Microsoft secures Android patent license deals with Acer and Viewsonic

Microsoft is no stranger to making money off patents. Since early 2010, the company’s legal team has been knocking on the doors of Android OEMs. The goal: strike licensing deals for Microsoft patents that are being infringed upon by the Android implementations shipped on millions of smartphones and tablets.

Even at seemingly small dollar amounts like $4 per device, the licensing fees pile up in a hurry — and deals with the likes of HTC, Huawei, and ZTE have provided a nice boost to Microsoft’s bottom line. At the end of August, Microsoft decided to go after Google’s Android BFF, Motorola.

Such a bold move — coupled with previous successful strikes — sends a clear message to other Android OEMs, and Microsoft has capitalized on its patents again as a result. This time, it’s Acer (who makes the sexy-but-underwhelming Ferrari Liquid E pictured above) and Viewsonic signing on the dotted line.

A Microsoft spokesperson said that they’re please the companies are “taking advantage of [Microsoft's] industry-wide licensing program” to address Android’s IP issues. That’s an interesting statement, since previously most of the talk had been about modifications made by the OEMs causing the infringement issues — not Android itself.

It could just be a simple semantic slip-up, and ultimately it doesn’t matter if Android does infringe on Microsoft patents. Since it managed to make more money off HTC than it did off its own Windows Phone 7 licenses in the early going, Microsoft is probably quite content to continue seeking deals with the people actually making and selling Android devices and waiting for the residual money to roll in.

More at the Microsoft News Center

HTC sues Apple for patent infringement using newly-acquired Google patents

It seems like if it’s not an iPhone 5 rumor, it’s another report on a patent infringement lawsuit. Though news was buzzing today about a picture of a plate of sushi taken with what may or may not have been the iPhone 5, we also heard news that HTC filed another patent infringement suit againstApple. This would normally just be another “ball’s in your court” type of thing in the ongoing battle between the two companies, but what’s interesting about this filing is that the nine patents listed happened to be acquired by Google.

Google acquired these nine patents over the past year from Motorola, Palm, and OpenWave, and then transferred them all to HTC on September 1. We should point out that the Motorola patents in question were actually acquired by Google before Google acquired Motorola for $12.5 billion on August 15.

The big question on everyone’s mind is why didn’t Google just sue Apple itself? If indeed the nine patents are strong enough, why didn’t Google just go after Apple with a settlement that would cover all Android phones — including HTC phones? It’s curious that Google had to transfer the patents over to HTC instead of just keeping them and suing Apple itself, so it appears that Google is having HTC do its dirty work this time around.

HTC filed for patent infringement in a Delaware federal court on four of the nine patents, and filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission for the five others — two of which originally came from Palm, and three that came from OpenWave.

It’s believed that Google bought Motorola, the company who more or less pioneered the cellphone,for its patents. Motorola has over 17,500 patents and 7,500 patent applications that relate to mobility products. The thought is that Google would be able to defend Android better with all the patents it got from Motorola.

There aren’t a ton of details as of now, which has a lot of people speculating about why Google did this so close to acquiring Motorola. It also begs the question of whether or not Google will do the same thing with other Android vendors who are also facing legal battles with Apple, such asSamsung and Motorola?

via Bloomberg

Android for HP TouchPad port nearly ready to download

Two developer teams are working feverishly on bringing Android to the HP TouchPad —CyanogenMod and TouchDroid — and it now looks like the former is within striking distance of a fully-functional port.

In a video posted over on YouTube and included below, a CyanogenMod team member has shown off its progress so far, and nearly all of the TouchPad’s hardware is now supported. All that remains is to sort out the TouchPad’s wireless NIC. Once that has been completed, an easy-to-install CyanogenMod 7 download should be available for all those new $99 TouchPad owners who aren’t in love with the stock webOS experience.

One other important thing to note about the CyanogenMod port for the TouchPad is that it’s not going to replace webOS on your tablet. It’s a dual-boot system, so you’ll be able to reboot and switch from Android to webOS and vice versa. That’s pretty slick, and it’s an option none of your Android tablet-toting friends will have, since there are no webOS ports running on other hardware.

