Apple Faces Ericsson Lawsuit After Refusing Licensing Deal
Apple faces further legal action from Ericsson this week after refusing to accept a licensing deal for its patented LTE technologies, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Swedish networking company on Friday said it is suing Apple for infringing 41 wireless-related patents that it believes are critical to the functionality of products such as the iPhone and iPad.
“By refusing Ericsson’s fair and reasonable licensing offer for patented technology used in Apple smartphones and tablets, Apple harms the entire market and reduces the incentive to share innovation,” the company said in a statement.
Ericsson has filed two complaints with the U.S. International Trade Commission in an effort to secure an exclusion order against Apple, which could block the iPhone, iPad and other products involved from being sold in the United States. The company has also filed seven complaints with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas as part of the negotiations. Apple’s previous licensing deal with Ericsson expired in mid-January.
Apple originally filed suit against Ericsson on January 12, arguing that it was demanding excessive royalties for patents not essential to LTE standards. Ericsson countersued in a Texas courtroom just hours later, seeking an estimated $250 million to $750 million in royalties per year for Apple to continue licensing its patented wireless technologies. Ericsson is the world’s largest provider of mobile network equipment and holds over 35,000 patents related to 2G, 3G and 4G wireless technologies.
Rovio’s Bad Piggies reaches 100 million downloads, receives celebratory update
Most of us have probably played at least one of the games from the popular Angry Birds franchise developed by Rovio, who has just announced that its Bad Piggies game has reached over 100 million downloads. That’s a pretty big number that includes download figures from Google’s Play Store, Amazon’s Appstore and Apple’s App Store. To celebrate, Rovio has updated the game to version 1.6, the details of which are below.
The 1.6 update includes a new sandbox level called the Little Pig Adventure, which includes a large play area and slippery surfaces as well as a new part called the gearbox. The gearbox allows players to make their contraptions run in reverse. As per the rest of the game, the aim is to steer the piggies to their destination, choosing to fly, roll or even crash them to the target. Along the way, you can collect starboxes as well as other new parts. If you’d like to add to the 100 million downloads, just click the link below.
Source: Rovio
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Sony hints at new Xperia Z4 tablet to be launched at MWC 2015
Mobile World Congress is lining up to certainly be an exciting event for tech lovers, and the latest company looking to announce their new products is Sony.
Expected to appear at MWC is the company’s latest Xperia Z4 tablet, which may perhaps be announced alongside the next Xperia Z4 smartphone.
From the picture leaked by Sony above, the image shows off a very thin tablet akin to their previous Z2 and Z3 models.
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Omate’s smartwatch is the first to be assembled in Africa
When Omate announced its $99 Racer last month, little did we know that this rugged, near-circular smartwatch will be heading to Africa — Congo, Ivory Coast and Cameroon to begin with — this coming June. According to today’s announcement, this is all thanks to Congolese mobile startup VMK, who is already leading efforts to boost local smartphone penetration with affordable devices. Better yet, VMK will also be assembling the Africa edition Racer (plus future mobile devices) at its upcoming factory in the Republic of Congo, so unless someone else beats VMK to the race, this will be the first smartwatch to be assembled in Africa. Omate CEO Laurent Le Pen expects to sell 50,000 units in that continent alone this year, followed by plans to manufacture the whole device locally next year.
Filed under: Wearables
Pebble SDK 3.0 Developer Preview released with Pebble Time support and emulator
Just a few days after announcing its colour-screened Pebble Time smartwatch on KickStarter, Pebble has released a developer preview of its Pebble SDK 3.0. Pebble developers can download this new SDK via CloudPebble or install it on the PC. More details after the break.
Both versions of the Pebble SDK 3.0 include an emulator, along with support for the new hardware and colour screen. Apps built with this latest version of the SDK will be compatible with Pebble and Pebble Time. Pebble has made the transition as easy as possible, with only minor adjustments to be made to the application. Pebble has also made 64k of memory available to Pebble Time to help ease the transition. The resolution remains unchanged at 144 x 168.
Timeline is a new feature first unveiled on the Pebble Time and is expected to become supported by both the Pebble and Pebble Steel models later in the year. Other new features of the SDK include:
- Support for 64 colours
- New animation framework
- PNG and animated PNG support in SDK
- Detecting which platforms you are building for when it comes time to compile
You can download Pebble’s SDK 3.0 via the source link below.
