Android dispute may be ended by Google Oracle meeting

The CEOs from Oracle and Google are going to face each other in court today for resolving a dispute which is threatening to become the biggest danger to Google’s Android mobile OS, which now runs on over 150 million mobile devices. Larry Page from Google and Larry Ellison from Oracle have been ordered by the court to appear before a magistrate of federal court in San Jose after their year-long tussle over patents. Oracle has accused Google of infringing on its patents related to the Java software of the company, and if the parties agree on a settlement outside the court they will not have to run the risk of having to accept the decision of a jury on the dispute.
A lawyer named Scott Daniels compared the situation with Gorbachev and Reagan, as the biggest probability of settling the dispute will need the CEO’s of both the companies at the scene. The suit filed by Oracle in August 2010 could very well represent a much bigger threat to the Google platform than the court cases filed by Apple Inc. which has already won several decisions against the manufacturers of Android based devices.
During the negotiations for settlements, Page will attempt to avoid paying licensing fees to Oracle, which according to several analyst estimates can go as high as $15 for every device. This fee can lead to slower adoption of the platform by device manufacturers, even as Google gives it away for free.
While arriving at the court house, Page said that the company is looking to have a productive day. The dispute has acquired some more tension as Ellison is under increasing pressure to derive profit from Oracle’s takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc. which owns the Java software which is the center of contention here. He said in an interview that the company will look to do the best that it can.
A Google spokesman, Aaron Zamost, and also an Oracle spokeswoman, Deborah Hellinger, did not comment on the issue. According to Neil Herman, who is an analyst, this lawsuit has seen Ellison demonstrate his caliber as an opponent for Google. Herman said that Larry Ellison has always had a very masterful ability for hiring great attorneys who give him effective advice which lead to his frequent successes in court room battles.

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Google Branded SIM Cards Indicate Google Voice More Than Just a Compliment to Existing Service in Spain?

An interesting rumor has come out of Spanish site Xataka Android. Apparently, Google-branded SIM cards have been spotted and tested on the Nexus S The rumor suggests Google will look to either Pepephone or Simyo to help them become an actual carrier. On the photo below, you can see the carrier branding is “Google_Es”.
This is interesting, though methods do exist that allow users to change carrier branding themselves. We doubt Google Voice will translate into a Google-run carrier business, but the possibility does remain. For the time being, it’s still just a companion service to the cellular service you already have. [Thanks Roberto!]

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Download: New Gingerbread Build for the HTC Thunderbolt

The folks at Android Police have leaked a Gingerbread build for the HTC Thunderbolt It’s version 2.11.605.2, but as always we’re unsure as to what’s different between this and any previous leaks. We do know that it keeps users on HTC Sense 2.1, but that was to be expected. This is an unrooted RUU file, meaning rooted users may want to wait until developers of their favorite ROMs incorporate the update. For those who aren’t rooted and want to give it a shot, be sure to download the file here and follow the instructions below.

• Rename the file to “PG05IMG.zip” (without quotes)
• Drop it on the root of your SD Card
• Turn off your device
• Hold Volume Down + Power to reboot into the bootloader — the file should automatically be detected and the flashing process will begin.
• Wait for your device to complete the process and reboot

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Sprint to cap mobile hot spot data plans starting October 2

Sprint has gone and killed off one of the few things that many of us liked about the carrier. It has stuck to the unlimited offerings while other carriers have been killing them off. Sprint is having second thoughts now as it has confirmed to BGR that it will in fact place a cap on mobile hotspot data used from Android smartphones and other smartphones starting early in October.

The data cap is set at 5GB and will go into effect on October 2. The cap will apply to WiFi tethering on 3G or 4G networks and will not count on the actual phone data plan says Sprint. If this goes smoothly for Sprint though I would not be surprised in the least to see, caps come to normal data plans too. Sprint is mum on what any overages will cost the user.
It has been rumored that the overage charges will be in the area of $0.05 per megabyte, which will get expensive very Quickly. The new hotspot plan will apparently still cost $29.99 monthly to use. I guess it’s still good that the normal data plans are unlimited, but a cap on one part certainly puts a damper on things.
[via BGR]

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HTC gives Sense 3.5 users 5GB of Dropbox storage for free

HTC has announced a tie up with a popular cloud storage service called Dropbox to bring users more storage space. The partnership between the two will see new HTC users get 5GB of free Dropbox storage space to use for storing whatever files or media they want. That 5GB of storage is over twice the normal amount of storage that Dropbox offers for free.

