Telecom Italia gains on spin-off talk - Financial Times

Last updated: June 20, 2012 9:43 pm

By Alexandra Stevenson

Judge grills Apple in Google smartphone case - msnbc.com

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday strongly questioned Apple Inc's bid for an injunction against Google Inc's Motorola Mobility unit, as the iPhone maker tries to salvage its position on a key front in the smartphone patent wars.

Federal Judge Richard Posner in Chicago did not make any formal rulings from the bench during the hearing, which was a chance for Apple to plead its case for an injunction against Motorola phones that allegedly use its technology. But Posner called the U.S. patent system "chaos" and said an order barring the sale of Motorola phones could have "catastrophic effects."

Posner earlier this month tentatively canceled an impending trial between the two technology companies, but scheduled the Wednesday hearing so Apple could argue for the injunction.

Apple has waged an international patent war since 2010 as part of its attempt to limit the growth of Google's Android system, the world's best-selling mobile operating platform. A decisive injunction in one of the U.S. legal cases could strengthen Apple's hand in negotiating cross-licensing deals, where companies agree to let each other use their patented technologies.

Opponents of Apple, meanwhile, say the iPhone and iPad maker is using patents too aggressively in its bid to stamp out the competition.

Motorola sued Apple in October 2010, a move widely seen as a preemptive strike. Apple filed its own lawsuit against Motorola the same month. Apple is also slated for trial against Samsung Electronics Co Ltd next month in California.

Posner issued a series of pretrial rulings that eliminated nearly all of Motorola's patent claims against Apple, while maintaining more of Apple's claims against Motorola. That meant Apple had more to gain at the trial, which had been set to start last week.

But Posner tentatively ruled that neither side could prove damages and scrapped the trial. An injunction would be "contrary to the public interest," Posner wrote.

In court on Wednesday, Apple attorney Matthew Powers said it is not seeking an order barring the sale of Motorola phones. Rather, Apple would be satisfied with an injunction requiring Motorola to remove Apple's patented technology from Motorola phones within three months.

That outcome would ensure the Android phones do not share some of the same features as the iPhone, a differentiation that could help Apple in the marketplace. One of the patents at issue, for instance, covers technology to stream real time video without glitches or delays.

"It means we're not competing with them where they are using our technology against us," Powers said.

But Posner said it may be preferable to direct Motorola to pay Apple a compulsory royalty. Forcing Motorola to adopt inferior technology, as opposed to paying a royalty, would not benefit consumers, he said.

In addition, nothing would stop Apple from coming back into court after three months to claim Motorola is still infringing.

"That's all we need is new actions, new suits, because there's not enough litigation worldwide between Apple and Android," Posner said.

Motorola had also asked for an injunction on the one patent it is still asserting in the case against Apple. However, Motorola had pledged to license that patent - which covers an aspect of wireless communication - on fair and reasonable terms to other companies in exchange for having the technology be adopted as an industry standard.

"I don't see how you can have injunction against the use of a standard essential patent," Posner told Motorola's attorneys.

Overall, Posner questioned the worth of many software patents, noting deep systemic problems with the U.S. patent system.

"You can't just assume that because someone has a patent, he has some deep moral right to exclude everyone else" from using the technology, Posner said.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, is Apple Inc and NeXT Software Inc v. Motorola Inc and Motorola Mobility Inc, 11-cv-8540.

(Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Jeffrey Benkoe and Andre Grenon)

Last in line, BT blocks The Pirate Bay; bypassed in minutes - ZDNet

British Telecom became the final broadband provider in the U.K. to block customer access to the The Pirate Bay following a court order forcing the move in April.

From around 12 midday BST on Tuesday, more than six million BT customers were faced with a “site blocked” message when trying to access the Magnet-link sharing site.

Some users were surprised to find that Web addresses and IP addresses that still worked for other broadband providers still threw up a blocked message.

It later transpired that BT had actively gone above and beyond in blocking access to the site from what the court order dictated. BT also cut off access to number of proxy websites used to bypass the block, but many new proxies are being added each day.

But it took literally minutes for customers to circumvent the block, partially thanks to a server IP address change by the site’s operators.

In April, five of the largest U.K. broadband providers — Virgin Media, Everything Everywhere, Sky, O2 and Be, and TalkTalk — were told to impose server-level blocks to prevent their collective 13 million customers access to The Pirate Bay.