While CyanogenMod will bring Android to your TouchPad, it won’t bring the tablet-focused Android Honeycomb. CyanogenMod is built on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, though the team has made several tablet-friendly tweaks, such as adding the Honeycomb software navigation buttons to the bottom of the screen.

Even if the OS is a version behind what you’d find on a brand new, $400-plus Android tablet, you’ve still got bragging rights. With a dual-core 1.2GHz processor and $99 price tag, not even your chums that picked up a subsidized Honeycomb tablet got anywhere near the deal you did

Velocity Micro Cruz T408 is an 8-inch Android tablet for $240

If the recently revealed 10-inch Cruz T410 from Velocity Micro isn’t your thing, maybe the 8-inch version might be. The Cruz T408 is now available for pre-order from Amazon and FCC approval has been secured, so it will be arriving on North Amercican shores soon.
The Cruz T408 is listed for sale at just $239.99, but as I mentioned with the news of Amazon’s $250 Kindle Tablet, that price point isn’t as hot as it once might have been. Lenovo dropped a $199 bomb at IFA with the IdeaPad A1, and Android tablets makers are going to have to get very aggressive on price if they can’t compete in other ways.
Amazon, of course, has a tremendous number of value-adds it can offer customers — from Amazon Prime shipping deals and video streaming to discounts on online purchases of downloads and retail merchandise. Velocity Micro doesn’t have that advantage, and the Cruz T408 isn’t a stand-out piece of hardware, either. It sports just 4GB of internal storage, a single-core 1GHz processor, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and a front-facing camera.
You will get a free copy of Angry Birds Rio and the full version of QuickOffice preinstalled, but youwon’t get access to the Android Market. Amazon’s AppStore is on board, but if you’re after a smaller-screen Android tablet with Amazon integration why not just wait for the real deal to go on sale in a couple months?
One thing’s for certain: Microsoft is probably cheering for the Cruz to be a hit — since it struck an Android patent licensing deal with Velocity Micro earlier this year.
More at Engadget

New Firefox download manager appears in UX build

It’s been known for a while that Mozilla wanted to overhaul the Firefox download manager. The current implementation hasn’t changed much since the arrival of Firefox 3, and many of the browser’s other core UI bits (like the add-on manager) have already been re-tooled. And so with Mozilla’s sights set squarely on delivering a more unified UX throughout Firefox, the first cut at a new download manager has been pushed to bleeding-edge Firefox builds.

As it was shown in early mockups, the new download manager rests on the Firefox tab strip. It’s movable, of course. Just right-click the toolbar, choose customize, and drag the download arrow as you would any other toolbar icon. When you first launch Firefox, however, the download icon won’t appear — even if you have active downloads the resume after start-up. The old hotkey is still wired, however, so you can tap control + j (command + j on a Mac) to call up the panel and force the icon to be displayed.

If the icon is hidden and you start downloading a new file, it’ll appear on your toolbar. Immediately to the right you’ll see a very rough estimate of the time until completion (with multiple downloads, the longest time remaining is used). The drop-down only retains history for the current browsing session. If you quit Firefox and re-launch later, you’ll need to head to the downloads history page to check out previous transfers. While the pause icon has disappeared from the right side of each download’s progress bar, you can still right-click to put individual transfers on hold.

There’s still no timeline listed on the Incontent Page Design project outline, but if the overhaul is slated for the current UX build we won’t see the new download manager until the arrival of Firefox 9 early next year.

Download at Mozilla Nightlies

Windows 8 will run Windows Phone X apps, says Nvidia chief

Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang is kind of like the Mark Cuban of chip companies. He’s never been afraid to speak his mind, a fact that was certainly the case at a roundtable discussion with reporters yesterday where Huang stated that he’s confident Windows 8 will be able to run Windows Phoneapps.

