The Galaxy Nexus Ban - this, too, shall pass

It was a hell of a way to end the day, and a hell of a way to wake up. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus has been "banned." As of this morning, the holiest of holy days Americans can celebrate outside of a house of God, a day that celebrates slipping the shackles of tyranny, the Galaxy Nexus remains "banned." That we're even mentioning its name -- let alone still giving them away out of contempt as much as generosity -- almost makes it seem like we're sneaking smokes in the bathroom.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

You're seeing headline after headline about the ban. Process stories, really. Apple files suit in February. Samsung argues back. Apple wins an injunction. Samsung appeals. Loses. Judge upholds the ban. Apple posts a nearly $96 million bond, which it will forfeit if Samsung ultimately is vindicated. Google says it has a fix. The GNex no longer is shipping from Google Play. These are not unimportant stories. But the sheer number of them only goes to reiterate the glacial speed at which the court system -- let alone patent cases -- moves.

It's tiresome. It's confusing. It defies the laws of rational thinking. (You can really patent the way a computer searches for something? OK.) There are certainly arguments to be made on both sides of this story, but tell that to Samsung. Tell that to current owners of the Galaxy Nexus. Tell that to anyone who was considering the GNex but now sees all these scary headlines.

Something needs to change in the process. I don't know what. I publish words and pictures and videos for a living; I don't write patent law. But I do believe that what's been going on inside the bar for the past couple years is not doing anything to increase innovation. It's not helping to create better products. It's not doing anything to bolster competition. The act of outright "banning" of a product as a means of temporary relief needs to change. For companies like Apple (and Samsung, too), it's not about the money. They both have a lot of that. It's about the win. Protecting intellectual property is important. And if one company infringes on another, relief is in order. Damages should be due. Part of the problem is that the courts admittedly can't put a dollar figure on this sort of thing. When you hear the phrase "irreparable harm," it means that while the court finds a product to be infringing on a patent, and that such infringement will take money away from one company, it doesn't have precise numbers to back that up. How many Galaxy Nexuses were sold instead of iPhones? There's no way to know.

If there's a silver lining here, any sort of hollow victory, it's that this, too, shall pass. Some 1 million Android devices are being activated every day. (OK, maybe fewer since this ban thing.) But it's not like all the smart people at Google suddenly threw up their hands and left the room. This is a software issue. And software, whether or not we believe it should be in this case, can be changed.

I'm still excited for Android. Coming out last week's Google I/O conference, and using Jelly Bean on the Galaxy Nexus for a week now, I'm as excited as ever. There's no reason anyone shouldn't be. We've got new software to explore. We've got a new Nexus tablet to use. And Google's starting to overreach into the home entertainment field with the Nexus Q, and that's a good thing. Google will figure out the software side of things, of that I have no doubt. Maybe, one day, the patent ship will right itself. (Or end up scuttled at the bottom of the sea, which might be OK, too.)

There's never been a better time to be more excited about Android.

This, too, shall pass.

Phil Nickinson

101 Comments

Send me a Gnex Phil.
Rational and positive thinking. You're right Phil. We have *much* to be excited about.
Great post!
This was a great post. Thanks. It's good to see a positive post in the midst of this BS.
truer words were never spoken!! But if the proverbial patent ship does sink, I hope it drags the fruit company with it!!
No... it will not pass. At least that's my prediction. I will not edit this post and hope the site won't edit my comments. I believe evil Apple will win the case against the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Assuming the judge
was the evidence was correct when the judge issued the injunction, there's no way for her to
rule otherwise. I spent an afternoon researching most of the cases that she has presided over.
She almost never gets it wrong. (i.e. her decisions were not overturned) At least not when it
comes to commercial and technology cases. Let's not forget the Judge Koh herself was a patent lawyer with impeccable record. As a
Korean-American, she is highly respected. Look at her records and you'll see that her
decisions are based on the facts and the laws. Not that it matters in this case, but the judge's family history is also quite amazing. her own
mother escaped communist North Korea. You can read about it here: http://apabasv.com/news/news-koh/ Fortunately, it won't matte much because the Galaxy Nexus will be probably be replaced in less
than 8 to 12 months. (court case will take much longer than that) P.S. Regardless of the outcome... Apple sucks. (pardon my Dutch)
To a certain extent, it will pass. Patents are time limited, 20 years from the filing date for patents filed after 1995, but more importantly, google has learned its lesson and started filing patents like nobody's business. They simply weren't doing that until recently, and have gotten burned. Eventually technology will catch up to the patents google is filing (for example, they have a pending patent on the notification pull down, which will be a nice weapon once granted). Once some of those patents are granted, they'll have a lot more ammo for a cross-licensing deal. On top of that, eventually either congress or the courts will have to take a new look at the extent to which software processes can be patented. In the case of the universal search patent, I think there's a strong argument to be made for prior art, like dogpile, which I think goes back to 1996. It sucks, but as much as I personally will never own an apple product, I can't blame any publicly traded corporation for exploiting whatever tools are available to them to get more money for their shareholders - in this case, a deeply flawed patent system.