BT was left out of the initial court order to grant the telcoms giant extra time to “consider its position.” Rumours suggested the telecommunications giant could enter into a deal with the British Phonographic Industry, the British record industry’s trade association, which brought the case to the High Court in London in the first place.

The total figure of blocked users represents roughly one-third of the U.K.’s population, and almost the entire U.K.’s broadband-using customer base.

According to TorrentFreak, an “immediate response” by the Swedish-based site was to enable two new IP addresses — .82 and .83 — within minutes of the BT block coming into effect.

A site insider said they can “continue adding new addresses for years.” Without another judicial intervention, there’s little that can be done about it.

And so the cat-and-mouse game continues.

Proxy websites are in high demand following the court order. The U.K.’s Pirate Party operates the most popular proxy, which allows users to access The Pirate Bay through a different server, and is now among the top 600 most visited websites in the United Kingdom.

The Pirate Bay switched to a Swedish .se top-level domain earlier this year, with the site’s founders claiming the Web address would no longer be susceptible to U.S. laws, unlike the .org top-level domain.

.SE senior legal counsel Elisabeth Ekstrand said in a company blog post that the domain name registrar has “not taken any actions following the ruling against TPB since we do not consider ourselves obligated to do so,” but warned it has always had “the right to take action based on a ruling against us pertaining to a specific domain name.” ZDNet’s Liam Tung has more.

BT declined to comment when approached by ZDNet.

Image credit: Luke Williams/Twitter; used with permission.

The long-lasting Motorola RAZR MAXX and the all-new Motorola RAZR V come to India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand

Motorola Mobility is bringing the longest-lasting smartphone on the market today, Motorola RAZRTM MAXX, and the sexy yet affordable Motorola RAZRTM V to India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Motorola RAZR MAXX will be available with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), and will receive an over-the-air upgrade to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) soon after. Motorola RAZR V will be available with Android 4.0 during the third quarter of the year. Specific availability information for both devices will be announced closer to the retail launch dates.

Both smartphones sport the iconic RAZR design, with the same sculpted face, diamond-cut aluminum accents Not only are they gorgeous, they're also made to last, with KEVLAR® fibre for strength and scratch-resistant Corning® Gorilla® Glass. Caught in the rain? Spill your coffee? Fear not. Motorola RAZR MAXX and Motorola RAZR V have a splash-guard coating that keeps everything safe - including the electrical boards inside.

Motorola RAZR MAXX - the longest lasting smartphone on the block

With the longest battery life of any smartphone today, this device has enough juice for 17.6 hours of talk-time - on a single charge. And because it's in the Motorola RAZR family, it has the same incredibly thin, fast and light pedigree as the groundbreaking original Motorola RAZR smartphone. It has a vibrant 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Advanced display that features a wider range of colours than most LCD HDTVs. Plus at just 8.99 mm, Motorola RAZR MAXX is still impossibly thin.

For aspiring filmmakers, forget about buying expensive, clunky equipment to shoot your first masterpiece. Instead, take advantage of Motorola RAZR MAXX's 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080p video capture for crisp, clear, cinematic-quality images. Or, simply use it to chat with a friend using the front-facing HD video camera.

The Motorola RAZR MAXX is also "Business Ready," featuring government-grade encryption that protects your email, contacts and calendar. Even the strictest IT manager will be impressed.

Motorola RAZR V - iconic styling and mind-blowing thinness for your budget

At an amazing 8.35mm thin, the Motorola RAZR V makes the iconic RAZR family styling and quality available to everyone. This big-screen beauty is surprisingly compact and light, and feels great even in smaller hands. Thanks to ColorBoostTM display technology, the Motorola RAZR V boastsextremely vibrant colours for better clarity and sharper images.With Charcoal, Glacier White and Rebel Pink options, subject to market availability, you can choose the colour that reflects your own personality and style. And while the Motorola RAZR V comes at a surprisingly affordable price, it gives away nothing in performance, thanks to its dual-core 1.2GHz processor.

