Motorola – Page 4

Friday Grab Bag: Astrodome doomed, Apple Exec Knighted

May 25, 2012 by Greg Quick 2 Comments

Remember Michelle Wie, the precocious teen golfer that continually tried to crack the PGA, all without winning on the LPGA? (Well she actually did win her first title in 2009 but still…) Well she has now achieved something that is quite praiseworthy; she has graduated from Stanford University with an undergraduate degree in communications.

Hopefully she will go on and her career mirrors that other famous Stanford Golfer, Tiger Woods, at least with his success on the links.

Google rapidly makes changes at Motorola Mobility
Days after China finally gave its blessing to the $12.5 billion union between Google and Motorola Mobility changes have already started. Motorola’s chief executive officer Sanjay Jha is stepping down from that position and is being replaced by Dennis Woodside, according to a blog post from Google’s CEO Larry Page.

Woodside is a long-time Google executive and has held a number of positions at Google and his current title was Senior Vice President. There are now rumors that there will be layoffs at Motorola but so far Google has been mum on the topic.

Facebook Rage
There was an odd amount of glee when Facebook’s huge IPO did not experience a solid bump on its first day of trading, but now as it slowly sinks all week people are coming out of the woodwork with some solid complaints against the company and its underwriters.

I am sure that you have seen the growing anger as investors discover that the underwriters had reevaluated Facebook’s quarterly and yearly revenues downward, and had not filled in everybody involved. Or did they? Morgan Stanley said it has done nothing wrong but already at least one class action lawsuit has been filed and the SEC is looking into the issue.

The 8th Wonder of the World to go under Wrecking Ball
When the Houston Astrodome opened to glowing reviews in 1965 it was touted as the ‘8th Wonder of the World” but it is now an obsolete building slowly rotting away. Other hi-tech stadiums have outpaced it and simply having a dome over a field now has no cachet.

The city spends millions on upkeep for a building who’s tenants have fled and the cost of destruction has been pegged at $128 million, while renovation would cost between $400 million and $600 million In a city that already has two new stadiums, one for football and one for baseball it is hard to see how it can justify spending that much on the facility.

Apple exec is knighted
Jonathan Ive, Apple’s senior vice president of industrial design is now Sir Jonathan Ive after having been made a Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE). He was presented the honor by the Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace earlier this week. The award was in honor of his services in the area of design and enterprise.

After the ceremony Ive said that the current group of products that are currently under way at Apple will be the best yet that the company has released. Ive, who has a reputation for secrecy, did not elaborate.

No Expansion of replay for now in MLB
MLB commissioner Bud Selig, speaking at a sports and society conference at St. Norbert College said that he does not believe that baseball needs to expand video review of umpires’ calls, at least right now, according to ESPN.

Selig said that there has been very little pressure to do ao and that since adding additional areas to the existing replay would require approval from both the players and the umpires will not be considered until at least next year, with trapped balls and balls hit down the line will likely be the primary focus. I for one cannot remember when the last trapped ball controversy occurred-anybody recall one?

Google wins at Oracle trial
Any dreams Oracle may have had for a huge payday based on its claims in its patent and copyright trial with Google has not come to pass and the jury sided with Google that it did not infringe on Oracle’s patents.

According to a brief note in the San Francisco Chronicle the jury decision means that Oracle can only collect a maximum of $150,000 in damages. I wonder if that even covers the cost of the case for the company. I doubt it.

No new apps for Windows Phone 7.0
Microsoft Windows Phone users that have not upgraded their operating system from 7.0 to Windows 7.5 are not blocked from adding or upgrading apps on their phone using its Marketplace site. The company released 7.5 last fall.

Google’s Larry Page wears half a glass. Is he an optimist?
Google’s CEO Larry Page wore a pair of glasses (with only one lens) made to support the company’s Project Glass development in a video that was shared on a company web page. He talked about the glasses and did a demonstration with them.

He used the glasses to snap a photo which required using a physical button on the glasses but he was able to share it with a head gesture and a tap of the glasses. It will be interesting to see what features appear in the final project when it finally arrives, and how fast people will seek to ban their use when driving etc…

AMD prepares for tablet space
Digi Times is reporting that when Microsoft releases Windows 8 later this year the AMD plans to insert itself into the mix with a low powered processor that it has designed for this space. The company will have its Hondo processors available and will quickly refresh the lineup in 2013 with a new architecture in its Tamesh line.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Athlete to Follow, Facebook, Golf, Google, Lawsuit, Microsoft, Motorola, Tablets Tagged With: Apple, Golf, Google, Motorola, Tablets

Will Nvidia’s Kai lead to Less Expensive Tablets?

