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If you can’t beat ’em, SUE ’em!

Yesterday, Microsoft sued Motorola and alleged that several of Motorola’s Android devices infringe Microsoft patents.

Some of us who remember the “QuickTime” settlement find this amusing! :-)

Microsoft sued Motorola in U.S. District Court in Washington and brought a complaint before the International Trade Commission. Microsoft alleges that Motorola infringes nine Microsoft patents related to smartphone functions such as syncing email, calendar, and contacts and notifying applications about signal strength and battery power, using Motorola’s Droid 2 phone as an example.

No stranger to “strong-arm” tactics, Microsoft has been arguing that phone makers should consider potential intellectual-property issues while trying to persuade phone makers to use Windows Phone 7. (By June of 2010, you recall, Web use on Windows Mobile was included with “other” at the very bottom of Web usage graphs. RIM’s OS was FIRST in market share and THIRD in Web use share. More about that below.) Motorola was once a major licensee of Windows Mobile, but in recent years has shifted to Android. (Note added November 1, 2010: … and a GOOD THING, too! Android has pushed Motorola “into the black!”)

According to another CNET article, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is only getting half ($670,000) of the bonus for which he is eligible this year, “due to issues his company has faced competing in the mobile market.”

Microsoft’s board said that “the unsuccessful launch of the Kin phone; loss of market share in the company’s mobile phone business; and the need for the Company to pursue innovations to take advantage of new form factors” also figured into its compensation decision. Does “new form factor” = tablet?

My heart goes out to Mr. Ballmer, :-) but I think that most of us could live fairly well on his reduced bonus dollars ALONE. There goes that “corporate greed” thing again….

Speaking of “tablets,” (if Microsoft’s tablet should be NoDoz, then RIM’s should be SmartPills [good for diagnosing “functional constipation”] :-) ) – what about RIM’s tablet, the PlayBook? Once again I find myself disagreeing with a Brooke Crothers’ article that concludes, “The point is, RIM has got my attention. And if they execute, the iPad will truly have some stiff competition.” I find myself instead looking at RIM’s mobile market share (#1) and mobile Web use share (#3). Do the stats really reflect the inability of Blackberry users (in California, these are mostly Republicans :-) ) to figure out how to use the Web with the device, OR do the figures reflect the purchase of RIM devices by corporations, and the desire of the users to avoid their company “looking over their shoulders” (oh… it IS! :-) ) as they use the Web? Or, is there some other reason….

As for the article’s comments on Flash… maybe the article is ignoring the significance of Apple’s reversal in their licensing agreement and Adobe’s resurrection of the “Flash to iPhone” app. I would discount Flash as a differentiator!

RIM is not suddenly going to acquire a new user base that will make their devices shine in Web use statistics. And Apple’s creative and tech-savvy customers will be sure to reward Apple’s innovation with smart purchases….

-Bill at

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