There’s plenty of evidence to support Huang’s statement. For one, we already know Windows 8 will run on ARM processors. That’s a critical piece of the puzzle, since it’s the architecture utilized by Windows Phone handsets. Next, there’s the fact that Windows Phone apps and games are largely built using Silverlight and XNA, both of which are right at home on the desktop as well.

Then there’s the new AppX package that will help power the Windows Store. AppX manifests allow developers to create a single package that can deploy specific versions of an app to different architectures and operating system versions, and its packages are strikingly similar to those currently used to deliver Windows Phone 7 apps.

Rounding things out is the fact that Microsoft is known to be working at unifying the user experience across its three main platform: desktop, mobile, and the living room (Xbox 360). Allowing apps coded for one Microsoft platform to run on the others as well would simplify the development process — and that simplification would no doubt be welcomed by developers.

And haven’t we also heard rumblings about the successor to the Xbox 360 running an ARM-based processor as well? That would make things even more interesting, since it would deliver a truly code-once-play-everywhere experience.

China gives Google green light to operate for another year

Google’s relationship with the government of China has been a tad tense over the past couple of years. There have been accusations of state-sponsored hacking, interference with access to services, and, of course, Google’s flat-out refusal to censor search results.

China also wasn’t pleased with the introduction of Google Plus in Gmail this summer, which shouldn’t have come as a surprise. The Chinese government is widely regarded as being afraid of social networks and some officials even believe that they are being used by the U.S. to destabilize China.

But despite those fears and tensions with Google, a government spokesperson has announced that the license Google requires to continue operations within Chinese borders has been renewed for another year. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that the Google license was one of more than a hundred that were renewed following “adjustments” to operations, though no details about those changes were given.

It’s worth noting that the Internet content license doesn’t actually belong to Google, and that could very well have something to do with the renewal. The license actually belongs to a Chinese partner who works with Google, since the Ministry doesn’t allow foreign companies to own such licenses.

Since the spat began, Google’s presence in China has diminished greatly. Its search market share has been devoured by Baidu, who now has its sights set on Google Chrome and Android. Baidu recently announced the Baidu Yi mobile operating system, which will begin shipping on Dell tablets and smartphones in China in the near future.

Nearly half the world’s PCs use pirated software and think that’s A-OK

There’s a good chance you’re reading this article on a computer with pirated software. We’re not accusing all of our readers of running illegally-downloaded programs, but according to the Business Software Alliance, half of the world’s PCs are using pirated software, so there’s a pretty good chance you are too.
The BSA is a trade group that represents a number of the largest software makers, including Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, and Symantec. The group’s primary goal is to stop copyright infringement of software made by its members. The BSA survey of 15,000 PC users in 32 different countries revealed that 47 percent of PC users worldwide think there’s nothing wrong about using pirated software. That number includes buying one license for multiple users or downloading the software from a peer-to-peer network.
The survey also showed that 86 percent of computer users in China get their software illegally most or all of the time. In fact, back in May, Microsoft estimated that its per-PC profit level in China is about one-sixth of what it is elsewhere around the world.
Since China’s PC market is surpassing the U.S.’s market for the first time ever, it’s a big deal that the country is also seeing the most cases of pirated software. And illegally acquired software is nothing to sneeze about. The BSA said it cost the industry almost $59 billion worldwide last year. Although China’s piracy trend is spreading the fastest, the country wasn’t the top sofwatre pirates this past year. China came in as the world’s second-largest with $7.78 billion of stolen software being installed last year.
The U.S., who until a few weeks ago was the biggest consumer of PCs, saw an estimated $9.6 billion in pirated software last year.

Eyes on the Solar System: NASA web app lets you explore space in 3D

Unless you’re an astronaut, or a billionaire with enough money to pay for a ride into space, you’ll probably never see what Earth looks like from above its atmosphere or see the rings of Saturn in real life (sorry to be the one to break it to you). Thankfully, NASA has created a real-time 3D browser-based experience that lets you explore the planets and their moons, asteroids, and other objects in our solar system, as well as the spacecrafts that are exploring these objects.

