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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Nokia sues Apple again over patents (AP) : Technet

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Nokia sues Apple again over patents (AP) : Technet

Nokia sues Apple again over patents (AP)

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 10:26 AM PDT

By MATTI HUUHTANEN, Associated Press Matti Huuhtanen, Associated Press – Tue Mar 29, 1:26 pm ET

HELSINKI – Nokia is suing Apple in the United States for allegedly infringing patents in its mobile phones, portable music players, tablets and computers, the Finnish company said Tuesday.

The complaint, filed with United States International Trade Commission, ITC, is the latest in a string of lawsuits by Nokia and comes as the world's largest handset maker struggles to keep up with smartphone rivals such as Apple Inc.

Apple and Nokia Corp. have been locked in a long-running legal battle over patent claims, with each side accusing the other of infringing on patents that cover features such as swiping gestures on touch screens and the built-in "app store" for downloading updated programs.

The major phone makers — including Apple, Nokia, Microsoft, Motorola and Taiwan's HTC — are increasingly turning to patent litigation as they jockey for any edge to expand their share of the rapidly growing smartphone market. Companies such as Nokia are also seeking to protect their business as the popular iPhone encroaches on the rest of the industry.

The lawsuits cover all aspects of basic phone use, from technology used to synchronize email, calendars and contacts, to methods to extend battery life.

Although these legal disputes generally don't stop products from reaching consumers, litigation can be used to extract licensing fees from competitors. It can also help distract rivals and even discourage them from entering a particular market.

Nokia said the seven patents in the new complaint relate to its "pioneering innovations" that Apple allegedly is using "to create key features in its products, including in multitasking operating systems, data synchronization, positioning, call quality and the use of Bluetooth accessories."

Last week, the United States International Trade Commission found no violation in an earlier complaint. Nokia said it "is waiting to see the full details of the ruling before deciding on the next steps in that case."

Last year, Nokia Corp. also sued Apple Inc. in Britain, Germany and the Netherlands for allegedly infringing its patents with technology used in the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Those followed earlier lawsuits by Nokia claiming that a broad swath of Apple products violate its patents. Apple had earlier responded with its own infringement claims against Nokia.

"Our latest ITC filing means we now have 46 Nokia patents in suit against Apple, many filed more than 10 years before Apple made its first iPhone," said Paul Melin, vice president of intellectual property at Nokia.

"Nokia is a leading innovator in technologies needed to build great mobile products and Apple must stop building its products using Nokia's proprietary innovation."

The legal disputes come amid increasing competition in the fast-growing smartphone market. Tech companies are scrambling to win over the growing number of consumers buying handsets that come with email, Web surfing and scores of apps for checking the weather, updating Facebook and other tasks.

Nokia has been struggling against stiff competition, especially from the iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry.

Nokia said that during the past two decades it has invested some euro43 billion in research and development to build "one of the wireless industry's strongest and broadest IPR portfolios," which includes more than 10,000 patent families.

In addition to the two ITC complaints, Nokia said it has filed cases on the same patents and others in Delaware, and has further cases proceeding in Mannheim, Dusseldorf and the Federal Patent Court in Germany, the UK High Court in London and the District Court of the Hague in the Netherlands. Some of them will come to trial in the next few months.

Nokia stock closed almost unchanged at euro6.17 ($8.68) on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.

____

Online:

http://www.nokia.com

Facebook cuts 'uprising' page after Israel protest (AP)

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 12:03 PM PDT

By ARON HELLER, Associated Press Aron Heller, Associated Press – Tue Mar 29, 3:03 pm ET

JERUSALEM – Facebook on Tuesday removed a page calling on Palestinians to take up arms against Israel, following a high-profile Israeli appeal to the popular social-networking site.

The affair highlighted how Facebook is increasingly involved in charged political conflicts, balancing between protecting freedom of expression and defending against hate speech.

The page, titled "Third Palestinian Intifada," had more than 350,000 fans when it was taken down. It called on Palestinians to take to the streets after Friday prayers on May 15 and begin an uprising. "Judgment Day will be brought upon us only once the Muslims have killed all of the Jews," a quote from the page read.

Facebook said the page began as a call for peaceful protest, even though it used the term "intifada," which it said has been associated with violence in the past.

"However, after the publicity of the page, more comments deteriorated to direct calls for violence," said Andrew Noyes, Facebook's public policy communications manager. He said the creators of the page eventually made calls for violence as well.

"We monitor pages that are reported to us, and when they degrade to direct calls for violence or expressions of hate — as occurred in this case — we have and will continue to take them down."