Unique to Motorola Mobility smartphones, including Motorola RAZR MAXX and Motorola RAZR V is Smart Actions - a tool that lets you automate your phone's settings throughout the day. For example, you can set your phone to automatically turn off its ringer when you get home from work, set it to turn off emails while you sleep, or dim the screen when battery life gets below 30 percent. Essentially, Smart Actions manages all of the little things that add up to make all the difference in the world - all while extending your phone's already long battery life.

"RAZR is synonymous with design excellence and both Motorola RAZR MAXX and Motorola RAZR V reflect that," said Robert van Tilburg, senior regional sales director, South Asia, Motorola Mobility. "With its fantastic battery, Motorola RAZR MAXX is in a class of its own. Not only do you get everything you love about the Motorola RAZR, but now you get the power to last through marathon calls, hours of surfing the Web, or streaming movies. You'll drop long before this phone ever does. With Motorola RAZR V, we've created the perfect smartphone for stylish, smart and tech-savvy consumers who want great looks, great performance and great value."

Price and Availabily

Motorola RAZR MAXX will start shipping in end-June with the exact availability and prices in each market to be announced closer to the retail launch. Motorola RAZR V will be made available in Q3 of 2012.

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Motorola Xoom 2 says buongiorno to Alitalia's cockpits and cabins (video) - engadget

Motorola Mobility Takes Motorola XOOM™ 2 to the Skies with Alitalia

ROME – June 19, 2012 – Today marks a unique opportunity between Motorola Mobility and the Italian airline Alitalia, which will revolutionize aircraft service and in-flight entertainment. Alitalia and Motorola Mobility have always been at the forefront in offering innovative technology solutions: Alitalia to flight assistants and customers and likewise Motorola Mobility to consumers. Today they anticipate that airlines will need more sophisticated technologies, focused on enhancing customer satisfaction.

Alitalia will be among the first airlines in the world to provide their crew with a tablet, Motorola XOOM™ 2, which will contain all relevant information on high value customers. This includes not only the profile of each passenger, but also their preferences in terms of the on-board menu, seating, travel history, as well as any inconveniences they experienced in the past. This will enable the staff to identify all the high value customers and to customise the service according to their needs.

Thanks to the wide range of programs and tools configured on each device and the ability to connect to the web, Alitalia staff will be able to receive updated information in real-time and perform all operations on board without having to print and carry, achieving great improvements in terms of time, efficiency and speed of updates. The flight attendants will also use the Motorola XOOM 2 to access the aircraft's internal manuals from the palm of their hands.

Motorola XOOM™ 2 tablets will also be introduced as Alitalia's in-flight entertainment services (IFE) for Business and Magnifica Class passengers on mid as well as long-distance flights to Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Tel Aviv, Beyruth, Riyadh and Teheran that are currently without an IFE service. Thanks to the tablets and the preloaded content, passengers will enjoy free access to a wide range of movies, music, online magazines and video games - all from Motorola XOOM 2's gorgeous 10.1-inch widescreen HD display.

But there is no need to be on the plane to take advantage of the Motorola XOOM 2. The Motorola XOOM 2 tablets will also be placed in 10 Alitalia lounges (Freccia Alata) so travelers can keep up to date on the latest news before embarking on their flights. A demo area within the Alitalia flagship store in Rome will provide useful suggestions to passengers on how to use the best technology of Motorola XOOM 2.

"Today we have made another further step ahead in our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategy" says Marco Sansavini, director of sales, Distribution and Customer Care in Alitalia. "It is a priority project for the new Alitalia, which involves the training of 9,000 people. Alitalia wants to make the onboard flight an extraordinary experience and the tablets will enable the crew to always stay online and in touch with the needs and preferences of its passengers. Alitalia will be one of the first airlines in the world that will use this innovative way to manage its clients. The tablet will also be used as a source of entertainment for passengers of six medium and long distance destinations and for the guests of our lounge rooms "Freccia Alata".

"With its cutting edge technology and host of entertainment features, Motorola XOOM 2 is the perfect travel companion for Alitalia passengers," said Maurizio Angelone, vice president and general manager, Mobile Devices, EMEA, Motorola Mobility. "Tablets have increasingly become a must-have device for staying connected, whether at home or on the go, and we anticipate the transportation industry will make tablets an integral part of their consumer offering in the years to come."

BUSINESS MOBILE PHONES - VODAFONE, O2, T-MOBILE

Wednesday, 20 June 2012