Microsoft

We told you earlier this month that a judge in the Google/Oracle case ordered the companies to disclose any payments it made to journalists, bloggers, and other members of media who made commentary or reported on the lawsuit. It was no secret at the time, but even paid blogger Florian Mueller of Foss Patents admitting previously that Oracle, in addition to other companies such as Microsoft, funded some of the posts on his blog.

Oracle later disclosed to the courts that Mueller was indeed a paid “consultant.” Today, we get an update on Google’s follow up to the judge’s request in a recent court filing (via The Verge).

While the majority of the people listed by Google include former interns, copyright lawyers, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, The Verge noted Mark Lemley, a Stanford professor who is often quoted by Google with no mention of the relationship, appears on the list as Google’s “outside counsel” for unrelated cases. Another name mentioned in the document is Google employee Tim Bray. The document cited tweets made by Bray from his personal Twitter account related to the case:

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Disclosure: I was in the pay of Google throughout the Oracle litigation.But <sob> I couldn’t say anything.

— Tim Bray (@timbray) August 7, 2012

A judge ruled today that Google and Oracle must disclose any payments made to Internet authors, journalists, or bloggers for published commentary related to the Google vs. Oracle lawsuit involving Android software.

The trial is just now ending, but Judge William Alsup issued a court order (PDF) today that calls for both companies to divulge which Internet-based journalists were compensated. The judge is apparently concerned that evidence in the case includes analysis from influenced bloggers.

FOSS Patents‘ Florian Mueller revealed in April that Oracle and Microsoft pay for posts on his blog, where he regularly discusses the Google vs. Oracle case.

The full court order is below: 

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Microsoft is no stranger to signing up Android vendors to licensing agreements. Most of the major Android device manufactures are already paying the company royalties, and Microsoft is currently involved in various cases with Motorola in the U.S. and elsewhere. The latest from Microsoft’s intellectual property group is a statement posted by the group’s head Horacio Gutierrez and Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith (via AllThingsD). In a message titled “A Solid Foundation for Peace”, Microsoft explained its willingness to negotiate a settlement of its current litigation with Motorola:

Microsoft has always been, and remains open to, a settlement of our patent litigation with Motorola. As we have said before, we are seeking solely the same level of reasonable compensation for our patented intellectual property that numerous other Android distributors – both large and small – have already agreed to recognize in our negotiations with them. And we stand ready to pay reasonable compensation for Motorola’s patented intellectual property as well.

However, within the post, Microsoft also noted its requirements for reaching a settlement over its various Android-related patent cases with Motorola—which include a comprehensive agreement covering all patents in question:

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German news website Mobiflip appears to have leaked slides of the Sony Experia tablet.

The images depict a device, called the “Xperia Sony Tablet”, featuring a Tegra 3 processor, Android 4.0 or later, up to 64GB of built-in storage, 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, 6000mAh battery, and a 8.8mm aluminum shell that is 42 percent thinner than the Tablet S.

Perhaps most interesting is the new super-thin keyboard that resembles the Touch cover keyboard that Microsoft announced earlier this year with its Surface Tablet. The Sony Experia’s keyboard cover seals the entire tablet and doubles as a kickstand.

One slide assigned the keyboard cover a $99.99 retail price tag, while the tablet is $449.99 for the 16 GB model, $549.99 for the 32 GB, and $649.99 for the 64 GB. A release date is notable absent.

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As noted in a report from Ars Technica, the ITC’s import ban on Motorola Android devices is set to kick in tomorrow. It covers 18 Motorola products infringing patents related to Microsoft’s Exchange Active Sync technology. Motorola, of course, has the option to pay Microsoft to license the patent, as it has in the past, but the company told Ars in a statement that it plans to continue selling its flagship devices in the U.S. following tomorrow’s ban:

“In view of the ITC exclusion order which becomes effective Wednesday with respect to the single ActiveSync patent upheld in Microsoft’s ITC-744 proceeding, Motorola has taken proactive measures to ensure that our industry leading smartphones remain available to consumers in the US,” Motorola said. “We respect the value of intellectual property and expect other companies to do the same.”