May 24, 2012 by Greg Quick 1 Comment

At its annual shareholder meeting Nvidia showed a prototype Android tablet platform that it has code named Kai and that it is positioning as the basis, with its processors, for lower cost family of tablets.

The heart of the Kai tablet would be Nvidia’s Tegra-3 processor that the company seeks to leverage as the heart of a new line of Tablets that will have powerful processing and graphics capabilities but will rival Amazon’s Kindle in price rather than butt heads with Apple’s iPad at the high end.

Nvidia already has a head start in the tablet and smartphone space going forward as along with Microsoft it has been actively seeding hardware vendors with laptops that feature the chip in an effort to create an active ecosystem of apps prior to the release of Windows 8 later this year.

This appears to be taking that a step further. Its executives talked about how the processor, along with an ARM-based chip, could enable a generation of less expensive Android tablets and that its years of experience in this space of developing for Windows will serve it in good stead.

Of course so does rival Intel which is seeking to establish its Atom processor as at least part of any Windows Tablet ecosystem and while it can work with Nvidia it is also seeking to supplant ARM as the heart of these systems so how closely Nvidia is integrated with the various ARM chips out there could be an issue.

We at MSR support anything that will help grow the tablet market, and not because we secretly own stock in the companies involved. Currently I use my phone as a secondary screen quite often when watching sports, particularly football. When the price point drops enough I think I might have several, one just dedicated to sitting next to my remote control, unless I use it as a remote control as well.

I can see not only the second screen market but also as portable screens when visiting friends (in some cases) following outdoor sports and a variety of other uses. Since a household is likely to have more than one person it would make sense to have one dedicated for use in the TV room and another for a any other use that might occur.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, iPad, Kindle, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tablets Tagged With: Amazon, Apple, Kindle, Motorola, Nvidia, Tablets

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Facebook buys Karma

May 21, 2012 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

Lost amid all of the noise about Facebook’s huge IPO was the fact that the company is continuing to address a shortcoming in the mobile app space. It has purchased a company called Karma that has developed an e-commerce platform as part of its overall presence.

The management team at Karma has already developed one successful app and the current focus, on gifting, seems to be a good match since Facebook has a huge amount of personal data on users and can now send alerts about anniversaries etc and recommend gifts and send users to Karma. The terms of the deal were not revealed in the announcement made on Karma’s blog but the company’s founders have had success in creating other successful apps.

Samsung’s Galaxy S3 sees strong preorder demand
Samsung, the leading smartphone developer in the world is about to see a nice spike in sales if reports are correct about pre availability demand for its Galaxy S3. According to a report from the Korean Economic Daily, forwarded by Mashable there is already a 9 million unit demand worldwide.

That is very impressive, especially considering the company’s factories can only crank out 5 million units a month, and I am assuming that is for all handsets not just this model. I hope they have been building the devices for the last few months.

China gives Google a thumbs up on Motorola
The long wait is over for Google with the company finally gaining approval for its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility. The approval, which came from China’s Anti-Monopoly Bureau, had followed a delay in which the agency had requested more information.

This approval was the last before the deal can go through and give Google access to Motorola’s huge patent portfolio and manufacturing capabilities. According to a report from the AP the deal has a condition- Google must make the Android operating system available for free to mobile device users for the next five years.

Motorola faces possible ban in US
To counter the good news coming out of China, Motorola was on the losing side of a judge’s ruling the Motorola did infringe on a patent held by Microsoft. The ruling came from the US International Trade Commission and has the result of banning Android-powered smartphones made by Motorola from being imported into the US.

While the ban will not go in effect until July, it is likely that Motorola will seek a licensing deal rather than eliminate the technology. With Motorola having recently won a ruling against Motorola regarding different patents they could just sign a cross licensing agreement, but right now no word on what its plans are.

Apple seeks to block Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in US
If this sounds familiar well… Apple is following up a win in US Appeals Court that said a ban should probably have been imposed on Samsung for copying features from Apple’s iPad, Apple is now once again asking for that ban in the United States.

It could be a negotiating ploy since as has been reported here and elsewhere the two have been ordered into a settlement talks that will feature the top executives from both companies and it appears likely from this piece at Electronista that no action will occur until after the settlement talks are over.

EU regulations will apply to Android and iOS apps
Apps that are downloaded to devices running both the iOS and Android operating system are subject to the European Union’s Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, officials from the Information Commissioner’s Office said.

The rules regulate, but do not prohibit the use of technologies such as cookies and require that users provide informed consent. This will require the apps to inform the user that it is downloading a cookie and provide them with the option to not have them loaded in their device, according to an article in Computing.co.uk

Is a 10-inch Kindle in the works?
Increasingly rumors are surfacing that the next generation of devices from Amazon will include a model with a 10.1-inch form. The move would make it a more direct competitor to Apple’s existing iPads as well as to the rumored smaller iPad that has been talked about for months.

