Google slams Apple and Microsoft, claims 'hostile, organized campaign' against Android waged through 'bogus patents' (update: Microsoft responds!)




It, as they say, is on. Google's Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, David Drummond, made an appearance on the company's official blog today with a post not-so-subtly-titled "When patents attack Android," which directly addresses what he calls a "hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents." Drummond then goes on to cite a number of examples of this "organized campaign" from those trying to "strangle" Android, including Apple and Microsoft teaming up to buy Novell and Nortel's old patents "to make sure Google didn't get them," Microsoft seeking $15 licensing fees for each Android device, and lawsuits against the likes of Barnes & Noble, HTC, Motorola, and Samsung.

According to Drummond, those efforts amount to a "tax" that makes Android devices more expensive for consumers and manufacturers alike, and that "instead of competing by building new features or devices, they are fighting through litigation." He further goes on to bemoan the "anti-competitive strategy" that's "escalating the cost of patents way beyond what they're really worth," and closes things out by noting that he's encouraged by Justice Department investigations into the aforementioned Novell and Nortel patent issues. Hit the source link to read the full post yourself.

Update: And now, shots have been fired from both sides. Brad Smith, Microsoft's General Counsel, has shot off the following tweet: "Google says we bought Novell patents to keep them from Google. Really? We asked them to bid jointly with us. They said no." We're guessing the truth lies somewhere in between, as it always does.



Update 2: Hoo boy! The hits just keep comin' out of Redmond. Frank Shaw, lead corporate communications for Microsoft has just tweeted an image of an email between Brad Smith and Kent Walker (Google's General Counsel) that appears to corroborate the claims that Microsoft wanted to team up with El Goog.



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Google: MS i Apple kampanja protiv Androida


Zvanični Google blog mesto je na kome se najavljuju značajne promene u kompaniji i svi novi proizvodi. Ovoga puta bio je mesto na kome je pravni zastupnik Googlea odlučio da se "obračuna" sa konkurentima.



U blogu pod nazivom "Kada patenti napadnu Android", Dejvid Dramond rekao je da se Microsoft i Apple udružuju kako bi sprečili rast Androida.

"Radim u IT sektoru više od dve decenije. Microsoft i Apple su se oduvek oštro sukobljavali, pa kada oni odluče da odu u krevet zajedno, morate da se zapitate šta se dešava", rekao je on.

Osim što se zapitao, Dramond je dao i svoj odgovor na ovo pitanje.

"Više od 550.000 Android uređaja se aktivira svakog dana. Android i druge platforme se takmiče i to donosi sjajne nove uređaje i neverovatne mobilne aplikacije korisnicima. Ali, Androidov uspeh donosi još nešto: neprijateljsku organizovanu kampanju protiv Androida od strane Microsofta, Oraclea, Applea i drugih kompanija".

A kako to čine? Radi se o kupovini patenata kompanije Nortel Networks Corp. Google je želeo da ih kupi, ali su se pomenute kompanije udružile, dale bolju ponudu i patenti su u njihovom vlasništvu. Kako pojedini proizvođači već plaćaju Microsoftu za svaki Android uređaj, zbog postojanja spornih patenata u ovom operativnom sistemu, a i suočavanja Googlea sa tužbom kompanije Oracle, Google ovakav dogovor smatra pokušajem da se uspon Androida zaustavi ili uspori.

Patenti bi trebalo da podstiču inovacije, ali ih u poslednje vreme koče, smatra Dramond koji kaže da su Microsoft, Apple i Oracle kupili pomenute patente samo da Google ne bi došao do njih.

Osim ovih sporni su i kupljeni patenti kompanije Novel.

"Mi nismo naivni, tehnološka industrija se brzo menja i mi vredno radimo na tome da ostanemo fokusirani na naš posao i pravljenje još boljih proizvoda. Ali u ovom slučaju mislili smo da je važno da progovorimo i ukažemo na to da smo rešeni da očuvamo Android za naše korisnike, tako što ćemo sprečiti one koji pokušavaju da ga uguše", napisao je čelni čovek pravnog tima Googlea.

A rešio je da progovori i Microsoft, čiji je generalni sekretar, Brad Smit, odlučio da tweetuje o optužbama Googlea.

"Google kaže da smo kupiti Novellove patente kako bismo ih oteli od Googlea. Stvarno? Mi smo ih pitali da sa nama učestvuju u licitaciji. Oni su to odbili".

Iz Applea i kompanije Oracle još uvek nema zvaničnih izjava ovim povodom.

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ko ih j... ne mogu googlu oni nista..

HTC changes its bootloader policy again, another storm brewing up?




You certainly remember that this spring HTC took a rapid U-turn in their smartphone policy and decided to start locking their bootloaders to prevent unauthorized hacking and modding of the preinstalled software. The Taiwanese company was then quickly made to regret its decision as users from all over the world went online and made their discontent public. In the end, HTC CEO was quick to respond with a promise that they will revert to their old policy.

Except that no action has been taken about bringing the old ways back ever since and everyone is understandably getting impatient. Well, today the company stepped on stage to give us some more details about the when's and how's of the unlocking of the bootloaders.

As it turns out, HTC will still be releasing all its devices with locked bootloaders (booo!), but soon they will be providing a web tool that will let you unlock them if you want to (yay!). However, you will need to create an account in order to use it and "accept legal disclaimers that unlocking may void all or parts of your warranty".

The web tool should be released this month with the international version of the Sensation becoming the first supported smartphone. The EVO 3D and the T-Mobile Sensation 4G should follow right after that. And while this is certainly a wait we can live with, we can't help but notice that this is not what Peter Chou promised in May.

Here’s the exact quote: "Today, I'm confirming we will no longer be locking the bootloaders on our devices.". Are we the only ones to suspect that this is not the end of the saga just yet?

Source

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As it turns out, HTC will still be releasing all its devices with locked bootloaders (booo!), but soon they will be providing a web tool that will let you unlock them if you want to (yay!). However, you will need to create an account in order to use it and "accept legal disclaimers that unlocking may void all or parts of your warranty".

Sramota za HTC, još malo pa će Apple da bude dobar.

Off-topic obrisan.

-zašto sramota ? Pa veća je sramota bila do sada, kada nije bilo praktične mogućnosti unlock-a.   Samo nek oni izbace "web tool" , pa kome treba unlock, imaće mogućnost otključavanja bez preteranog smaranja. Još uvek postoji gomila ljudi ,kojima je bitnije da ne "zeznu" telefon, nego da se "igraju" mogućnostima otključanog boot-a...

-telep, nisi mi jasan... pa svi brendovi (koliko ja znam) izbacuju telefone sa "S-ON" , samo je na nekima lakše odraditi root, a na nekima teže (na htc-u -najteže) . Reci mi, kada zvanično puste "web-tool" , kakva će razlika biti (što se toga tiče) u odnosu na ,recimo, Samsungaju ?  

Zato što ovde momentalno gubiš garanciju, a na samsungu što bi on morao da zna da sam ja flešovao telefon.

-da,da... tačno. Na garanciju nisam ni obratio pažnju. Mada ne znam ni dva (od hiljadu) čoveka, koji su uspeli da iskoriste garanciju.
   Ali to nema veze... u pravu si, nije mi palo na pamet. 

Nisam ja mislio ništa loše, jednostavno ne vidim ni zašto su počeli da zaključavaju bootloadere, onaj kome nije bitno nije ništa dobio, ali onaj kome je bitno je mnogo izgubio.