Communication Breakdown
Communications from the world of, er, communications. And other stuff.
Monday 9 November 2009, 6:06 PM
Motorola and Aruba agree Wi-Fi patent ceasefire
Aruba Networks and Motorola have settled their long-running patent dispute by signing a cross-licensing agreement, the companies announced on Friday.
In August 2007, two Motorola subsidiaries sued Aruba over alleged patent infringements relating to wireless LAN (WLAN) architecture. Aruba countersued in October of that year.
On Friday, Aruba and Motorola issued a statement in which they said they had "reached an agreement that settles all outstanding intellectual property disputes between the two companies".
"We are pleased to have reached an amicable business resolution outside of the courts," Gene Delaney, Motorola's enterprise mobility chief, said in the statement. "Additionally, we are actively exploring technical and business opportunities of mutual interest associated with the all-wireless enterprise."
In August 2007, two Motorola subsidiaries sued Aruba over alleged patent infringements relating to wireless LAN (WLAN) architecture. Aruba countersued in October of that year.
On Friday, Aruba and Motorola issued a statement in which they said they had "reached an agreement that settles all outstanding intellectual property disputes between the two companies".
"We are pleased to have reached an amicable business resolution outside of the courts," Gene Delaney, Motorola's enterprise mobility chief, said in the statement. "Additionally, we are actively exploring technical and business opportunities of mutual interest associated with the all-wireless enterprise."
Monday 9 November 2009, 5:47 PM
Google buys mobile display ad firm AdMob
Google has bought the mobile display advertising firm AdMob, the companies announced on Monday.
The acquisition, for $750m (£449m) in stock, will "enhance Google's existing expertise and technology in mobile advertising, while also giving advertisers and publishers more choice in this growing new area", the search giant said in a statement.
"Mobile advertising has enormous potential as a marketing medium and while this industry is still in the early stages of development, AdMob has already made exceptional progress in a very short time," Google product management chief Susan Wojcicki said.
Google said it intended to use AdMob's technology to creating, serve and analyse mobile advertising formats and make mobile advertising relevant to end users.
The company has made great strides in the mobile market over the last few years, first by offering its services through the iPhone and other smartphones, and then by launching its own open-source mobile software platform, Android.
Google's services, which include Google Maps and local search, are generally offered through handsets that incorporate GPS and, by their nature as mobile phones, location-awareness through the mobile network itself. This functionality makes it possible to target advertising at the user based on where they are at the time.
The mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Blyk tried to offer UK users free phone calls and text messages if they accepted on-screen advertising, but the idea did not gain significant traction and Blyk's technology was sold to Orange earlier this year.
The acquisition, for $750m (£449m) in stock, will "enhance Google's existing expertise and technology in mobile advertising, while also giving advertisers and publishers more choice in this growing new area", the search giant said in a statement.
"Mobile advertising has enormous potential as a marketing medium and while this industry is still in the early stages of development, AdMob has already made exceptional progress in a very short time," Google product management chief Susan Wojcicki said.
Google said it intended to use AdMob's technology to creating, serve and analyse mobile advertising formats and make mobile advertising relevant to end users.
The company has made great strides in the mobile market over the last few years, first by offering its services through the iPhone and other smartphones, and then by launching its own open-source mobile software platform, Android.
Google's services, which include Google Maps and local search, are generally offered through handsets that incorporate GPS and, by their nature as mobile phones, location-awareness through the mobile network itself. This functionality makes it possible to target advertising at the user based on where they are at the time.
The mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Blyk tried to offer UK users free phone calls and text messages if they accepted on-screen advertising, but the idea did not gain significant traction and Blyk's technology was sold to Orange earlier this year.
Thursday 5 November 2009, 3:18 PM
The mutation of Europe's 'internet freedom' law
Agreement has been reached on the now-famous Amendment 138/46, allowing the Telecoms Reform Package to become law next year.
Some rights activists are semi-up-in-arms about the final version of the amendment, saying it does not offer as much protection against internet disconnection as the original provided. Our main, comprehensive story on the agreement is here, but we also thought it worthwhile to show precisely what changed.
See for yourself. Here's the original Amendment 138/46 (.pdf; see page 41), voted through by the European Parliament in May, but rejected by the Council of Telecoms Ministers:
... no restriction may be imposed on the fundamental rights and freedoms of end-users, without a prior ruling by the judicial authorities, notably in accordance with Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union on freedom of expression and information, save when public security is threatened in which case the ruling may be subsequent.
