HTC lost to Apple in Patent case

Taipei, Dec. 17 (CNA) The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) said it has decided to review in part a final initial decision it had issued earlier this year in favor of U.S. consumer electronics giant Apple Inc. over Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp. According to a notice filed on its website Friday, after examining the final ruling and the record of investigations, the The United States International Trade Commission has decided to review the matter, as HTC requested in a petition, but will look at only one of the four patents involved.

The ruling issued by an The United States International Trade Commission judge in October found that Apple had not infringed on any of the four patents related to the technology used in Apple's iPhones, iPod and iPad, as HTC had claimed. Furthermore, Apple was found not to be in violation of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930. HTC filed a complaint with the USITC against Apple in May 2011, accusing the U.S. company of stealing four HTC patents related to functions such as power management and phone dialing. The suit was in retaliation to a similar action filed by the U.S. company against HTC in March. In June, the USITC launched probes into HTC's claims and later ruled that Apple had not violated the patents, which prompted HTC to file a petition for a review.

HTC and Apple have been locked in a series of patent litigation amid escalating competition in the global smartphone market. In the complaint filed in March, HTC was accused of infringing on Apple's patents. In an initial decision, the commission found HTC had infringed two of Apple's patents. After two postponements, the The United States International Trade Commission is scheduled to issue a final decision on the case Dec. 19. There have been concerns that HTC would lose the case, which would lead the The United States International Trade Commission to ban sales of HTC products in the company's main market -- the U.S. According to Merrill Lynch, the U.S. market accounts for 40 percent-50 percent of HTC's total sales. (By Frances Huang)

Nexus S & HTC gets 4.0 Ice Cream update

Coming as a festive present for owners of the Samsung Google Nexus S is the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update. Engadget states that this upgrade is only going to be valid for those Nexus S devices running on networks that are GSM and UMTS compatible.
Those who can’t wait for Android 4.0 on a CDMA smartphone can now buy one as Verizon’s Galaxy Nexus with LTE support launched this week. The handset costs $299 with a two-year contract or $649 without. Various reviews have mostly mirrored my own experience with the unlocked GSM Galaxy Nexus I’ve been using for a few weeks, although there are some slight differences.

 

“We’re rolling out Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, to GSM/UMTS Nexus S devices over the coming month, starting today. Enjoy the tasty update! Once you get the update, check out some tips and shortcuts for getting started at the Android 4.0 Help Center,” cited the official Google+ Android page.

The HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation XL and HTC Sensation XE are the smartphones that will be receiving the Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade. Also to be updated are the HTC Rezound, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G and HTC Amaze 4G in the U.S. Released just last month, the latest version of the Google mobile OS brings along a host of unique functionalities such as Face Unlock, the NFC powered Android Beam and the People app.

A hands-on review of the HTC Hero

A couple of months ago HTC announced a new handset called the Hero. Even though it was powered by Android, it was much different than other Android-powered phones such as the G1 and the HTC Magic in the sense that it wasn't Google-branded and also brought along a new user-experience dubbed as the HTC Sense UI.

Looking at the preview of this beauty, I was much appealed by what it had to offer and also because I got quite bored of using my iPhone, so I went ahead and purchased the HTC Hero. So here comes a detailed review:

The body of the phone is what makes it feel like it has come from heaven. It has a fully teflon-coated back which takes it to the next level of smoothness and gives the bearer a great pleasure in holding this little beauty.

Other noticeable features of the phone include, a 3.2-inch touchscreen, a trackball, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi, a 5-megapixel camera, an SD slot and a 1350mAh Lithium-ion battery.

Now there might have been some debate over whether the 528Mhz processor on the back-end makes the Hero an underpowered phone but in my say, it does not. The processor is as good, and even better than many other smartphones out in the market so it all comes down to how many apps you plan to run simultaneously. As in case of the iPhone, its only one app at a time so comparing Hero to the iPhone does not do full justice.