Facebook added that it typically does not take down content that speaks out against countries, religions, political entities, or ideas.

With the "Facebook Revolutions" helping to bring down regimes in Egypt and Tunisia, the social networking site has become an agent of change and a powerful political tool that finds itself asked to make rulings on the content posted by its millions of users worldwide.

Jerome Barron, a law professor and First Amendment expert at George Washington University, said that as a private concern, Facebook does not fall under the guidelines of U.S. freedom of expression legislation and is free to decide on its own policies.

Barron noted arguments that companies like Google and Facebook were growing so powerful that they should be regulated by the freedom of expression guidelines.

In a letter last week to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Israeli Cabinet Minister Yuli Edelstein said the page included "wild incitement," with calls to kill Jews and of "liberating" Jerusalem through violence.

Edelstein applauded Facebook for removing the page, saying he hoped the action would be an example to others and deter similar postings in the future.

"I asked Mr. Zuckerberg that the red lines of freedom of expression and incitement and violence should not be crossed," he said. "I welcome that decision even though I am sure that more cat-and-mouse games await us and there will be attempts by our enemies and those who hate us to enter Facebook in other ways."

The original page featured a fist in the colors of the Palestinian flag and images of dead Palestinian children. Since its removal, several other pages with of the same name have been created — each attracting only a few hundred "likes" apiece.

Facebook's content regulations prohibit posting material that contains or promotes "hateful or violent content directed at an individual or group" — including those based on national origin or religious affiliation.

It has previously removed pages deemed to violate their policies — ranging from Holocaust deniers, anti-gay bullying groups and even people using fake names.

Jewish advocacy groups launched a counter page, encouraging users to report "Third Palestinian Intifada" for its hateful content and demand that Facebook remove it.

Initially, Facebook seemed hesitant to do so, citing its support for freedom of expression.

The Anti-Defamation League, a U.S.-based Jewish advocacy group, lauded Facebook's eventual decision.

"By taking this action, Facebook has now recognized an important standard to be applied when evaluating issues of noncompliance with its terms of service involving distinctions between incitement to violence and legitimate calls for collective expressions of opinion and action," the ADL said in a statement.

Need Admissions or Career Advice? Evisors Rents Experts By the Hour (Mashable)

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 05:12 PM PDT

Sarah Kessler Sarah Kessler – Tue Mar 29, 8:12 pm ET

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Evisors

Quick Pitch: Evisors is a marketplace for expert advice.

Genius Idea: Making it easy for anyone to connect with an expert regardless of their networking skills.

Anybody who has ever worked an alumni directory or searched for a job understands the power of expert advice. But as powerful as the right advice can be, soliciting it is a challenge for those who lack natural networking prowess.

Evisors cuts out the introduction dance involved in soliciting expert advice and replaces it with a marketplace.

Experts set their own hourly rates, ranging from $75-$600 per hour, for which they are willing to take phone calls or answer questions by email. Customers browse experts' work history and educational backgrounds to determine who will best be able to help them. If they find someone who fits the bill, they can sign up for an open time slot in said expert's schedule. Evisors then charges them a fixed percentage of the consultation in exchange for coordinating the meeting.

To find experts for the site's September beta launch, Evisor's four co-founders relied on their own networks. Three of them are recent Harvard Business School graduates, and one is a Wharton School of Business graduate. CEO Fredrik Maro is a veteran of prestigious consulting firm McKinsey. Between the team's connections, they had no problem signing the first 250 experts.

The current directory of about 600 experts looks a bit like an exclusive LinkedIn. Most advisors were referred to Evisors by other experts on the site, but there is also a selective vetting process that sometimes includes an interview.

Some of the site's experts, being such, surely make more than the highest listed hourly rate on Evisors, but Maro says that it's about more than a cash exchange.

"What we noticed at business school, is that a lot of people get asked for advice: Can you look at my resume? Can you look at my application? And they'll help their immediate network of family and friends, but beyond that they can't justify the time," Maro says. "At Evisors, we try to solve that problem by making it easy ... all they have to do is click yes and at 2 p.m. the phone rings and they talk for an hour ... I think the main motivation is that people enjoy helping out, and us paying them helps justify the fact that they're talking to strangers."

For now, the startup is focusing on career advice and school admissions advice. There is also a general advice section that includes experts in everything from investment strategy to restaurants. Maro says he hopes to expand the later section as the company grows. It is currently wrapping up a seed investment round that might help with this effort.

