December 2005 - Posts
A federal judge ordered both sides in the bitter BlackBerry battle to file court briefs by Feb. 1, setting the stage for a possible injunction if the case can't be settled. BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. and patent-holding company NTP Inc. had been in talks earlier this month. U.S. District Judge James Spencer's deadline set Friday could put more pressure on RIM to settle, perhaps for up to $1 billion. Spencer said he would schedule a hearing next month.
I’ll watch this one closely. Caught another article that the court ruling is expected January 12. Are another 375,000 BlackBerry users at risk?
BlackBerry maker, Research in Motion is now facing serious legal problems in the UK, in the form of a patent infringement lawsuit from Luxembourg-based intellectual property company, Inpro. Inpro claims that the technology being used by RIM for their popular mobile email devices violates a patent UK patent that they have owned since April 1996.
Who’s next?
Some users of Microsoft's Software Update Services may be experiencing a minor annoyance, thanks to a glitch in the company's latest security patches, released Tuesday. The latest update may be changing the status of software updates that had been previously approved by administrators who use the service, according to Microsoft.
"If you synchronize your server after December 12, 2005, all previously approved updates may be unapproved and the status may appear as 'updated,'" Microsoft said in a note published Wednesday.
Rumor has it that the Cingular 8125 Pocket PC phone will be releasing next week, just in time for the ultimate Christmas gift.
While I’m hoping that Santa brings me a few devices with Windows Mobile 5 and the Messaging and Security Feature Pack (to get rid of our middleware), Exchange 12 and Office 12 are previewed.
http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/preview/default.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/default.mspx
Wireless e-mail firm Visto Corp. said on Thursday it filed a lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. for infringing Visto patents for technology that support e-mail on mobile devices.
Privately held Visto said it is seeking a permanent injunction to stop Microsoft from "misappropriating" technology from Visto and its co-founder developed nearly 10 years ago.
Microsoft was not immediately available to comment.
The suit comes as Visto's biggest rival, Research In Motion Ltd., faces a possible shut-down of its Blackberry mobile e-mail service after patent holding company NTP Inc. won an infringement ruling against RIM.
Visto said on Wednesday it signed a licensing agreement with NTP, which already licenses to Good Technology Inc., another rival, and Nokia.
I guess Visto didn’t want to venture down the RIM road with NTP.
Visto Corporation, today inked a deal with NTP to provide (quote) "stability in these turbulent times." The two-part deal involves Visto licensing NTP patents—the same ones that got RIM into its current pickle—and NPT acquiring a stake in the company. The companies did not reveal how much equity NTP would receive.
With the agreement, Visto receives access to NTP's patents until they expire. The wireless e-mail provider already holds 25 of its own. The two companies do not beat around the bush when speaking about the reason for the deal—to prevent their own legal entanglement.
NTP co-founder Donald Stout said, "This is a clear win for mobile e-mail users everywhere as it provides them with a viable alternative to RIM that protects them from any NTP litigation risk. Users of Visto Mobile can be assured of access to mobile email and data as they are licensed to use NTP's intellectual property. We are excited about our ownership stake in Visto's future."
Anyone seen this yet? Just stumbled on to it this morning. It’s the Windows Live Beta site.
Go to http://www.live.com
According to Smartphone Today,
First off, you need to purchase the Samsung MM-A700 mobile phone, as it is the only handset compatible with Sprint TV. The MM-A700 goes for $400 a la carte or $300 with a two-year service contract.
The MM-A700 receives compressed video over-the-air and decompresses content through an embedded media player on-the-fly. So you’re not downloading content first and then playing it, as video services for mobile phones usually require. The handset also supports advanced audio coding (ACC) for better than usual mobile phone sound.
For ten bucks a month Sprint PCS Vision customers get "basic" Sprint TV, which consists of two to four channels-one showing movie trailers and the others playing clips pulled from the service’s premium channels.
Premium content includes streams from the likes of NBC News, ABC News, FOX Sports, The Weather Channel, and E! Entertainment, plus a few other channels. These channels go for $3.95 to $4.95 per month each. Sprint plans to add 600 clips a day to the service.
For unlimited access to Sprint TV, subscribers can choose the Sprint Multimedia Pack, which also bundles unlimited Vision Multimedia Service, Picture Mail, and Video Mail, as well as 100 SMS messages for $25 per month.
Nice that Sprint PCS forces you in to a new phone, and even nicer that it’s one of the SMALLEST screens available.
I’ve discovered another “bug” in the HP 6515 Mobile Messenger. I’ve tested it on three different Mobile Messengers with the same result. What’s the issue? Pocket Inbox does not support external memory cards. I’ve got a 1 GB SD card in the device, and a 256 MB mini-SD card. When I launch Pocket Inbox, and try to force attachments in email to the storage card, the only storage Pocket Inbox sees is the internal ROM storage. So, I’ve only got 12 MB to store attachments.
According to HP Support, there is a fix on the way (you have to hack the registry now to fix it). They will create a utility, now in QC, that will allow you to select the SD or mini-SD card to use for attachments, rather than internal storage. The catch however, is that if you are required to do a hard reset, Pocket Inbox will once again not recognize external storage cards.
According to investigators, DirecTV failed to clearly advertise and promote its satellite TV services. In many cases, consumers said they were confused about the exact costs, programming, reception, sale of equipment and other contract terms that they signed-up to receive.
The result? DirecTV agreed to pay a total $5 million to 22 states to settle an investigation. The comment from DirecTV? "We have reached a voluntary agreement to settle the allegation by the states, which we've denied...In fact, the agreement self-acknowledges that there is no finding that DirecTV violated any federal or state law," said Mr. Mercer.
So, pay $5 million and claim innocence. Interesting. According to the suit, DirecTV “also agreed to reform its advertising policies, as well as pay restitution to the thousands of customers who complained about various services, cancellation policies and fees. But, they didn’t do anything wrong.
A few days ago I mentioned the ActiveSync Web Administration Tool. The write up mentions you need “compatible mobile devices”. No need to download and install this tool just yet. The reason? There are no “compatible mobile devices” on the market yet to test it with. You not only need Windows Mobile 5, but you need the Messaging and Security Feature Pack.
We’re waiting on both Microsoft and the wireless carriers to deliver.
Cingular 2125
- Microsoft® Windows Mobile(TM) 5.0 Smartphone Edition
- Windows Media®Player 10 for playing music and video
- Bluetooth® connectivity for connecting wireless accessories
- 1.3 MP camera and video phone
- GPRS/EDGE High-Speed Data Access
- 850/900/1800/1900 MHz - Quad-band for international compatibility
- Large 2.2" TFT color display
- 64 MB SDRAM/64 MB Flash ROM
- Office(TM) Mobile - Outlook(TM)/Word(TM)/Excel(TM)/Explorer(TM)
- TI OMAP 850 200MHz processor
- Pocket MSN® (Hotmail®/MSN Messenger)
- Multimedia messaging - send text, pictures and sound
- Downloadable polyphonic/full-audio ringtones, graphics and games
- Stereo audio jack for listening to music
Using a mobile phone to buy movie tickets and check showtimes is one thing, but Sprint offers the whole movie. Sprint Nextel Corp. is expected to announce on Monday that it has begun selling a service which allows users of its mobile video phones to watch full-length movies, television shows, concerts and comedy specials.
Provided by vendor MSpot, the service offers unlimited shows and movies for a monthly flat fee of $6.95, on top of regular service charges.
Would you watch a full-length movie on your phone?
More Posts
Next page »