Motorola

Former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki accepts an advisory role at Google-owned Motorola

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 26, 2017

Guy Kawasaki, now a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and book author, was instrumental in marketing the Macintosh in 1984. A well-known blogger, Kawasaki just tweeted he has gone Android by accepting an advisory role at Google-owned Motorola which is said to be working on a mysterious iPhone contender tentatively code-named X Phone.

Kawasaki's new advisory role with Motorola will see him focus on product design, user interface, marketing and social media. One of the first orders of business was to create a Google+ community about mobile devices, he confirmed...

iPhones found to be 300% more reliable than Samsung handsets

Cody Lee ∙ February 22, 2013

Earlier this week, research firm Strategy Analytics issued a report showing that the iPhone 5 and 4S are the two most popular smartphones in the world. The 5 alone accounts for 13% of all smartphones shipped globally.

Today, crowd-sourced trouble-shooting website FixYa shared its own findings on the smartphone space. And according to its data, Apple's handset isn't just the best-selling in the world. It's also [by far] the most reliable...

The iPhone 5 rates fifth in US user satisfaction

Ed Sutherland ∙ February 11, 2013

Results of a new smartphone user satisfaction survey have some observers scratching their heads. Apple's iPhone 5 ranked fifth in the U.S., behind a number of Android devices from Motorola, HTC and Samsung. Due to Apple's past high ratings in customer satisfaction, the survey's findings prompted questions so far left unanswered.

According to a poll by OnDevice Research, Motorola's Atrix HD took first place in the U.S. user satisfaction scores, with the Motorola Droid Razr M, HTC's Rezound 4G, Samsung's Galaxy Note 2 and the iPhone 5 filling out the top five devices.

While Apple was named the top brand in overall mobile device satisfaction by U.S. consumers, Google ranked number two - even though it does not directly produce mobile devices...

FTC drops Google antitrust inquiry as it agrees to license essential patents

Cody Lee ∙ January 4, 2013

Good news out of Washington this week. The FTC has announced that it's reached a settlement with Google regarding its antitrust investigation. The Federal Trade Commission was going after the search giant for several reasons, including patent abuse.

But not anymore. Google has agreed, among other things, to license several of its standard-essential patents — many of which it picked up in its recent acquisition of Motorola — to its competitors under FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms...

Google reportedly building ‘X Phone’ to rival Apple and Samsung

Cody Lee ∙ December 21, 2012

Android may be winning the smartphone war right now against Apple due to the sheer number of mobile devices available using the open-sourced OS, but Google's not content with that. It wants to take the Cupertino company and its popular iPhone head-on.

A new report is out today claiming that engineers from Google's recently purchased Motorola Mobility arm have begun work on what is being called the 'X Phone,' a sophisticated handset due next year whose sole purpose is to annihilate the competition...

ITC: no, the iPhone didn’t violate Google’s patents

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 18, 2012

A United States International Trade Commission (ITC) judge ruled Tuesday that Apple's iconic iPhone did not infringe upon any of the patents owned by Google's subsidiary Motorola Mobility.

A spokesperson for Motorola said to the press that "we’re disappointed with this outcome and are evaluating our options".

Apple wouldn't comment but club Cupertino must be joyful with the outcome, especially knowing Google spent $12.5 billion just to get hold of Motorola's patent trove...

Google getting rid of Motorola’s set-top box biz to focus on phones and Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 10, 2012

It is no secret that no one has cracked the code to the perfect TV yet. As multiple vendors fight for the living room with no clear leader in sight, the search monster's Google TV platform is floundering and Apple's $99 Apple TV hockey puck is still deemed a hobby business, despite sales in the first six months of 2012 doubling to 2.7 million units, almost equalling the 2.8 million Apple TVs moved in the entire 2011.

And as the prospect of an Apple-branded standalone HD TV set continues to occupy the brightest minds in the industry and Hollywood, rival Google is looking to sell off the cable box division of Motorola and has already received a few offers last week. But why is Google willing to drop Motorola's set-top box business in the first place?

FTC slams Motorola’s attempts to ban iPhone, iPad

Cody Lee ∙ December 5, 2012

The FTC filed what's called an amicus brief with the US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals this afternoon, arguing that Google-owned Motorola's attempts to ban the sale of the iPhone, iPad and other Apple products in the US for allegedly infringing on its patents was 'inappropriate.'

The Commission feels that since Motorola has already licensed the patents in question under fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) terms, it had no right to seek an injunction against Apple's products that supposedly violated them, without offering similar licensing terms...

Google complains Apple is withholding iOS 6 source code

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 22, 2012

Just as Samsung added the iPad mini, fifth-gen iPod touch and fourth-gen iPad to its suit, claiming Apple's latest gadgets violate its patents, news broke that Google's handset arm Motorola Mobility is thinking about doing the same in its litigation against Apple in the Southern District of Miami, Florida. And in order to establish that Apple's devices violate Motorola patents, Google is moving to perform some infringement analysis and has filed a motion complaining that Apple is withholding the source code for iOS 6, which powers the latest iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices...

Apple, Motorola seeking arbitration in patent wars as a prelude to global settlement

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 16, 2012

Shocker: Apple and Google's handset arm Motorola Mobility are looking to resolve parts of their global patent dispute pertaining to standards-essential patents deemed critical to smartphone technology. Bloomberg points us to a court filing saying Apple wants to end the patent spat "completely". Both parties are now seeking ways to resolve their differences through binding arbitration, hoping to perhaps reach a broad licensing agreement...

Google still ‘interested in reaching an agreement with Apple’ over patents

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 5, 2012

Though it hinted it was tiring of patent wars and even dropped its ITC patent infringement claims against Apple (the move some deciphered as a gesture of goodwill), Motorola could be off the hook as Google was quoted as saying Monday that that a Wisconsin federal court tossed Apple’s “patent lawsuit with prejudice” out of the window.

The search monster relayed willingness of its subsidiary Motorola to license its patents portfolio at a reasonable and non-discriminatory rate "in line with industry standards", court documents have it. Apple in a filing last week hinted it would accept a license at a court-determined rate of up to $1 per iPhone on FRAND terms. Also indicative, the two companies in August demonstrated ability to resolve differences, having signed a patent licensing agreement in Germany...

Apple puts a price tag on Motorola’s wireless patents: $1 per iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 31, 2012

In a response to Motorola's motion from yesterday seeking clarification on essential wireless patents (which include both cellular and WiFi standards), Apple has formally acknowledged its willingness to accept a license at a court-determined rate of up to $1 per iPhone through a license agreement on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.

The figure entails worldwide sales of covered products, the iPhone maker said. Apple's position on FRAND licensing is that the industry should set FRAND rates in order to prevent companies asserting wireless standards-essential patents against its rivals by jacking up prices.

Motorola, which is now a wholly-owned Google subsidiary, wrote in the filing that Microsoft's FRAND contract case had explicitly committed to the conclusion of a license agreement on court-ordered terms. Is there finally an end in sight to this patent mess?