Another developing revenue stream for Evisors is from universities like Cambridge and McGill that have started purchasing memberships to Evisors for their career departments. Memberships give the schools a discounted rate on the paid-by-the hour advice. Schools sign students up for appointments to review resumes, attend mock interviews, and converse about their job searches with industry experts.

"Basically, they've outsourced their alumni networks," Maro says.

In the same vein, Evisors is developing a white-label version that would allow companies to offer up their own experts for hire or for universities to create better alumni directories of their own.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, pearleye

Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

Netflix cuts data use on Canada online service (Reuters)

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 05:00 PM PDT

By Alastair Sharp Alastair Sharp – Tue Mar 29, 8:00 pm ET

TORONTO (Reuters) – Online video rental company Netflix Inc has tweaked its Canadian streaming service to cut down on the amount of data it uses in a country where Internet usage is typically metered and capped.

The move came hours after major Internet provider BCE Inc took a step back in its fight to impose the same usage-based billing it charges its retail customers on resellers who lease space on its network.

Proponents of more generous pricing models for Internet use are prodding politicians and regulators to support their cause and seek to make it an issue in the May 2 federal election.

Netflix said its streaming service in Canada will by default now use two-thirds less data on average, with only a minimal impact on video quality. A customer can choose to select two higher quality streams that use more data. It will still charge C$7.99 a month, regardless of the video size.

Thirty hours of streaming film or television typically uses 31 gigabytes of data; it would now use only 9 gigabytes, Netflix said in an email sent to customers late on Monday.

Netflix noted that this would fall well below the data caps of most Canadian Internet service providers, which typically sell monthly packages allowing between 20 and 60 gigabytes.

The company said earlier on Monday it had reached a five-year deal with Viacom's Paramount Pictures to add more than 350 films to its Canadian catalog.

The deal also includes exclusive subscription television rights to upcoming first-run films, bypassing the traditional route of licensing through Canadian content owners Corus Entertainment and Astral Media.

Netflix has also bought exclusive North American rights for a Kevin Spacey television series to debut late next year.

"Over time you'll see more and more deals such as this," said Dvai Ghose from Canaccord Genuity in Toronto, who says expanded Netflix offerings will boost pressure on cable and satellite companies such as Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications and Quebecor, which all also offer Internet services.

BCE, which operates under the Bell brand, said on Monday it was dropping plans to charge its wholesale Internet customers on a per-user basis, following a public outcry that sparked political intervention.

Instead, Bell now says it will aggregate the amount it charges wholesalers that lease bandwidth on its network, based on the total amount of data they use. It will also lower the access fees it charges them to use its newest fiber network.

"They're trying to placate the political and regulatory backlash against them while at the same time trying to maintain the concept," Canaccord's Ghose said.

It could still become a major election issue, however, with leading advocacy group Openmedia.ca pledging to question the parties on their digital policies and report back to their supporters. The group has garnered almost half a million names for an online petition against usage-based billing.

Canada's communications regulator will hold a hearing in July to decide what pricing arrangements should be in place for wholesalers. It does not plan to rule on what companies such as Bell can charge their own customers.

Bell this month said it was adding $3 a month to the cost of each of its retail Internet packages, as well as its Fibe Internet-protocol television product.

From May, the cheapest broadband package will cost C$34.95 for 2 gigabytes, while for 75 gigabytes a customer will pay C$70.95. The more expensive plans also offer faster speeds.

The same plans cost C$21.95 and C$52.95 a month in late January, printouts from their website showed. A Bell spokesman said those prices were most likely promotional rates.

The regulator returned to the issue after the federal government, under pressure from opposition politicians and advocacy groups, said it would block an earlier decision that supported Bell's move to pass on usage-based billing to wholesale customers.

($1=$0.98 Canadian)

(Additional reporting by Euan Rocha; editing by Rob Wilson, Gary Hill)

New York to Investigate T-Mobile-AT&T Deal (PC World)

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 04:40 PM PDT

Stephen Lawson Stephen Lawson – Tue Mar 29, 7:40 pm ET

The state of New York will investigate AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA for anti-competitive effects, including possible increases in mobile broadband costs for New York residents and businesses, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Tuesday.

New York is the first state that has committed itself to probing the US$39 billion deal, which was announced on March 20 but is expected to take 12 months to close. At their current sizes, the combined carriers would have 130 million subscribers, dwarfing the next-biggest operator, Verizon Wireless, with 93 million. In a press release on Tuesday, the attorney general's office raised the spectre of Verizon responding with an acquisition of Sprint Nextel, which has about 58 million subscribers.