The free storage service will be offered on the newest Android handsets from HTC. One of the handsets that will get the 5GB of Dropbox space is the new HTC Rhyme that launched this week. The Rhyme runs Sense 3.5 and as more devices are launched using Sense 3.5 they will all get 5GB of space from Dropbox. The cool part is that the user will be able to shoot a photo on the smartphone and then the phone will be synced to any other devices the user has running Dropbox software like their computer.
Pocket-lint points out that the Dropbox deal may not make it to the Windows phones smartphones that will be coming. The HTC source apparently noted that WP7 has a similar offer backed in with Skydrive. Skydrive is offering 25GB of free storage space. At this time, we still have no idea if HTC will be upgrading older handsets to Sense 3.5 allowing them access to the cloud storage.
[via Pocket-lint]

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Motorola Droid X keyboard fixer updated

Owners of the Motorola Droid X, have been experiencing some issues with the keyboard causing the device to freeze and reboot. Motorola seems to be rolling out the .605 update which some users have reported fixes the current issues with the keyboard. However the release of the update has not gone as smoothly as some had hoped with other issues coming up from the update.

Overall, the entire update is a sizeable 113MB, all to fix one seemingly minor issue. The only thing Motorola lists on the changelog for the update is that it “resolved keyboard stability and usability issues in order to optimize performance during text entry.” Furthermore, RootzWiki, who had been offering the .605 update for download, has pulled the update, citing that the update made the device more buggy overall.
Whether or not the file that RootzWiki had been hosting is the same file as the update that is being pushed out to the Droid X is yet to be confirmed. But, if you want to pull the update to your phone you can do so directly on your Droid X by tapping the menu key, settings, about phone, system updates, and download. Do so at your own risk however as downgrading your firmware after installing the update may not be as simple if you ever decide that you want to go back.

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HTC Evo 4G and Kyocera Echo Have Reached Their End Of Life

It’s the end of an era, folks. T’was the world’s first 4G smartphone and first Android device to feature a 4.3-inch screen and front facing camera. Yes folks, the HTC EVO 4G will finally reach its “End of Life” (EOL) in only a few short weeks. Even though the Evo 4G beat out all other Android devices in sales last quarter, that wasn’t enough to save the device from EOL’ing. In fact, the white Evo 4G has actually been rushed to the slaughter house a little sooner with it reaching its untimely death only a few days ago on Sept 18th.
Keep in mind, this is an actually an updated list from the EOL we posted back in July and it serves as a bitter reminder of the (black) HTC Evo 4G’s fate. Anyone else feeling a bit sentimental about this?
(Oh yeah — and the Echo will be discontinued too.)
[Via SprintFeed]

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AT&T, T-Mobile court date set for merger hearing

For those of you that had high hopes for the AT&T and T-Mobile merger, U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle set the non-jury trial for February 13th, 2012. A compromise between AT&T’s requested date for January 16th, and the government’s requested date of March 19th. Though Judge Huvelle had set aside 6 months for the trial, lawyers from both AT&T and the Department of Justice believe that the trial will be settled short of the allotted time.

Earlier, Sprint’s attempt to have their case merged with the Department of Justice was blocked by the very same judge. A loss on the part of AT&T would prove to be truly devastating as the company could potentially lose up to $6 billion dollars should the merger not go through. However, even if the merger does happen to fail, AT&T seems confident that they could still avoid the breakage fee under “a number of options”.
That said, the only potential loser should this merger fail is AT&T. T-Mobile users face little to lose as AT&T has already stated that should the merger go through, T-Mobile customers would still be able to maintain their current plans as previously announced. Though the merger would reduce competition in the U.S., a consolidated network would allow provide an ailing AT&T with a greater number of accessible towers, and would add to their available bandwidth for use with their 4G network.
[via TmoNews]

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ViewSonic V430 Android smartphone appears in Russia

ViewSonic is back today with another Android handset spotted in Russia. You might not remember many Android phones from ViewSonic but they had the V350 and then the scary ViewPad 4. Today we have the V430 Android 2.2 FroYo smartphone — Yes sadly we said Froyo but we have hopes it might get a boost to some Gingerbread.

This time around it appears ViewSonic learned their lesson after the atrocious ViewPad 4 because the V430 is thin, sleek, and looks quite nice from first impressions. It has a slick design that is similar to most, all while differing enough to be its own device. The name says it all (V430) and this will be rocking a 4.3″ display but resolution and type remains unknown.

Unfortunately like we mentioned above it seems ViewSonic for some unknown reason is going with the old and outdated Android 2.2 FroYo with the V430 rather than the latest 2.3 Gingerbread we’ve all been enjoying for a while now. We hope to hear more details and possibly see an updated version. Along with the 4.3″ screen we have a 1.0 Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a 5 MP camera around the rear and VGA front, then the usual Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and sensors like most smartphones these days. So, Android 2.2 should have a neat user interface over the top to keep things simple and fresh. The V430 is set to debut in Russia although our Russian spies have no further details on other markets planned, or a price at the moment but we will keep digging.
[via Unwired View]

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