Well said. Although, I don't think Apple's true intention here is to "get more money for the shareholders". I think Android has them terrified. They've been overtaken in market share by almost double, and Android is still gaining steam. I'm sure the current iPhone vs Android is bringing back bad flashbacks to Macintosh vs PC from days of old. Apple has built their entire ecosystem around *not* innovating. That is, not making any drastic changes to the way their OS works. They've made a few concessions in that regard, with the new notification pull-down in iOS 5, because they're started to realize that if they don't give the consumers what they want, some of them will abandon their product. I have a number of friends (most recently, my ex-wife) who have made the switch from an iPhone to an Android-powered phone and they always seem to say the same thing: "I can't believe I waited so long. I could never go back to an iPhone, now." All these BS patent lawsuits are just Apple trying desperately (and pathetically) to remain relevant in a market that they refuse to cater to. They want the market to cater to them. They want to *tell* us what we want. The simple truth of it is that marketing model only works when there is no competition. And *that* is why Android is such a big threat to them.
I think it will pass. The Software update will be released and in a month or two the GN will be back on the shelves. As far as I'm concerned Apple has been filing these lawsuits for awhile and they have done absolutely nothing to stop Android. At some point, hopefully sooner rather than later, Apple will realize that these lawsuits are only making them appear weak and that lawsuits will not slow the pace of innovation.
Judge Koh is a tool of Apple, plain and simple. Apple is trying to create a monopoly by the patent and judicial system. Apple has found a friend in the court, and milk her for all it worth.
Apple SUCKS indeed! So someone makes a phone better than theirs and that's how they respond? Now we know what the "S" stands for in iPhone 4S... ... unless it's "Suckers" of course. iPhone 4 Suckers, sound like true advertising.
Haven't read every word of this, but Palm devices were searching EVERYTHING before anyone. It is amazing the crap all these companies get patented these days. Once a work is out in the open, it is supposedly not patent-able...
ADS
Well Said sir, well said!!! This too shall definitely pass.
I can't wait until googles patent for the notification bar clears. I hope they shove it right down Apple's greedy throat.
Here here!
the problem is, and i could bbe mistaken, that apple too has a patent pending for notification pull down. How much would that suck ass if they get theirs first considering they have lacked ANY notification system until 5.0!!!
Its called prior art. And I dare Apple to patent this. The entire world will know full well who got there first and Apple will look like that much more of a douchebag.
You're entirely correct, with one caveat: While, if the Apple patent somehow went through first, Google could still contest it on the grounds of "prior art" (and if they didn't win that one it would be proof beyond a doubt that Apple is paying off someone in the government) but they (Apple) would still be able to drag Google through (likely) a year or more of legal proceedings costing millions. This crap is a lose-lose for everyone. Apple's only real concern here is to limit the *availability* of Android devices to the consumers, because they're terrified of how quickly they are losing market share.
None of it really matters short of principle. I try to be a "glass half full" kind of guy and with this sort of thing going on it forces companies outside the box. If apple says slide to unlock is theirs than cool. Means Google will have to find a more interesting approach. Same with anything else. Honestly short of the financial impact this is good for us as I don't want my Android to be similar to an Icrap in anyway. At least this way Google and the manufacturers are pushed to be ingenious. Who knows maybe Google can patent all phone actions can alternatively be controlled by voice command. "unlock", or "next/previous" when scrolling pictures. Just saying this isn't necessarily a complete failure. Now don't burn me. Lol.
