Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility has been stalled in Europe

Google’s takeover of Motorola Mobility has hit a stumbling block as the European Commission (EC) has suspended its review of the merger.

An EC spokesperson confirmed to Telecoms.com that it “needs certain documents from Google that are essential to its evaluation of the transaction”.

The EC was set to make a decision on Google’s bid to acquire the business on January 10, but has suspended that deadline until it receives the necessary information. Upon receiving it, it will re-start the clock and publish a new Phase I deadline on its website.

Google responded to the news claiming the request for more information was “routine”.

“We’re confident the commission will conclude that this acquisition is good for competition and we’ll be working closely and cooperatively with them as they continue their review,” a Google spokesperson told Telecoms.com.

Google announced the $12.5bn deal in August with the primary purpose being to enhance its patent portfolio as the company and its Android hardware manufacturers have been embroiled in legal disputes with rivals such as Apple.

Most recently, Motorola Mobility won a ruling in a German court against Apple that could see Apple’s iPad and iPhone devices banned in the country.

Sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 are permitted in the US... For now...

Apple has been denied a preliminary injunction to block the sale of Samsung’s touchscreen smartphones and tablets in the US, after a judge in California ruled that the Korean manufacturer’s products would not severely impact Apple’s sales.

The ruling means that Samsung will be able to sell its devices in the US during the traditionally lucrative Christmas season.

US District Judge Lucy Koh in said in a court in San Jose, California: “It is not clear that an injunction on Samsung’s accused devices would prevent Apple from being irreparably harmed.”

Samsung responded to the ruling, with a spokesperson saying that the ruling “confirms our long-held view that Apple’s arguments lack merit. In particular, the court has recognised that Samsung has raised substantial questions about the validity of certain Apple design patents.”

Koh’s ruling only relates to an interim injunction that Apple had been seeking, and there is still a chance that Samsung could see an eventual ban imposed on its devices, when a full trial commences in July 2012. However, Samsung remains optimistic that it will come out victorious in the main trial as well.

“We are confident that we can demonstrate the distinctiveness of Samsung’s mobile devices when the case goes to trial next year,” the spokesperson added.

Apple has been seeking a ban on Samsung products – most aggressively on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet – in various countries across the world. It won its bid to ban sales of the device in Germany, where a Düsseldorf court upheld Apple’s preliminary injunction, which claims that Samsung had infringed its intellectual property and copied the iPad’s design.

Judge Johanna Brueckner-Hoffmann ruled that there was a “clear impression of similarity” between the Apple and the Samsung devices.

The ban could still be extended across the European Union, although Samsung has said that it will “actively and immediately” appeal the ruling and will likely go to a higher court, the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf.

Last week, Samsung was also given the green light to sell its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia, after a court ruled that the device does not infringe on Apple’s patents.

The Cupertino company was granted a temporary injunction that stopped Samsung from selling the device in the country, similar to the injunction it has secured in Germany. However, that has now been overturned.

Despite this, Apple does not plan to make life easy for the Korean manufacturer with reports suggesting that it is likely appeal this latest decision, which could stop Samsung from being able to capitalise on the Christmas sales period in Australia.

Earlier this year, Malik Saadi, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media told Telecoms.com that such patent disputes are stifling innovation in the handset and connected devices markets.

“Initially, the goal of patenting was to protect innovation. Now, the target of patenting is to prevent innovation, because of this protectionism,” said Saadi. “That is really bad for the industry, when you see companies just buying patent rights to use them as legal battle against others – that really kills innovation.”

He added that intellectual property copyright ought to encourage more sharing and innovation, but instead, patenting is becoming purely a legal tool.

“It’s becoming a case that these giants are trying to monopolise innovation and giving a hard time to anyone who wants to innovate their own circle,” Saadi concluded.

Qualcomm's Gobi 4000 could be the integrated LTE/3G chipset that Apple is waiting to include in the iPhone 5

Chipmaker Qualcomm has announced the Gobi 4000, its first integrated chipset that supports LTE and various 3G flavours such as HSPA+, dual-carrier HSPA+, CDMA2000, and 1xEV-DO Rev A and B. The chipset package, which consists of the MDM9600 and MDM9200 chips, is the first integrated 3G/LTE chipset available from Qualcomm, which should bring the increasing efficiency and improved packaging that has prevented Apple from introducing LTE into the iPhone 4GS.

Apple uses Qualcomm previous generation chips for the baseband of its current iPhones and the 3G enabled iPads, making it likely that the new chips will provide a straight upgrade path to an LTE capable iPhone 5 and iPad 3.

