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The Rule of Law still applies in the UK so I would expect if Imagination does sue in a UK court, the case will be adjudicated on the facts and not the local interest.

Wrong! UK realistically owns US and Australia, via the majority groups in power. Three united, that is basically the majority power of the whole world. When it is necessary, UK is capable of make any principle be eventually considered one of the basic rules that should be applied worldwide.
 
Wrong! UK realistically owns US and Australia, via the majority groups in power. Three united, that is basically the majority power of the whole world. When it is necessary, UK is capable of make any principle be eventually considered one of the basic rules that should be applied worldwide.

Huh? I can assure you, the federal court system in the US doesn't care one iota about the U.K.
 
Your bad mathematics reminds me of a certain UK Shadow Cabinet member’s arithmetic skills.
To be honest, it's you that made a mathematical mistake. Since it's converting from a USD base value to a UKP value, you should be calculating the percentage using the USD->UKP exchange rates, which are the reciprocals of the 1.6, 1.3 values you referred in earlier comments. So the difference is actually ~25%.
 
To be honest, it's you that made a mathematical mistake. Since it's converting from a USD base value to a UKP value, you should be calculating the percentage using the USD->UKP exchange rates, which are the reciprocals of the 1.6, 1.3 values you referred in earlier comments. So the difference is actually ~25%.
I think the right wing press in England is convincing these guys that the pound has made some sort of comeback. They don't understand that even though it isn't as a bad as it was, it's still really bad.
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WOW! That's one extreme and uneducated comment right there!
Loonies, I have to agree 100%. Xenophobic loonies? NO!
Speaking of stupid voting and xenophobic loonies, How are things in the US with your new president?
Absolute *****. And unlike you, I admit it, and admit it was a bunch of xenophobic loonies who elected him.
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I think the fact that apple poached a shedload of Imagination Technologies employees is proof that apple have done wrong here.

They all relocated to Ca, not just for the sunny climate and more money.

No, pretty sure they went for the sunny climate and more money. As a former east coast engineer who moved to California for exactly those reasons, I assure you it's not uncommon.
 
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Considering how often Apple gets sued for patent infringement by "patent trolls", I would expect they've done their due diligence to ensure that they have removed any proprietary Imagination IP from their design. As cmaier noted, it is up to Imagination to prove that Apple is illegally using their IP. If they feel they have a case, they'll sure when Apple launches their first GPU after the license agreement is terminated.




The Rule of Law still applies in the UK so I would expect if Imagination does sue in a UK court, the case will be adjudicated on the facts and not the local interest.



While Steve Jobs quoted Pablo Picasso about "good artists copy; great artists steal", Picasso meant that great artists learn from past masters, incorporating what they like into their own idea and creating something unique from it.

So Apple will have certainly learned from using Imagination's PowerVR IP under license on how to create a mobile device GPU, but they will not just simply copy it - which would be IP infringement. They will instead use it as the inspiration to create their own, unique GPU that does not infringe (in Apple's mind) on Imagination's IP.
Breaking into the GPU Market without being somebody already established is legally next to impossible. I've been following video card markets since the 1990's when 3DFX engineers first broke away from SGI. Every operation used in software and hardware is patented and then reverse-engineered and re-patented by each of the big 3-4 GPU makers and also by various software houses. The cross-licensing required in the industry to release anything working means you need to have agreeents with a dozen companies. You CAN'T with legal certainty say you cut out all of one specific company's IP.. because you'd automatically infringe on two other companies' IP you didn't know about.

Somebody at Apple is getting to big for their britches. Imagination has always been a B-tier GPU player. This isn't "escaping" a large player like Qualcomm... imagination was the only company licensing their tech on terms early iOS Apple could remotely meet. ATi and nVidia technologies both have funamental design differences that won't meet Apple's needs. Apple is shooting their good thing dead here.
 
Breaking into the GPU Market without being somebody already established is legally next to impossible. I've been following video card markets since the 1990's when 3DFX engineers first broke away from SGI. Every operation used in software and hardware is patented and then reverse-engineered and re-patented by each of the big 3-4 GPU makers and also by various software houses. The cross-licensing required in the industry to release anything working means you need to have agreeents with a dozen companies. You CAN'T with legal certainty say you cut out all of one specific company's IP.. because you'd automatically infringe on two other companies' IP you didn't know about.

Somebody at Apple is getting to big for their britches. Imagination has always been a B-tier GPU player. This isn't "escaping" a large player like Qualcomm... imagination was the only company licensing their tech on terms early iOS Apple could remotely meet. ATi and nVidia technologies both have funamental design differences that won't meet Apple's needs. Apple is shooting their good thing dead here.