The following Motorola devices are covered by the ITC ruling: the Motorola Atrix, Backflip, Bravo, Charm, Cliq, Cliq 2, Cliq XT, Defy, Devour, Droid 2, Droid 2 Global, Droid Pro, Droid X, Droid X2, Flipout, Flipside, Spice, and Xoom.

Ars also received a statement from Microsoft’s Deputy General Counsel David Howard:

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[youtube=http://youtu.be/sYBy0p485Sc]

Microsoft is slated to unveil its next iteration of Office today, and The Wall Street Journal’s Shira Ovide is prepping the announcement with some comparison data about the productivity suite and its direct cloud-based rival Google Apps.

According to the WSJ’s video above, Dominion Enterprises held a $2 million annual contract with Microsoft, but it recently decided to switch to Google Apps. The company now pays $200,000 for Google’s services.

Despite the loss, the Office sodtware remains a hugely successful product for Microsoft. It is one of the company’s most profitable goods, and it continues to maintain a stronghold in the desktop productivity market. Google Apps, on the other hand, is still in its infancy, but it is rapidly gaining steam and attention.

Today’s announcement from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will surely set the pace for the company’s future against the ever-growing Google Apps.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvsboPUjrGc&feature=player_embedded]

The August issue of Vanity Fair fully dissects “How Microsoft Lost Its Mojo,” but it also gives an interesting glimpse at how the once-reigning tech company foolishly underestimated Google.

The actual article is not online, but BetaBeat obtained a physical copy and found a little nugget buried inside that describes chief executive Steve Ballmer going on a rampage in 2004. After allegedly throwing a chair, the CEO had this to scream say about an engineer who left Microsoft for Google:

“Fucking Eric Schmidt is a fucking pussy!” Ballmer yelled, according to the court document. “I’m going to fucking bury that guy! I have done it before and I will do it again. I’m going to fucking kill Google.”

Ballmer is notorious for his emotional antics and miscalculated quotes about the competition. The video atop is a perfect demonstration of Ballmer going, well, crazy. Meanwhile, the video below shows the executive laughing about the iPhone in 2007, while dismissing its ability to handle business-oriented tasks due to its lack of a tangible keyboard.

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Google executives are now on-stage for the second day of Google I/O to announce Compute Engine—its full-featured contender against Amazon and Microsoft’s cloud-computing services.

Google Senior Vice President Urz Holzle revealed the Infrastructure platform allows any sized businesses with large computing requirements to run applications on Google data center servers. Computer Engine also features multiple storage options with expansive connectivity to end-users.

It already beta tested with customers, as the Institute for Systems Biology, for instance, applied it to a Genome Explorer app. Holzle even demonstrated the ISB genome explorer running on 600,00 cores, but he noted there are 771,886 cores available to the app.

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Google attempted to “set the record straight” today with a blog post aimed to dismantle rising anti-competitive claims against the world’s leading search engine.

The Wall Street Journal published a scathing post yesterday—penned by the CEO of online retailer Nextag—that essentially painted Google as a monopoly. No—Jeff Katz did not paint; he declared:

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(via <a href="http://phandroid.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Nokia-Event-Elop-Ballmer-10_web1-550x369.jpg" target="_blank">Phandroid</a>)

Google claimed in a formal complaint with the European Commission recently that Microsoft and Nokia conspired to use their patents against competitors.

“Nokia and Microsoft are colluding to raise the costs of mobile devices for consumers, creating patent trolls that side-step promises both companies have made,” said Google in a statement to The Wall Street Journal, while Microsoft deemed the search engine’s filing as a “desperate tactic.”

According to the filing, Microsoft and Nokia entered agreements that allow Mosaid Technologies Inc. to legally enforce patents and share the outcome’s revenue. Reuters further specified that the two collaborating companies moved 1,200 patents to Mosaid.

