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Motorola doesn't think two SIMs are enough, launches Motokey 3-Chip in Brazil
Nope, it's definitely not the first handset we've seen that allows to be paired alongside a trifecta of SIM cards all at once. Nonetheless, Motorola's introduced a triple-SIM slab of its own: the Brazil-bound Motokey 3-Chip. Aside from the aforementioned feature, the Motokey also packs a set of physical QWERTY keys, two gigs of internal storage which can be expanded via microSD, an MP3 player / FM radio for tunes and a 2-megapixel rear shooter. Moto's 3-Chip is expected to be up for grabs next week in Pelé's country, with pricing being set at R$349,00, or around $170 in US cash.
Google officially closes deal for Motorola Mobility
Months in the making -- the deal is finally done. Motorola Mobility is officially part of Google. After receiving blessings from Europe, the US and China, the Internet giant has put the finishing touches on its purchase of Moto's mobile division. Though the corporate marriage faced plenty of obstacles, Big G was able to put the manufacturer on its ledger for the price of $40 per share, or about $12.5 billion. As it stands, Motorola Mobility will continue to operate as a separate business entity and as a licensee of Android, but Mountain View is still claiming the purchase will allow it to "supercharge" its mobile ecosystem. The future of the new subsidiary's employees is a different matter, however. Rumors have been swirling for the last week or so that there could be significant layoffs at Moto following the merger, which would further enforce the perception that Google is more interested in the company's patents than in entering the hardware business. Of course, whether or not we'll see layoffs or perhaps a Moto-branded Nexus is still a mystery. For a bit more on Google's victory lap, check out the PR after the break. Update: Google has also settled on a replacement for Sanjay Jha as CEO of Motorola Mobility, Dennis Woodside. Woodside is a longtime Googler who got his start in sales, building out business in Africa, Eastern Europe and Russia, before becoming President of the Americas sales operation.
Motorola reinvents the TV interface with DreamGallery concept (video)
Motorola is demonstrating how it expects TVs of the future will work with its DreamGallery concept. Powered by the company's Medios cloud-service, the display is designed to let you browse content as if it was the internet -- with bookmarks, personalized recommendations and interactive search tools. Its designed to work across your TV, computer, tablet and smartphone, aggregating Cable, Internet TV and VOD under a single interface that sits behind pull-tabs around the picture. If you're curious to see if this is easier to use than TiVo, head on past the break to catch your first glimpse.
Apple vs. Motorola, HTC cases consolidated
According to Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents, Apple is now battling one less lawsuit in the Southern District of Florida. Apple was fighting two separate lawsuits in the courts, one filed by Motorola Mobility and another by HTC. Judge Robert Scola decided to merge the two lawsuits because "the parties have shown a complete inability to agree upon anything and it is frustrating the progress of these cases." Apple reportedly pushed for this consolidation, while HTC and Motorola opposed it.
Visualized: Apple and Samsung occupy the 99 percent... of phone profits
Financial maven and maker of beautiful graphs Horace Dediu has found that between the top eight mobile phone vendors, Apple and Samsung share 99 percent of the total spoils. Of RIM, LG, Sony (Ericsson), Motorola, Nokia and HTC, only the latter made a profit -- claiming that left over one percent. The remaining six all recorded losses for the quarter, Mr. Deidu adding that several of those companies are carrying feature phone businesses that they should shed before they become an albatross around their neck.
Motorola Mobility loses $86 million in Q1, device shipments way down
Well, the first quarter of 2012 is officially over Motorola Mobility, and the financial news is rather sobering for the company. While revenues were up, the climb was modest, to just $3.1 billion. And that small bump in incoming cash was not enough to stave off another quarter of loses. In fact, after losing $80 million in Q4 of 2011, Moto lost $86 million in Q1 of 2012. The company continued to bleed cash in large part because shipments of mobile devices dropped off dramatically. Only 8.9 million devices were shipped in the quarter, down from 10.5 million in the last part of 2011. With 5.1 million of those being smartphones however, the phone division did manage to increase revenues by three percent. The one bright spot was the home segment which, thanks to its home gateways and broadcast goods, managed to make (that's right, not lose) $68 million, up from $53 million a year ago. For more numbers and charts check out the source link.
