- Posts tagged Android
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Then why does the rest of the article even matter?
Apple’s superior monetization policies attracted good developers within its ranks, thus creating a better catalog of apps and customer experience.
Good developers? Check
Better catalog? Check
Better customer experience? Check.
Um, what is Android happy about again?
Steve Jobs answers Android UX designer's question
In this interview with Matias Duarte, the head of user experience for Android, I was struck by something the author observed:
"What is the soul of the new machine?" The words are emblazoned across Matias’ laptop display.
It struck me because it sounded familiar, as if that question had already been asked and answered. And it was. By Steve Jobs:
In his WWDC keynote a few weeks ago, Steve Jobs said the following. “You know, if the hardware is the brain and the sinew of our products, the software in them is their soul.”
When Duarte is asked if that's the first time anyone at Google ever asked that question, he replies:
“I don’t think anybody ever asked about the soul,” he answers in a very matter-of-fact way, “This was my question, it was the question I challenged the team with.”
Right. Maybe the team didn't see Jobs' WWDC keynote.
Ouch! Google document proposes giving Motorola time-to-market advantage for Android devices
Here's the text of the highlighted passage:
Do not develop in the open. Instead, make source code available after innovation is complete
- Lead device concept: Give early access to the software to partners who build and distribute devices to our specification (ie, Motorola and Verizon). They get a non-contractual time to market advantage and in return they align to our standard.
Court papers confirm what most people already knew, but what some OEMs (HTC, LG, etc.) were hoping wasn't true. Google intends to give lead time advantage to some hardware makers over others. Yes, the Motorola purchase wasn't just about patents.
The Answer Is No.
Sales not as fast as expected… a Samsung executive revealed those figures don’t represent actual sales to consumers. Instead, they are the number of Galaxy Tab devices that Samsung has shipped to wireless companies and retailers
According to one source who’s seen internal HP reports, Best Buy has taken delivery of 270,000 TouchPads and has so far managed to sell only 25,000, or less than 10 percent of the units in its inventory.
RIM has quietly cut its sales expectations for the BlackBerry PlayBook after its disappointing sales from the spring
New estimates for sales of Motorola's Xoom tablet--available since late February--are in, but even the most optimistic predictions are scarily small and pale next to the iPad 2's first-weekend sales numbers.
Google and Motorola's Patents [UPDATED]
The problem, of course, is that if Motorola had a savior set of patents, it wouldn’t have been one of the first targets of Microsoft. And if Motorola’s patent portfolio were really that dangerous, Apple would have settled quickly, not dragged out patent countersuits of its own. Apple settled with Nokia pretty quickly…
Everyone's talking about the number of patents (17,000, with more in review), but not about what they cover. I suspect few of Motorola's patents relate to modern smartphone technology or UI because Motorola hasn't been making them for long, and they use Android.
If Motorola's patents haven't worried Microsoft or Apple up to now, it doesn't change much that they're now in Google's possession.
[UPDATE:] This post today re-iterates my point:
Motorola Mobility's portfolio has failed to deter, and it has so far failed to make any meaningful headway in litigation. Motorola Mobility is on the losing track against the very two companies Google says those patents will provide protection from.
Jeff Bezos' Open Letter on Patents
Despite the call from many thoughtful folks for us to give up our patents unilaterally, I don't believe it would be right for us to do so. This is my belief even though the vast majority of our competitive advantage will continue to come not from patents, but from raising the bar on things like service, price, and selection -- and we will continue to raise that bar. We will also continue to be careful in how we use our patents. Unlike with trademark law, where you must continuously enforce your trademark or risk losing it, patent law allows you to enforce a patent on a case-by-case basis, only when there are important business reasons for doing so.
Translation: No, we won't be giving up ours, but we need major patent reform because Amazon plans to release an Android tablet soon.
The Apple Patent Advantage
You get the same result either way, but Apple's patent covers the only way that looks and feels intuitive… If scrolling stops though the finger keeps moving, many people intuitively press their finger more firmly onto the screen because it's almost as if the device wasn't reacting.
Examples like this are why I feel that, unlike Microsoft, Apple will not license many of its patents Android is found to infringe. Apple doesn't want the money, they want the UX advantage.