I see where you're going with this, and I totally agree. Just think of how Google has innovated thus far. Google hasn't done much about the patent litigation because they're already 10 steps ahead. Think about it... as soon as the Galaxy Nexus was banned, Google didn't say they would countersue or anything; they already had a fix waiting. I think they want to lead Apple into a false sense of security. And with how simple Apple products are, how hard could that be lol I think at this point Apple has hit a plateau. There isn't too much else they can do to their software to make it better. They could increase the screen size of the iPhone, improve the screen on the Macs and iPads, or introduce a 7inch iPad, but thats the extent of their "innovation."
I'm just hoping once Google's notification patent is approved, that is if Apple doesn't bribe the patent office, Google fires all ammo blazing not only for the search algorithm at the heart of their technology, but for those patents as well. Steve Jobs wanted thermo nuclear then so be it. Apple cannot withstand the entire industry opposing them.
I was also pleasantly surprised to hear Andy Ihnotko & Leo Laporte calling out Apple for stupidity recently. They aren't alone either. It won't mean much to Apple now. But once the faithful begin questioning the top, it can dramatically alter public perception & opinion. That alone can buckle the biggest company.
I agree.
I find the entire Apple philosophy pathetic and disturbing. The Google Nexus has been out for over 6 months and now it is banned? Google should turn this around and use the late banning to tell the public just how great this new update is and what it does to the Android platform and that is why Apple is throwing tons of $$$ on lawyers. Apple is boring, boring, boring. Apple is locked down, under clocked, over priced, made of glass that has just run its course. By By Apple. I find that even the I-Phone owners are turned off by Apple's pathetic way of doing business. What goes around will come around, Apple will be sorry.
I don't believe Apple was awarded the patent in question until last November and then the suit was filed in February. It just took this long to finally have something happen.
Exactly. But making completely uninformed comments is OK as long as they're snarky and at Apple's expense, I guess.
Uninformed, perhaps. Incorrect? Not so much.
The one aspect of the commentary that I take issue with is the idea that GNex sales affect iCrap sales in any way. I know a lot of folks who love their iCrap. They are assimilated. The ones who have seen my GNex have not said "ohh I want one of those!" Even the one's with older iCrap phones. I would also point out that if the gadget police show up to take my GNex from me, I will not be replacing it with an iCrap. When I (soon I hope) acquire a tablet computer, it will not be an Crapple. Asus is looking good (TF700). My desktop (yep, still have one) runs Linux and has for well over a decade. My ancient laptop also runs Linux. The GNex is not stealing sales from Crapple. Crapple is slowing Samsung's business but they are fighting a losing battle.
You really are sticking it to the man, give yourself a pat on the back.
+1
Well said sir. I was looking at possibly picking up a GNEX and was never even considering apple as an alternative. So who is the one being "irreparably harmed" here? Anyway, sick of all this lawyer Grey area BS. Have a great 4th everyone!
Hey Apple:
POT -> KETTLE.
Well said!
LOL +1
I thought today is Independence Day. However, this ban is making me feel like I'm loosing freedom to choose the phone I like. Sad.
I just don't want people to sit back and hope it passes. Yes, to some extent I believe it will but on the other hand I want a lot of noise to be made. We need patent reform, whether it be outright removal of software patenting or compulsory licensing...or something, anything. Apple is trying to prevent other competition from being just that - competitive; and they're exploiting a broken legal system to do it. Just because our patent system allows it, does not make it acceptable or ethical.
I think the biggest problem, or question is - what does this mean if they win? Technically the ban was because of the method used to do local device search. So if Apple wins, are other devices no longer allowed to search their own hardware for data? Or will (for instance) Google remove it, redo HOW it searches for data, and reinstate it?
They will have to find another way to do it or license the patent from Apple.
Apple won't license to Google. They want Android gone!
I think crApple needs to hold an iphone in one hand and shit in the other and then try to find the difference between the two.
Hahahahaha that was pretty sweet man
Indeed...the irony is the GNex has been taken out of the Google store on Independence Day.
Sad how freedom no longer means much in the USA...and that includes the Supreme Court letting "universal health care" stand as a tax even though it was filed as regulating interstate commerce? Sorry...had to mention that because that seemed like an attack on the Constitution :-P
I agree 1,000,000,000 percent!!!!!!
No need to apologize,the truth is the truth.Our Constitution is being attacked.Our FREEDOMS are being taking away by men with a pen.WAKE UP AMERICA,BLK PRES OR WHT PRES,IT DOESNT MATTER.
What does Black and White have to do with it? This is Republicans vs. Democrats, Conservatives vs. Liberals. Remove race from the argument.