According to Cristiano Amon, senior vice president of product management for Qualcomm, the Gobi 4000 chipset will offer, “an uncompromised mobile connectivity experience, both in terms of download speeds and flexibility.” The company said that Gobi 4000-based modules are now available from Novatel Wireless and Sierra Wireless.

While there are many LTE enabled handsets on the market, these involve using a separate 3G and LTE chipsets, which results in an poor battery life, a fact recently criticised by Tommy Ljunggren, head of system development at TeliaSonera in an interview with Telecoms.com, who described them as, “basically a dongle and phone that they glue together. They work – just not for long.”

Ljunggren also said that LTE in the iPhone 5 would be was essential if Apple was to maintain its market share. “It will be a bad mistake not to include LTE in the iPhone 5, as otherwise they will really be run over by the others.”

Dag Kittlaus, entrepreneur and co-founder of Siri

Dag Kittlaus, entrepreneur and co-founder of voice control software and ‘personal assistant’ Siri, has departed Apple just days after seeing his application launched as part of the latest iPhone package.

Kittlaus, who has a background with Telenor and Motorola, was CEO of Siri when it was snapped up by Apple for somewhere in the region of $200m in April, 2010. Siri was founded in 2007 by engineers and developers from Google, Yahoo, Apple, Motorola, Netscape, and eBay among others.

“You can ask Siri questions naturally, just as you would ask your assistant, “Will it rain today?” or, “Get me a table at a good Italian restaurant.” Through the streamlined interface, you won’t have to weed through web pages to get movie tickets or call a cab. Over time, Siri will get to know you and, with your explicit permission, personalize your results,” the company blurb says.

Apple has now packaged the technology as an integral part of the iPhone 4S, which acts as a personal assistant to allow users to control practically all of its functions with their voice.

Siri allows users to find out information, such as the weather, directions to a venue or movie show times. It also allows users to listen to text messages and respond to them with voice and to access and modify content in the address book and calendar.

Apple claims that Siri even adapts to the user’s individual preferences over time and personalises results specific to the user. And according to Malik Saadi, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, Apple competitors will be forced to integrate similar functionality to Siri in their new handsets.

“Voice recognition technology is nothing new – Google has its Google Voice Search for Android and Windows Phone 7 uses Bing voice search. However, these technologies are software based and are not integrated with the hardware. They do not take into account the quality of the handset, such as the clarity of the microphone, and in practice, that’s what makes the iPhone 4S’s voice recognition much more reliable than anything else out there.”

“Siri will push the whole industry into taking the voice recognition engine and integrating it with the hardware, rather than having voice recognition as a software add-on.”

There has been nothing official from Kittlaus yet, but it is reported that he parted with Apple on amicable terms and wants to turn his attention to a new project.

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Ljunggren believes Apple's decision not to support LTE with the iPhone 4S will open the door to competitors

Apple is losing influence over the telecommunications industry, according to a senior exec at Swedish operator TeliaSonera.

Tommy Ljunggren, SVP and head of system development for mobility services at the operator, told Telecoms.com that, due to its decision not to embrace LTE and a recent apparent slowdown in its pace of innovation, Apple’s importance to the market is now the subject of much debate within the industry.

“If you asked me two years ago I would have said Apple would be very important. But now it will be a bad mistake not to include LTE in the iPhone 5 as otherwise they will really be run over by the others,” he said.

He added that competitors are quickly catching up with Apple, and that the company’s supremacy in the handset space is coming into question. Rivals Google and RIM have been busy in recent days, both announcing new operating systems. Google recently unveiled its Android 4.0 mobile OS on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus handset, while RIM announced its BBX mobile platform; a hybrid of the BlackBerry platform and its QNX operating system for handsets and tablets.

Apple, meanwhile, launched the iPhone 4S this month, which despite selling four million units in the first three days of launch, received a lukewarm reception from critics, who were expecting a new device built from the ground up; an ‘iPhone 5’ that would support LTE. The launch did herald the latest update to the iOS platform however, which is dubbed iOS 5.

“[Apple] are not unique enough and there is disappointment over the 4S – it was too small step for them,” said Ljunggren.

“So I don’t think Apple will decide if LTE will fly or not. My expectation is that in 2013/14 we will really see low-end smartphones having LTE as well. The big question is what frequency bands they will put in for smartphones.

Ljunggren also admitted that there are no LTE enabled smartphones currently supported by TeliaSonera, and said that he expects that to change early 2012. He added that when the operator begins to support LTE handsets, “they will be true LTE smartphones – not the ones that the US has right now with two radios.”

“These drain the batteries flat very quickly as they have one LTE terminal for data and a CDMA voice terminal. It’s basically a dongle and phone that they glue together. They work – just not for long!”

Ljunggren said that we will eventually see “mature” LTE smartphones and tablets but that the volumes will likely not be there for a number of years.

