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EU Approves Sony Buyout of Sony Ericsson
The European Commission has approved Sony's intent to buy Ericsson's portion of the two companies' cell phone joint venture. Sony first announced in October that it planned to buy Ericsson out for $1.39 billion. EU regulatory approval was necessary for the deal to move forward. Sony said the first "Sony" branded Xperia smartphone will be released soon.
Yahoo Gives A Number of Mobile Apps the Ax
Yahoo today announced that it plans to decommission a number of mobile applications. Moving forward, it will no longer support Yahoo! Deals, Meme, Mim, Shopping, or Sketch-a-Search for the iPhone/iPad; Answers, AppSpot, Movies, or News for Android; and Finance for BlackBerry. Yahoo said this move will allow it to focus on innovating mobile products and services that its users and advertisers are more interested in using. Yahoo also noted that it has a "mobile first mindset" and that consumers can expect to see new mobile apps/services from it throughout 2012. "Our plan is to keep moving, to keep innovating, and to continuously measure and scrutinize what’s working and what isn't – so we can make room for great new products," said the company.
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Klausner Sues MetroPCS Over Voicemail Patents
Klausner Technologies today filed a lawsuit against MetroPCS, claiming that the pre-paid carrier is violating some of its 25 visual voicemail patents with its devices and services. Klausner licenses its visual voicemail patents to some 37 hardware makers and network operators around the world. Klausner didn't say if it is seeking damages, an injunction, or if it is demanding a licensing agreement. Klausner has filed similar suits against other smartphone makers and network operators. The suit was filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas.
Rubinstein, Father of WebOS, Leaves HP
Jon Rubinstein, former CEO of Palm, has left HP, reports AllThingsD. Rubinstein spearheaded Palm's development of webOS and associated smartphones in its attempt to regain its lost status as a premiere smartphone purveyor. Rubinstein continued to lead the Palm unit within HP once the acquisition took place, but was eventually moved to other roles after HP decided to kill off its smartphone and tablet businesses. Rubinstein has completed a commitment to remain with the company for a specific amount of time. He has no immediate plans.
Twitter Devises Country-Specific Censoring Tools
Twitter announced that it has given itself the ability to remove Tweets from single, specific countries while keeping those same Tweets visible to the rest of the world. Twitter devised this capability in response to government requests and actions over the course of the last year. While Twitter still believes in freedom of expression, it recognizes that "for historical or cultural reasons, [some countries] restrict certain types of content," such as hate speech. Twitter said it has not used this feature yet, and when it must, it will do its best to inform the user whose Tweet has been removed and let others know the Tweet was censored. Previously, Twitter could remove Tweets globally -- meaning they were no longer visible to anyone.
Google Updates Music Manager for Easier File Management
Google today provided an update to its Music Manager software for computers. This software is what syncs your PC-based music library with Google's cloud-based music storage service for Androids smartphones. The new version contains a tool that lets users download all the tracks from Google Music back down to a PC, including those users have purchased and those users have uploaded. Additionally, Google has made it possible to share YouTube videos that are associated with Google Music purchases to Google+. The new software is free to download and use.
Google Wants Android Devs to Forget About 'Menu' Key
Google today explained in a blog post that it wants developers to stop creating applications that support the dedicated Menu button. Moving forward, Google wants all apps to use the ActionBar that's part of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Google explained, "Not only should your apps stop relying on the hardware Menu button, but you should stop thinking about your activities using a 'Menu button' at all. Your activities should provide buttons for important user actions directly in the Action Bar (or elsewhere on screen). Those that can’t fit in the action bar end up in the action overflow." Google hopes that this move will create a more uniform look and feel to the behavior of Android devices and the applications that run on them. Android devices originally shipped with four buttons, including a dedicated Menu key. The Galaxy Nexus, the first Android 4.0 device, does not have a Menu key and reflects the experience that Google is seeking.
Google Sync for WP7 Now Supports Multiple Calendars
Google today updated Google Sync for Microsoft's Windows Phone 7.5 Mango platform. The most important new feature is support for multiple calendars, which lets users select which of their Google Calendars are synced to their WP7 smartphone. Previously it only supported one calendar. Google Sync for WP7 also now supports sending email from multiple email addresses. Last, Google has improved the search capabilities within its services on WP7 devices. To access these features, WP7 device users need to point their browsers to m.google.com/sync and make the appropriate changes.
Sony to Offer Its Android 4.0 WebGL as Open Source
Sony recently indicated that it plans to make its WebGL implementation created for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich available as open source. Sony explains that the "WebKit code for Android 4.0 is much more recent, and therefore the required modifications are more manageable." Sony made this decision based on feedback from its developer community and because it says it is committed to open web standards. The code is free for anyone who is interested in using it and/or modifying it to suit their own purposes.
Review: LG Spectrum for Verizon Wireless
LG's Spectrum covers all the modern smartphone basics and adds some great features, such as an HD display. See what LG got right -- and wrong -- in its latest smartphone for Verizon Wireless.
