If you were looking forward to the major update that was supposed to hit the MOTOACTV today, you’re going to have to wait a couple extra days. The update which will bring 40 new activities along with a few other features is now on for Friday March 9th and hopefully this time it will actually happen. We’re assuming Motorola delayed the update due to a certain Apple event that pretty much occupied everyone’s day today. Thankfully Moto didn’t leave us completely empty handed; a video is now up on Youtube showcasing the new features for all you fitness freaks to sweat over. Give the video a look and occupy yourself with some sit-ups until the update hits this Friday.
In a move that would surely have Steve Jobs — the man willing to go thermonuclear war against Android — rolling over in his grave, Apple has apparently offered licensing deals to Samsung and Motorola in an attempt to settle ongoing and future patent suits. According to sources speaking with Dow Jones Newswires, Apple has offered licensing deals in the tune of $5 to $15 per device or the equivalent of 1% to 2.5% of net sales per device. Interestingly enough, these fees are on par with what Apple deemed “unreasonable” after attempts to license patents from Motorola.
Verizon today announced a list of devices they expect to receive the Android 4.0 update. Many manufacturers have already confirmed this information but it’s always nice to hear it straight from a carriers mouth. While no official dates have been given, the list includes devices from HTC, Motorola, Samsung and LG. You can find the full list after the break so stay tuned to see if your Verizon device was given the thumbs up from Big Red.
The patent saga continues with U.S. Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner in Chicago ruling that Motorola and Google must provide Apple with information regarding Android development as well as information about the impending merger. It’s unclear exactly what specific “information” must be provided and while everyone goes ahead and assumes it’s some sort of top secret documentation, I’m betting it’s nothing of the sort and Apple won’t be gaining any trade secrets out of this. It’s all ridiculous and will only end as all of these patent suits have ended, with nothing more than a software update.
The latest ruling to come out of the ridiculous patent game comes in favor of Apple and awards them an injunction on Motorola Android products found to infringe on an Apple patent regarding scrolling behavior in the photo gallery application. What does this ruling actually mean for German users? Nothing really. Motorola will simply push an update to change the scrolling behavior and that will be the end of that. Will German Motorola users notice the change? Most likely not. So what was the point? The same point of everything that involves lawyers — money.