Google called Mosaid a “patent troll” for holding patents and litigating hawkishly, and then it described its filing as a “pre-emptive measure against a developing legal hazard for Android partners.” In a nutshell: Google’s “legal hazard” concerns if smartphone manufacturers begin to view Android as a legal danger, they may decide to do business with Microsoft and Nokia instead.

“Google is complaining about antitrust in the smartphone industry when it controls more than 95 percent of mobile search and advertising,” added Microsoft in an emailed statement to The Wall Street Journal.

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Image <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N&biw=1443&bih=1024&tbm=isch&tbnid=3642QYSvxzGrcM:&imgrefurl=http://softsupplier.com/motorola-could-ban-xbox-and-windows-7-in-germany-116254/&docid=qRX9o3-WG3oxWM&imgurl=http://softsupplier.com/wp-content/plugins/jobber-import-articles/photos/135951-motorola-could-ban-xbox-and-windows-7-in-germany-2.jpg&w=640&h=480&ei=KF68T_20B-3G6AGOpIw9&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=712&vpy=557&dur=4896&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=166&ty=137&sig=110833262350628042404&page=2&tbnh=159&tbnw=217&start=28&ndsp=36&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:28,i:144" target="_blank">via</a> Phandroid

An administrative law judge for the United States International Trade Commission has recommended a ban on Xbox gaming consoles from importing stateside.

According to the recommendation (PDF), which publicly released yesterday, the U.S. ban of 4 GB and 250 GB consoles would essentially penalize Xbox’s manufacturer, Microsoft, for allegedly infringing on Motorola’s patents. ArsTechnica noted the patents under dispute concern video transmission and compression on the Xbox and between controllers.

“[…] It is recommended that the Commission enter a limited exclusion order against infringing Microsoft products. It is further recommended that the Commission issue a cease and desist order. Additionally, it is recommended that Microsoft be required to post a bond for importation of accused products during the Presidential review period,” stated Administrative Law Judge David P. Shaw in the public recommendation.

Courthouse News emphasized that the bond sum suggested by the judge would equal to 7 percent of Xbox’s unsold inventory value already present in the country.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySwn_1o8zfs]

Earlier this month, Microsoft’s search engine Bing unveiled a new style that looks strikingly like Google’s homepage user-interface, but today the Redmond, Wash.-based Company branched from the design and announced a host of new features.

The redesign is still very Google-esque, but the notable aspect to this change is that Microsoft is continuing to make jabs at its primary competitor all the while conducting an obvious rip-off. The Windows-maker even detailed to users in a Bing blog post that its search relevance and quality surpassed Google’s when all signs of branding were removed from the search engines’ homepages:

From the outset, we knew that serving relevant results that were equal to or better than the other guy was table stakes. To track our progress, we conducted tests that removed any trace of Google and Bing branding. When we did this study in January of last year 34% people preferred Bing, while 38% preferred Google. The same unbranded study now shows that Bing Search results now have a much wider lead over Google’s. When shown unbranded search results 43% prefer Bing results while only 28% prefer Google results. What this means is that in 3 years we’ve made some real progress in core relevance and search quality, and while search is becoming so much more than just web results, having a rock solid foundation is important for the future of Bing and search more generally.

Screenshots are available below.

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Following announcements from Microsoft that it will restrict third-party browsers in its upcoming Windows 8 release for ARM devices, Google has weighed in and expressed concerns by claiming the decision restricts “user choice, and innovation.” Mozilla, makers of the Firefox browser, recently expressed similar concerns in several blogs posts (here and here). Mozilla project manager Asa Dotzler, who is leading development of Firefox for Windows 8, claimed, “Microsoft is trying to lock out competing browsers,” and he called it a “direct violation of the promises they made to developers, users, and OEMs.” Today, Google provided the following statement to CNET mirroring Mozilla’s complaints:

 

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