Hell, remove party from the argument. All of this suggesting one party is 100% right while the other is wrong. There are idiots and assholes in every party. When you make it about party, rather than about the issues of the people, you end up with people voting for their own demise, just because the person elected was on the ticket when they voted "straight-party".
+1 I know too many people who are voting because their family has always been in that party. People need to wake up and vote for freedom (doesn't matter which party or even 3rd party) instead of nanny'ing by the govt w/ less freedom. The politicians are running amuck stuffing their pockets w/ tax money so they can hire their friends to watch over and milk all the taxpayers who just keep voting them back in as long as the politicians promise to keep giving people "stuff" (parks, police, pseudo-safety w/ the TSA, social security, etc.) :-P
No, it's not Repubs vs. Dems. They're both (with very few exceptions like Ron Paul who got demonized by the media pretty quickly as a loon) headed down the same route where more govt = better, and less citizen rights/more big brother = better. Remember that the "Patriot Act" abomination was signed off by both parties. The patent system has been seriously broken for a long time...there's a branch in TX that is known for rubber stamping them w/o checking on prior art (I was involved in a case that originated from there). It's seriously overloaded and abused by lawyers and companies alike. We really need Loser Pays here to prevent that kind of abuse. I'm hoping Apple loses, but I doubt the $95M was really as much as Google/Samsung would have lost on the GNex...
Thank you
+1 Thank you. Die Hard 3: John McClane: I'll tell you what your problem is, you don't like me 'cause you're a racist!
Zeus Carver: What?
John McClane: You're a racist! You don't like me 'cause I'm white!
Zeus Carver: I don't like you because you're gonna get me *killed*!
Saying, without prompting, that it doesn't matter whether the president is black or white is your subconscious mind saying that it thinks it matters at least enough to throw in that disclaimer... That's like saying, I don't mean to offend but...just before something you knew was going to be offensive but said anyway.
i want a nexus
goog and sam are going to win... keep it up, all will pass
How can I get a nexus from you guys. I want to get my wife off the iPhone 4 so bad but I just can't afford it. It has been a nightmare moving here and dealing with all the red tape of moving to a new country has just sucked. She hates her phone now and steals my infuse all the time. If not a nexus could you please please send me an android phone so I can get her off of the iPhone. Pppaaallleeeaaasseeee!
I have an original EVO I'll sell you cheap....just pm me.
Guys I think we need this Independence Day to voice our opinions to our elected officials. I love the positive post it really lifted me up. But the fact of the matter is "if you keep doing what you have always done you will keep getting what you have always got". What the court system is doing is not right. As taxpayers consumers we don't have to stand by an take the status quo. The below is just a start. I hope the link can be put in the original post. http://www.change.org/petitions/voters-impeach-us-district-judge-lucy-koh
Wow, an internet petition... talk about an exercise in futility.
Numbers are never futile. Negative minds and attitudes are though.
With all those banning lawsuits, where are the Google execs, they need to stand up and defend their position. How could you let these bogus lawsuits bullying your around. The Moto deal is passed, they should get a lot more patents in their portfolio. What happen with the Notification bar patent. Are the USPTO deliberately slow this down and allow Crapple bully around. Banned GNexus in the states, please turn it on for sale in Canada. I've been waiting for this on the Google Play since the initial announcement. Bought the Nexus 7 from that site soon as it is open for purchase. Google Execs, are you listening. There are lots of people holding their wallet up for the GNexus at here. https://plus.google.com/u/0/s/%23boycottapple
OH my... I just ordered my GNex last tuesday and got it last friday... :S
This poor thing is an endangered Mobile :S
Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought you can't patent the 'end result', you can only patent the way to get to that end result.
For example you can't patent 'cancer cure' but you can patent the drug that use a certain way to cure cancer. So how does this patent ever granted to apple in the first place? You can patent the code to get to those search results, but you can't patent the result. If google search result give you the result from contact list, email and internet itself, then only the code can be patented. Both iOS and Android are on vastly different platform, so how can the code be the same? Sometimes I think the copyright court and the patent office itself are staffed by people who know nothing about technology or even the law itself.
You are 100% correct. That is the *real* problem here, and why the patent system needs to be reformed. In fact, patent law explicitly states that you can dismantle a product and make a competing product that does the same thing so long as you do not use any parts or pieces from the actual original product to produce your own. This type of "reverse engineering" *has* to be allowed to prevent monopolies. Where do you think we get all the cheap, off-brand drugs and colognes and what-not? The problem, here, is that all of the patents that Apple is flinging around right now should have *never* been issued in the first place because they are patents for a "concept", not a product. And quite a few of them weren't even invented by Apple. Even the "slide to unlock" feature existed on a Nokia years before. Apple simply can't compete in the market, so they're trying to use our broken patent system as a cudgel against companies that have over-taken them in market share.