Apple unveiled its new handset, the iPhone 4S, earlier this month

Apple has reported financial results that missed expectations for the first time in a number of years, disappointing the market. The firm’s shares fell on Wall Street in the wake of the result, despite Apple turning in a staggering 85 per cent increase in profit for the year.

The company posted net profit of $25.9bn for the year ending 25 September 2011, up from the $14bn it recorded over the course of FY10. Apple’s total revenue for the year stood at $108bn, 66 per cent higher than what was generated over 2010.

For 4Q11, Apple posted revenues of $28.27bn and quarterly net profit of $6.62bn, compared with last year’s fourth quarter revenue of $20.34bn and net quarterly profit of $4.31 bn.

However, Wall Street was not impressed, with Apple’s shares falling nearly 5 per cent in after-hours trading.

Angela Eager, research director for enterprise software and application services at TechMarketView, blamed inflated expectations in Wall Street for the negative headlines surrounding Apple’s missed targets, and insists that there are no signs that Apple is losing momentum.

“Contrary to what you might think from scanning most of the headlines, Apple had a great Q4,” she said. “Despite that, its shares dipped by around 6 per cent in after hours trading last night – because it failed to meet street expectations. This smacks more of over excitement than a rational response.”

She added that reasons for the lower than expected shipments included rumours of a new iPhone launch during the period, which dampened iPhone sales. This is despite 4 million units of the handsets being sold in the first three days.

“With a new iPhone out – even if it isn’t the iPhone 5 – and the Christmas period underway, prospects for the new quarter look very strong and Apple has reflected that in its outlook for Q1 when it is forecasting revenue of about $37bn.”

“Our take on these results is that there are no signs that Apple is losing momentum. Its Q4 was impressive and Q1 looks even better now it has the iPhone 4S to take to market. Product releases and quarterly timeframes can’t always coincide.”

Apple also revealed that is holding a private memorial service for employees to celebrate the life of company co-founder and former chief executive Steve Jobs. The service was announced to Apple employees in an email by CEO Tim Cook and is scheduled for Wednesday morning at company headquarters in Cupertino. It will also be webcast to employees worldwide.

Apple's popular iPhone has not infringed HTC's patents, ruled a US court

The USA’s International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled that Apple did not violate rival vendor HTC’s patents for technology used in its mobile devices. HTC had filed the complaint with the ITC last year seeking a ban on the import of Apple devices into the USA as part of an ongoing patent dispute between Apple and Android device manufacturers.

The ITC found that Apple’s devices did not violate four of HTC’s patents, which cover technology for looking up and dialing phone numbers and different techniques for managing power consumption on portable electronic devices.

While a final decision has to be approved by the full Commission, it is rare for them to overturn the findings from the Law Judge.

HTC said it is waiting to get a full copy of the ruling before it decides how to proceed, but is expected to ask the ITC to review its decision.

“This is only one step of many in these legal proceedings,” HTC General Counsel Grace Lei said in a statement. “We are confident we have a strong case for the ITC appeals process and are fully prepared to protect our intellectual property.”

The final determination from the Commission is due February 2012.

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Sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 have been banned in Australia

Apple has won an injunction to block the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android tablet in Australia.

The device was already temporarily banned pending the court ruling, and the ban has now been upheld until a full patent trial is held next year.

Samsung had initially offered to modify the software on the device to counteract the injunction, but Apple’s argument stated that the device also copies the design of its iPad and iPhone products.

“It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging,” the company said. “This kind of blatant copying is wrong, and we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”

Samsung had tried to appeal the decision to get its device in stores during the lucrative Christmas period, but Apple said it was concerned that if consumers bought the Galaxy Tab might, they may never choose to buy Apple products again.

Samsung responded with a statement saying it is disappointed with the ruling. “We will take all necessary measures including legal action in order to ensure our innovative products are available to consumers. This is a part of our ongoing legal proceeding against Apple’s claim. Samsung is also confident it can prove Apple’s violation of Samsung’s wireless technology patents through a cross claim filed on September 16, 2011 with the Federal Court of Australia, New South Wales.”

Samsung recently lost the rights to sell its Galaxy Tab in Germany, after Apple won an injunction to block the sale of the product, alleging that the device infringes patents held by Apple. The company is now seeking to block the sale of Apple’s iPhone 4S in several markets, including South Korea.

Jobs had been on medical leave since January

Apple founder and former CEO Steve Jobs has died, aged 56, after his long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Apple said late Wednesday night that Jobs was surrounded by his wife and immediate family when he died in Palo Alto, California. Other details were not disclosed.

Fans paid homage to Jobs outside Apple stores around the world and his death sparked an immediate outpouring of tributes from world leaders and business rivals.