Apple has a ton of GPU patents.
 
Breaking into the GPU Market without being somebody already established is legally next to impossible. I've been following video card markets since the 1990's when 3DFX engineers first broke away from SGI. Every operation used in software and hardware is patented and then reverse-engineered and re-patented by each of the big 3-4 GPU makers and also by various software houses. The cross-licensing required in the industry to release anything working means you need to have agreeents with a dozen companies. You CAN'T with legal certainty say you cut out all of one specific company's IP.. because you'd automatically infringe on two other companies' IP you didn't know about.

Somebody at Apple is getting to big for their britches. Imagination has always been a B-tier GPU player. This isn't "escaping" a large player like Qualcomm... imagination was the only company licensing their tech on terms early iOS Apple could remotely meet. ATi and nVidia technologies both have funamental design differences that won't meet Apple's needs. Apple is shooting their good thing dead here.
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-...tm&r=0&f=S&l=50&d=PTXT&Query=An/apple+And+gpu
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And some more:

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-...ics+pipeline"+or+"graphics+processor")&d=PTXT
 
Breaking into the GPU Market without being somebody already established is legally next to impossible. I've been following video card markets since the 1990's when 3DFX engineers first broke away from SGI. Every operation used in software and hardware is patented and then reverse-engineered and re-patented by each of the big 3-4 GPU makers and also by various software houses. The cross-licensing required in the industry to release anything working means you need to have agreeents with a dozen companies. You CAN'T with legal certainty say you cut out all of one specific company's IP.. because you'd automatically infringe on two other companies' IP you didn't know about.

Somebody at Apple is getting to big for their britches. Imagination has always been a B-tier GPU player. This isn't "escaping" a large player like Qualcomm... imagination was the only company licensing their tech on terms early iOS Apple could remotely meet. ATi and nVidia technologies both have funamental design differences that won't meet Apple's needs. Apple is shooting their good thing dead here.

Sounds like you're saying Apple doesn't have much knowledge/experience/depth in this area and the patents that protect the technology. Maybe you should contact Apple and let them know?
 
PowerVR tech has given the iPhone a lot of GPU muscle and competitive advantage over Mali and Adreno. Will be interesting to see what Apple is capable of in-house, with a relatively short development period.
 
Breaking into the GPU Market without being somebody already established is legally next to impossible. I've been following video card markets since the 1990's when 3DFX engineers first broke away from SGI. Every operation used in software and hardware is patented and then reverse-engineered and re-patented by each of the big 3-4 GPU makers and also by various software houses. The cross-licensing required in the industry to release anything working means you need to have agreeents with a dozen companies. You CAN'T with legal certainty say you cut out all of one specific company's IP.. because you'd automatically infringe on two other companies' IP you didn't know about.
What you're saying is that the patent system is fundamentally broken at least in the field of GPUs, if there's no way for anyone to make anything in the field without infringing somebody's patents.

In any case... I'm starting to think it'd be great if Apple were to buy NVidia. They'd get a ton of that IP, and could task NVidia's engineers to build precisely the chips Apple needs. And we'd get CUDA support on Apple hardware.
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I'm not sure who disclosed Apple's notice to quit, Apple or Imagination. In any case, since it's material information, as a publicly traded company Imagination would have had to disclose it at at the latest in their next quarterly report.
If I remember correctly (haven't been following too closely), it started as you suggest with Imagination necessarily disclosing in some financial report that they were expecting to lose their primary customer. As a company heavily reliant on sales to Apple, it wasn't too hard to "put 2 and 2 together". I'm not sure if they (initially) said Apple, or if it was inferred.
 
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Sounds like you're saying Apple doesn't have much knowledge/experience/depth in this area and the patents that protect the technology. Maybe you should contact Apple and let them know?

With all the failed business acquisitions, sales, and product launches instigated by the biggest giants in the tech industries - the idea that "They know what they are doing, they have the knowledge/experience" argument falls flat on it's face.

I am not saying this is a good or a bad move by Apple, as myself I don't know enough about the industry, but never doubt the ability of a company to be incompetent at times or make mistakes.
 
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PowerVR tech has given the iPhone a lot of GPU muscle and competitive advantage over Mali and Adreno. Will be interesting to see what Apple is capable of in-house, with a relatively short development period.


they have had a GPU design center for several years in orlando, with lots of GPU engineers. I don't think they woke up last month and said 'screw it lets build one'
 
I said that the U.K. is represented in the EU. You said I am wrong. You have yet to explain why. Merely repeating that I don't know what I'm talking about is evidence that i am right.
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Americans have to live with the result of our election. just like the U.K. does. And whining that Apple raised its prices because of brexit is nothing more than whining - everyone said the pound would plummet if brexit won. And it did. And higher prices on imports is the completely predictable consequence.
I didn't complain in the slightest about the price changes.
 
