ios - 6/12 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Aug

HTC Sues Apple For, You Guessed It, Patent Infringement

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News

After Apple decided to sue HTC last month in Delaware for patent infringement, it seems the handset maker is preparing to put on a little bit of high-profile litigation of its own.

This morning, HTC filed a claim in the U.S. District Court in Delaware alleging three counts of patent infringement against Apple, seeking all the typical damages bells and whistles that makes it sound like the world as we know it is at stake. The lawsuit is a typical response in high-tech IP infringement cases, where both parties "posture" and square off to see who has the more robust patent portfolio.

Aug

Injunction Banning Sale Of Galaxy Tab 10.1 In EU Temporarily Lifted Due To Jurisdiction Concerns

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Galaxy Tab 10.1, News, Samsung

This morning, as part of the ongoing Samsung v Apple patent litigation, the German court responsible for imposing a ban on Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales in the EU has backpedaled, temporarily lifting the injunction enjoining Samsung from distributing its flagship tablet in the European Union.

Why? It appears the German court decided that it may lack the authority to enjoin Samsung's Korean parent corporation under the EU's regulations regarding international jurisdiction. Long story short, Samsung Korea can sell all the Tab 10.1's in Europe that it wants, for now, except in Germany. Samsung Germany, however, cannot sell anywhere in the EU (this part of the injunction remains enforced).

Aug

[Review] If Facebook Messenger Can Keep Sync Instant And Reliable, It Is Worth Your Time

Posted by Matt Demers in App Reviews, Applications

A while ago, I had a chance to review an app called Beluga. At first, it looked like it could be a cross-platform answer to BBM, the popular instant message service that comes standard with all Blackberrys. As a cross-platform solution, it worked well.

However, one of the problems with Beluga was that even though it was good in theory, there wasn't the user base to keep it afloat. You either had to convince your friends to use an untested product, or go back to SMS.

So when Beluga was bought by Facebook earlier this year, all signs pointed to the social networking company moving into Blackberry and Apple's messaging market.

Aug

Germany Halts Distribution Of Galaxy Tab 10.1 In Europe (Except Netherlands) In Apple Patent Lawsuit Injunction

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News, Samsung

In a decision with potentially far-reaching consequences, a German court handed down a preliminary injunction halting all distribution of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the European Union today, after a motion was filed by Apple for just such an order.

The suit in question is over nine patents, most of which relate to broad smartphone functions and concepts. The patents are so broad that Apple sued Nokia over them (yes, the exact same nine patents) last year in the same German court, and that suit ended in a settlement widely presumed to be a victory for Apple.

I don't know all that much about German intellectual property law, or the German standard for issuing preliminary injunctions, but I can tell you one thing: this would almost certainly never happen in a U.S.

Jul

[New Game Review] Save Toshi: A Cute Puzzler That Comes On Too Strong

Posted by Matt Demers in Game Reviews, Games

Last Updated: August 2nd, 2011

Save Toshi is an iOS port that comes to us from developer Nitako. In the game, you are tasked with getting pop star Toshi onto a dancefloor, as her dancing kills demons. The storyline is very "Japan," as are the voice effects that accompany each of Toshi's movements. The voice acting is actually quite annoying, but the game (mercifully) comes with an option to turn it off.

Unless the anime aesthetic appeals to you, there's a good chance that Save Toshi won't be your cup of tea. However, there are certain things you can appreciate about this game - specifically, its new twist on an older formula.

Jul

Lodsys Sues Rovio For Patent Infringement Over Angry Birds For Android - We Break Out The Popcorn

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Apps/Games, News

Well, it seems Lodsys has gotten a lot more gravitas in the last few months due to the success of its patent-trolling efforts. The company's legal reps have amended a complaint filed in the Eastern District of Texas (also known as the "rocket docket" district for the speediness and plaintiff-friendliness of its trials), and it's a doozy.

From Lodsys's Complaint

Lodsys has sued Rovio over Angry Birds for Android (and iPhone), along with Electronic Arts (EA), Atari, Square Enix, and Take-Two Interactive - and many others (37 total, in fact). The latter publishers were all sued for iPhone games.

This, in our book, says little for Lodsys's credibility.

Jul

comScore: Android, iOS Continue To Gain Market Share, Everyone Else Loses

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, News

We know Android continues to grow at an amazing rate, with 500,000 Android devices activated per day and an activation growth rate of 4.4% per week (as an aside - if that growth rate is correct, that means the number of activations would double roughly every 16 weeks, based on the Rule of 72.) But how is that raw growth reflected in market share, given the rapidly expanding smartphone market? Turns out pretty well, according to comScore:

76.8 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in May 2011, up 11 percent from the preceding three month period.

Jul

[Updated: Burn The Rope+ Released] Big Blue Bubble's Popular iOS Game Burn The Rope Makes Its Way To The Android Market

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Games, News

It's always nice to see popular, formerly iOS-exclusive games make their way to Android, a platform which, despite recent improvements, still needs all the help it can get where games are concerned. Therefore, we were delighted when Big Blue Bubble, a critically acclaimed iPhone developer, released its first Android game: Burn the Rope.

Update 7/2/11: Big Blue Bubble released Burn The Rope+, which is an ad-free version of the game for those who don't like the extra permissions in the original game that are required for in-app purchases.

Burn the Rope has you, well, burning as much of a rope as you possibly can.

Jun

[Review] Dinner Spinner Brings The Feast To Android: Let The Food Porn Commence!

Posted by Matt Demers in App Reviews, Applications, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Great iOS ports seem to be flowing over the Android border quite steadily these days: I reviewed Cut The Rope last week, so why not tackle AllRecipes.com's Dinner Spinner?

Dinner Spinner is a port of the popular iOS app by the same name. In it, you spin a number of menus and select certain criteria for recipes you would like to try. The app then queries the database for recipes that match your search, and bring the ingredients list and directions up for you, right on your phone.

The allure (and major feature) of this app is that you can shake your phone and it will spin the menus, hopefully sparking some creativity and new recipe ideas.

Jun

comScore: Android Accounts For Only 2.7% Of All Tablets In The US

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News

We often hear smartphone and other market share figures bandied about by various analysts and market research firms - but comScore tends to be a pretty trusted name in the industry, particularly when it comes to web traffic figures, so we take these numbers as being fairly reliable.

In their most recent web traffic survey of "non-computer" devices (tablets, phones, media players), comScore evaluated traffic on a per-nation basis, and the results don't paint a pretty picture for Android tablets.