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Oracle v. Google trial reveals renders of original Google phone design
Not all the news coming out of Judge Alsup's courtroom concerns IP infringement and dollar signs, as some renders of a never-before-seen Google phone have made their way out of the courtroom and onto the web. It appears that before the T-Mobile G1 came to be, Google had its heart set on a portrait QWERTY design for its initial Android offering -- and different from what was found in the first Android emulator. Evidently, it was slated to pack at least a 200MHz chip, 64MB of RAM and ROM, a miniSD card, 2-megapixel camera with a dedicated shutter button and a non-touch-enabled QVGA display. That's a far cry from modern smartphones, but this thing was set to be sold five years ago, so such meager specs are to be expected. Intrigued? More pictures and details can be found at the source below.
Report: HP's South Korean offices raided over alleged price fixing
Korea Times is a publication that isn't shy of the odd bold statement and today it's claiming that HP's South Korean offices were raided on suspicion of price-fixing deals made with IBM and Oracle. The country's Fair Trade Commission seized documents, computer records and questioned employees over alleged price-rigging on public-sector contracts. A company spokesperson said that the visit was routine, while FTC officers refused to comment about ongoing matters, but what is clear is that if any wrong-doing is found, the case will be turned over to prosecutors with the aim of commencing criminal proceedings for those responsible.
Oracle and Google get a trial date, April 16th is the start of Android armageddon
As regular readers of this site are well aware, Google and Oracle have had an ongoing legal spat for nearly two years now. In the time since the lawsuit's filing, the legal claims have been narrowed, damages claims have been adjusted, reduced, and reduced again. All that activity, plus continuous settlement talks caused the trial to be delayed several times. But now it appears that the two sides have officially reached an impasse, and so the tech giants will go to trial on April 16th to determine if Android illicitly pulled code from Java. Will Oracle get paid? Will Google and its green bots be gloating in the end? Pop some popcorn and settle in, folks, we'll start getting some answers in a couple weeks.
Oracle's final damage claim against Google well under $100 million
My, my, my, how the mighty have fallen. In this case, the mighty is the roughly $6 billion Oracle initially sought in its suit against Google. By September of last year that number had dropped to a comparatively paltry $2 billion, which was still too high for presiding Judge William Alsup. Now that has plummeted precipitously, with Oracle's new starting figure sitting at $32.3 million. Of course, the final total for the damages will likely be higher than that, but we'd be mighty shocked if the ultimate settlement was even close to $100 million. Google's own estimates put the valuation at between $37.5 million and $46.6 million -- a far cry from the $100 million starting point Alsup had suggested in July of last year. Now all that's left is for this sucker to actually go to trial. Hit up the source to read the full filing.
Oracle drops patent from Google lawsuit, Google moves to strike Oracle's third damages report
After much sound and fury in its legal proceedings for IP infringement against Google, Oracle's claims continue to be whittled away. Judge Alsup has been on Oracle's case to downgrade its damages claims for months now, and on Friday, he got yet another reason to do so. Ellison's crew has finally withdrawn the last remaining claim of patent number 6,192,476 from the litigation -- the very same patent that had 17 of 21 claims wiped out earlier during a USPTO re-examination proceeding. Additionally, Google has filed a motion to strike Oracle's third damages report for, once again, artificially inflating the monetary damages in its expert report. No one can say for sure how the judge will rule on that motion, but given that Oracle's got less IP than ever with which to allege infringement, it seems likely that the Court will send it back to the damages drawing board.
Judge attacks Oracle's 'stratospheric' damages claim against Google, postpones trial
Everything we've heard about Judge William Alsup tells us he's a guy you don't mess with -- and yet Oracle seems bent on doing precisely that. When the company initially demanded $6.1 billion from Google in recompense for alleged violations of its Java patents, Alsup laughed that figure out of court and suggested $100 million might be closer to the mark. Ellison's crew then came back with a revised claim of $2 billion, which we just knew would lead to another smackdown. Well, here it is: the judge has now cancelled the latest trial date (which had been scheduled for March) and refused to set a new one until the claimant stops using "improper methodologies" for assessing damages, which are "obviously calculated to reach stratospheric numbers." Perhaps Oracle should try something more tropospheric?
