Nokia - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

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

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft 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.

Nov

Wal-Mart Is Currently Selling A Red Galaxy S III 920 To People Who Don't Read Too Closely

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Galaxy S III, News

So far, the red Galaxy S III has been limited strictly to AT&T. If you wanted to get your hands on that device in the color that denotes danger and sexiness (you know, in keeping with the whole calming 'nature' theme), then two-thirds of U.S. mobile users would have to switch carriers. Now, however, you can get a red Galaxy S III 920 from Wal-Mart as long as you don't mind it being a Lumia 920, running Windows Phone, and not being a Galaxy S III at all.

Wait, that's not right.

Someone at Wal-Mart is either very confused, very stupid, or brilliant and out to make Artem's day.

Jul

Google Wants To Co-Defend HTC Against Nokia In Patent Lawsuit

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Legal, News

According to a header from a sealed document unearthed by FOSSPatents, Google has requested to intervene in an ITC patent lawsuit between HTC and Nokia as co-defendant to the Taiwanese smartphone-maker. This is the first time Google has ever filed as an intervening 3rd-party in a patent lawsuit between one of its hardware partners and a competitor, so it may be the sign of a shift in strategy for the company.

There's also the fact that Google has requested an antitrust investigation against Nokia in the EU, so maybe Google is just piling on the Finnish firm to makes its stance even more clear.

Jul

Nokia Claims Google's Nexus 7 Infringes WiFi Patent, Miraculously Hasn't Sued Everyone Ever Just Yet

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in ASUS, Google, News

In the tech world, it's almost impossible to launch a high-profile device without someone claiming you've infringed a patent somewhere. Today, it's Nokia's turn with the Nexus 7. The Finnish company has stated that it believes the Nexus 7 violates some of its standards-essential patents relating to WiFi. The announcement seems to be a more casual nod to Google and ASUS to simply fork over a bit of cash, akin to the Rob Schneider prompting Kevin for a tip in Home Alone 2*.

Said Nokia to the Inquirer:

"Nokia has more than 40 licensees, mainly for its standards essential patent portfolio, including most of the mobile device manufacturers.

Jun

Nokia Acquires Scalado, Maker Of The Magical Object-Erasing Remove Software

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

Back in February and shortly before MWC, developer Scalado unveiled an app called Remove. Put simply, the app allowed you to remove unwanted objects from images - for example, if your significant other is posing in front of the Louvre, you can remove other tourists from the picture. It works by taking multiple photos of the scene, then determining which ones moved through, and removing them at a touch.

As you can see in the video above, Remove was demoed on an Android device, suggesting with relative certainty that an Android app was near. Unfortunately, Nokia has acquired the company (you know, with all that spare cash they have), meaning it's unlikely Remove for Android will ever see the light of day.

May

Samsung The King Of Android With 45.4% Of All Global Shipments In Q1 2012

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, News, Samsung

IDC's report for the first quarter of 2012 indicates that Google's Android continues to grow its market share to 59%, while Apple's iOS lags in second at 23%. Unsurprisingly Samsung has given the biggest boost to Android, accounting for a whopping 45.4% of all Android smartphone shipments worldwide.

In total 152.3 million smartphones were shipped in the first quarter of 2012, of which 89.9 million were Android-based smartphones (59%), 35.1 million were iOS devices (23%), 10.4 million were Symbian-based phones (6.8)%, followed by BlackBerry, Linux, and Windows Phone 7/Windows Mobile devices.

Compared to the same quarter last year, Android's market share has increased dramatically by 145%, followed by iOS's modest increase of 88.7%.

Nov

Barnes & Noble Claims Microsoft Illegally Expanding Its Patents To Crush Android

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Barnes & Noble, Legal, News

Things are getting a bit more interesting in the ongoing fight between Microsoft and Barnes & Noble. You'll remember that earlier this year, Microsoft began suing B&N for refusing to fork over Android-related fees from the Nook Color. Barnes & Noble has responded, alleging in its motion that Microsoft "is using its licensing practices to improperly broaden the scope of its patents in an attempt to dominate mobile operating systems such as Android that threaten Microsoft's monopoly in personal computer ("PC") operating systems." It may sound odd at first that Microsoft would be at Android's throat over PC operating systems, but indeed, it was recently discovered that Microsoft attempted to compel Google to provide its Android strategy, including information about Android's current abilities as a PC platform.

Aug

Over Two-Thirds Of Smartphones In The US Run Android Or iOS

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in News

A recent report from ComScore indicates that as of July 2011 82 million Americans own smartphones, with Android running on 41.8% of those devices, iOS on 27%, BlackBerry OS on 21.7%, Windows Phone on 5.7%, and Symbian on 1.9%.

The survey clearly indicates that significant gains have been made by Google and Apple at the expense of RIM, Microsoft, and Nokia.

Additionally, the survey also looked at the market share of hardware manufacturers and interestingly Samsung was well ahead of the rest with 25.5% market share. I nearly choked when I first saw this figure as just a month ago Samsung's market share in the US was at a measly 8%.

Aug

IDC: Apple Is The Largest Smartphone Manufacturer In The World With Samsung Close Behind

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, News

Hot on the heels of the report from the analytics firm Canalys, market research firm IDC has reaffirmed Apple as the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. Unlike the findings from Canalys, which grouped smartphone OS platforms together irrespective of manufacturer, IDC's study has broken down shipment numbers in Q2 2011 according to device vendors. The findings (courtesy of Engadget) are as follows:

Smartphone shipments in Q2 2011 totalled 106.6 million, an increase of 42.2 million from last year. Out of that pie, Apple's total number of smartphones shipped is 20.34 million putting them in first place with a share of 19.1%.

Mar

[Photoshop Fail] Is Orange Trolling Us Or Does Nokia Have An Android Phone?

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Android OS, News, Orange

I won't lie: I have no qualms about calling shenanigans on this one, especially considering the recent Nokia/Microsoft alliance. So with that said, let's proceed to examine what is, most likely, the latest entry in the Android Photoshop fail series:

Indeed, it appears that Nokia and Google have overcome their differences and created an almost button-less, Deezer-running Android phone for the masses... or so says Orange. Reality, of course, begs to differ.

Source: PointGPhone (thanks, Adrian)