The OS on the phone is an up-lifted version of the Android cupcake with new icons, better navigation and the HTC Sense UI which provides up to 7 workspace screens with custom widgets and addons.

Battery-timing of the phone was what impressed me the most. It managed to survive through a complete day with EDGE turned on 24/7 on the backend and trust me on this one, no one uses EDGE like I do.

Notes to Follow

For those planning to buy this phone, here are some notes to follow:

1. Its Android, so make sure you get a preview of it before going out to purchase an Android phone for the first time.
2. Don't compare it to the iPhone since both have different classes, one has full multitasking features while the other doesn't.
3. Speed is not an issue on this phone as the rumors say, its all about how many apps you want to run in the background.

Good news is that HTC will soon be rolling out an update for the Hero that will make its UI even more fast and snappy. I would definitely recommend this phone to anyone who is tired of the iPhone and wants a change, and also to those who want to experience Android for the first time. (story with Thanks)

HTC Shift UMPC Is Barely Mobile, Hardly Useful

Ultra-mobile PCs are the awkward middle children of gadgets. They're constantly trying to assume the notable attributes of their older and younger siblings, but almost always come up short. On one hand, these little dudes aspire to have a laptop's computational power and ease of use, yet they also endeavor to be diminutive and highly portable, like a smartphone. Unfortunately, the end result is more often than not some ungodly mishmash of half-measures and workarounds, none of which comes close to matching the experience on either end of the spectrum. And, yes, like middle children, they also tend to get ignored and neglected.

HTC's latest UMPC, the Shift, is no exception. It comes bound in an annoying leather case that smacks of smarmy corporate importance. Strangely, you're unable to remove this case, making the Shift awkward to use, when you're, you know, mobile. Speaking of mobility, the Shift weights a little more than 2 pounds -- a tad heavier than most UMPCs out there -- and sports a slide-out, 7-inch touchscreen. This screen can also be tilted upward, if you want to look (and feel) like a ridiculous giant typing on a teeny, tiny laptop.

If you feel like paying the $1,500 that HTC is demanding for the Shift, you'll get a copy of Vista Business, as well as Microsoft's Origami Experience software. Surprisingly, this -- along with the device's built-in CDMA radio (which lets you hop on Sprint's data network when there's no WiFi available) -- was really one of the only useful features on the Shift. Origami basically functions like a touchscreen-enabled version of Windows Media Center and you can quickly call up your browser, videos, music, pictures and RSS feeds with relative ease.

Where battery life is concerned, we managed to squeeze a little more than two hours doing our normal web-browsing and video-gazing routine. The tablet comes with 1GB of memory, a 40GB hard drive and Intel's A110 800-MHz processor. While this is the same chip other UMPCs like Samsung's Q1 Ultra use, the Shift's overall performance skews a bit to the pokey end of the spectrum. $1500 (as tested), htc.com (story Link)

CES 2009: HTC and T-Mobile announce new Shadow with UMA support

While I think the T-Mobile Shadow appealed to a number of people moving from a feature phone (at least that is the type of demographic I saw every time I went into the T-Mobile stores) I don’t think it struck a strong chord with mobile phone enthusiasts. I personally found the T-Mobile Shadow to be one of my favorite non-touch screen smartphones (see my review andfollow up thoughts). Today, HTC and T-Mobile announced the next generation Shadow that will be available in January or February.

The new T-Mobile Shadow will be available in black/burgundy and white with a few improvements over the original T-Mobile Shadow (now available for a measly US$29.99). The improvements include Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard (was 6.0), 260 MHz processor (was 201 MHz) and UMA support for functionality with the T-Mobile HotSpot @Home service. I personally found the first Shadow more than adequate and think these improvements are all that was really needed, with the exception of a GPS receiver. I would be happy just to get 6.1 on my existing Shadow and wish T-Mobile would provide that upgrade. (story Link)