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Intel Scores RealNetworks' Video Codec and Patents for $120M
RealNetworks today said that it has sold its video codec and a number of patents to Intel for $120 million. The deal allows RealNetworks to continue to use its codec and IP.
Microsoft Made $250M in 'Platform Support Payments' to Nokia
Nokia's most recent quarterly results show that Microsoft paid the company $250 million for adopting Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 platform. "Our broad strategic agreement with Microsoft includes platform support payments from Microsoft to us as well as software royalty payments from us to Microsoft," said Nokia. "We have a competitive software royalty structure, which includes minimum software royalty commitments. Over the life of the agreement, both the platform support payments and the minimum software royalty commitments are expected to measure in the billions of U.S. dollars." Nokia reported that it has sold more than one million Lumia smartphones to-date, but it recorded a loss for the quarter of $1.4 billion.
Motorola Hits Apple with New Patent Lawsuit
Motorola has filed a new lawsuit against Apple regarding smartphone patents, this time in Florida. Motorola has identified six patents related to wireless antennae, software, data filtering, and messaging that it believes Apple is violating in the iPhone 4S and iCloud. Earlier this month, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that Motorola did not violate certain Apple patents, and in December Apple was found guilty in a German court of violating one of Motorola's patents. Apple is battling its smartphone competitors in courts around the world.
HP to Open Source webOS In Bits Through September
HP today announced a schedule that it will follow for releasing the source code of webOS. The platform will be distributed in parts between now and September of this year, which is HP's target for offering the complete OS and developer package. The first pieces to be made available are the Enyo 2.0 and Enyo source code. Enyo lets developers write apps that work on a variety of webOS form factors. HP will follow up in February by releasing the intended project governance model, QT WebKit extensions, JavaScript core, and UI Enyo widgets. The webOS code will be made available under the Apache License, Version 2.0.
MapQuest Intros HTML5 Web App for Android and iOS
MapQuest today announced a new browser-based version of its mobile mapping service that is accessible from Android smartphones and the iPhone. Using HTML5, MapQuest was able to take advantage of touch, display, and GPS capabilities through the Android and Safari browsers and provide as much functionality as is found in native mapping apps. The MapQuest web app can determine the users' location; find points of interest and user reviews; provide driving and walking directions with landmarks; and has simple controls for toggling on/off satellite views, traffic, and location data. The web app is available starting today and is free to use.
Vringo Brings Facetones to Text Messages
Vringo today announced that a new version of its Facetones application is available to smartphones. Facetones automatically pulls photos from users' Facebook accounts to create a slideshow of individual contacts that plays on the phone's display when that contact calls or when the user calls that person. The new version of Vringo brings this same slideshow feature to incoming text messages. Facetones is available for the iPhone and to Android devices on Verizon Wireless's network.
Google Offers Expands to 5 More Markets
Google has boosted the availability of its Google Offers service with the addition of five new markets. The new markets are Charlotte, Kansas City, Milwaukee, San Antonio and Tampa. These additions bring the total number of markets to 38. Google Offers is similar to Groupon, and allows people to search for and take advantage of local deals. The Google Offers application is a free download from the Android Market.
AT&T and Sprint Tussle About Roaming Rules
AT&T has accused Sprint of taking advantage of changes to the Home Market Rule to avoid building out its network in markets where it owns spectrum and instead roam on the networks of its competitors. The Home Market Rule was put in place to enable rural carriers to compete on a more level playing field. The rule says, as explained by AT&T, "If a carrier owned spectrum, it was good public policy to require them to build out that spectrum and therefore they should not be able to demand roaming from other carriers in those home markets." The FCC abolished the rule in 2010. Sprint recently announced that it will rely on roaming agreements to cover large portions of Kansas and Oklahoma rather than invest money building its own network in those regions, even though it owns spectrum there. Sprint responded to AT&T, claiming that its Network Vision program has doubled the amount of investment it is making in its network. In an email, Sprint spokesperson John Taylor said, "It's disappointing, but not surprising, that AT&T wants to challenge a consumer's right to access email, the Internet and other mobile broadband services wherever they may travel in the U.S. Along with Verizon Wireless, AT&T is the only other wireless carrier in America which opposes the FCC's pro-consumer data roaming decision from last year." The rules are going to be reviewed by the Washington, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals later this year.
Google to Unify User Data Across Services
Google announced that it plans to merge the privacy policies and terms of service across its entire range of online products into a single policy. It will compile all the data that users have supplied about themselves in Google+, Picasa, Google Search, Gmail, and other services into one set of information, providing it with a more complete picture of its customers. Google says the move is being made to simplify the user experience and negate the need for the 70 different privacy policies that are currently in place. The new policy, which also covers Android smartphones, will go into effect in about 60 days.
Droid RAZR MAXX Streets Jan. 26 for $299
Verizon Wireless today announced that the Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX will be available starting January 26. It will cost $299.99 with a new two-year contract. The RAZR MAXX is nearly identical to the RAZR, but packs a 3300mAh battery and boasts 21 hours of talk time. It runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread and has a dual-core 1.2Ghz processor.
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