Quick question: what's the one thing you should absolutely, positively do any time you trade in or return a piece of used tech? Answer: wipe the hard drive. If you already knew that, you might want to spread the word to your friends and neighbors, because Motorola forgot to wipe the info off of a bunch of used Xoom tablets it recently sold to enthusiastic Woot.com buyers. Oops!
While Apple's been busy trying to chase Samsung's Galaxy line out of the Milky Way, Android device makers have ganged up on the Cupertino outfit and experienced a spattering of success. The latest setback for Apple comes from a second German patent ruling against the company over its iCloud service that was brought about by Motorola Mobility, which is currently being acquired by Google.
Big things might be in store for Motorola Mobility if Google's acquisition is able to proceed unabated, but for the fourth quarter of 2011, the mobile device maker posted a net loss of $80 million, albeit that figure is largely the result of write-off costs related to the proposed takeover. Still, it's a complete reversal of fortunes compared to the fourth quarter of 2010 when Motorola Mobility posted an $80 million profit.
Motorola filed a new patent infringement suit of its own against Apple today, and it targets the iPhone 4S and iCloud. Motorola cites six patents that it has used against Apple before as proof of Apple’s infringement. Interestingly, Google’s merger agreement with Motorola prohibits the later from filing any new patent suits without getting permission from Google first. Presumably, this means Google gave Moto the go-ahead to sue Apple.
Given a choice, most enthusiasts would prefer a stock build of Android on their smartphone, and the preference towards an unmolested UI is part of the reason people root. But not everyone has the know-how or courage to root, even though smartphones sporting custom UIs far outnumber ones with a stock build. The reason, according to Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha, is because it's tough to make money on stock devices.
Another Android device rooted and cracked open for the modding community? Yawn, right? Well, when that Android device also happens to be a watch, things get a little more interesting. The Motorola ACTV is a sports watch that runs Android and connects wirelessly with Android devices. With a little hacking around, it can now run Android apps on its tiny 1.6-inch screen.
Apple is accustomed to being on the winning side of patent infringement suits, but a new ruling in Germany has turned the tables on Cupertino. The court has found that Apple’s iPhone and 3G iPad products infringe a Motorola patent covering the implementation of GPRS mobile technology. This isn’t the first win for Moto, but this one does give it the legal authority to ban sales of the infringing products in Germany.
Motorola's Droid 4 is an Android smartphone traditional typists can get excited about. It has a 5-row slideout QWERTY keyboard with LED edge lighting to help you see things in the dark, a 4-inch touchscreen, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, and 1GB of RAM, among high-end bullet points. And perhaps best of all, all signs point to Motorola shipping the device next week.
Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. announced that its stockholders voted to approve Google's proposed $12.5 billion merger. The vote took place at a special meeting for stockholders, during which time an "overwhelming" 99 percent of the shares voting were in favor of welcoming their new overlord, which represented 74 percent of Motorola Mobility's total outstanding shares of common stock.
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