Do people find it interesting that Apple sue everyone else over "rectangular shape" and "black bezel" of tablet and phone but then everyone else counter-sue apple for wifi tech or 3G chipset (basically the innards)? So, in another world, if companies can't license/copy anything from anyone, Motorola and Samsung would make an ugly but working phone while Apple would make a very2 nice looking paper weight
The legal wranglings really leave me a bit disgusted. The upside: I'm still much more optimistic for Android's ability to overcome this than RIM's direction. Any time I feel the least bit bothered by this stuff, I just hit crackberry.com and suddenly everything seems good again.
You can always count on Phil to end an editorial with a music video. That said, did not expect OK Go. And not that "This Too Shall Pass" video. Also, I don't know if it will pass. Apple will continue these suits, going after whatever seems to be the Android flagship. The only way it'll stop is if it becomes apparent that Apple won't survive.
Everything has an end and so does this nonsense patent. Phil it has actually began, today the UK court has shown that this has to end and it will slowly roll out. There is a good chance next week the Galaxy might be back on the shelves. Until Apple becomes reasonable I have vowed to never buy an Apple product no matter how good.
If Samsung loses this case Apple will sue every other manufacturer in a heart beat, I think this is the biggest lawsuit we've seen yet over core Android functionality rather than device similarity or obscure hardware patents. They even include the patent HTC had to design a workaround for, suing over it with the Nexus was the biggest overt shot across the bow yet at Android itself rather than manufacturers. Apple is fighting a war of attrition and I'm scared that kinda strategy often pays dividends in our legal system.
You can't blame apple for operating in a patent environment that the voting public put them in. How long have we been seeing this? Motorola kicked off / escalated this phase of lawsuits; doesn't anyone remember SCO vs IBM? Microsoft gets $$ from licenses for every Android or iOS device sold, and people here want to jump ship to WP 8 ??? MS recently sued Apple for licenses it acquired from Nokia? Do people realize that non tech industry often avoids innovation internally, because of patents? They subcontract risky / innovative design tasks out these days. Patent laws should encourage, not limit, innovation. The right answer here is screw the politicians and lobbyists that created this quagmire. Directing your frustration at this or that corporation is pointless and unproductive. Direct it at those that make the laws...
I just don’t understand how this patent is legit. My understanding is that the unified search patent Apple is claiming is a part of Siri. Well… The original Moto Droid had (damned good) unified search. Doesn’t that count as “Original Art”?
The Palm Pre had unified search. It's like Phil pointed out, we have to fix the system that allows these patents to exist in the first place.
I believe the patent in question was originally for OS X's Spotlight feature and it was filed before Android existed - they are just applying it to Siri in this case as it performs an extremely loosely similar feature.
I own a Nexus and enjoy it very much. The irony of it is that I was recently thinking about purchasing an iMac to replace my aging desktop. But after this... not any more. I have trouble supporting a company that relies on litigation over innovation. Well, as the post says, this too shall pass. Apple, I'll buy your products when you develop a conscience.
People, get a freakin clue. This has nothing to do with Apple, Apple aficianados are as pissed off about lawsuits as you are. The problem is the system. Google is not an innocent bystander, nor is Samsung. Look - Google's Motorola trying to shut down the Xbox! WTF. FTW. if you want to do something write your congressman about the need to reform copyright laws. "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. trade panel has decided to defer a final ruling on a complaint filed by Google unit Motorola Mobility accusing Microsoft of infringing its patents to make its popular Xbox." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48021267/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_...
Oh no, the Xbox might be banned. /s. I did a documentary on how Xbox Live is a rip off, not an opinion but backed by factual data. Pardon my lack of sympathy if Microsoft loses that decision. I guess you could say "Microsoft is not an innocent bystander".