Motorola's patent enforcement against Apple could cost German taxpayers dearly
In a recent article, FOSS Patents points out a loophole in German law that forces taxpayers to pay for part of the court proceedings between Motorola and Apple. Motorola is currently enforcing an injunction against Apple and has deposited money for the injunction as required by law. Apple is appealing this injunction, and the appeal is slowly winding its way through the German court system. When a settlement or judgment is finally reached in the lawsuit, Germany owes Motorola interest on the injunction money that was set aside. The government can't invest this money while it sits, so this interest payment must come from taxpayer money, says FOSS Patents.
Apple still blocked from using push email in Germany
German users of iCloud and MobileMe are going to have to wait a bit longer for push email to be reinstated on their favorite Apple devices. A regional court in Mannheim has upheld a ban on the service in Germany based on a patent lawsuit brought by Motorola Mobility against Apple. Motorola won the court case in February and was granted a permanent injunction against the services built into iCloud and MobileMe. The court has now upheld the ban and determined that Apple must pay unspecified damages to Motorola Mobility. The lawsuit is related to a patent entitled "Multiple Pager Status Synchronization System and Method," which covers push services. Motorola filed the suit last April prior to the announcement of iCloud, based on the push email service built into MobileMe. Motorola was able to successfully argue that MobileMe is part of iCloud, hence the lawsuit that originally targeted MobileMe has been extended to cover Apple's current cloud services.
Motorola HS1101 and MBP2000PU Android Home Phones get examined, detailed by the FCC
We imagine that the vast majority of Android users have since abandoned or even eliminated landline service, but if you're still tethered to the grid at the homestead, your DECT cordless might as well be running Android. Motorola demonstrated such a concept at an event way back in 2010, and it now looks like the company may finally be readying a pair of production models, dubbed the HS1101 and MBP2000PU Android Home Phones. Based on published user manuals, both of the handsets appear to be virtually identical, with the exception of color scheme -- the HS1101 is covered in a glossy black finish, while the MBP2000PU is decked out in silver and white.The WiFi-equipped handsets could be running Ice Cream Sandwich (based on a screenshot of the HS1101), and each include a 3.2-inch 400 x 240 LCD, a front-facing camera with video capture, stereo 1.5-watt speakers, microSD storage, along with micro-USB and a standard headphone port. Naturally, you'll be able to download apps (through SlideMe), while some selections, including an Aldiko e-book reader and a Digital Answer Machine come preloaded. Whether or not consumers ever plan to buy another cordless set remains to be seen, but if you're in the market, you might as well hang tight for a Motorola Android Home Phone. Both models have passed through the FCC, so the grueling wait for an ICS-powered DECT cordless may soon come to an end. Jump past the break for a closer look at both models, or hit up the source link to thumb through those meaty manuals.
TiVo sues Time Warner Cable, Motorola Mobility in fresh patent assault
Four days ago TiVo abandoned its protracted patent litigation against Microsoft and we sighed in relief at the idea that people were learning to just get along. Our respite was short lived, however, when the company revealed it was lobbing litigation-shaped grenades over the fence toward Motorola Mobility and Time Warner Cable. The lawsuit, filed in the Patent Troll haven of Texas' Eastern District, concerns patents 6,223,389, 7,529,465 and 6,792,195. The first of that trio is the contentious Time Warping patent that's been argued over so much we'd like to slice it in two, King Solomon style. Details beyond that are few and far between, but something tells us we'll be hearing more about the tiff in the future... whether we want to or not.
Apple's nano-SIM proposal draws fire from Motorola, Nokia, RIM
Giesecke & Devrient's nano-SIM design is fueling quite the standards battle over in Europe, with Apple sitting in one corner, and the troika of Motorola, Nokia and RIM looming in the other. That's according to the Financial Times, which reports today that Cupertino is leading a charge to push its own nano-SIM proposal through Europe's standards body, ETSI, much to the chagrin of its competitors. According to FT's sources, Apple's version of the nano-SIM would call for a "drawer" to protect it, much like the designs already featured in the iPhone and iPad. Though the standard would be available to all manufacturers under license, there's a lingering fear that Apple may eventually own all the patents pertaining to its proposal. Plus, its rivals would have to re-engineer their handsets to meet Apple's proposed design, even though Nokia claims its solution offers "significant technical advantages." ETSI is slated to vote on the proposals next week, but FT claims that the company has already garnered support from most of Europe's providers. Just to be sure, though, Cupertino is applying to become the largest voting member at ETSI, and is looking to register a full six European subsidies under its name. Each subsidy can wield up to 45 votes, meaning that if approved, Apple would overtake Nokia as the organization's largest voting body. Nokia, for its part, has filed a document in protest.
