Google's Eric Schmidt vows to defend HTC against Apple

[Farstrider]

Yet, the REASON, HTC is beign sued by Apple, and ispaying licensing to Microsoft for every android phone, and to other phone makers unless they have cross licensing deals, is because everything in Android is copied from other devices...

I guess Eric is just annoyied the competitors isn't innovating new stuff he can rip off already ;)

Seriously dude...! I see you've already done a half backtrack!!

Drivel!

I could not have said it better! Sorry but when this person posts anything my hackles stand up! To be contrary for the sake of being contrary, I just don't understand it...?

[Volatile]

Both companies take ideas from one another. Regardless of any patent violations... Apple is scared of Google's shadow creeping up behind them.

[HawkMan]

Seriously dude...! I see you've already done a half backtrack!!

uh what ? how ? are you imaginging I said stuff I didn't say again ?

[Knife Party]

Both companies take ideas from one another. Regardless of any patent violations... Apple is scared of Google's shadow creeping up behind them.

Exactly, we all know that Apple *hates* being beaten at their own game. Let the patent trolling lulz begin

[KingCrimson]

Good if the ITC bans all HTC smartphones that will give WP7 a real boost.

[tsupersonic]

Good if the ITC bans all HTC smartphones that will give WP7 a real boost.

Lol, did you read your statement before you posted it? This will never happen. I also hope you realize HTC makes WP7 devices too :rofl:

[presence06]

Good if the ITC bans all HTC smartphones that will give WP7 a real boost.

Me think you are moron..

[ichi]

Good if the ITC bans all HTC smartphones that will give WP7 a real boost.

Potential HTC customers might very well still buy a Samsung, or a LG, or a Motorola, or any other Android device. While it might help WP7 sales a little bit there are still plenty of Android devices out there.

It's only logical that someone willing to buy a HTC Android phone would first consider other similar Android phones before going to a whole different OS that pretty much no one uses yet.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Good if the ITC bans all HTC smartphones that will give WP7 a real boost.

Wow, see you're here informing readers how dense you are again!

[Shadrack]

Exactly, we all know that Apple *hates* being beaten at their own game. Let the patent trolling lulz begin

Lets not abuse terms here, please. A patent troll is someone who patents an idea, does not execute the idea, and then sues other people for executing the idea that they have patented. Apple's patents that they are complaining about in this HTC suit are in fact realized in actual physical products that consumers can go and buy. If they do not fight to protect their patents then they lose their patents. Is it really that complicated to you folks? Do you really think that Apple, Google, and HTC are getting half as worked up and emotional about this than you guys are? Seriously... this is common practice in business, and in fact is mandated by law. Blame the US legislative branch of the government. Don't blame companies following the law.

[rajputwarrior]

Lets not abuse terms here, please. A patent troll is someone who patents an idea, does not execute the idea, and then sues other people for executing the idea that they have patented. Apple's patents that they are complaining about in this HTC suit are in fact realized in actual physical products that consumers can go and buy. If they do not fight to protect their patents then they lose their patents. Is it really that complicated to you folks? Do you really think that Apple, Google, and HTC are getting half as worked up and emotional about this than you guys are? Seriously... this is common practice in business, and in fact is mandated by law. Blame the US legislative branch of the government. Don't blame companies following the law.

stop talking sense and logic around here... it will only get you flamed on as a nice majority around don't know how to use facts/reason/logic properly.

[Ryoken]

Your fanboyism is showing...I find it ironic that Apple goes to great lengths to sue all these Android manufacturers yet their newest mobile OS steals so much from Android (and other OS's). As Steve said himself, 2011 is the year of copycats, only to refer to themselves! :rofl: Apple has now been playing catch up in terms of features for quite some time, even though you ios fanboys won't admit it.

The difference is, generally when Apple copies a feature, they find the patent holder and back up a truck of cash, or enter into a patent sharing agreement like they have with MS ( Microsoft has access to use all of Apple's Patents, and Apple can use all of Microsoft's ).

Android manufactures/Google never did this. Google didn't have too since they aren't selling or making the phones them selves, fair enough, but the manufactures do. You can't just ignore patent laws because you don't like them or the company that has them. That's not the way it works.

And when Apple doesn't, they DO get sued.. They have lost those cases before.. It's not like Apple is the only company out there suing the others.. The difference is Apple is the only company out there where Every time they sue another company it leads to 15 front page stories.

If every time you broke a law, like speeding (just over the limit), not coming to a complete stop, jwalking, etc., people would think you break the law all the time, but never know so does everyone else.

[eilegz]

i hope he back it up with $ and not with words alone...

[revvo]

But, while it was feature rich, the execution was awful.

I had to install a cooked rom because the phone was so laggy.

I had to re-calibrate the resisitive screen twice a day.

I had to hack apps to get them to install correctly.

Overall, the experience was pretty bad.

I would gladly drop many features to get better execution.

None of that is purely Google's fault though. It's the service providers who insist on keeping the OS locked and installed with loads of crap, kinda like when you buy a new laptop and you have to start uninstalling everything (or format).

HTC has stated that they will keep the bootloader open with future phones to let the community develop on it. If you ask me, that's in line with what the community does with HTC phones. It is pretty bad when the community has to fix the phones to make them usable and great again, but I prefer that than being stuck with no alternatives.