According to DigiTimes the pad is expected in the third quarter of this year and that at the same time the company is likely to kill its 8.9-inch pad that has been on the drawing board. Around this time Google is also expected to bring out a pad to help heighten the competition even more.

Apple loses round in e-book case
A United States District Court judge has denied petitions from Apple and several of its largest e-book publishing partners to dismiss a lawsuit against them. The lawsuit claims that the companies conspired to illegally price fix e-books. This case is similar to, but separate from the one filed by the Department of Justice against the same companies.

New Kickstarter project trying to get light on a dark subject
A company called Scrap Pile Labs has developed a docking cable for iPads and iPhones that has a built-in LED that allows for easy use at night. Called CordLite it is now seeking funding at the site Kickstarter and the developer is seeking to raise $70,000. If it succeeds the company expects to ship the cables in September.

While the initial focus is on Apple’ products the company said that it plans to develop for other platforms as well and has a microUSB cable in prototype but that production costs are scheduling issues it will be some time before that sees the light of day.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, Facebook, FTC, Google, iPad, iPhone, Kickstarter, Mashable, Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung, Startup, Tablets Tagged With: Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Preliminary Windows 8 Tablet Specs

April 16, 2012 by Greg Quick 2 Comments

Intel takes wraps off of Windows 8 tablet specs
Intel has showed the expected features and capabilities of the Windows 8 tablets at its Developer Forum in Beijing last week, a nugget that was dug up by Cnet. Not surprising is the chip powering these next generation devices will be Intel’s Z2760 ‘Clover Trail’ processor.

The chip is a multithreaded dual core processor with a feature called ‘burst mode’ that enables it to accelerate performance for short periods of time. There will be two basic designs, one a 10-inch model and the second a slightly larger 11-inch that will feature a keyboard.

It will have an estimated 9-hour battery life, support 3G/4G and also have NFC (near field communications) and Wi-Fi Direct. Its weight will be roughly 1.5 pounds and it s expected to be 9 mm thick. A second half 2012 release date is expected for the tablets based on the specs, but that is based on Microsoft releasing Windows 8 in that time frame.

Expect a wave of tablets of all size in next few months
A host of tablet manufacturers have tablets in the pipeline and they will start appearing on shelves very shortly, according to multiple reports. Samsung, Nokia, and even possibly Apple have products that should be are nearing the market.

The Asus Transformer Pad 300 is expected to hit the streets next week with a 4G LTE supporting pad that is expected to have a $399 price tag for a 32GB model. Amazon reportedly has three Kindle Fire models on the designing board including a 8.9-inch one.

Then there is the long awaited Google Nexus Tablet that has been rumored for some time and s expected to be built by Asus. It is believed to be a 7-inch tablet that will have a $199 starting price point. For more information on these and others including Nokia, Apple and Samsung’s potential offerings head over to the International Business Times site.

Apple loses appeal on ‘push’ email
Chalk one up for Motorola Mobility as a German court has upheld a ban that prevents Apple from using ‘push’ email in its iCloud and MobileMe service in Germany. The court, based in Mannheim, confirmed that Motorola owns the patent and that Apple must pay to use it.

The ruling keeps the services shut down in Germany and Apple is liable for damages and has been ordered to provide information that will enable the courts to determine the amount of the damage.

A look at how the current patent wars are hurting the market
A nice, general piece on the growing problem of patent conflicts and how it has erupted into major warfare. The rise of patent trolls, including corporate ones and how companies now go out and buy patents simply for protection. Nothing groundbreaking but nice to see that the issue is making more news.

On the same topic the fact that most of the patents in the smartphone area are held by international companies could stunt the growth of home grown developers in China, the world’s largest smartphone market.

Local handset manufacturers sold 455 million units last year but have been warned that they may be violating copyright laws with their devices. The news came from The Mobile Terminal White Paper, issued by the China Academy of Telecommunication Research.

Twitter tried to buy Instagram first
I did not hear about this when the huge deal went down with Facebook but apparently there was more than one company lining up for the photo sharing company. Seems that Twitter co-founder and Chairman Jack Dorsey had tried in the past to purchase the company, but failed to get any real traction on a deal.

However, since Dorsey was one of the investors in Instagram, he will be seeing a pretty penny from the deal. For a nice look at Instagram head over to the NY Times for this piece.