And here's the full text of the new Internet Freedom Provision, a.k.a. Article 1(3)a of the new Framework Directive:
Measures taken by Member States regarding end-users' access to or use of services and applications through electronic communications networks shall respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, as guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and general principles of Community law.
Any of these measures regarding end-users' access to or use of services and applications through electronic communications networks liable to restrict those fundamental rights or freedoms may only be imposed if they are appropriate, proportionate and necessary within a democratic society, and their implementation shall be subject to adequate procedural safeguards in conformity with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and general principles of Community law, including effective judicial protection and due process.
Accordingly, these measures may only be taken with due respect for the principle of presumption of innocence and the right to privacy. A prior fair and impartial procedure shall be guaranteed, including the right to be heard of the person or persons concerned, subject to the need for appropriate conditions and procedural arrangements in duly substantiated cases of urgency in conformity with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
The right to an effective and timely judicial review shall be guaranteed.
The crucial replacement is that of "a prior ruling by the judicial authorities" with "a prior fair and impartial procedure". That's a serious change, as it represents the difference between a court order and a far more nebulous "procedure".
The right to a timely review of the disconnection decision is, however, a bit more comforting.
Some rights activists are semi-up-in-arms about the final version of the amendment, saying it does not offer as much protection against internet disconnection as the original provided. Our main, comprehensive story on the agreement is here, but we also thought it worthwhile to show precisely what changed.
See for yourself. Here's the original Amendment 138/46 (.pdf; see page 41), voted through by the European Parliament in May, but rejected by the Council of Telecoms Ministers:
... no restriction may be imposed on the fundamental rights and freedoms of end-users, without a prior ruling by the judicial authorities, notably in accordance with Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union on freedom of expression and information, save when public security is threatened in which case the ruling may be subsequent.
And here's the full text of the new Internet Freedom Provision, a.k.a. Article 1(3)a of the new Framework Directive:
Measures taken by Member States regarding end-users' access to or use of services and applications through electronic communications networks shall respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, as guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and general principles of Community law.
Any of these measures regarding end-users' access to or use of services and applications through electronic communications networks liable to restrict those fundamental rights or freedoms may only be imposed if they are appropriate, proportionate and necessary within a democratic society, and their implementation shall be subject to adequate procedural safeguards in conformity with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and general principles of Community law, including effective judicial protection and due process.
Accordingly, these measures may only be taken with due respect for the principle of presumption of innocence and the right to privacy. A prior fair and impartial procedure shall be guaranteed, including the right to be heard of the person or persons concerned, subject to the need for appropriate conditions and procedural arrangements in duly substantiated cases of urgency in conformity with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
The right to an effective and timely judicial review shall be guaranteed.
The crucial replacement is that of "a prior ruling by the judicial authorities" with "a prior fair and impartial procedure". That's a serious change, as it represents the difference between a court order and a far more nebulous "procedure".
The right to a timely review of the disconnection decision is, however, a bit more comforting.
Wednesday 4 November 2009, 7:20 PM
Intel hit with federal antitrust lawsuit in US
Intel is being sued in the United States for breaking federal and New York state antitrust laws.
The New York attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, announced on Wednesday that he had filed the suit, charging that "Intel violated state and federal anti-monopoly laws by engaging in a worldwide, systematic campaign of illegal conduct — revealed in e-mails — in order to maintain its monopoly power and prices in the market for microprocessors".
The details of Intel's alleged infractions closely mirror those breaches for which the European Commission fined Intel €1bn in May. Both cases involve or involved illegal practices designed to persuade PC makers to use Intel rather than AMD chipsets.
"Over the last several years, Intel has extracted exclusive agreements from large computer makers in which they agreed to use Intel's microprocessors in exchange for payments totaling billions of dollars. Intel also threatened to and did in fact punish computer makers that they perceived to be working too closely with Intel's competitors," Cuomo said in his statement.
However, Intel's alleged retaliatory threats, as detailed by Cuomo, included not only "cutting off payments the computer maker was receiving from Intel", but also "directly funding a computer maker's competitors and ending joint development ventures" — neither of which was a factor in the Commission's case.
According to Cuomo: "The suit, which was filed today in federal court, seeks to bar further anticompetitive acts by Intel, restore lost competition, recover monetary damages suffered by New York governmental entities and consumers, and collect penalties."
