Google's Eric Schmidt vows to defend HTC against Apple

[Elliott]

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.

Microsoft can get away with simply taking licensing fees. After all, if they can push the cost of using Android up above the cost of a WP7 license, then they win either way.

Apple, on the other hand, doesn't license their OS. They could simply take licensing fees, but they wouldn't make nearly as much money off of that as they would off of selling a whole handset and all the ecosystem territory that comes with that. Attempting to bar sale until there's a resolution to the matter makes the most business sense for them.

[HawkMan]

@Warwagon

yeah ? what's the point ?

if it's a point that Apple invented multi touch. No they didn't. they bough the technology and the gestures from a company that already used it and had used it on big screens for years by that time. the same company who did the technology proof for Minority report, which worked exactly as their own technology, minus the transparent screens.

If the point was that Apple did in fact "borrow this technology and claim it was their own. Yeah sure they didn't invent it. But they where the first to put it to good use in a consumer device.

Saying that. I personally think multi touch is to much used, and makes devices harder to use, and they should rather concentrate on being able to use devices effectively and completely with one finger, and thus one hand. having to use to hands to operate a cell phone effectively and to use some features at all is just retarded. it makes more sense for the iPad. on that one you need to use two hands anyway.

[Knife Party]

Microsoft can get away with simply taking licensing fees. After all, if they can push the cost of using Android up above the cost of a WP7 license, then they win either way.

Apple, on the other hand, doesn't license their OS. They could simply take licensing fees, but they wouldn't make nearly as much money off of that as they would off of selling a whole handset and all the ecosystem territory that comes with that. Attempting to bar sale until there's a resolution to the matter makes the most business sense for them.

great point, one would think that barring imports would a final last resort, but now little surprises me about their practices...

[digger1985]

Microsoft can get away with simply taking licensing fees. After all, if they can push the cost of using Android up above the cost of a WP7 license, then they win either way.

Apple, on the other hand, doesn't license their OS. They could simply take licensing fees, but they wouldn't make nearly as much money off of that as they would off of selling a whole handset and all the ecosystem territory that comes with that. Attempting to bar sale until there's a resolution to the matter makes the most business sense for them.

I don't get your responseat all. No one is asking Apple to license their os. MS would still be making money off android even if they didn't have wp7. on the otherhand, instead of licensing their patents Apple is hell bent on wiping HTC and android off the map. That's the kind of arrogant attitude people hate.

[Elliott]

I don't get your responseat all. No one is asking Apple to license their os. MS would still be making money off android even if they didn't have wp7. on the otherhand, instead of licensing their patents Apple is hell bent on wiping HTC and android off the map. That's the kind of arrogant attitude people hate.

I never said people were trying to get Apple to license their OS? The "licensing" I was referring to was in regards to licensing Apple's patents.

[Lachlan]

No, the reason any company is being sued by Apple is because Apple hates losing in a market it previously dominated in.

You want to talk about innovative features? RIM/BlackBerry had device tethering, copy/paste and other basic features like multi-threaded apps before iOS. Basic features that Apple tout as "INNOVATIVE BREAKTHROUGH" through its marketing/cult-like practices.

yet apple never sued RIM so why are you defending them .. we are talking about Android and HTC here.. RIM was a huge innovator back in the day but these android manufacturers are just pumping out cell phones and putting this OS on it with out looking at the concequences.

[Boz]

because everything in Android is copied from other devices...

BWAHHAHAHAHAHA.. You do realize that EVERYTHING in iPhone is owned by someone else and Apple is in fact paying money as well for it. If anyone stole/stole or copied from others it's Apple. Not Google.

And Eric is 100% right.. when you can't innovate, when your one trick pony ride is up, the only thing you have is to try to eliminate competition in a throwing money at legal lawsuits trying to bully them out because it becomes clear to you that you are soon going to be worthless in the market.

[Tech Star]

BWAHHAHAHAHAHA.. You do realize that EVERYTHING in iPhone is owned by someone else and Apple is in fact paying money as well for it. If anyone stole/stole or copied from others it's Apple. Not Google.

And Eric is 100% right.. when you can't innovate, when your one trick pony ride is up, the only thing you have is to try to eliminate competition in a throwing money at legal lawsuits trying to bully them out because it becomes clear to you that you are soon going to be worthless in the market.

Well there you go! Apple is paying for the stuff that they did not innovate and patent. As a result other manufacturers should pay for the ideas that they did not innovate and patent too. Google (well the manufacturers) wouldn't be getting sued from Apple, Microsoft, and other companies if they didn't steal the idea.

[HawkMan]

BWAHHAHAHAHAHA.. You do realize that EVERYTHING in iPhone is owned by someone else and Apple is in fact paying money as well for it. If anyone stole/stole or copied from others it's Apple. Not Google.

And when did I say Apple didn't license or buy technology/patents ?oh that's right, I didn't.

Think before you post, it makes you look smarter. and you're kind of wrong, Apple do own a lot of the technology used in the iPhone, most of it through buying the companies who made the initial technology and some of it they did create themselves.

And why do everyone assume I'm only talking about Apple and the iPhone when I say google copied others, there's a ton of companies who make phones out there. and phone makers aren't the only ones creating technology that can be used in phones.

