Tech Round Up: Apple and Microsoft vs Google, Sony's Green Credentials

Anyone with an interest in the competition between mobile platforms will already know about the patent wars that have been raging. The latest news this week concerns a German court upholding Apple’s claim that Motorola has infringed their slide-to-unlock patent. This concerns the simple act of sliding your finger from left to right in order to unlock your smartphone. Google has filed for a patent for an unlock screen which is a circle with a dot in the middle and sliding in any direction will unlock it. Do we, as consumers, really care about this? Should you be allowed to patent a gesture anyway? These kinds of arguments are usually settled out of court by licensing agreements but there is major enmity between the players in the mobile market right now.

Google’s Android platform has been targeted by Apple and Microsoft. Your point of view on this will probably depend on which company you prefer or possibly which you have invested in. Either Google gave away Android free of licensing costs to gain a big market share, exploiting technology developed by Apple and Microsoft in the process, or they wanted to create a level playing field and open up the market. So we’ve got Apple suing Android manufacturers like Samsung and Motorola, Samsung and Motorola are counter suing and Microsoft is forcing licensing agreements on every Android manufacturer they can find. Microsoft and Apple (along with a few others) teamed up to grab the Nortel patents. Google bought Motorola Mobility which many analysts are arguing was a move to strengthen their patent portfolio (though Google insists it is about more than that). There have been wins and losses on both sides but there’s unlikely to be a clear winner because both sides have legitimate claims.

This is a big legal battle that looks set to run for a long time. If you’re interested in the legal complexities then this Foss Patents blog post makes interesting reading. If you want to know more about the patent wars and licensing then check out this excellent article at The Verge.

The fight against Google on the one side and Apple and Microsoft on the other has been in the news on another front this week. Concerns were raised about Google circumventing Apple privacy settings on the Safari browser. If you’re concerned then check out this article at The Washington Post which explains what they were actually doing and points out that they have now stopped. Microsoft wouldn’t miss an opportunity like this so they charged into the argument with an IE Blog post suggesting that Google bypasses privacy settings in Internet Explorer as well. Google was quick to respond with a statement you can find at The Verge which calls Microsoft’s policy “non-operational”.

The issue of tracking online behavior and privacy rights, whether you are signed into a service or not, is clearly concerning people. The reason behind it is generally to target relevant advertising at you. I wouldn’t be fooled into thinking that it’s any more for Apple and Microsoft than just another front to open up against their sworn enemy.

Getting away from the bitter tech war for a moment it was nice to see a positive story on Tech Radar about beleaguered tech giant Sony. They may have posted big losses and the release of the most powerful handheld gaming console ever in the shape of the PS Vita looks like it could be every bit as disastrous as Nintendo’s 3DS but they are engaged in some extremely smart green practices so let’s show them some love and buy a new Sony TV.

Do you take sides in the tech war? Post a comment and share your thoughts.