Computer manufacturers named in the suit include Dell, HP and IBM — all bar the last were involved in the Commission's case.
The new suit follows almost two years of evidence-gathering — according to Wednesday's statement, the Attorney General's office has reviewed millions of pages of documents and e-mails and took testimony from several dozen witnesses".
Apart from the US and EU cases, Intel was also found guilty of antitrust and fined accordingly by South Korea in 2008.
UPDATE: According to News.com, Intel disagrees with Cuomo's charges.
The New York attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, announced on Wednesday that he had filed the suit, charging that "Intel violated state and federal anti-monopoly laws by engaging in a worldwide, systematic campaign of illegal conduct — revealed in e-mails — in order to maintain its monopoly power and prices in the market for microprocessors".
The details of Intel's alleged infractions closely mirror those breaches for which the European Commission fined Intel €1bn in May. Both cases involve or involved illegal practices designed to persuade PC makers to use Intel rather than AMD chipsets.
"Over the last several years, Intel has extracted exclusive agreements from large computer makers in which they agreed to use Intel's microprocessors in exchange for payments totaling billions of dollars. Intel also threatened to and did in fact punish computer makers that they perceived to be working too closely with Intel's competitors," Cuomo said in his statement.
However, Intel's alleged retaliatory threats, as detailed by Cuomo, included not only "cutting off payments the computer maker was receiving from Intel", but also "directly funding a computer maker's competitors and ending joint development ventures" — neither of which was a factor in the Commission's case.
According to Cuomo: "The suit, which was filed today in federal court, seeks to bar further anticompetitive acts by Intel, restore lost competition, recover monetary damages suffered by New York governmental entities and consumers, and collect penalties."
Computer manufacturers named in the suit include Dell, HP and IBM — all bar the last were involved in the Commission's case.
The new suit follows almost two years of evidence-gathering — according to Wednesday's statement, the Attorney General's office has reviewed millions of pages of documents and e-mails and took testimony from several dozen witnesses".
Apart from the US and EU cases, Intel was also found guilty of antitrust and fined accordingly by South Korea in 2008.
UPDATE: According to News.com, Intel disagrees with Cuomo's charges.
Tuesday 3 November 2009, 5:19 PM
Series 60 phones get Google voice search
Google has released a version of its voice search application for users of Symbian Series 60 handsets.
Series 60 is mostly used in Nokia smartphones such as the E71 but also in some handsets from other manufacturers such as Sony Ericsson. Based on Symbian, it is one of the most popular smartphone platforms in the world.
On Monday, Google software engineer Elke Michlmayr wrote that many Series 60 handsets that do not have Qwerty keypads would benefit from having the free location-aware app.
"The new version of Google Mobile App places a shortcut to Google search on your Nokia phone's home screen, allowing you to search using your voice or by typing," Michlmayr wrote. "You can search for anything — from 'movie times', to 'fish 'n chips', to 'masala dosa'. It doesn't matter if you're in London or Bangalore: we'll use your location to give you nearby results."
The new Google Mobile App also recognises Mandarin Chinese for the first time — Series 60 users will be the first to benefit from this addition, although Android and iPhone users may also get this functionality in time.
Michlmayr also noted that the app would only work, for now, on handsets running S60 3rd Edition — so, not for users of the Nokia N97 or Sony Ericsson Satio, both of which use the 5th edition of S60.
Series 60 is mostly used in Nokia smartphones such as the E71 but also in some handsets from other manufacturers such as Sony Ericsson. Based on Symbian, it is one of the most popular smartphone platforms in the world.
On Monday, Google software engineer Elke Michlmayr wrote that many Series 60 handsets that do not have Qwerty keypads would benefit from having the free location-aware app.
"The new version of Google Mobile App places a shortcut to Google search on your Nokia phone's home screen, allowing you to search using your voice or by typing," Michlmayr wrote. "You can search for anything — from 'movie times', to 'fish 'n chips', to 'masala dosa'. It doesn't matter if you're in London or Bangalore: we'll use your location to give you nearby results."
The new Google Mobile App also recognises Mandarin Chinese for the first time — Series 60 users will be the first to benefit from this addition, although Android and iPhone users may also get this functionality in time.
Michlmayr also noted that the app would only work, for now, on handsets running S60 3rd Edition — so, not for users of the Nokia N97 or Sony Ericsson Satio, both of which use the 5th edition of S60.
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