A recent analysis has estimated that Kodak's digital-imaging patents, which make up just 10 percent of its intellectual property portfolio, are worth $3 billion, more than five times the struggling photography pioneer's current value in terms of market capitalization.
Following Google's bid to purchase Motorola Mobility, Apple is predicted to strike a deal — perhaps with competitors Nokia or RIM — to consolidate its already significant patent portfolio and better position itself both offensively and defensively.
While the move may be good for the parties directly involved, Google's purchase of Motorola is not expected to have a major effect on Apple, Wall Street analysts have said.
A Dutch magazine run by IDC has accused Apple of faking evidence of Samsung's "slavish" copying in its German complaint that the Galaxy Tab 10.2 is "practically identical" in design to the iPad
Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility will not affect Motorola's patent-related lawsuits against Apple, as the search company revealed on Monday it has no plans to rescind those legal complaints.
With its purchase of Motorola Mobility, Google will acquire nearly 25,000 patents, including 17,000 issued, giving it greater leverage in the lawsuit-saturated Android landscape.
Patent litigation from Apple and Microsoft, deemed "anticompetitive" by Google Chief Executive Larry Page, is what prompted the search company to buy handset maker Motorola Mobility.
Google revealed on Monday that it will buy handset maker Motorola Mobility, giving the search giant an entrance into the hardware business and allowing it to compete with Apple more directly by building devices tailored specifically for its Android mobile operating system.
While Google hoped its Android platform could take on the iPad this year, its licensees are finding it difficult to even compete with Apple on the low end. On example, Dell's Streak 5 (aka Mini 5), has just been discontinued, but that hasn't stopped marketing companies like ABI Research from insisting that Android is still a thriving tablet competitor.
While Google has accused Apple, Microsoft and Oracle of a conspiracy to bring down its Android platform using patent infringement claims, Google's own licensees are suing each other, with Motorola intimating its intent to join this trend.
Apple's iOS and Google Android have more than doubled their collective smartphone market share in the last year, and now represent nearly two-thirds of all devices sold, according to Gartner.
After teasing a "major news announcement" for the company, HTC CEO Peter Chou revealed that it has acquired a $300 million majority stake in audio technology company Beats Electronics, with the first HTC product to implement Beats technology due out later this year.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has served Google with broad subpoenas to collect information about how the company conducts business with its Android licensees and the company's liberal borrowing of competitor's information before pushing them out of view.
Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha said on Tuesday that his company is planning to roll out tablets with "aggressive form factors" later this year, while also indicating that smartphones remain the top priority.
Google is reportedly scrambling to deliver the next version of Android for both smartphones and tablets to ensure that iPhone 5 doesn't appear on the market first and without a competitive response from its licensees.
Apple's line of Mac computers are seen making further market share gains in the coming years, growing to 4.5 percent of sales in 2011, and 5.2 percent of new PCs sold in 2015.
A new analysis claims tablet makers looking to compete with the iPad in the market may stand a better chance in Europe, though pricing could be an issue for Apple's rivals.
Apple's primary competitor in smartphone platforms is facing critical new evidence that indicates Google willfully infringed upon Java to develop Android, a finding that could damage Google's efforts to defend Android from additional patent claims from Apple and others.
After a meeting with two of Apple's top executives, RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky said the company's primary requirement for launching a lower-end iPhone is whether the handset would provide an "innovative, category-killer experience."
In response to a public complaint by Google accusing Apple and Microsoft of a patent-wielding conspiracy to hold back its Android platform, Microsoft's general counsel has pointed out that Google rebuffed an invitation to join the consortium, apparently with the hope of obtaining all of the Novell patents for itself.
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Josh Ong
Chris Smith
Neil Hughes
Daniel Eran Dilger
AppleInsider Staff
Katie Marsal
