BT joins the Android patent circus
Google's Android operating system has proven to be a big hit, and that's good news for Google.
But it has also been good news for companies like Microsoft, which are profiting and seeking to profit from patents that Android may be infringing.
Now British Telecom has joined the Android patent litigation and licensing circus.
2012: five things to watch
Despite questions about the global economy and volatility in the markets, 2011 proved that there's no place quite like the technology industry, where innovative new services and products continued to win adoption by both consumers and businesses.
With 2012 just around the corner, it's time to ask: what's around the corner?
Android pays off...for Microsoft
After building the world's largest, most popular and most profitable search, Google's second greatest achievement may be building one of the world's most popular mobile operating systems, Android.
With the mobile web booming, Android could one day prove to be a very profitable initiative for Google, but ironically it's already producing a profit for one of Google's greatest competitors, Microsoft.
Google's Motorola Mobility acquisition: what folks are saying
Yesterday, Google agreed to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5bn. If regulators approve the deal, it will represent its largest acquisition ever.
It's a bold move by Google co-founder and now-CEO Larry Page, and one which could literally make or break Android.
Not surprisingly, the acquisition has sparked significant discussion and debate. We've rounded up some of the most interesting things observers are saying. The consensus? Google either made the best move of its life, or the worst.
Mark Cuban: ban software patents
Every week, it seems like at least a few of the tech blogosphere's top news stories have something to do with patents. From patent auctions to patent troll lawsuits that, at worst, threaten to put individual innovators out of business, it seems that patents have become one of the biggest sources of headaches in the tech industry.
According to billionaire internet entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban, the chaos created by software and process patents has some very big negative effects: it's costing the U.S. economy jobs and spurring a "Patent Arms Race" that will inevitably impact consumer prices. But he's proposing a solution: eliminate the process patents that are used to 'patent' software.
Apple fights the troll it fed
"Don't feed the trolls." Anybody who has ever participated on a message board or blog knows this is usually good advice.
When it comes to patent trolls, however, some of the world's largest companies can't find enough food. When faced with demands from companies that do little more than buy and license patents, tech stalwarts prefer feeding to fighting.
And for good reason: patent litigation is expensive, and a lost lawsuit can be even more expensive.
Patently absurd: Apple's fitness app patent application
Laws protecting the intellectual property rights of inventive individuals and companies are a good thing, but if you don't think there's a problem with the patent system, an Apple patent published yesterday by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) just might convince you otherwise.
Bearing the title Systems and Methods for Accessing Personalized Fitness Services Using a Portable Electronic Device, Apple's application seeks to patent an application that, amongst other things:
Patent wars come to web analytics
In today's competitive market, building a great technology company requires great ideas, great execution and great intellectual property.
Increasingly, however, it also requires something else: a great number of attorneys.
Amazon's interesting pay-to-preview patent
Many large tech companies file lots of patents each year and although many, if not most, of them aren't very interesting, every once in a while somebody stumbles upon an interesting one.
Case in point: a pay-to-preview patent Amazon filed for in 2004 and which was granted earlier this week.
Google to become the Clear Channel of online billboards?
Google's bread and butter is traditional online advertising but that
doesn't mean that the search giant isn't thinking of new and sometimes
unconventional online ad models.
One possibility the search giant may be considering: allowing advertisers to display their ads in Google Street View. As reported by ReadWriteWeb, Google has been granted a new patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office that could open the company's popular (and sometimes controversial) Street View functionality to advertisers.