Apple loses ITC ruling against Motorola Mobility in patent infringement case
Florian Mueller over at FOSS Patents noted yesterday that Apple's patent infringement case against Motorola Mobility has been dealt a nearly fatal blow in the courts of the United States International Trade Commission (ITC). The suit alleged that Motorola Mobility was infringing on three Apple patents: one all-important patent for a multipoint touchscreen, an "object-oriented system locator system" patent, and a patent for an "ellipse fitting for multi-touch surfaces." The ITC's preliminary ruling in January found no proof that Moto was infringing on Apple's patents, and Friday's final ruling (PDF) upheld the initial finding. That doesn't make this the end of the road for Apple in the fight against Motorola Mobility. In fact, Mueller notes that the company will most likely appeal the decision in a U.S. Federal Circuit Court, as it is doing with another ITC ruling that found in favor of smartphone manufacturer HTC. There is a much better chance that the Federal Courts will overturn the ITC ruling, but Mueller says that this will take a significant amount of time. Smartphone-related patent infringement claims at the ITC tend to have a very high drop-out rate, so many manufacturers are now taking cases to German courts for "fast and furious" decisions. Mueller notes that the courts in Munich and Mannheim are twice as speedy as the ITC, and patent holders like Apple often win favorable rulings. This explains Apple's reasoning in taking a number of other patent infringement complaints to the German courts for swift rulings that result in injunctions on sales of new products.
Final ITC ruling affirms Motorola Mobility didn't violate Apple's patents
The preliminary decision already determined that, in this case, Motorola Mobility hadn't violated any of Apple's patents with its Droid series, and now a final review has affirmed those initial findings. While this might not be a massive turn up for the books, it does close the doors on at least one big name patent dispute. That said, Apple can appeal to the Federal Circuit, and given that it has done before, it's likely the iPad maker will do so here. But, for now at least, it's cork popping time over in Libertyville.
Google reportedly considering sell-off of Motorola's set-top box business
This one is still far from a sure thing and would represent something of an about-face from earlier statements made by CEO Larry Page, but The New York Post is reporting today that Google may be looking to sell-off Motorola Mobility's set-top box division as its $12.5 billion acquisition of the company nears a close. Specifically, the Post reports that Google has brought on Qatalyst Partners and Barclays Capital to help shop the business around, and the paper's sources say that Google is "highly likely" to sell-off the division, at least partly because cable operators have "shunned" buying Motorola set-top boxes ahead of the acquisition. Details get decidedly murkier beyond that, with one source only going so far as to ballpark a possible sale price at anywhere from $2.5 to $4 billion. For its part, Google said only that it doesn't "comment on rumor or speculation."