As for Apple not suing RIM, it' because Apple is probably smart enough to set up a cross licensing deal with them, like they do with MS and other big phone manufacturers.

[guru]

[AeonicVision]

I don't understand why these conversations always devolve into who 'innovates' the most. Point in fact is that -many- iOS and OS X owners are happy with their products, and Apple wants to safeguard their revenue stream to keep those costumers happy.

I realize Google has the same interest, but their market strategy was to compete with Apple instead of working with them. And well, the fact Apple has all these patents was known well beforehand and Google choose not to license them when everyone else had to or knowingly risk a lawsuit. GOOGLE KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN EVENTUALLY. They simply banked on having the market and mind share to thwart it, and it appears to be failing (fortunately or unfortunately, really doesn't matter).

Lots of these comments sound like sore sports. If Google used the same patents to attack other companies, you'd probably be cheering for the same reasons you're bemoaning Apple now. Do try and be consistent, everyone.

[The_Observer]

so if this just for the US boarders, then move there is a complete world out there, or is it the market for the US is the greatest?

[Jebadiah]

I don't get your responseat all. No one is asking Apple to license their os. MS would still be making money off android even if they didn't have wp7. on the otherhand, instead of licensing their patents Apple is hell bent on wiping HTC and android off the map. That's the kind of arrogant attitude people hate.

Please take your arrogance to an Android forum. Apple is simply exercising it's Intellectual Property rights.

I don't understand why these conversations always devolve into who 'innovates' the most. Point in fact is that -many- iOS and OS X owners are happy with their products, and Apple wants to safeguard their revenue stream to keep those costumers happy.

I realize Google has the same interest, but their market strategy was to compete with Apple instead of working with them. And well, the fact Apple has all these patents was known well beforehand and Google choose not to license them when everyone else had to or knowingly risk a lawsuit. GOOGLE KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN EVENTUALLY. They simply banked on having the market and mind share to thwart it, and it appears to be failing (fortunately or unfortunately, really doesn't matter).

+1

[digger1985]

I never said people were trying to get Apple to license their OS? The "licensing" I was referring to was in regards to licensing Apple's patents.

This is what you said

[Apple, on the other hand, doesn't license their OS. They could simply take licensing fees, but they wouldn't make nearly as much money off of that as they would off of selling a whole handset and all the ecosystem territory that comes with that. Attempting to bar sale until there's a resolution to the matter makes the most business sense for them.

Licensing their patents doesn't mean they would have to license their OS. Your argument was that if they license their patents, then they wouldn't make money off their own hardware, but that completely false. They can continue to sell their own hardware with their own OS and still get money from Android just like MS is doing with WP7.

But unlike MS who is perfectly happy to cross license everything they have, Apple is bent on extinguishing competition.

[digger1985]

Please take your arrogance to an Android forum. Apple is simply exercising it's Intellectual Property rights.

+1

Arrogance?

THIS is arrogance

Slamming their competitors as well as valuable partners.

The funny thing is, right after this, Steve went ahead and copied the notification system STRAIGHT from android. How right he was, 2011 the year of copycats, but it is Apple doing most of the copying.

Google doesn't patent most their stuff because they want to help progress technology. Apple on the other hand is greedy, wants to stifle competition and innovation. Can you imagine what the computing world would be like if it was Apple instead of MS that gained the dominance early on?

[TDQuiksilver]

^ Agreed with digger1985. Steve & Co. certainly have a stick up their ass.

[ichi]

If they do not fight to protect their patents then they lose their patents.

No, they don't. That's with trademarks, not patents.

in fact is mandated by law.

No, it isn't.

Is it really that complicated to you folks?

[Elliott]

Licensing their patents doesn't mean they would have to license their OS. Your argument was that if they license their patents, then they wouldn't make money off their own hardware, but that completely false. They can continue to sell their own hardware with their own OS and still get money from Android just like MS is doing with WP7.

But unlike MS who is perfectly happy to cross license everything they have, Apple is bent on extinguishing competition.

Microsoft is perfectly happy to take licensing fees because it perfectly fine business sense for Microsoft. After all, if Microsoft and others can push the licensing costs of Android up above the licensing costs of WP7, then the handset manufacturers will just switch to WP7.

For Apple, hardware sales are key. There's a pretty strong chance that the licensing fees they rake in from competitors won't even come close the money they could make off of the profit margin on their devices, and that doesn't even count in all the extra money that comes from the user then being in their ecosystem and not their competitor's.

[Jebadiah]

Arrogance?

THIS is arrogance

Slamming their competitors as well as valuable partners.

The funny thing is, right after this, Steve went ahead and copied the notification system STRAIGHT from android. How right he was, 2011 the year of copycats, but it is Apple doing most of the copying.

Google doesn't patent most their stuff because they want to help progress technology. Apple on the other hand is greedy, wants to stifle competition and innovation. Can you imagine what the computing world would be like if it was Apple instead of MS that gained the dominance early on?

Umm..Ok. If something is public or prior art, it is non-patentable. So next time exercise your right to vote and educate people to not vote corporate lobbyists into office. If you like the state of affairs, then stop crying and accept it.