EVE Evolved: Everything there is to know about Crucible
This summer's lackluster Incarna expansion and the ensuing microtransaction drama took a massive toll on EVE Online's player community and development staff. Players were quitting in droves, and CCP eventually had to lay off 20% of its staff worldwide. Two years of half-implemented expansions, broken features, and "first steps" that were never iterated on left players begging for a content-heavy expansion like Apocrypha or those released in EVE's early years. EVE is known for being practically a new game every six months, but since the blockbuster Apocrypha expansion, daily life in New Eden hasn't changed much at all. To pull things back from the brink, CCP refocused development on EVE Online and gave developers a free pass to work on hundreds of small features and improvements. The company began flooding us with details on new ships, graphical updates, new gameplay mechanics, and desperately needed balance tweaks, and we loved every bit of it. Although it's mostly small features and gameplay tweaks, the Crucible expansion feels like a genuine rebirth for EVE Online. The types of changes made show that CCP knows exactly what players want from EVE and that the company is now willing to deliver it. With CCP's renewed focus on internet spaceships, the Crucible expansion feels like the start of a new era in the sandbox. In this week's EVE Evolved, I pull together everything there is to know about the Crucible expansion that went live this week, from its turbulent origins to the awesome features and PvP updates it contains.
EVE Online reveals Amarr tier 3 battlecruiser, the Oracle
Last year graphic designers and EVE Online fans from across the world competed in CCP Games' huge Design-a-Starship contest. The ultimate contest winner was the incredibly impressive Minmatar Tornado, which was meant to be implemented in the game shortly after winning. The ship's implementation was delayed until earlier this month, when CCP announced that the Tornado would be one of four new battlecruisers hitting EVE with the winter expansion. The new tier three battlecruisers are designed to use battleship-sized weapons and are specialised for mid range to long range combat. In a new devblog today, CCP Guard revealed the Amarr tier three battlecruiser: the Oracle. Originally named the Mentor by its creator Alexey M, the Oracle appears to quite literally be a stripped down forward section of the popular Armageddon. The ship joins the Minmatar Tornado and Gallente Talos as yet another entry from last year's design competition to be implemented in the game. The Caldari battlecruiser is still to be revealed, but we got a first glimpse of the ship from yesterday's In Development video devblog and can confirm that it is also a player-submitted design.
Oracle amends complaint against Google to $2 billion, risks the wrath of Judge Alsup
Oracle's damage claim against Google in it's battle over Java patents keeps inching downwards, but not nearly quick enough to please either Big G or Judge William Alsup. The Redwood Shores-based company initially sought $6.1 billion, but eventually lowered that to $2.6 billion. The judge responded by suggesting a far more modest $100 million starting point for a settlement and sent Oracle back to the drawing board. Well, the company amended its complaint, and is now asking for only $2 billion. Judge Alsup has grown noticeably more impatient with both sides as the suit has progressed towards trial, which is still scheduled for October. We can't wait to see what sort of outburst Oracle's latest move inspires in his honor -- we're expecting a flying gavel or two.
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.
Sun CEO's deleted blog post to help end Oracle vs Google patent dispute?
Ever heard of estoppel? The term, sadly, does not denote a new German electronic bus service, but is rather a court-ordered way of telling companies "no backsies" on previously made public statements. It could also prove to be another nail in Oracle's patent dispute coffin, should Google's latest Wayback Machine defense hold up. Thanks to the internet's never say die policy, a 2007 post, recently deleted by Oracle, from Sun Microsystem's then CEO Jonathan Schwartz has surfaced, in which he enthusiastically endorsed Android's Java base. The public statement falls in line with the aforementioned legal doctrine, potentially contradicting new owner Oracle's patent infringement claims. Unfortunately for both parties, Judge William Alsup doesn't seem to be too cool under the collar as he's reportedly blasted each for "asking for the moon" and chiding them to "be more reasonable." A final ruling in this case is still a ways off, but in the meantime you can head to the source to read Schwartz's damning praise for yourself.
Judge tells Oracle to rethink $2.6 billion claim against Google
The war between Google and Oracle is far from over, but the big G keeps racking up tiny victories in what are admittedly modest battles. Now the Redwood Shores-based company has been told to go back to the drawing board with its damages report. Originally Oracle sought $2.6 billion, but its theories were largely dismissed and Judge William Alsup suggested an alternative starting point of roughly $100 million. The company still has an opportunity to present a new report, one that will likely seek much more than the proposed $100 million, but things are looking increasingly tough for the claimant. It wasn't all good news for Goog, though. While the judge told Oracle to narrow its focus from Android as a whole to just specific infringing features, he did agree that related advertising revenue should be included in the theoretical royalty base. He also offered harsh criticism for what he viewed as its "brazen" disregard for intellectual property rights. The trial is still scheduled for October, so we should have a better idea of how this whole thing will play out by Halloween.