Pew study highlights technology rift
A recent study by the Pew Research Center shows how much of a gap still exists between have’s and have not’s in terms of technology. While a full 19% of Americans now have some form of tablet, be it a fully loaded Apple iPad or a bare bones Barnes & Noble Nook, a greater percentage, 22% do not even have Internet access.

The report is focused on digital access in this country and provides some great snapshots of who uses which technologies including cell phones and laptops as well as tablets, and that is broken down by a variety of demographics.

It is interesting to see that a fairly large number of adults that do not have Internet access do so because they believe that it adds nothing to their lives. Also the rise of mobile Internet access has helped level the playing field in areas that had traditionally lagged n terms of access and use.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Android, Apple, Apps, Asus, Barnes & Noble, Facebook, Google, iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Lawsuit, Motorola, Samsung, Smartphone, Social Media, Tablets, The New York Times Tagged With: Apple, Asus, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung

Microsoft to buy $1 Billion in AOL Patents

April 9, 2012 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

Patent protection is apparently the name of the game these days in the high tech world, and if so Microsoft just bought itself a chuck of protection in a deal with AOL that will give Microsoft 800 patents for approximately $1 billion.

The patents were sold after an auction in which other major consumer electronics and social media players reportedly participated. The deal is expected to close by year end 2012 and AOL said that it intends to pass a large portion of the sales down to shareholders. As part of the deal Microsoft is buying a business unit of AOL.

Patents are increasingly being used as a weapon against competitors, either being used to ban their products such as what Apple, Samsung, Motorola and others are doing in various places around the globe or being leveraged for financial purposes, such as Motorola demanding $4 billion a year in royalties from Microsoft.

This growing use of patents has lead to a number of major players making big buys similar to what Microsoft has done here. The Google $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility for example; Facebook recently purchased 750 patents from IBM and Sony and Apple gained a huge number of new patents via their $4.5 billion purchase of Nortel Networks.

From reports this looks like the bulk of the patents that AOL currently holds. It said that the company retains approximately 300 patents including ones in advertising, search and mapping. Microsoft will grant the company a license to the purchased patents as well.

I wonder what companies will feel Microsoft’s wrath in the patent market space. I believe that they must have had talks with AOL about what patents will protect them from rivals and which ones AOL believes are currently being violated. Stay tuned because it has probably never been a better time to be a patent or intellectual property lawyer.

Filed Under: Apple, Google, Lawsuit, Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung, Yahoo Tagged With: AOL, Apple, Microsoft, Motorola

In Time for the Masters: Garmin’s S3 Golf Watch

April 3, 2012 by Greg Quick 5 Comments

OK, so you are not playing the course but Garmin International has timed the release of its latest golf watch, the Approach S3 a touchscreen golf watch, to capitalize on the desire to golf that the Masters Tournament seems to inspire in players year after year.

The sleek looking entrant comes at a time when golf watches are increasingly adding a host of features that just a few years ago golfers would have given their pitching wedge for and this offering shines with the best of the them from the looks of it.

The Approach S3 touchscreen GPS golf watch comes with 27,000 courses from around the globe preloaded so that walking onto a new course a golfer always has information at their fingertips. There is no fee or subscription for this feature and it includes course updates as they are available.

One of the overriding uses for the watch is as a virtual caddie and it has a host of features that help a golfer from a downloadable scorecard to a round timer for slower players to more specialized features. One of these is called Green View that shows the shape and layout of the greens, with the ability for the user to drag the pin to match that day’s location.

Other key capabilities include Layup Distances that include distances needed for doglegs and hazards; Precise Yardage for front, middle and back of green distances; and it has the ability to measure shot distances.

The watch is waterproof, which s good if your game resembles mine, and it supports an 8 hour charge for game play but four days as an everyday watch. A small charging cradle is included. The Approach S3 is expected to be available in April 2012 and will have a suggested retail price of $349.99.

The release is two weeks or so after Motorola Mobility released the next generation of its MotoActv family with a golf edition watch, the MotoActv Golf Edition. However Garmin has been in this game for a while and has a well respected track record so Motorola and others that are entering the field will need to show that they are not just as good as Garmin but have features that will differentiate their offerings.

I expect that with the increasing ability to cram a huge about of data into a small form factor such as a watch the features in this space will likely continue to grow, something that will put pressure on developers but will likely make the chance of breaking par a bit easier- if only you can get that hitch out of your swing.

Filed Under: Garmin, Golf, Motorola, The Masters Tagged With: Garmin, Golf, Masters, Motorola

Friday Grab Bag: Astrodome doomed, Apple Exec Knighted

Will Nvidia’s Kai lead to Less Expensive Tablets?

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Facebook buys Karma

Microsoft to buy $1 Billion in AOL Patents

In Time for the Masters: Garmin’s S3 Golf Watch

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