Google, Motorola told to give Android data to Apple
Aww, they're so cute when they fight! No, not the fluffy kittens, I'm referring to the battles between Apple, Google and Motorola Mobility. U.S. Judge Richard A. Posner ordered Google and the soon-to-be-purchased-by-Google Motorola Mobility to hand over info about the development of the Android OS and Google's purchase of Moto to Apple. Not surprisingly, Motorola has opposed Apple's request for the information, saying that Google isn't a party to the nastiness between Apple and Motorola Mobility. In a court filing on Monday, Motorola's lawyers stated that "Google's employees and documents are not within the 'possession, custody, or control' of Motorola, and Motorola cannot force Google to produce documents of witnesses over Google's objections." Apple's attorneys fired back with "the Android/Motorola acquisition discovery is highly relevant to Apple's claims and defenses." You wacky kids! Anyway, Judge Posner has scheduled back-to-back trials before two separate juries, beginning on June 11, 2012. At the first trial, six Apple patents will be addressed, leaving three Moto patents for the second trial. TUAW will be covering the play-by-play as it happens, provided the blogger assigned to the trials can stay awake. [via BGR]
Apple wins injunction against Motorola in Germany
Today the Munich I Regional Court handed down a decision awarding Apple an injunction against all Motorola products that violate a patent on "portable electronic device[s] for photo management." That overly broad-sounding claim appears to apply specifically to the bouncing over scroll animation found in the company's photo gallery application, so a small tweak to the existing software could quickly and quietly put this issue to rest. Still, according to FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller, there is a small (and we do mean small) chance that Apple could choose to enforce the ban, which could require Motorola to destroy all existing products that violate the claim. This includes items already on shelves, which would have to be recalled. More likely though, despite Apple's victory regarding the zoomed-out in view in the Android gallery app, Motorola will continue to be able to sell the Xoom and two infringing phones. On a somewhat related note, is it safe yet to officially dub Germany the successor to Texas' Eastern District -- patent trolling capital of the world?Update: We erroneously stated that it was the zoomed-out view that was found to be in violation of the patent, when in fact it was the zoomed-in one. Motorola successfully defended itself against claims the zoomed-out interface also infringed on Apple's patents. Motorola reached out to us with the following statement: "Today's ruling in Munich, Germany on the patent litigation brought by Apple concerns a software feature associated with performing certain functions when viewing photos in a 'zoomed in' mode on mobile devices. We note that the Court ruled that performing the functions in a 'zoomed out' mode does not infringe on this patent. We expect no impact to supply or future sales as we have already implemented a new way to view photos on our products that does not interfere with the user experience."
Motorola asks business users to defect, offers $200 for new Android handset purchase
Motorola Mobility wants business users on Android handsets, and to accomplish this the company has decided to put its money where its mouth is. Starting today, Moto will offer up to $200 to smartphone users that trade in their old, BLUR-less set for a new Android device. The company is also offering converts its MotoAssist service, which should -- in theory -- make the data migration process as painless as possible. The Droid RAZR Maxx, Droid 4 and Atrix 2 are just a few of the handsets up for grabs. Saunter on past the break for the full PR, and be sure to let us know if a pair of Benjamins in your pocket is just what you've been waiting for to make the switch.
Apple says iCloud and MobileMe push email down in Germany, due to Motorola lawsuit (Update)
Cupertino says it is has suspended push email via iCloud or MobileMe for users in Germany, due to "recent patent litigation by Motorola Mobility." Numerous disputes currently rage between the two companies, but this issue likely relates to a recent injunction Motorola won against iCloud. Push still works for Contacts and Calendars, but there's a page up on Apple's German support site (see the source link) telling people to use the Fetch settings on their iOS device to collect emails. There's a similar page on Apple's US site giving the same instructions to users who are travelling to Germany. Meanwhile, push email for OS X and via other service providers such as Microsoft Exchange Active Sync, is unaffected.Update: We've heard back from Apple and for its part, it is treating this as no big deal, focusing on the fact that it only applies to push email specifically and customers can still receive their emails other ways as mentioned above. As it is, it says this will affect only a "limited number of customers." Check after the break for the company's statement.
TiVo software coming to Pace set-top boxes
You may have never heard of Pace, but you might have some of its hardware in your house right now. If you're a DirecTV subscriber, that satellite receiver you rely on every day might actually be made by Pace. Or, perhaps the box your cable company gave you that you just never gave much thought to. The up and coming set-top box maker has recently even had some success with the biggest cable company of them all, Comcast. The latest partnership for the company trying to overthrow both Motorola and Cisco in the cable box space? TiVo. This global partnership will ensure that TV providers that buy hardware from Pace and software from TiVo will have almost no work left to do. In other words, it'll make way for an out-of-the box TiVo-verified platform. Pace indicates this will help answer the "strong interest" from TiVo's list of service providers, but that seems a bit optimistic. Our cynical side reminds us of all the great Sling powered hardware marketed to those same providers that years later, still has not been put into use.
Google 'close' to picking new Motorola Mobility CEO, say the usual gang of sources
Google's first act with Motorola Mobility under its wing? Picking a new head for the company, apparently. According to some anonymous-type sources over at Bloomberg, Mountain View "is close" to picking its own SVP, former ad man Dennis Woodside, to succeed Sanjay Jha. Google, naturally is refusing to comment on the matter, which is still waiting the completion of the $12.5 billion acquisition.