Oracle v. Google update: USPTO rejects several patent claims, leaves chinks in Oracle's IP armor?
Much ink has been spilled about Oracle's lawsuit against Google for Android's allegedly unlawful use of Java, and rightfully so, considering Team Ellison's seeking to take more than a billion dollar chunk out of Google's bottom line. Just because Oracle's damage calculations add up to ten figures doesn't mean that the court will agree with them, however. And, there's a long legal road to be tread before the court can assign a dollar value to the case -- namely it must determine if the patent claims and copyrights are valid and whether Android actually infringes them. That's why Google requested the USPTO re-examine the patents asserted by Oracle, as the process gives Google a shot at invalidating them outside the courtroom. It looks like the strategy is paying off, as one of those re-exams recently resulted in a rejection of 17 of the patent's 21 claims -- which reduces the number of claims Oracle can assert in court accordingly. Of course, those four remaining claims plus the 118 contained in the other six asserted patents (should they survive the re-examination process) could still spell doom for the little green bots, but it is a victory, albeit a modest one, for the team in Mountain View. So, Oracle may have a few less IP bullets to fire Google's way, but it's still got plenty of other legal ammo left. We'll keep you posted when next shot's fired.
Microsoft, Facebook, RIM, and others write to the FCC in support of AT&T-Mobile merger
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has mail. It's only a page and a paragraph long, but the letter he's received this week has much gravitas attached to it, coming as it does from a select group of the tech industry's biggest companies, all of whom are lending their support to AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile. Of the eight new proponents of the deal, Microsoft, Facebook and Yahoo form a sub-group of software / web content distributors, whereas Qualcomm, RIM, Avaya, Brocade, and Oracle will have been motivated to speak up because they see the takeover as expanding opportunities to sell their mobile and networking hardware. The entire octet agrees that the melding of AT&T and T-Mobile's networks into one is a requisite move for broadening mobile broadband availability in the US and for keeping the country competitive with the rest of the world. In their words, "an increasingly robust and efficient wireless network is part of a virtuous innovation cycle." Virtuous for them, perhaps, but what about consumers faced with an increasingly binary choice of mobile carrier? Who shall protect their virtue?
The Game Archaeologist jacks into The Matrix Online: Jamming with Ben 'Rarebit' Chamberlain
When we started into The Matrix Online month last week on The Game Archaeologist, one of the comments caught my eye. Massively reader stealthrider wrote: Please, please do a tribute to Rarebit. MxO was his baby, and no one took its death worse than he. He did everything for that game, much of it single-handedly. Everything from playing the canon characters and co-writing the story to fixing hundreds of bugs and even creating a new zone from scratch. Not to mention developing and implementing the story missions, new items, the RP item vendors, and pretty much everything else in MxO's final couple of years. He even implemented and moderated a player-created minigame as part of the official story. He retired from game development in the months before MxO's shutdown. He was that dedicated to this game that he couldn't work on anything else afterward. He's a god among developers, and he is as sorely missed as the game itself. I think this sums up how many Matrix Online vets feel about Ben "Rarebit" Chamberlain. So instead of a mere tribute, we drove the MassivelyMobile over to Chamberlain's house (read: send a polite email request), and he graciously said he'd be glad to reminisce with us. So hit that jump to find out the last word on MxO from the dev who held it together!
The Game Archaeologist jacks into The Matrix Online: The highlights
It's not every year that a movie comes along that captures the pop culture zeitgeist so powerfully and so quickly as The Matrix did. I recall lugging a few college friends along to see this in 1999 -- having heard only a few sparse details about it beforehand -- and coming out of the theater feeling as if we we'd been electrified. The bold mix of science fiction, martial arts, philosophy, action, and leather ensembles became the smash hit of the year, and a franchise was born. And while we had great hopes that this would be this generation's Star Wars, The Matrix ultimately proved to be a lightning-in-a-bottle phenomenon, impossible to recapture once unleashed. Sequels, animated shorts, video games, comic books -- none rose to the height of the original film, and eventually the franchise petered out. During this period, an odd duck of an MMO was born: The Matrix Online. When you think about it, an online virtual world where people log in and fight against programs was a really short hop from the movie series. MxO, as it was abbreviated, was an audacious game with unique features, story-centric gameplay and a sci-fi bent in a field of fantasy competitors, and while it only lasted four years, it was enough to make a huge impression for its community. So by popular demand, this month we're going to revisit the 1s and 0s of The Matrix Online to see just how deep the rabbit hole (and well-worn cliche) goes -- and what made this game stand out!