The browser-based app, called “Eyes on the Solar System,” uses video game technology and NASA data to let you control your point of view by clicking and dragging your mouse. NASA said this is the first time the public will actually be able to see the whole solar system as well as NASA’s missions as they move together in real-time. The app actually lets you follow NASA spacecrafts thanks to NASA’s actual space mission data.

To get started with Eyes on the Solar System, simply download the Unity Web Player, which is a free plug-in for both Mac and PC, and then you’re good to go explore the models of the planets, comets, and asteroids. In addition to seeing missions in real-time, you can also travel back in time thanks to NASA data that dates from as far back as 1950. You can also travel to the future with projected data that goes up to 2050.

There are various views available, as well as a number of controls located on pop-up menus to really customize your experience. Tabs across the bottom let you chose your time, destination, and speed. If you have a pair of red-cyan glasses, you can even see the content in 3D.

Although the concept of a real-time browser-based way to explore space is revolutionary, the video below looks like something from the ‘90s. Still, it’s informative and worth a watch before you start exploring space with Eyes on the Solar System.

GameStop starts iOS device trade-in program, may be selling iPhone 5?

GameStop is a store very familiar to gamers who like to trade in their used games and old consoles for store credit. In addition to trading in your old gaming hardware, the store will now welcome iOS devices into its trade-in program. That’s right; GameStop is hopping on the mobile gaming bandwagon. The company announced it will begin selling iPhones, iPods, and iPads as well as offer a trade-in program for those old iOS devices you want to upgrade. Starting this week, GameStop stores will start taking your old iOS devices for in-store credit.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen trade-in programs before. Amazon, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, and Verizon have been some of the many stores to offer some sort of compensation for your old gear. But, the fact that GameStop will soon be selling iOS devices means its serious about mobile gaming.

If the rumors of the Apple iPhone 5 being released in early October are true, now might be a good time to trade in your iOS device and get ready to use your credit on the new iPhone. The iPhone 5 is also rumored to be launching on AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile, marking the first time that the iPhone has been offered on all major carriers. AT&T iPhone customers who aren’t happy with their service may decide to jump ship and purchase an iPhone 5 with Sprint. This would be the perfect opportunity to trade in that AT&T iPhone 4 for credit towards that new Sprint iPhone 5.

It’s not guaranteed just yet that GameStop will be selling the iPhone 5, so there’s a chance you might trade in your iPhone and only get store credit towards games like Gears of War 3 or Dead Island.

As with any trade-in site, it’s important to shop around, by entering the condition of your device into a few different trade-in sites before getting rid of your device. You might only get $30 worth of credit at GameStop while you can get $100 at Amazon, or vice versa.

Is Apple planning a hardware release for the iPod’s 10th birthday?

The iPod will celebrate its 10th birthday on October 23rd. According to a leaked memo from Best Buy, Apple is carrying out a “Fixture Installation” early on October 21st. A new launch could be on the cards, the question is: will it be a new iPhone, a new iPod, or both?

Apparently last time Apple did a fixture installation like this that required a manager be in the store at 6am we got the iPhone 4. So the chances are October 21 is the day we get the iPhone 5. With it being the 10th anniversary it makes sense to do it that weekend alongside an iPod touch update.

Of all the dates suggested so far, this one makes the most sense to me due to the anniversary. If true, it means those hoping for a September launch will have to hold out another 7 weeks before signing that new contract and getting shiny new hardware. It also means Deutsche Telekom is way too early with its iPhone 5 pre-order program in Germany.

Historically this doesn’t fit with Apple’s timetable of releasing the iPod touch in September. It would also be unusual to see the iPod and iPhone launch on the same day. So the question remains: is the iPhone 5 going to launch this month and a new iPod appears for the anniversary in late October? Or is Apple using the iPod anniversary just to release a new iPhone?

Whatever the case, if the Best Buy memo is real then something is definitely being unveiled on October 21 just in time for the weekend.