With all the failed business acquisitions, sales, and product launches instigated the biggest giants in the tech industries - the idea that "They know what they are doing, they have the knowledge/experience" argument falls flat on it's face.

I am not saying this is a good or a bad move by Apple, as myself I don't know enough about the industry, but never doubt the ability of a company to incompetent at times or make mistakes.

I agree. Rather than making general and broad straw-man assertions, you could familiarize yourself with the industry and Apple with respect to the specific topic at hand, i.e. Imagination Technologies history, GPU design, Apple's background in graphic design, licensing IP, their many acquisitions over a period of 30+ years, as well as understanding the breadth of their own portfolio and accomplishments. Then, if you still feel that Apple is going forward, blindly without analysis and experience, particularly about the claim I originally commented on that it would be impossible for any company legally breaking into the GPU market, you should advise them about the peril of going forward.
 
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Lol. So it's your theory that for some reason apple has some sort of obligation to buy imagination's technology forever?

Nothing to do with that, it's the way they did it, they devalued them and put them out of business on purpose. We'll hear Apple taking on the staff members soon...
 
Nothing to do with that, it's the way they did it, they devalued them and put them out of business on purpose.

Apple was in no position to prevent Imagination from licensing their PowerVR technology to other smartphone and tablet manufacturers. They appear to have hitched their wagon to Apple because that was where the money was.

Perhaps Imagination should have taken wisdom and warning from that company whose name escapes me but whom was pretty much solely supported by sales / patent licensing of components for the the Apple iPod and when that line shuffled off their mortal coil, said company went into the grave with them.
 
Apple was in no position to prevent Imagination from licensing their PowerVR technology to other smartphone and tablet manufacturers. They appear to have hitched their wagon to Apple because that was where the money was.

Perhaps Imagination should have taken wisdom and warning from that company whose name escapes me but whom was pretty much solely supported by sales / patent licensing of components for the the Apple iPod and when that line shuffled off their mortal coil, said company went into the grave with them.

Apple has raised the stakes in its bitter stand-off with Imagination Technologies by opening an office on the British microchip company’s doorstep.

The Silicon Valley giant has planted its flag by renting a 22,500 square-foot office in St Albans, a stone’s throw from Imagination’s headquarters. It plans to use the office to develop its own graphics technology as it ditches Imagination, leading to fears that it will poach the British company’s most talented staff.




Coincidence?

They clearly did what they did to devalue them on purpose and then eat them up.

Apple need the EU to investigate this and if found guilty, fined billions.
 
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They clearly did what they did to devalue them on purpose and then eat them up.

The only reason for Apple to buy Imagination would be to take over their PowerVR IP and then deny it to other vendors. But based on Imagination's portfolio, Apple is the only major vendor of their PowerVR IP.

And considering Imagination had been losing money, Apple likely could have structured a buy-out at favorable terms and even if they had not, $1 billion is peanuts for them for acquiring a core technology that generates scores of billions in revenue a quarter.
 
The only reason for Apple to buy Imagination would be to take over their PowerVR IP and then deny it to other vendors. But based on Imagination's portfolio, Apple is the only major vendor of their PowerVR IP.

Really? I haven't kept up with Imagination lately, but their PowerVR was used in nearly every top smartphone for years. It was THE mobile device GPU for a long time.

LG, Sony, Ericsson, Motorola, Palm, Blackberry, Samsung, Apple, you name it, they all used it. Plus many chipmakers included it in their systems: TI, NEC, Intel.

I think MediaTek still licenses it for their chips, at least. And there's a rumor that Samsung is going back to it in their next Exynos chips.
 
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Really? I haven't kept up with Imagination lately, but their PowerVR was used in nearly every top smartphone for years. It was THE mobile device GPU for a long time.

Well it is true Apple moves a shedload more high-end smartphones than all the other vendors combined so that might explain why 60-70% of Imagination's revenue comes from Apple while all the other vendors together would make up the other 10-20% (since Imagination does have more than just PowerVR).
 
Well it is true Apple moves a shedload more high-end smartphones than all the other vendors combined so that might explain why 60-70% of Imagination's revenue comes from Apple while all the other vendors together would make up the other 10-20% (since Imagination does have more than just PowerVR).

I was just surprised that others might no longer be using them.

Googling a bit, apparently Apple's royalties, at 30 cents per device, makes up about half their income.
 
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