Shocker! Microsoft commands 79 percent of worldwide OS revenue (update)
Everyone knows that Windows is installed on the vast majority of computers, but it's always interesting to be reminded of what a cash cow the OS has been for Redmond. According to Gartner, Microsoft owned 78.6 percent of the global market revenue share for desktop operating systems at the end of 2010 -- revenue up almost 9 percent from 2009. That means, of the $30.4 billion in revenue that various companies generated, $23.8 billion lined Microsoft's coffers. But while Windows remains the kingpin, Mac OS X and -- wait for it -- Red Hat, posted more substantial gains. Apple's market revenue shot up almost 16 percent to 1.7 percent, Red Hat surged 18 percent, while dark horse Oracle leaped from ninth place to fourth, with a 7,683 percent growth in income -- no small thanks to its 2009 acquisition of Sun Microsystems. Only one question remains, then -- who's the loser here? Update: Looks like we got this one wrong, folks, as it's not market share that's being measured here, but rather revenue share -- how much money each company made from its operating systems relative to one another. That means companies that price their operating systems cheaper will be at a disadvantage in the rankings, not to mention those organizations that charge nothing at all -- Ubuntu, anyone? Oh, and as some of you have pointed out in comments, there are both desktop and server operating systems in the chart above.
The OverAchiever: Mountain o' Mounts in Northrend
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, we continue the Mountain o' Mounts grind in Northrend. Bad news, folks: Once you've made your way through your own faction's basic ground mounts and the array of options available in Outland, you've largely exhausted the supply of factions that will offer you tons of mounts just because they like you. The closest you'll get is the Argent Tournament, which offers lots of mounts but a relatively long grind for most of them, even if you're already exalted with your home factions. Past this point, count on doing reputation grinds for only a few mounts at most. However, the bite doesn't feel as bad in Northrend, in no small part because Dalaran and Argent Tournament quartermasters will sell you Commendation badges for the Argent Crusade, Ebon Blade, Kirin Tor, Sons of Hodir, and Wyrmrest Accord in return for 16 justice points. Each badge gives you 520 reputation, and it's a great way to bleed off extra JPs you're sitting on, if spending lots of time in Northrend isn't on your to-do list. Also read: Combining The Ambassador and Mountain O' Mounts and Mountain O' Mounts in Outland
Google hires Java founder James Gosling amid Oracle infringement suit - ah, snap!
And the war wages on... We've been reporting on the showdown between Oracle and Google over Java-related patent infringement since its inception, and now El Goog's throwing a little extra excitement into the fray by hiring Java founder, and former VP of Sun Microsystems, James Gosling. When Oracle acquired Sun last year, Gosling, who refused to take part, wasn't shy about expressing his views, calling Oracle's Larry Ellison "Larry, Prince of Darkness." On a post to his blog, which has since crashed, Gosling was vague about his new duties saying simply, "I don't know what I'll be working on. I expect it'll be a bit of everything, seasoned with a large dose of grumpy curmudgeon." That's just the kind of smack talking this scuffle needed to keep things interesting. Long live James Gosling!
IcedRobot Android fork to sidestep legal battle between Oracle, Google
We'd prepared ourselves for a drawn-out legal battle between Oracle and Google when we heard the former was suing the latter for Java-related copyright infringement, but fortunately for Android enthusiasts, not everyone was so resigned. A team of developers are working on an Android fork called IcedRobot (yep, that's the logo) to separate the offending Dalvik Virtual Machine from the OS, hopefully circumventing this epic argument altogether. The project seeks to create a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that is based on OpenJDK (an open-source implementation of Java), avoiding Oracle's Apache Harmony, and to allow Android to run on just about any PC with the use of Hotspot, another device non-specific JVM using open-source Java. It's a tall order, and the devilish little Android has already gained a healthy amount of tech industry skepticism, but we're interested to see if these guys can make it work. Either way, we're pretty sure we've still got years of legal volleying to go before Google and Oracle can play nice again -- this ain't no People's Court, folks.