Dell to build Baidu Yi smartphones and tablets in China

So you’ve decided to fork Android and now you’re looking for a hardware partner to build handsets and tablets… Who better to tap than a company that has a burgeoning market share in China and has produced a pair of Android tablets? Baidu and Dell think that kind of reasoning is sound, and they’ve decided to team up and challenge the likes of Apple and Lenovo behind the Great Wall.

Last year, Dell’s sales in China rose more than 20%. The company has already built the Streak 5 (the M01M in China) and 7-inch Android tablets around the globe as well as also launching the 10-inch Dell Streak 10 Pro in China.

It was previously known that Baidu’s interest is mainly in the mobile Internet space and that building tablets was a priority. It’s not a huge surprise, then, that a Dell spokesperson hinted that the first Baidu device would be something similar to the original Streak 5 — which walks the line between tablet and smartphone.

Baidu hasn’t said anything publicly about the new agreement with Dell, but did note that it had existing deals with other device manufacturers. Dell, however, is the first to commit to building hardware that utilizes Biadu Yi.

Building phones for the Chinese market using Yi certainly makes sense — and more sense than sticking with Android. Baidu is a powerhouse in China, dominating the search market and offering numerous other web services (like streaming music and eBooks). Dell clearly hopes that Baidu will provide a brand boost for its devices, but the company will have a steep climb in China — where the iPhone and iPad rule the mobile market.

AMD accidentally leaks 1.7 million DiRT 3 keys

For a number of years now it has been possible to purchase a new graphics card with the promise of a free promotional game. Inside the box with your new card will be a code that can be entered on a website along with your personal details in return for access to a digital copy of a particular game for free.

AMD offers such a freebie with some of its ATI graphics cards, but due to a lack of security some 1.7 million promotional keys for Codemasters’ DiRT 3 have been accidentally leaked.

The reason access to all these keys has been granted is due to a lack of .htaccess on AMD’s site. .htaccess is a directory level configuration file commonly used for restricting access to particular directories on a server. Without it, anyone can gain access to the directory that holds all the keys as a big list in several text files (see image above).

The keys AMD uses are for Steam, so copy pasting one into the appropriate section of your Steam client should unlock the game if that particular key hasn’t been used before. However, if you do find a link to the keys we suggest you don’t try and use one. AMD will no doubt ask Valve to kill all these codes once it has realized what happened. Valve in turn could decide to ban any account that has used such a key.

This, like many other recent episodes, demonstrates how important it is to get the security right on a website and associated servers. These games were meant to be free, but only after you spent a few hundred dollars on another product. Now there’s 1.7 million copies of the game available for free, but luckily easily blocked through Steam if AMD chooses to go that route.

Sony develops 3mm sheet that makes any laptop 3D capable

There’s an ongoing question as to how many consumers actually want to watch 3D and desire it as a feature of their devices and gadgets, but industry seems to be pushing forward with including it regardless. While movie theaters love 3D because they can charge a higher price of entry, high-end TVs seem to have it as standard, and now Sony is offering an easy way to add it to any laptop that sports a webcam.

A new lenticular sheet has been unveiled at IFA 2011 by Sony that allows for 3D viewing without the need to wear glasses. Sony will be using this 3mm thick sheet in its Vaio S series laptops, but it will also be offered to other laptop manufacturers.

In order for it to work the sheet needs to be combined with a webcam and software. The webcam tracks the position of the user’s face sitting at the laptop while the software handles that face tracking and adjusts the output to be optimal for the position of the user. Clearly it’s not a system that works well if you and a friend want to watch a 3D movie on your laptop.

The sheet is 15.5-inches in size, suggesting it could be used in laptops up to that size while adding only a little extra thickness and weight to the overall machine. The one stumbling block is the price, which Sony has set at $183. That’s a high price to pay for just adding 3D to a laptop, so it will be reserved for high-end, and therefore expensive machines.

Facebook starts experimenting with comment translations

Facebook is a social network focused on conquering the world by gathering all your friends and relatives in one place. Having over 750 million users counted on its books is the best start any social network has had so far, but Mark Zuckerberg surely has his sights set on over a billion users, many of whom won’t count English as a first language.

