patents defensively. But what exactly does Google need to defend against, if not actual patents Android actually violates?

How is Google’s argument here different than simply demanding that Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, et al should simply sit back and let Google do whatever it wants with Android, regardless of the patents they hold? And, let’s not forget, give Android away for free.

Read The Full Article:
http://daringfireball.net/2011/08/google_patently_absurd

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Obama: Debt Ceiling Deal Required Tough
Concessions by Both Democrats and Democrats Alike

post from Daring Fireball on 03 August 2011 06:03:54 PM. © Daring Fireball

Maybe The Onion should get a Pulitzer.

?

Read The Full Article:
http://theonion.com/articles/obama-debt-ceiling-deal-required-tough-concessions,2
1067/?mobile=true

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Instagram Hits 150 Million Photos

post from Daring Fireball on 03 August 2011 06:03:54 PM. © Daring Fireball

7 million users. 150 million uploads. 9 months. iOS only.

Imagine how well they’d be doing if only they’d taken Fred Wilson’s advice.

?

Read The Full Article:
http://instagr.am/blog/105/150-million-photos

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Uh, I Dont Think Theres Anything Suspicious About
It

post from Daring Fireball on 03 August 2011 03:04:26 PM. © Daring Fireball

Tom Warren:

Microsoft has been suspiciously quiet around Zune and Zune servicesover the past few months.

?

Read The Full Article:
http://www.winrumors.com/new-and-updated-apps-now-available-for-zune-hd-owners/

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Android Mystery Numbers

post from Daring Fireball on 03 August 2011 02:04:20 PM. © Daring Fireball

This is pretty much what I think, too.

?

Read The Full Article:
http://utestme.com/android-mystery-numbers/

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Internet Explorer/IQ Story Was Bogus

post from Daring Fireball on 03 August 2011 01:04:06 PM. © Daring Fireball

BBC News:

A story which suggested that users of Internet Explorer have a lower IQ than people who chose other browsers appears to have been an elaborate hoax.
A number of media organisations, including the BBC, reported on the research, put out by Canadian firm ApTiquant.

Thing seemed fishy to me all along. But I’d wager that if someone did a proper study on this, that IE users would tend to have a lower average IQ. It’s just the nature of IE being the most-used browser, and the default on lower-priced and older PCs.

?

Read The Full Article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14389430

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Graphic Node Updates Its Animated Products for
Keynote

post from prMac on 03 August 2011 12:45:00 PM. © prMac

Graphic design company, Graphic Node today introduces Motion Themes and Motion Backgrounds, a set of new additions to its animated products for Apple's Keynote. The company offers ten fresh backgrounds and five motion themes with matching fonts, frames, and bullet styles. The Motion Themes pack now contains 20 high-quality slide themes for Keynote. Motion Backgrounds feature creative animations and can be looped for endless playback using QuickTime player.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-28953.htm

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Appbackr Announces Biggest Campaign Ever For
Cowboys & Aliens: The Kids

California based Appbackr today announces its biggest campaign ever for "Cowboys & Aliens: The Kids" app book for the Apple iPhone and iPad. The application is an educational app for children, 3 - 8 years, based on the new Universal movie Cowboys & Aliens. People who fund the app will receive 27% profit as the app sells in iTunes. The money raised in the campaign will support the apps worldwide distribution and the to build out the app for other devices.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-28951.htm

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Vortimac Software Releases Memoir 2

Michigan based Vortimac Software today announces Memoir 2.0, an update to their popular personal journal for Mac OS X. Memoir 2 features a clean interface that allows users to focus on writing and offers a unique organizational system which allows users to organize their journal via folders, an integrated calendar, or both. Version 2 is a comprehensive overhaul of the original version including a cleaner, more streamlined and logical interface, folder organization, integrated calendar and more.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-28950.htm

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iOS Tutorial Video Offers New Guide to Making
iPhone and iPad Apps

Toronto based Infinite Skills is now offering a 12.5 hour tutorial video course designed to make becoming an iOS Developer easier than it ever has been before. Presented by author Tony Bove, Learning To Build Apps for iPhone and iPad takes viewers through the standard app development cycle using the iOS SDK and Xcode all the way to submission to the App Store. The course focuses on two central app development projects - viewers can follow along and build the apps themselves, piece by piece.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-28946.htm

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