"The proposed merger could start a process of consolidation that would lead to two firms -- AT&T and Verizon -- controlling nearly 80 percent of wireless subscribers nationwide," the statement said.

Schneiderman said mobile service has changed from a luxury to a basic necessity and T-Mobile currently is a low-cost option for many New York residents. People in some areas, including Albany, Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse, already have limited wireless choices, he said.

AT&T has said the acquisition would allow the combined company to roll out high-speed LTE (Long-Term Evolution) service to 46.5 million more U.S. residents than it otherwise would be able to reach. It has also promoted the combination as a driver of increased investment in U.S. infrastructure. Schneiderman said New York's probe will look into AT&T's claims of benefits from the deal, including greater fast data service in underserved rural areas, and weigh those against potential downsides.

At the federal level, the proposed acquisition will have to be approved by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, which will determine whether it is in the public interest, and by the Department of Justice, which will study the national effects on mobile competition. On Monday, Sprint said it would fight the deal, calling it anti-competitive.

Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for The IDG News Service. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @sdlawsonmedia. Stephen's e-mail address is stephen_lawson@idg.com

Motorola Atrix 4G update: Bugs fixed, speed isn't (Digital Trends)

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 04:42 PM PDT

Molly McHugh Molly Mchugh – Tue Mar 29, 7:42 pm ET

Motorola Atrix 4GThe Motorola Atrix broadly attaches that 4G to its name, but its upload speeds beg to differ. Yesterday we learned that AT&T is throttling bandwidth for the phone and hasn't enabled HSUPA capabilities. In light of customer complaints, the carrier explained it was in "testing and preparations" to enable the technology. But all of that apparently won't come to fruition today, as the Atrix's first update has begun to roll out without any signs of a HSUPA connection. To put it more simply, that 4G phone is still functioning like a 3G phone.

But the update isn't entirely good for nothing. Here are the bugs Motorola aims to fix:

  • Better Bluetooth and headset performance, and the phone will work with more headsets than before
  • The phone's fingerprint reader technology will be noticeably better
  • If the Atrix is charging on a wall charger, the display will automatically turn off – battery life in general will also improve
  • The phone will overall fix user experience  bugs, like touch unresponsiveness or "programs quitting unexpectedly"
  • Improved experience connecting the phone to car docks and headphones
AT&T said the 4G update should be here in April, which isn't too much longer to wait until the Atrix can live up to its name.

Google Releases In-App Purchasing for Android (Mashable)

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 04:25 PM PDT

Ben Parr Ben Parr – Tue Mar 29, 7:25 pm ET

Google has released In-app Billing for Android, finally giving mobile developers a much-needed source of revenue for their apps.

In-App Billing gives developers another way to monetize their Android apps. iOS has had in-app purchasing since June 2009, helping app developers generate millions from virtual goods, in-game upgrades, content purchases and more. Like Apple, Google will take a 30% cut from all in-app purchases.

Google says that several apps are launching with the new in-app billion system today, including Disney's Tap Tap Revenge, ComiXology's Comics and Glu Mobile's WSOP Hold'em Legend.

The launch of Android Market In-App Billing has been highly anticipated since Google first announced the feature at its Android Honeycomb event last month. The search giant pre-announced the feature last week to prepare developers for the change.

It's well-known that mobile application developers have had a harder time monetizing Android apps compared to iPhone apps. Add the fact thatin-app purchases yield more revenue than mobile ads, and you can see why Android developers have been clamoring for this feature.. Hopefully the release of in-app purchasing for Android will help close the gap and give developers more revenue streams for their hard work.

Hotmail extends Active View to Netflix, LinkedIn, Posterous, and LivingSocial (Digital Trends)

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 05:29 PM PDT

Molly McHugh Molly Mchugh – Tue Mar 29, 8:29 pm ET

Interactive email from LivingSocialEven though Hotmail has had some trouble holding its ground as an e-mail client to the likes of growing Gmail and ring leader Yahoo, the Microsoft product has recently been busy bringing some formidable new features. Recently, it integrated Facebook chat and even offered a "throwaway" account feature.

Now it's stepping up its integrated options with new Active Views for LinkedIn, Posterous, LivingSocial, and Netflix. Active View was introduced last year, and it's a feature that allows users to preview message attachments via a slideshow. It works for images as well as shared links and videos. Now it's getting business savvy with its new partnerships. According to Microsoft, this isn't only to offer customers a more user-friendly option for viewing e-mail, but gives businesses a better chance of recipients following links or opening attachments. In a blog post, the company said that "In traditional e-mail with just a text link, the percentage of people clicking through is less than 10 percent. With Active Views, customers are clicking on the video control in about 25 percent of all e-mail messages with a video."

