Apple Proposing Settlements in Android Device Patent Disputes, Would Reap $5-15 Per Android Device

[SPUY767]

Which is why cross-licensing under FRAND is much preferred. By the time you get done with your payments, you've paid 15 different people and been paid by 15 others to where you're breaking even. All you're doing is employing accountants at that point.

UI patents don't fall under FRAND, only technology patents.

 

[elppa]

True about the courts, wrong about denying iPhone OS influenced Android.

1991 Psion Series III --> 1993 Apple Newton (which had NO Jobs influence) --> 1996 Nokia 9000 phone/PDA --> Palm 1000 and the rest is history. All of those devices have the same overall concept: screen of icons in a grid that you tap with finger/stylus/pointing device to activate. Three to four buttons at bottom to aid in navigation, etc. etc.

You are correct… if all the iPhone brought to the table “icons in a grid that you tap” and “Three to four buttons at bottom to aid in navigation”.

It had a deep and profound influence of the design of hardware and software on almost every device which had followed since.

 

[Digital Skunk]

You are correct… if all the iPhone brought to the table “icons in a grid that you tap” and “Three to four buttons at bottom to aid in navigation”.

It had a deep and profound influence of the design of hardware and software on almost every device which had followed since.

I should add just to name a few. Even the design of the hardware and software wasn't anything new and sensational. The biggest and most revolutionary thing the iPhone did for the mobile market was make using a device with that many features easy and fluid.

Otherwise we'd still be trying to use Missing Sync, iSync, Docs2Go, Google, dotMac and a plethora of other apps, services, hardware, etc. just to get our smartphone to have the same information as our laptop. It was confusing and a headache 100% of the time, and it's what Palm and many other mobile device makers simply missed.

Apple hit the nail on the head and everyone knew they were going to be the ones to do it based on the iPod, iTunes, the Mac, and dotMac; we just didn't know when. When it finally came, we didn't expect it to be so darn good.

All in all, it shows how much attention to detail Jobs and Apple had. Claiming that they did influenced everyone else with a full screen slab of phone is almost short-changing their accomplishment. Apple didn't influence the mobile phone industry much on hardware and software design; if you dig deep enough it showed to be heading that way at least a year prior.

What they did do, which even (as an Android user) now no other company has been able to do, is make all the pieces fit together under an ecosystem that is truly in harmony.

Heck, I have to have at least 6 companies in my pocket or on my Mac just to get my Android (HTC and Sprint) to sync my music library (DoubleTwist), sync my calendar (BusyCal), sync my email (Apple), and to sync my files (Dropbox). Now . . . who will I be calling when something goes wrong?

The iPhone . . . . . 2 at most.

 

[elppa]

Even the design of the hardware and software wasn't anything new and sensational. The biggest and most revolutionary thing the iPhone did for the mobile market was make using a device with that many features easy and fluid.

They easy and fluid part was mostly achieved through software.

Apple didn't influence the mobile phone industry much on hardware and software design; if you dig deep enough it showed to be heading that way at least a year prior.

No it wasn't. You write like I wasn't alive at the time this was happening!? It was only 5 years ago!

iPhone caused a massive shockwave across the industry. You either adapted and changed, or you didn't adapt and you are called RIM.

 

[hchung]

The sad part is that many have mentioned it before, but no one wants to read the facts and history behind mobile devices and the long LONG wait many nerds like myself had for the device that would meld Palm Pilot, iPod, cell phone, and internet communicator.

We've had those discussions since 2003, and we've had the features of the iPhone since 2004, the first all touch phone was a Linux open source project in Nov 2006.

Say what? OpenMoko as the first touch phone? Not even close. OpenMoko, the project was launched in Nov 2006, but functional software and hardware wasn't available for use until 2008. Multi-touch hardware still hasn't made it in to their official phone. Heck, it's still a resistive screen... like the original Treo.

You seem to know of more history in this field than many others, so I'm sure you can find a better example of an early touchscreen phone.

 

[Digital Skunk]

They easy and fluid part was mostly achieved through software.

Exactly, once again, where the iPhone really shined.

No it wasn't. You write like I wasn't alive at the time this was happening!? It was only 5 years ago!

iPhone caused a massive shockwave across the industry. You either adapted and changed, or you didn't adapt and you are called RIM.

RIM, Palm, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, etc. Massive shockwave across the industry in which regards would you say? Software or hardware? Show me where anyone had a phone that did that much that smoothly.

Now, show look up candybar phone design, or full touch screen phone design and see how many (albeit crude) phones had that look before the iPhone. Heck, even the fan mockups that were just a touch screen iPod Classic with a virtual click wheel were candybar and full touch screen.

I write like that with many posters because a lot of times it seems that everyone forgot what it was like in the late '90s early '00s

Say what? OpenMoko as the first touch phone? Not even close. OpenMoko, the project was launched in Nov 2006, but functional software and hardware wasn't available for use until 2008. Multi-touch hardware still hasn't made it in to their official phone. Heck, it's still a resistive screen... like the original Treo.

You seem to know of more history in this field than many others, so I'm sure you can find a better example of an early touchscreen phone.

I was informed (read corrected) by another poster that knows more than I. At first I claimed the HTC Touch which was released a few months before the iPhone. It was crude, and was plagued by it's software, but it was touch.

Thanks for bringing up the topic of a resistive screen and multitouch. Multitouch, again, was a software inclusion no one thought about. The capacitive touch screen is indeed a hardware component that was brought to the light by Apple.

