09
Apr
2013-04-09_09h28_56

Microsoft (Along With Nokia, Oracle, Others) Tells EU To Stop Letting Google Bundle Its Apps With Android, Misses Irony

Posted by in Google, News

FairSearch Europe—a coalition of Google competitors or legal adversaries including, among others, Microsoft, Nokia, and Oracle—has filed a complaint with the European Union alleging that Google is abusing its dominant OS position in the mobile market to push its own set of apps.

The group claims that Android is used "as a deceptive way to build advantages for key Google apps in 70 percent of the smartphones shipped today," pointing out that manufacturers have to agree to a certain set of rules requiring inclusion or placement of certain apps. If they want to use Google apps, of course. Manufacturers are free to use Android for whatever purpose they choose without them, if they think that will be a greater benefit.

29
Jan
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[Updated] Motorola Announces "Developer Edition" RAZR With Unlockable Bootloader Headed To Europe And Another Unlockable Device For The U.S. Soon

Posted by in Development, Motorola, News, RAZR / RAZR MAXX

Motorola announced today through its official community blog that a RAZR "Developer Edition" (evidently based on the original Droid RAZR, not its newer MAXX counterpart) is in the works. The dev-friendly device will carry an unlockable bootloader and is poised to hit European markets relatively soon, with a (yet unspecified) unlockable device bound for the U.S. "in the coming months." Oddly enough, the blog post was pulled (perhaps it was published prematurely; Update: it's live once again), but luckily the text of the post has been retained:

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New Motorola RAZR™ Developer Edition will feature unlocked bootloader in Europe

We have some news for the community of people interested in unlockable/relockable bootloaders.

29
Nov
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HTC Might Ignore IPCom And Keep Selling Smartphones In Germany, Despite Injunction

Posted by in HTC, Legal, News

If you haven't heard, Germany has pretty much become the hotspot for smartphone and tablet patent litigation. Most recently, HTC has been hitting headlines in its ongoing battle against IPCom, an intellectual property firm. IPCom claims that HTC's smartphones violate a number of its patents in the realm of 3G GSM technology. HTC says that the last time it made a phone which might have violated those patents was in 2009, and that it has since developed a workaround which does not infringe on IPCom's patents.

A court in Karlsruhe issued an injunction against HTC because of these patents last week.

16
Nov
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Did Samsung Launch A New (German) Galaxy Tab 10.1 To Avoid Infringement Of Apple's iPad Design? Sure Looks Like It

Posted by in Galaxy Tab 10.1, Legal, News, Samsung

Now, this all based on one German online retailer (where imports of the Tab 10.1 were banned), but it's very interesting nonetheless. It appears that a new version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been launched in Germany, called the Tab 10.1N. The difference? So far, all we see is a re-designed bezel and the fact that it's now shipping with Android 3.2. Take a look at this comparison shot from Mobiflip:

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The Tab 10.1N is above, and the old Tab 10.1 is below. And below that is an iPad 2. If you look at the bezel design, the Tab 10.1 originale has a bezel more similar to the iPad 2 - a very minimal metal frame along the edges.

24
Aug
apple-patent

[Updated] Dutch Court Bans Sales Of Samsung Galaxy Smartphones In The European Union

Posted by in News, Samsung

Looks like today is going to be a bad day for Samsung, as a Dutch court has just granted Apple's request for a preliminary injunction banning the sale and importation of the Samsung Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, and Ace smartphones from the European Union. This decision follows Apple's earlier victory in Germany where distribution of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 was banned everywhere in the EU, save for the Netherlands.

As identified by Reuters earlier this month, the Dutch port of Rotterdam is a key point of entry for goods imported into the EU from Korea. Hence, although the ban imposed by the Dutch court is only on Samsung subsidiaries registered in the Netherlands, it could nevertheless have devastating consequences on Samsung's European distribution and logistical network.

15
Aug
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HTC Bootloader Unlock Portal Open - European Sensation Now Unlockable

Posted by in HTC, News

It seems HTC has made good on its commitment to begin unlocking the bootloaders of its recently released handsets, starting with the European version of the HTC Sensation. You can find the instructions at HTC's developer portal, here. (You may need to log in). Also, here are the scary things you'll have to disclaim before beginning:

warr terms

So, as long as you realize that your warranty will/might be voided all or in part, get cracking. HTC's instructions are several pages long, and pretty in-depth. You'll have to get the Android Device Bridge (ADB) up and running, as well as HTC Sync (for Windows users) and the latest version of Java.