Here's a quick breakdown courtesy of the company's blog of how it will work with each of the new businesses, which will all now be able to encourage user activity without requiring users to leave their inboxes.

  • LinkedIn: With Active Views, users will now be able to act on invitations and messages within their inbox.
  • Posterous: The integration enables "inline commenting directly from an e-mail, and the message is updated when you open it to always show the latest comments."
  • LivingSocial: Now Hotmailers will be able to browse through various deals and their details (location, how much time is left) in real time – all from their inbox.
  • Netflix: If you have a hotmail account, you can now see new recommendations and update your queue all without leaving the site.

Missing BP laptop had personal data of claimants (AP)

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 03:43 PM PDT

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and HARRY R. WEBER, Associated Press Michael Kunzelman And Harry R. Weber, Associated Press – Tue Mar 29, 6:43 pm ET

NEW ORLEANS – A BP employee lost a laptop containing personal data belonging to thousands of Louisiana residents who filed claims for compensation after the Gulf oil spill, a company spokesman said Tuesday.

BP spokesman Curtis Thomas said the oil giant on Monday mailed out letters to roughly 13,000 people whose data was stored on the computer, notifying them about the potential data security breach and offering to pay for their credit to be monitored. The company also reported the missing laptop to law enforcement, he said.

The laptop was password-protected, but the information was not encrypted, Thomas said.

The data included a spreadsheet of claimants' names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers and addresses. But Thomas said the company doesn't have any evidence that claimants' personal information has been misused.

"We're committed to the people of the Gulf Coast states affected by the Deepwater Horizon accident and spill, and we deeply regret that this occurred," he said.

The data belonged to individuals who filed claims with BP before the Gulf Coast Claims Facility took over the processing of claims in August. BP paid roughly $400 million in claims before the switch. As of Tuesday, the GCCF had paid roughly $3.6 billion to 172,539 claimants.

Thomas said no one will have to resubmit a claim because of the lost data.

The employee lost the laptop on March 1 during "routine business travel," said Thomas, who declined to elaborate on the circumstances.

"If it was stolen, we think it was a crime of opportunity, but it was initially lost," Thomas said.

BP is offering to pay for claimants to have their credit monitored by Equifax, an Atlanta-based credit bureau.

Asked why nearly a month elapsed before BP notified residents about the missing laptop, Thomas said, "We were doing our due diligence and investigating."

Matt O'Brien, part owner of Tiger Pass Seafood, a shrimp dock in Venice, La., said he had filed a claim with BP before the GCCF took over processing claims in August. A call from an AP reporter on Tuesday was the first he had heard that his personal information may have been among the data compromised.

"That's like it's par for the course for them," O'Brien said of BP. "They can't seem to do nothing right."

Beau Weber, a fishing guide in Lafitte, La., also had filed a claim with BP prior to Aug. 23, and he had even received several monthly payments from BP. He said he hadn't received a letter from BP about the missing laptop.

"It's terrible," he said of the breach. "I kinda work hard for the things I have. I wouldn't want somebody with a computer to be able to take it from me. It's very disturbing. It's like another gallon of gas thrown on the fire."

How One Software Company Turned Freemium into Philanthropy (Mashable)

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 03:39 PM PDT

Zachary Sniderman Zachary Sniderman – Tue Mar 29, 6:39 pm ET

Do freemium business models actually work? The answer is yes for one software company, where freemium served as a perfect way to grow its business and donate more than $1 million to charity at the same time.

Atlassian recently announced a donation of $1 million to Room to Read, a global non-profit aimed at improving literacy and gender equality education in developing countries. They did this through their "Causium" campaign, a twist -- and portmanteau -- of "freemium" and "cause marketing." The name fits: Rather than just give away its products for free, Atlassian charged a minimal amount of money and donated all proceeds to the non-profit.

Freemium runs on the premise that if you give away a curtailed version of your product, your fans will enjoy it enough to then upgrade to a paid subscription. Causium, for all intents and purposes, is freemium in the sense that Atlassian doesn't receive any money from the heavily discounted sales. It does, however, give the product a nominal value and help brand Atlassian as a charity-minded company.