Source: GetPebble
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Parrot – Voice Recorder gets a huge update for BlackBerry 10.3.1
We first took a look at Parrot – Voice Recorder, on video, back in April 2013 and it got the thumbs up from me. The fantastic native BlackBerry 10 app has been updated several times since those early days, however today sees a massive new release, now that OS 10.3.1 is out.
UK motorists can contest speeding tickets online from March
In a bid to free up the time that police and prosecutors spend dealing with low level traffic offenses like speeding, the government has decided it’s time to utilise the internet. The Ministry of Justice announced today that it will allow UK motorists who have been charged with a minor offence to submit their plea via its new “Make A Plea” website. The system, designed to “modernise the courts and other public services,” goes live next week and will let defendants make a plea via their PC or mobile device 24 hours a day, reducing the need for postal responses and court appearances. Drivers can also see the details of their case and view the evidence collected against them.
Early evidence shows that it can work. The system was initially piloted in Manchester, where nearly a third of motorists used the online platform. It’s hoped that it will reduce the costs and workload of the criminal justice system and motorists can also “receive maximum credit from the court” if they plead guilty to an offence as soon as possible. Today’s announcement could also pave the way for more “online courts,” as proposed by the Civil Justice Council (CJC) last week. Under the plans, a new HM Online Court (HMOC) would be set up to specifically deal with “low value” disputes, saving time and money for everyone involved.
[Image credit: Big-AshB, Flickr]
Filed under: Transportation, Internet
Source: Gov.uk
HTC One M9: New image, specifications and promo videos leak ahead of MWC 2015
The closer we get to MWC 2015, the more detailed the leaks become. Such is the case with the HTC One M9, with the latest leak consisting of a professionally done promo picture (above), alleged specifications as well as 3 YouTube videos coming courtesy of upleaks. Hit the break to check out the details.
As seen from the main image, the HTC One M9 carries on the same design that first appeared on the M7 in 2013. According to the leak, this year’s model will be available in the following colour schemes: Dark gun-metal, Gold as well as a two-tone Gold/Silver model.
The HTC One M9 carries the sort of internals that you would expect from a 2015 flagship model, with the same Snapdragon 810 processor that Samsung has reportedly snubbed for its upcoming Galaxy S6.
Specifications:
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 MSM8994 4 cores @ 2.0Ghz + 4 cores @ 1.5GHz
- 5-inch Full-HD display
- 3GB DDR4 RAM
- 32GB/64GB internal storage
- VoLTE, Carrier Aggregation and LTE Cat.6 (up to 300Mbps download/ 50Mbps upload)
- Android 5.0.2 with Sense 7
- 20.7MP Main Camera with Dual LED Flash
- 4MP UltraPixel Front Camera
- BoomSound
- Bluetooth 4.1
- MicroSD Card slot
- 2840mAh battery
The following accessories were also leaked:
- HTC DotView 2(with more abundant colours than M8’s) – HC M231/232
- Clear Case – HC C1153
- Stand Case – HC K1150
- Waterproof Case(has IP68 rating) – HC C1152
- Waterproof Headset – RC E250
- Headset 2015 – MAX 500
- HTC BoomBass with WiFi support(Old phones are also can use if the phone updated to Sense 7.)
- Screen Protector – SP R230A
It should be noted that the leak is unconfirmed so a tiny pinch of salt is required. Very tiny indeed. Don’t forget to watch the videos below introducing the M9, showing off its themes and camera abilities and let us know if the HTC One M9 has got you excited.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Source: upleaks
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The LG Watch Urbane LTE will be the first smartwatch with LTE, NFC but won’t be using Android Wear
The LG Watch Urbane is getting more unusual by the day. Apart from being the first real premium smartwatch (in before the Apple Watch), LG has just announced that the Urbane, or rather the LG Watch Urbane LTE, is going to be unveiled as the world’s first LTE-enabled smartwatch. This will allow the smartwatch to make […]
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Detwiler Fenton reportedly involved in criminal case over BlackBerry sales information
Back in April of 2013, research firm Detwiler Fenton claimed that Z10 devices were being returned in unusually high numbers, which caused BlackBerry stock to drop nearly 8%. At the time, the claim sounded rather crazy because it essentially made it look as though returns were exceeding sales.
BlackBerry understandably took issue with the claims and stated they were absolutely false and sought a US and Canadian review of the claims through Securities and Exchange Commission and Ontario Securities Commission and now it appears as though they might be seeing some justice on the matter according to a new report from the Boston Business Journal.
AIVAnet 