Weekly Fishwrap

Patent wars break out between Google and, well, everybody else
While you can’t keep a good man down, so the saying goes, you can try and keep a good program down via a judicial use of patents. Google is crying foul over the efforts of Apple, Microsoft and Oracle who it claims are running an organized campaign against Google’s Android, a campaign that Google labels as based on bogus patents. The three protagonists have a range of lawsuits across the globe and Google even complained that Apple and Microsoft teamed up to buy Nortel patents to thwart Google- However it should be noted that the winning bid was $4.5 billion, Google bid $900 million so there could be more involved.

Bet you did not know this
Do you like dropping a dime on your favorite football team, either pro or college, or both? The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece on how professional gamblers are making bets fast and furious very early in the process. One of the reasons is that with not much known about teams early on, the odds have a good chance to swing a great deal, providing opportunity for the experience gambler.

iPad to remain king of the tablet space? iPhone sales continue to grow.
A research report from Digitimes claims that Apple’s iPad has a huge sales and market lead in 2011. According to the report, approximately 65.2 million tablets will be shipped from manufacturers’ and of that figure the iPad will account for 40 million, or a 61% market share. In the second half of the year it expects Apple to ship 25.5 million units, a 76% increase over the first half of the year.

In related news Apple could sell as many as 30 million iPhones in the fourth quarter, powered by sales of the latest version of the phone, slated for release around that time frame. This compares very favorable to the 14.1 million sold during the same period last year.

DirectTV and Comcast fight over NFL Sunday Ticket Ads
Now that the NFL is back are you looking at adding Sunday Ticket to you cable bill? Watching the ads that claim that you can add it without any extra charge? Have you noticed the little asterisk? Well Comcast is taking the time to point out, and file a lawsuit over, the fact that in Comcast’s opinion the ad is a complete lie. They have a nice little conversation on the topic at the Consumerist. Either way make sure that you ask the proper questions when adding the service to ensure you do not suffer from buyers regret at some point in the future.