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The final significant roadblock to Google’s buyout of Motorola has been cleared, as Chinese regulators have just given their rubber stamp. Their approval follows a few months after the simultaneous American and European clearances, and virtually all that’s left now is to formally close the deal and start integrating the two mobile giants.
This hasn’t been the best of weeks for the Android community. First, we had the import ban on the HTC One X and the Evo 4G LTE, then came the news of a ban on Motorola devices , and finally earlier today we were left wondering if the HTC ban is spreading to other devices after the “unforeseen issue” at T-Mobile with the Amaze 4G.
A few days back, Brandon Miniman posted a short tribute to the thick phones of yore , and it got me thinking. While I appreciate thin devices and marvel with the rest of you every time an OEM manages to shave a few more millimeters off a casing design, I don’t have much nostalgia for the brick-like smartphones of days past.
Even with manufacturer “skins”, Android tablet home screens haven’t been much more useful than those on Android smartphones, even though the slates have larger displays. One third-party software developer wants to change that and it’s using Kickstarter to fund the effort.
As if the recent news regarding Motorola’s struggles with the enforcement of software patents wasn’t upsetting enough, there’s now some further info concerning HTC and its own problems with import bans, and it doesn’t sound good. Earlier this week, we learned that the One X and EVO 4G LTE were having their State-side arrival held up by the enforcement of rulings concerning software features of the handsets.
Image courtesy of Mr. Kover! It wasn’t a fun week for most Verizon customers, as Big Red is starting to get everyone comfortable with the idea of taking away unlimited data.
Microsoft on Friday won a decision in one of its patent disputes with Motorola Mobility, as the full International Trade Commission ruled that some Motorola devices infringe on its technology. This patent dispute, one of several between the companies, centers on Microsoft’s ActiveSync technology.
The ITC is passing down judgement in a patent spat between Motorola and Microsoft, and the decision doesn’t fall in the Android smartphone manufacturer’s favor. After an initial ruling in December of last year found Moto guilty of infringing on at least one of seven Microsoft patents, the international body has agreed and ordered a import ban.
At the end of last year, an Administrative Law Judge issued an initial ruling that Motorola’s mobile devices infringe a bit of Microsoft’s IP. Now, the Commission has affirmed that decision and issued an exclusion order to ban Moto’s offending devices from importation into the US.