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Displaying items by tag: HTC

Monday, 01 August 2011 20:55

Pantent fights are anti-consumer

73You know, there are times when I think that companies spend more on lawyers than they do on developing better products. A case in point is the way that companies will file for patents based on concepts over real technology or buy up others to “strengthen” their position in the market. As an example let’s take a look at the legal battle between HTC and Apple.

According to the story, Apple filed a patent suit against HTC because HTC was in violation of ten core patents that Apple holds. Why did Apple file this? Their premise is that HTC is using their intellectual property and by doing that they are taking revenue away from them. However, when you see this type of suit pop up it is usually more about finding a way to stifle the competition. After all that is exactly that Apple is saying about the Lodsys suit. So Apple files a suit claiming that HTC has violated 10 Patents.

The US International Trade Commission (How can it be international if it is a US Government body) decided that HTC was guilty of violating 2 of those 10 (which HTC is trying to appeal). HTC, for their part are working to fight back by the attempted purchase of S3 Graphics. You see HTC wants this very badly because Apple is rumored to be using several S3 patents without paying. If HTC can get this portfolio then they would have a bargaining chip to work with.

But the purchase of S3 is not yet final so HTC is in a bit of trouble and could be forced to halt sales of certain handsets (the ones that have technology that is in violation of Apple’s Patents). To combat this HTC has now taken to the UK courts. Our guess is that they feel that Apple will not have the upper hand off of their home turf. So now we start another round of legal battles that are intended to delay the halt of HTC sales in the US while HTC pushes forward their attempt to buy S3 and have something they can hold over Apple.

Meanwhile Apple is growing more concerned about the Android movement and is surely dumping more and more money into their legal budget just like HTC. In a normal business the first budget to get cut is the IT budget (I should know having been there). In a technology company the first thing to get slashed is the R&D budget. This means that while HTC and Apple are sending money hand over fist in court their products will suffer.  With Apple they will spin these until the masses feel they really wanted this in the first place, while HTC will more than likely just push out refreshed products. In the long run the only ones that suffer are the consumers.

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Published in Editorials
Sunday, 12 June 2011 12:59

PowerSkin for EVO 4G Heats things up



02Anyone that owns a smart phone these days knows that there never seems to be enough battery life. This is even more true for those of us with the HTC EVO 4G from Sprint. The phone is excellent (once it is configured properly). But has the worst battery life in a phone I have ever seen. In a normal day just in typical usage (for me) I get about 7-8 hours of life. If I am in an area with poor reception it is even worse (sometimes as little as 3 hours).  There are multiple ways to try and extend this life; everything from killing tasks to running around with an extra battery pack to externally charge your phone. None of these really work though and all are time consuming. Trust me there is nothing like trying to talk with a giant tumbdrive dangling from your EVO. Fortunately there are battery packs and cases that do not require you to leave them hanging from the phone. We are taking a look at one of these today; it is the PowerSkin Silicone case with Bulit-in Battery for the HTC EVO 4G.

Published in Gadgets



evo4gWhen you think of “smart phones” you tend to think of two things. Android and iPhone (at least in the US that is the school of thought) this is despite the fact that there are many other operating systems available. There is Windows Mobile, WebOS, Symbian, and even others that are less common. Still the big battle seems to be between Apple and Google. Of course Google no longer makes a smart phone, so we are really talking about iOS Vs Android.  Both sides have fans that would make the most ardent religious zealot look like an indecisive teenager. Because of this you cannot always trust what is written out there about the two.

Published in My Ramblings
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