When reading all these articles about Judge Koh's decision to ban the Galaxy Nexus, I couldn't help but to get upset that crApple would take it this far, snitch to the law and hide behind it because they are threatened and scared, but more importantly, for this infringement to get this far into our legal system. I expect this desperate attempt (and more to come) from a company that has lost its top title in the market share of mobile phones. They want to dethrone Android obviously and will play dirty to get its top spot back, but will not! Hopefully fanboys will see the truth and intent of this scumbag company, but probably will not because they are so blind sided like how sheep are. Google has kept somewhat quite about this issue, and they didn't get to where they are by just doing nothing. I'm sure that they have something up their sleeves. Lets hope that all this news towards this litigation backfires in crApple's face and make the Galaxy Nexus even more sought after once the banned is lifted. All this talk is making Apple look more and more like jack asses. That to me makes my Galaxy Nexus even much more desirable because they were so threatened by it that they had to stoop this low to get it banned, thus making this the true iPhone killer. Why can't they just compete and let the products, innovation and people speak for themselves? Long live the King, the Galaxy Nexus, the iPhone killer!
This particular instance might pass. But, Apple will not. They will continue with this strategy not because they are dumb or can not innovate. But because they have people who buy their products no matter what the circumstance, thus giving them the high profit margin ammunition. Enablers. Apple does it because they can. I am very tired of people saying, "Oh, why are you such a fanboy. It's just an OS." It is NOT just an OS when your freedom to choose is materially affected. This isn't fanboyism. This is about my freedom to choose. Purchasers of Apple products enable them to infringe on my freedom. I think they are beyond tiresome. I think they are offensive.
Happy 4th Phil, I couldn't agree more!
Phil is right, it is more about the win and less about the money. But I believe that it goes deeper than that. I think vile contempt, taking pleasure in hurting others, and possibly borderline hatred is at the root of this. David
Now I can hate Apple even more, give me one excuse not to!
I'm going to patent walking normally to a bus stop. This will force everyone who walks to a bus stop to do it with a silly walk or be banned from walking to bus stops. What works for Apple....
Yeah it'll pass... like a kidney stone.
What sucks is that I was about to buy a Gnex from wirefly on Friday as I have an upgrade... I'm going to patent the way people normally buy iphones...then charge them invertabrates royalties.
Nice video, but their "Rube Goldberg Machine" version of the song is amazing to watch. I want to sue OK GO for eating up a lot of my time with their innovative music videos.
Google it...it is everywhere. This is why Apple will never stop. "I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this." RIP Mr. Jobs but this is wrong.
yup... i will be that guy.. everyone all "rip mr jobs" FUCK THAT GUY!! He was CRAZY! he did some great shit... but just that statement is fucked. (cause he hasnt stolen anything right?) He was a FN hypocryt and maybe it will get better now. Maybe it will get worse. who knows, but lets not be all fake nice to someone that couldn't give 2 fucks less about what you want or think just because he is dead... he wouldnt have done the same.
This one may pass but there will come another one, and another one, and another one. Case and point: Microsoft's puppet, I mean... Nokia, is threatening Google and Asus over Wi-Fi patent violations on the Nexus 7. This will never end. :-(
I really don't care as long as they get it taken care of so I can get one for $350 when my contract with Sprint is done in August. I love that, $350 for a top of the line phone that is ready to go with my switch to prepaid.
I'm with blarelli, and am in the same boat. My contract with Sprint is up in August 2, but I'm actually bailing, paying the ETF and moving to an unlocked GNex on Straight Talk. Doing a test run and will then have TMobile and "official" AT&T to fall back on, if need be. Since Straight Talk's network is AT&T, I'm not concerned. That being said, on to Apple. I admit it, I'm an Apple fan boy. I work in IT for a living, but use Macs at home. For my last work phone upgrade, I selected an iPhone 4. Our campus just went to Google Apps and I utilize Gmail at home, and iOS just sucks at Google integration. I had bad experiences with Android too, but that was mainly due to going with a low to midrange phone on Sprint (the Optimus S.) My decision to bail on Sprint mainly comes from the 300kbps speeds I'm getting on their 3G network. I won't see LTE for 18 months, despite living within an hour's drive of Kansas City, one of the first LTE cities. According to Google, my unit has shipped. We'll test it out with my wife first while I decide if I want a GNex or if I want to fork over the extra for a GS3 or One X.
Are the Apple police in black helicopters gonna raid me and seize my gnex?
https://defendinnovation.org/
Here, it is proposed by EFF
Sign the petition if you agree.
It's too bad that the GNex fix is something that hamstrings the search capabilities of the phone...
your profile picture looks familiar, Palm Treo 850e in your device past?