Google seems to have been the company pushing forward the most with language translation over the past few years. Google Translate supports 50+ languages, there’s mobile apps, Google Reader can auto-translate pages into your chosen language, and work is underway on a universal translator for making calls.

Now Facebook has woken up to the fact it has users speaking multiple languages, many of which may want to comment or chat to people who speak another language. Unless they can understand that other language, or turn to a service like Google Translate to translate the page contents, they are effectively blocked from interacting with certain users. With that in mind a Translate link has started appearing occasionally for some users next to comments on the social network. Clicking the link translates the comment into whatever language your account has set as default.

The languages supported so far include Chinese, French, Hebrew, and Spanish, but more are sure to be added. We don’t know what the timetable is for a full roll-out to the whole of Facebook, but the evidence suggests Zuckerberg is on course to remove the language barriers from his social network and make communication worldwide as simple as possible.

One day you may be able to speak to any Facebook user in comments or chat using your own language, and possibly not even know their responses are being auto-translated.

Google Doodle celebrates Freddie Mercury’s 65th birthday in style

Google has today released what has to be one of its most memorable Google Doodles in celebration of what would have been Freddie Mercury’s 65th birthday.

Born on this day in 1946, Mercury was a singer, songwriter, and lead vocalist of Queen, a rock band sure to be remembered for as long as there is music to listen to. Hits included Bohemian Rhapsody,Don’t Stop Me Now, and We Are the Champions among many, many more.

Although British, Mercury spent the first 15 or so years of his life growing up in India after being born in Zanzibar. He learned to play the piano at 7, formed his first band called The Hectics at 12, and then at 17 he moved to England with his family where he studied art. The art skills he gained ultimately helped him design the crest/logo for Queen.

After being a part of several bands that never really saw success he formed Queen with Brian May and Roger Taylor, signalling the start of Mercury’s real musical success story and what has ultimately made him one of the most memorable and loved  musicians of all time.

Unfortunately, Freddie Mercury was diagnosed with AIDS in the late 80s and his last on-camera appearance was in May, 1991 for the music video These are the Days of Our Lives. From June to November of that year his health deteriorated until he started refusing his medication and died on November 24 at the age of 45.

Google’s Doodle celebrating the date is an animated journey through his musical career. It’s both an uplifting and well thought out piece that sees Mercury riding on the back of a tiger, driving a racing car through the universe, and portrayed as the King (Queen?) of rock.

As well as a doodle, Google also asked Brian May to do a guest post about Mercury on the Official Google Blog. It’s well worth a read for Queen and Mercury fans alike.

Square Enix reveals Dragon Quest X for Wii and Wii U

There are only a handful of games that cause the Japanese to take days off work and queue all night. One of those games series is Dragon Quest, and Square Enix has just announced Dragon Quest X(official title: Dragon Quest X Mezameshi Itsutsu no Shuzoku) which is set to see a release next year.

With Dragon Quest IX the game made an unexpected leap to a mobile platform in the form of the DS, but it worked and sold millions in its first weekend on sale. This time around Square Enix have decided to release on two platforms at the same time: the Wii and the Wii U. The main difference seems to be better visuals for Wii U owners, but otherwise the same game.

The other big change is the focus on online play. DQX won’t be the typical JRPG we have come to expect from the series. Instead, the gameplay will require players go online, create a party with other players, and explore the world together. Importantly, Wii and Wii U players will inhabit the same online world making it possible for friends to play together regardless of what generation Nintendo hardware they own. The 3DS will also play a role, allowing for data exchanges and character transfers.

What’s unclear at the moment is whether the game will carry a monthly charge. Based on an information page on the official Dragon Quest portal it looks like that may be the case as both price and a “usage fee” are featured, but with a “TBA” where the pricing should be.

One final difference comes from the development of the game which is happening internally at Square Enix. On previous games development would be handled by another studio like Level 5, but fans should be glad to hear Yuji Hori, Koichi Sugiyama, and Akira Toriyama are all involved. The fact that Square Enix has a lot of experience developing the Final Fantasy MMOs makes this a sensible decision.