Started in 2009, the Causium model raised $100,000 in one week through sales of $5 starter licenses for Atlassian products. When the influx of customers didn't slam Atlassian's customer support, the company began selling 10 user licenses for $10. Right now, it sells approximately 14,000 of these licenses per week, generating close to $80,000 per month for Room to Read, according to Jon Silvers, director of Audience and Community.

Even if you haven't heard of Atlassian, you definitely know its clients. Atlassian's software helps power major brands like Nike, Cisco, Ikea, Adobe and HP. Given its success, Atlassian initially struggled with whether to go freemium. "There are a lot of pros and cons to freemium, and whether it is the right approach," Silvers said. "We definitely felt like we kind of stumbled on a way to combine the same concepts of lowering the barriers to entry to your product and how to do that nobly."

More than a one-off, Causium creates a constant annuity stream for Room to Read that Atlassian donates on behalf of its users. The $10 licenses can be renewed each year to get software fixes and keep customer support. Any upgraded subscriptions will continue to donate $10 of the standard fee to charity.

Donating to just one charity meant that the company could better track the good that subscribers were doing, Silvers explained. As of 2010, this includes impacting 45,000 children across four countries in Asia by establishing 99 libraries, building four schools and supporting the holistic education of 430 girls. Atlassian makes sure to follow up by sending emails to its users about where their money has gone, said Jay Simons, VP of Sales and Marketing.

Atlassian has even gone so far as to create a foundation dedicated to charity work. It donates 1% of company and employee time and 1% of company equity to the foundation. Each year, employees are actually given five days of "foundation leave" to volunteer at local charities.

While Atlassian has certainly benefited financially from its take on freemium, the organization has done a tremendous amount of good without cutting corners. Causium may not seem like much, but it ably combines social good into an expanding business. Even if it's just $10, Simons said, "That $10 license means a lot to a little girl in Cambodia."

What's your opinion of mixing freemium with charity? Does this make you more or less willing to buy a product from Atlassian? Sound off in the comments.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Taekwonweirdo

Quickly create mobile-optimized websites with new Zapd iPhone app (Appolicious)

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 01:45 PM PDT

Nokia Loses ITC Case, Hits Apple with More Infringement (NewsFactor)

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 02:15 PM PDT

Jennifer LeClaire, newsfactor.com Jennifer Leclaire, newsfactor.com – Tue Mar 29, 5:15 pm ET

Nokia has filed a second complaint against Apple with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). Nokia alleges Apple is infringing on additional Nokia patents in virtually all its mobile phones, portable music players, tablets and computers. The move comes as Apple's iPhone continues to gain market share.

Nokia lists seven patents in its new complaint, claiming Apple is using its innovations to create key product features in several areas, including multitasking operating systems, data synchronization, positioning, call quality, and the use of Bluetooth accessories.

"Our latest ITC filing means we now have 46 Nokia patents in suit against Apple, many filed more than 10 years before Apple made its first iPhone," said Paul Melin, vice president of intellectual property at Nokia. "Nokia is a leading innovator in technologies needed to build great mobile products, and Apple must stop building its products using Nokia's proprietary innovation."

Nokia's IP Beef

Apple couldn't immediately be reached for comment. But the iPhone maker is getting used to the accusations from Nokia. It's the second time Nokia has filed a complaint with the ITC. If Nokia wins, it would effectively block Apple from bringing its handsets into the U.S.

On Friday, the ITC nixed Nokia's first complaint. Nokia doesn't agree with the ITC's initial ruling, but is waiting to see the full details of the decision. Meanwhile, Nokia didn't hesitate to launch the next missive against its rival.

Nokia has also filed cases on the same patents and others in Delaware, and has cases proceeding in Mannheim, Düsseldorf and the Federal Patent Court in Germany; the U.K. High Court in London; and the District Court of the Hague in the Netherlands, some of which will come to trial in the next few months.

Apple's countersuit in February 2010 charged Nokia with infringing on 13 Apple patents. Apple also filed a complaint with the ITC against Nokia.

What's Nokia's Motive?

"If Apple is definitely infringing, then it will come out in the courts, but Nokia is in trouble. Let's just face it," said Mike Disabato, managing vice president of network and telecom for Gartner. "When they do this, they get free press. When they do this, they paint Apple as the bad boy."

Disabato said if Nokia gets one of the patent-infringement cases to stick in the European Union, the government could block Apple from selling the iPhone -- and possibly the iPad and iPod touch if the same patents are involved -- in 27 countries.

"Nokia is trying to stop the spread of these Apple devices in its own backyard," Disabato said. "It's a delay tactic. Nokia would drag out negotiations on a settlement with Apple while it develops a competing smartphone."

Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis, has a different perspective. As he sees it, Nokia is just trying to defend its intellectual-property rights.

"I don't know necessarily that it makes all that much difference whether or not Nokia is succeeding in handset sales against Apple," Greengart said. "If you believe your IP is valuable, you are going to defend it. This is something we're seeing across the industry. Everybody is suing everybody else."

Amazon puts music in the 'cloud' (AFP)

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 03:16 PM PDT

by Chris Lefkow Chris Lefkow – Tue Mar 29, 6:16 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Beating Apple and Google to the punch, Amazon unveiled a service on Tuesday that allows users to store their digital music online and play it on a computer or an Android device.

With Cloud Drive and Cloud Player, users can upload digital music, photos, videos and documents to Amazon servers and access the files through Web browsers or phones and tablet computers running Google's Android software.

Music bought from Amazon.com or Apple's iTunes or from a personal collection is held in a digital "music locker" on the Internet and can be accessed from computers running Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome Web browsers.

The Seattle, Washington-based Amazon said Cloud Drive gives five gigabytes of free online storage to Amazon account holders and a free upgrade to 20GB with the purchase of an MP3 album. Users can also purchase 20GB for $20 a year.

Apple and Google are also reportedly working on similar Internet "cloud" storage solutions for digital music but have not announced any plans yet.

Apple purchased an online music site called Lala.com in December 2009 which hosted digital music collections on the Web.

And Billboard.com reported in September that Google is courting record labels for a service that would let people store music on the Internet for streaming to Web-connected devices.

Forrester analyst Mark Mulligan said in a blog post that Amazon's move is "part of building a long-term music revenue relationship with its customers."

"They've lost most of the digital spend of their CD buyers to iTunes and whilst they've been aggressive and innovative with their download store it isn't close to toppling Apple's iTunes supremacy," Mulligan said.

"This lack of a broader music ecosystem has weakened their ability to drive success of their MP3 store," he added. "A locker service is effectively an alternative way to build an ecosystem that ties customers in."

Mulligan also noted that "music locker" services have been embroiled in rights controversies and cited the example of MP3tunes which is facing a legal battle with the EMI record label.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Amazon has "yet to secure content licenses from at least some major record labels and movie studios."

A spokeswoman for Sony Music Entertainment told the newspaper the company is "disappointed that the locker service that Amazon is proposing is unlicensed by Sony Music."

Bill Carr, Amazon's vice president of movies and music, described the new services as a "leap forward in the digital experience" that "eliminates the need for constant software updates as well as the use of thumb drives and cables to move and manage music."

"Our customers have told us they don't want to download music to their work computers or phones because they find it hard to move music around to different devices," Carr said.

"Now, whether at work, home or on the go, customers can buy music from Amazon MP3, store it in the cloud and play it anywhere," he said.

Amazon shares gained 3.11 percent on Wall Street on Tuesday to close at $174.62.

First glimpse of MLB's revamped iPad app (Macworld)

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 05:00 PM PDT

Jason Snell Jason Snell – Tue Mar 29, 8:00 pm ET

Baseball season is almost here—Opening Day is Thursday—and coming with it is a major new update to Major League Baseball's iPad app, the $15 MLB.com At Bat 11. Macworld got an exclusive first look at the new version of the app, which should be available in the App Store later this week.

The app has gotten a major makeover. Most notably, live GameDay updates no longer take place in a generic baseball stadium. Instead, the app has custom graphics representing every major-league park, courtesy of graphic assets borrowed from Sony's MLB 11 The Show video game, as well as batters wearing a team's official home or road uniforms. So when you're watching a game taking place in San Francisco's AT&T Park or Boston's venerable Fenway Park, you'll see that park in the background.

There are more visual changes, too: The overall design of the app has been simplified, while the scoreboard has been reworked with a new block-letter typeface and background insets reminiscent of the hand-operated scoreboards of yore. The app also is using more detailed pitch-by-pitch data courtesy of Major League Baseball's in-stadium pitch-tracking data collection system. Hitting a sign on the outfield wall does not win you a new suit, however.

When the iPad was announced last year, one of the few apps displayed during the launch event was MLB At Bat. MLB Advanced Media had to scramble its development schedule to get that app (as well as its iPhone equivalent) ready for Opening Day 2010. This year marks the first time that the iPad app has been able to get a full offseason's worth of development focus, and it marks a big step forward from last year's edition.