[jakem1]

None of that is purely Google's fault though. It's the service providers who insist on keeping the OS locked and installed with loads of crap, kinda like when you buy a new laptop and you have to start uninstalling everything (or format).

HTC has stated that they will keep the bootloader open with future phones to let the community develop on it. If you ask me, that's in line with what the community does with HTC phones. It is pretty bad when the community has to fix the phones to make them usable and great again, but I prefer that than being stuck with no alternatives.

DukeEsquire was referring to a Windows Mobile phone, not an Android phone.

[guru]

I guess Eric is just annoyied the competitors isn't innovating new stuff he can rip off already ;)

+1

ironic that "free" and "open" OS in the mix is short on innovation and is now sued by everyone else for ripping off from Oracle to Apple

They shoudl have just taken licens money and provided umbrella patent protection from the start instead of pushing the illusion it's a free OS.

exactly. Its not like Google is short on money.. Its actually pretty irresponsible of them to sit there and licence android out while manufacturers take the hit. if anyone can, its Google who can muscle Apple into small licensing fee instead of Apple wanting to ban HTC outright.

and we haven't seen MS seriously get into the patent wars. considering they are second largest patent holders after IBM and were in the mobile space long before Apple i'm sure, MS's patents would create a lot more problems for Android in the future.

Google should just negotiate as little as possible licensing deals with both of them and save every Android manufacturer from legal trouble and uncertainty..

[guru]

Good if the ITC bans all HTC smartphones that will give WP7 a real boost.

doubt it. Mango isnt out yet.

[revvo]

DukeEsquire was referring to a Windows Mobile phone, not an Android phone.

ow, I didn't know there were custom roms on WP7 phones, that's cool :cool:

[HawkMan]

ow, I didn't know there were custom roms on WP7 phones, that's cool :cool:

WM not WP

[jakem1]

ow, I didn't know there were custom roms on WP7 phones, that's cool :cool:

There aren't. As I said, he was talking about Windows Mobile, not WP7.

[revvo]

There aren't. As I said, he was talking about Windows Mobile, not WP7.

Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhh :s

[DukeEsquire]

Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhh :s

:)

Yup. This was back in 2004 or 2005 and looked like this:

In addition to all those features, my phone also had infrared and you could use it, not only to communicate between phones, but use it as a TV remote. It was actually extremely feature rich, even by today's standards. I overclocked it and ran Skype. I could call my mom from half way around the world using VOIP on my phone in 2005.

So, let's run off a list of features:

-Bluetooth

-Camera for video and pictures

-Wireless webcam (there was an app to use the phone's camera as a wireless webcam)

-Infrared to communicate and as a TV remote

-Copy/Paste

-Skype phone calls

-Removable battery

-Expandable memory

-Wifi

-Slideout keyboard

-Notification light (why does no phone have this any more!)

And this was in 6 years ago! But, my point was, features are not everything.

It is all about ease of use and implementation.

[Winning Guy]

I think the main reason Schmidt isn't worried is that it's not Google being sued.

They could have protected all of their partners by selling Android. Even at just $1 per license. Then it would be Google as the responsible party instead of HTC (or other Android phone manufacturers).

In the end, Google just wants market share in order to make money through their ads.

Eventually, manufacturers will have to pay up to companies like Apple, Microsoft, Nokia, Oracle, etc... for licensing of technologies used in Android. Through negotiation, maybe they'll be able to get the total costs to around $15-$30 per Android handset after all is said and done. But manufacturers will pay it, because now Android already has a large market share and they know that there is still going to be demand for Android handsets.

They may just cost a little more to get to market than an equivalent Windows Phone handset. So I do expect that manufacturers may start offering more Windows Phone options in the future. Or maybe roll their own. Or maybe WebOS or someone else that is looking to license their OS.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Steve Jobs at the Macworld 2007 introduction of the iPhone:

...and we have invented a new technology called multi-touch, which is phenomenal. It works like magic. You don't need a stylus. It's far more accurate than any touch display that's ever been shipped. It ignores unintended touches. It's super smart. You can do multi-finger gestures on it, and boy, have we patented it.

[Knife Party]

Lets not abuse terms here, please. A patent troll is someone who patents an idea, does not execute the idea, and then sues other people for executing the idea that they have patented. Apple's patents that they are complaining about in this HTC suit are in fact realized in actual physical products that consumers can go and buy. If they do not fight to protect their patents then they lose their patents. Is it really that complicated to you folks? Do you really think that Apple, Google, and HTC are getting half as worked up and emotional about this than you guys are? Seriously... this is common practice in business, and in fact is mandated by law. Blame the US legislative branch of the government. Don't blame companies following the law.

My problem is not with your logic or the intentions of such companies, but we all know that Apple is trying to prevent the sale/importing of HTC phones, instead of being rational/reasonable about it reaching such resolution. I am by no means loyal to Apple or oppose their products, but when a company acts this way, all my supposed 'loyalty' flies out the window..

Patent troll is a pejorative term used for a person or company that enforces its patents against one or more alleged infringers in a manner considered unduly aggressive or opportunistic.