Facebook Paying for Patents from Microsoft
Facebook shelled out $550 million dollars to Microsoft, and why you ask? They are working on keeping their company out of the courtroom as much as possible. With that money Facebook has gained access to 600 patents. Facebook was previously sued by Yahoo for patent infringement, and apparently they want to steer clear of these possibilities in the future.
Interesting enough, Microsoft paid AOL $1 billion dollars earlier this month, for access to their patents and some of these are included in the Facebook deal. Facebook has been after certain AOL patents recently and this deal definitely helped them gain access to some.
(via All Things D)
Nokia Lumia 900 Review
The Nokia Lumia 900 is one of the most important phone launches this year. It marks the return of a Nokia flagship device to the US was well as representing the tight knit relationship with Microsoft and Windows Phone . This is the “it” device for both companies. Microsoft, Nokia, and AT&T have big marketing plans for the Lumia 900, as well as a lot riding on it’s launch. This device marks the first relevant step away from the iPhone and Android for carriers and consumers alike. Does the Lumia 900 live up to all the importance that rests on it’s shoulders? Hit the read more link to find out in this Guru Inspection.
Patented Up: Google Gets Approval to buy Motorola; Apple, RIM & Microsoft get Nortel Patents
My your cup runneth over with patents tech giants. Yesterday Google was given the go ahead from the Department of Justice to purchase Motorola Mobility. The acquisition will help bolster Google’s patent portfolio and give them and their partners some defense against Android lawsuits. The DoJ also made sure to let Google know that they will keep an eye on them and make sure they are licensing these patents fairly.
In other exciting (sarcasm) patent news, Apple, Microsoft and RIM were also granted the purchase of 6,000 Nortel patents by the DoJ. The three companies, along with others, teamed up to create “Rock Star Bidco” and collectively bid $4.5 Billion for these patents.
Now that every one is all “patented up”, things might get more interesting since all sides will have all kinds of BS to throw at one another. Hopefully they can just work out license agreements and everyone can go back to innovating instead of dragging this stuff to court.
via [Engadget and Ars Technica]
The Gadget Gurus Podcast Ep 142 – Who the Hell are these Guys?
Join The Gadget Gurus this week on an adventure of fun, tech, and magical splender beyond your wildest fantasies. The regular Guru squad has been replaced by Victor Von Doom’s Alt Guru team and they mean business! Check out this week’s Gadget Gurus Podcast from another dimension!
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Nokia Lumia 800, Flagship Windows Phone Device
The tech industry has been waiting for the official announcement of a Nokia Windows Phone device, ever since Microsoft announced they would be pairing with them. That day has officially come today. The Nokia Lumia 800 is the flagship device, out of the phones announced, so let’s go over some of the specs.
Before we get into the exact specs, over-all the device looks almost identical to the Nokia N9. With that said, it is a 16GB phone that has a single core 1.4GHz processor. Up front, it has a 3.7 (800X480) AMOLED display and comes in 3 colors black, cyan or magenta. Around back, the 8MP camera has the famous Carl Zeiss optics, and is capable of taking 720P video at 30 frames per second.
Nokia has added some specific apps like Nokia Drive (that is their own turn-by-turn GPS), ESPN Sports Hub, and Nokia Music. Lumia is a quad-band GSM device capable of 14.4Mbps HSDPA speeds and keeping it alive is a 1450mAh battery. The Lumia 800 is an intriguing device and we are very excited to see it. The bad news is, we are not hearing any talk about a US release at the moment. What do you think, you think this device is good enough to compete with the top devices in today’s market? We think so, but only time will tell that.
(via This is my Next)