How did Apple get a patent for on-device search? I have a GNex and my wife has an iPhone 4S. Neither device comes anywhere near the on-device search capability that my many Palm PDAs had. I started using Palm PDAs in 2000
I was thinking the same thing. My Palm devices had universal on-device search back in 1999. When I did a search on my Palm V, it would look through contacts, calendar, tasks, notes, and any apps' files, and display the results in a single list. How is it that Apple got a patent for that years later? I'm no patent attorney, but if Samsung's and Google's lawyers don't pick up on that, they need to be fired.
Apple is steadily loosing the evolutionary race for the best OS. However successful the strategic legal approach is, this is a short term fix. Sooner or later both Android and iOS will have to deal with Windows Phone. Oh - I know WP is small now, but that will change. US markets are highly entrenched, but in the wider world things are changing. If Apple keep their head buried in a sandpit of their own making and Google keep acting like California teenagers they could both still loose this race.
It makes me sad to see what Apple turned into. I can remember the good old days in the 80's, when Apple was a corporate underdog, the "good guys" fighting the Microsoft Evil Empire. Now, MS has mellowed out and Apple has morphed into something far worse than they ever were. I wouldn't buy an Apple product now unless it came bundled with Megan Fox...
Microsoft - mellowed? I think they are off building the rock pile higher for round 8.
Compared to the 90's, yes, Microsoft has mellowed; but it doesn't mean they are not still corporate asshats.
I wandered off to read Rene's post on the subject, which led me back here to Phil. Oh nuts man! - I don't even live in America (or Canada for that matter) but will somebody please get the ball back from Apple so we can start this frigging game! The last two years feel like an episode of South Park. So "Who killed Kenny!?"
I am afraid for my Nexus 7 order now too. :( Four days until I have the money to place the order, then 2-3 weeks before they ship it. I can't believe Apple isn't scouring every micron of the hardware and bit of the software to see if they can stop this from going out the door...
And its only the galaxy nexus, which is about to be replaced in a couple of months. anywho the funny thing is I was upset at first due to google having to reove a feature. but then it came to me. I never used this once(though not the same for all) Seaching for contacts from the search bar takes as many taps, as if you have the phone dialer/sms is on your home screen well with ICS/JB there's a search button right in each apps. As for installed apps, well I guess in the name of true life changing innovation(sarcasm I assure you) you will have to make folders. The sad thing is from a company that was founded by stealing other peoples ideas, the ones they patent are very basic features(not that creative/innovative are they?) Now look at google glass, looks cool and when hardware matures they will be great. Even better when say apple wants to make something like it even better for consumers. Oh whats that apple has a patent for head gear that gives you a HUD, oh so everyone in the world, is now barred from making that product. Also to use them you will have to buy an iphone. Can you see were this is going this kind of stuff cannot be patent-able, it creates soft monopolies were consumers are shoe-horned into buying into one companies products
Wow! I'm speechless! If you guys complain that all Apple customers drink the Apple Kool-Aid blindly, what about this board? I can't believe how some comments are pathetic. Are you all a bunch of 15 years old with high level of testosterone? Patents exist so that innovators are protected if they invent something. Apple made a mistake with the Mac that Jobs was not going to repeat with the iPhone so they patented everything. What did Google do? They turned Android around after the iPhone came out and completely re-done the UI to make it looks like the iPhone. And now you're surprised and angry at Apple because they just enforce their patents? And I even read posts about Google innovation. What innovation? The innovation of copying the Apple's UI?
You are dreaming. Read this....http://www.fosspatents.com/2012/07/uk-high-court-clears-htc-of.html Would you also defend apple buying patents only to attack Android? That is what this is coming to. Using legal strategies to compete because Google's tech is blowing them away "Another strategy for Apple would be to make some more targeted acquisitions of European patents, or of international patent families with European members. The multilingual keyboard patent is originally a Mitsubishi patent, but this one is a difficult one to defend. I think Apple should look for patents that are at the operating system level but not as trivial as the multilingual character set patent (or even the touch event model). For example, low-level patents on operating system functionality for graphics display ("low-level" in terms of being close to the hardware, not triviality), on memory management, or on virtual machines (security, performance optimization) would work much better, especially in Germany but presumably also in some other European countries, than patents of the slide-to-unlock and photo gallery page-flipping kind. Finding the right patents wouldn't be easy, and doing deals with potential sellers isn't always possible, but Apple has the resources to do this, and the benefit of getting more leverage over the Android camp over here would be well worth it."

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