Phil Nickinson

Do these guys know how to party on a Saturday night/Sunday morning, or what?

As California was just getting ready to go out for the night, and Taiwan was just starting its morning, a joint press release came from Apple and HTC, announcing a cease-fire from the former after the latter licensed all current and future patents for the next 10 years. Don't discount the scope of that agreement. That's a whole lot of patents, for a whole lot of time.

I'd like to think that perhaps the agreement signals a change in the "Kill 'em all" strategy Apple had in Steve Jobs' final years. Or maybe it is just the realpolitik of the tech world -- somebody's gotta do something to slow down Samsung.

Whatever the reasoning behind it (and I'd be willing to keep an iPhone in my pocket for the next 10 years to know all the ins and outs of this one), it's a good thing. As I've written before, we should be focusing on the tech -- the phones -- and not playing amateur lawyer. (Few in this space are equipped to do so anyway.)

One thing it doesn't change is that HTC's still in a pretty big hole, financially speaking. But at least it takes the shovels out of the hands of Apple's seemingly endless supply of lawyers.

We've got a big week ahead of us, folks. Some thoughts on that, after the break.

  • First up on Tuesday is the HTC-Verizon event, where we expect to see the newly official Droid DNA. Remember that Verizon never did pick up the HTC One X or One S. It'll be interesting to see reaction, then, to a 5-inch phone, especially with the larger Samsung Galaxy Note 2 still on the way for Big Red. (Ridiculous branded home button and all.) We'll be there live on Tuesday.
  • Didn't somebody say our pics of the Droid DNA were Photoshopped forgeries? I'll have to go back and find that.
  • And then there's the Tuesday launch of the Nexus 4 phone and Nexus 10 tablet. Kind of a big deal, right?
  • What's all this noise about how Google's not doing preorders? It's been pretty clear from the "Order on Nov. 13" line that's been on the page for a couple weeks now that we'd be able to order on Nov. 13, just as it was pretty clear from the Nexus 7 and Nexus Q preorders that you were able to preorder them at the time. Why no preorders this time around? Who knows. But neither has been been confusing.
  • I was kind of surprised at the response to the poll in our "Should you upgrade?" post on the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4. Some 54 percent of the respondents say they're sticking with the Galaxy Nexus. Assuming the poll's not packed with people who don't actually own a GNex, Maybe I overestimated the GNex as an Android nerd's phone. Or maybe because it'll get most (if not all) of the Android 4.2 update. Or maybe there are just more GNexes on Verizon than I realize.
  • Can't say this enough: If you're stuck on a CDMA carrier but still want to try the Nexus 4 -- or if you're looking at getting off a CDMA carrier -- give one of the prepaid GSM options a go. It's all the same signal, you're just paying less, and without a contract. It's a no-brainer.
  • So why haven't I ditched my account on AT&T proper? Good question, but the first thing that comes to mind is easy roaming data overseas. 

Enough for today. Loads of great stuff coming up this week. Glad to have ya!