Like last year, MLB.com At Bat 11 for iPad (like its iPhone counterpart) comes with live GameDay status information, access to live home and away audio streams for every game, and access to occasional free live TV streams. Subscribers to the MLB.tv streaming-video package will also get access to live game video, though as with all MLB video packages, local teams are blacked out.

There's a lot more going on under the hood at MLB. As we get closer to Opening Day, stay tuned to Macworld for more detail on MLB.com's iOS apps and what happens behind the scenes at the league's New York City multimedia hub.

Android Likely To Lead Smartphone Market This Year (NewsFactor)

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 02:15 PM PDT

Barry Levine, newsfactor.com Barry Levine, newsfactor.com – Tue Mar 29, 5:15 pm ET

Android's rocketing rise as a mobile platform is about to hit the stratosphere. According to a new report from industry research firm IDC, Google's open-source operating system, currently in second place worldwide, will become the leading smartphone operating system this year.

Ramon Llamas, IDC senior research analyst, said, "For the vendors who made Android the cornerstone of their smartphone strategies, 2010 was Android's 'coming-out party,'" while 2011 will be the "coronation party."

The report also projected that the worldwide smartphone market will grow 49.2 percent this year as consumers and enterprise users continue to move from feature phones. This growth rate is more than four times faster than the overall mobile-phone market.

'Pent-Up Demand'

According to IDC, the huge growth is due in part to "pent-up demand" left over from 2009, when buyers put off purchases. But the 2011 growth is actually down from last year's 74 percent, which IDC described as "exceptional." Unit sales are expected to be 450 million smartphones this year, compared to 303.4 million in 2010.

The other big shift in relative positions that IDC predicts is Windows Phone 7's emergence. Llamas said that until Phone 7's launch last year, Microsoft steadily lost market share to other operating systems. But the recent announcement by Nokia, the world's largest handset maker, that it will move from Symbian to Phone 7 was a lifeline to the software giant. Llamas said the alliance marries "Nokia's hardware capabilities with Windows' phone-differentiated platform."

The first Nokia devices with Phone 7 are expected next year, and, by 2015, IDC projects Phone 7 as the second-largest mobile operating system worldwide, behind Android.

45.4 Percent by 2015

In 2011, IDC predicts Android's worldwide market share will be 39.5 percent, growing to nearly half of all phones by 2015 at 45.4 percent. Symbian is currently second, at 20.9 percent, and, having been abandoned, that position will fall to nearly zero in four years. Apple's iOS is currently third at 15.7 percent and is projected to fall 0.4 percent.

Research In Motion's BlackBerry OS is now fourth at 14.9 percent, and is projected to drop slightly to 13.7 percent. Windows Phone 7 is projected to see the biggest increase, from its current 5.5 percent market share to 20.9 percent in 2015. Other OSes are projected at 3.5 percent in 2011, rising slightly to 4.6 percent by 2015.

Android, released a little more than three years ago, is now available on handsets from a variety of vendors, including LG, Motorola, Samsung, HTC and others. It has also emerged as a key competitive operating system to Apple for tablets.

In January, research firm Nielsen found about 40 percent of those who purchased a smartphone within the last six months chose an Android-based device. At the time of that report, Apple's iOS was the choice of about 27 percent, while the BlackBerry OS was chosen by about 19 percent.

Comment of the Day: Hating on Record Labels (The Atlantic Wire)

Posted: 29 Mar 2011 02:58 PM PDT

John Hudson John Hudson – Tue Mar 29, 5:58 pm ET

News that record label executives don't like Amazon's new streaming music service really ruffled the feathers of Wire reader TheRantGuy. The new service allows you to upload music files on Amazon's servers so you can listen to them anywhere. Music labels don't like it for two reasons: 1) they want users to pay for listening to music across different devices and 2) users could be uploading "unauthorized" downloads (i.e. pirated music). But TheRantGuy isn't having it.

Could somebody please tell the record label executives that you're not only closing the barn door after the horse has left but the horse went down the street, had a drink, met a cute horsette, had six baby horses, got dragged to the mall, went on a fishing trip with his horse buddies and retired already?

Lord...your model is dead...done...nobody wants CD's...nobody wants full albums...it's over...things change...I am not going to buy a record, then a tape, then a CD, then a super-CD, then a super-duper-CD of the same song over and over and over again.

I will buy it ONCE and then own it forever on ALL of my devices!

Thanks for reading, everyone. And be sure to check out Open Wire, where you can share links, feedback, and opinions on the stories you think we should be covering.

at 9:41 PM

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