 

[hchung]

I was informed (read corrected) by another poster that knows more than I. At first I claimed the HTC Touch which was released a few months before the iPhone. It was crude, and was plagued by it's software, but it was touch.

Thanks for bringing up the topic of a resistive screen and multitouch. Multitouch, again, was a software inclusion no one thought about. The capacitive touch screen is indeed a hardware component that was brought to the light by Apple.

I'm guessing kdarling? He does know quite a bit about the history. He also made the comment about OpenMoko/Neo, which I think isn't correct.

If we were to be looking for the first "touch phone" as in phone that was designed to be used with the finger, it'd probably have to be the Onyx concept phone kdarling mentioned (not an actual product). Or the LG Prada, which I think may be the first "touch phone" to ship, and predates the HTC Touch.

If the Neo were to qualify, then Palm Treos would qualify too. Their touch screen technology was the same.

 

[Digital Skunk]

I'm guessing kdarling? He does know quite a bit about the history. He also made the comment about OpenMoko/Neo, which I think isn't correct.

If we were to be looking for the first "touch phone" as in phone that was designed to be used with the finger, it'd probably have to be the Onyx concept phone kdarling mentioned (not an actual product). Or the LG Prada, which I think may be the first "touch phone" to ship, and predates the HTC Touch.

If the Neo were to qualify, then Palm Treos would qualify too. Their touch screen technology was the same.

True, it was Kdarling. I didn't do too much looking into the Onyx, but the Prada and the HTC Touch were the others that I'd mention. There was another made by Samsung that fit more with the Treo line but did have an on screen T9 keyboard. It predated the Prada but I can find any hard facts or links for it.

All in all, my main joy with the iPhone rested in the software. Not that all hardware claims are to be ignored, just that Apple never had ( and in some cases still doesn't ) a reputation for putting out the most up-to-date hardware. Apple rules in software, and hardware design.

e.g. While HTC may have phones with 12MP cameras a 4.5" screen, antennae out the wazoo and a quad core processor, they will never have the ecosystem that Apple has developed through software and services.

 

[Born Again]

Are you talking personally? I'd settle for a penny from each one. At 850K activations a day, I could net more than $3 million/year.

lol - id take that too

 

[KPOM]

If we were to be looking for the first "touch phone" as in phone that was designed to be used with the finger, it'd probably have to be the Onyx concept phone kdarling mentioned (not an actual product). Or the LG Prada, which I think may be the first "touch phone" to ship, and predates the HTC Touch.

The Sony Ericsson P800 had a resistive touchscreen in late 2002. While it also came with a tiny stylus, the dial pad was entirely touch-based and could be used with a finger. It came with a removable "keyboard" that really was just a cheap piece of plastic that pressed the touchscreen. I had one and thought it was pretty good for the time. I'm surprised that Symbian UIQ didn't catch on (Motorola and Sony Ericsson were behind it at the time). Instead, Nokia's non-touch S60 was the version that caught on. I had several of their phones, and the UI was awful.

Obviously by today's standards, the P800 is awful, as it had washed out colors, was about an inch thick, and has a relatively small screen, but if Sony Ericsson and others had stuck with it and realized the potential in what they had, the course of mobile phone history could have been very different.

http://www.mobiletechreview.com/sony_ericsson_P800.htm

 

[KPOM]

Apple offering a settlement to manufacturers using Android is essentially an offer to kill Android.

Two out of the three biggest Android manufacturers are already paying Microsoft a hefty per-handset fee. Add in another $10 per handset to Apple, and all of a sudden "free, open-source" Android doesn't look like such a good deal, especially compared to what they would pay for a license for Windows Phone 8.
.

This is pretty close, but I don't think it would kill off Android entirely. Samsung could still sell the Galaxy SII or Note even after paying Microsoft $10 and Apple $10-15. It would have a huge impact on the low end of the market (e.g. emerging markets where phones sell for $30-70), though this wouldn't directly benefit Apple. It might actually benefit Nokia since they still have S40 to sell to that market.

However, it also would affect the mid-range. Right now, Apple does best with the iPhone in markets like the US where the phones are subsidized. It doesn't do as well in markets like Greece or Portugal where the carriers generally don't subsidize and where the economy is too weak for the average buyer to choose a €600 iPhone vs. a €200 Android device.

 

[thekev]

True, it was Kdarling. I didn't do too much looking into the Onyx, but the Prada and the HTC Touch were the others that I'd mention. There was another made by Samsung that fit more with the Treo line but did have an on screen T9 keyboard. It predated the Prada but I can find any hard facts or links for it.

They didn't notice this stuff before Apple, so they claim it didn't exist and that Apple invented it. Apple kind of brings a lot of niche items to the masses. It's their thing. That doesn't mean they pioneered them.

This is pretty close, but I don't think it would kill off Android entirely. Samsung could still sell the Galaxy SII or Note even after paying Microsoft $10 and Apple $10-15. It would have a huge impact on the low end of the market (e.g. emerging markets where phones sell for $30-70), though this wouldn't directly benefit Apple. It might actually benefit Nokia since they still have S40 to sell to that market.

However, it also would affect the mid-range. Right now, Apple does best with the iPhone in markets like the US where the phones are subsidized. It doesn't do as well in markets like Greece or Portugal where the carriers generally don't subsidize and where the economy is too weak for the average buyer to choose a €600 iPhone vs. a €200 Android device.

The low end devices are unlikely to be hit up for that much. None of these articles have been very detailed on the exact terms. It's typical with internet journalism. They give you just enough information to make it seem interesting.