US president Barack Obama said: “Steve was among the greatest of American innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.”

“By making computers personal and putting the internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun,” Obama said, before citing Jobs’ success with the Pixar animation studio: “And by turning his talents to storytelling, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups alike.”

Microsoft founder and former CEO Bill Gates said that he met Jobs nearly 30 years ago, and that the two had been colleagues, competitors and friends for more than half their lives.

“I’m truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs’ death,” Gates said. “The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come.

“For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honour.  I will miss Steve immensely.“

Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook announced the news of Jobs death to apple staff, saying that Apple has “lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being.”

“Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.”

In his final statement to the press, upon announcing his resignation as CEO at Apple, Jobs spoke of Apple’s “brightest and most innovative days being ahead of it”.

“I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you,” he said at the time.

News of his death drove the Apple share price down more than 5 per cent in Frankfurt on Thursday morning. Apple shares are now trading 3.5 per cent lower, after hitting a low of €270 in Frankfurt. The shares are expected to open lower when Wall Street opens at 2.30pm GMT.On the NASDAQ, Apple’s shares rose by 1.5 per cent.

Ovum chief analyst Jan Dawson said that Jobs’ death will be felt deeply at Apple, but also throughout the industry.

“The iPhone 4S launch event was a reminder of the vision and strategy Steve Jobs laid out for Apple during his time as CEO. That foundation will serve Apple well in the years to come, and there is little danger of Apple deviating from that successful strategy.”

“The risk—if there is one—is that Apple continues to rely on single ‘hero’ devices in its two major product lines—iPhone and iPad—with an annual release cycle. However, this week’s launch should pave the way for at least another year of success in the smartphone business, and future releases are likely to continue that pattern.”

Apple launched its iPhone 4S handset yesterday

Apple teased the masses ahead of the launch of its newest handset – with the only detail being divulged being the title of the event: “Let’s Talk iPhone”. As with most Apple launches, the technology press and blogger community were fast spreading rumours about what new features the device would have. Would it be called the iPhone 5? And what would it look like? On Tuesday the Cupertino-based company unveiled the iPhone 4S – an upgrade to the iPhone 4, with a new chip and enhanced voice recognition features but largely the same appearance as its predecessor.

Here’s what the telecoms community made of Apple’s new launch:

“Apple has been a victim of the hype that surrounds all of its announcements. With so many false rumours about what it would announce, it was almost inevitable that the announcement itself would disappoint,” said Ovum chief analyst Jan Dawson.

“Apple introduced a new ‘personal assistant’ feature on the iPhone 4s, which is based on its acquisition of Siri. While similar to other voice recognition apps in the market such as Vlingo, Siri differentiates itself by being baked into the fabric of the OS, and by its use of natural language processing. The demo of the feature certainly gave the announcement event a wow factor it was otherwise lacking, but it feels like another Facetime in that regard – something that makes for good demos, but which few people will actually use in practice.”

David McQueen, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, was also sceptical about just how much of an improvement over the iPhone 4 the new model really is.

“The iPhone 4S looks the same, with similar industrial design, screen size and user interface but just with a little better innards. Having a faster dual-core processor helping improve battery life, 1080p HD video recording, an 8-megapixel camera and the ability to roam between CDMA and GSM networks may float some people’s boat, but that may not be enough to seduce all Apple lovers to upgrade.”

But Gartner’s research VP for consumer technologies and markets, Carolina Milanesi believes the new device actually ticks a lot of boxes in terms of user requirements.

“If you call the announcement disappointing I think you are looking at this in a superficial way. Look at the list of things you get and most were on peoples’ wish list:

Better camera – not just an 8-megapixel, but better technology; Full HD video; Faster processor; Antennagate resolution; Siri. And the lack of LTE still makes sense to me considering the little interest outside the US.

The lack of NFC has to do to the immature payment ecosystem and I think Apple will want all the ducks in a row before rolling this out.

“For me the two surprises were CDMA + GSM. This is a smart move to leverage economies of scale and cut down cost; and leaving the 3GS in the market. I do wonder however if the hype got to be too big and Apple now suffers from the fact that unless they pull a rabbit out of the hat every time they disappoint.”

The launch will also inevitably mean that many businesses will have to support the device in their IT environments, as the trend of users bringing their own devices into the workplace continues to grow.

Dave Everitt, general manager EMEA, Absolute Software, said:

“If CIOs weren’t worried about consumer devices in businesses before, they certainly will be now. The new features in the iPhone 4S such as the dual antenna for faster data transfer and the beta Siri app will make it very appealing for business use – both for employers rolling out ‘official’ new devices, and employees using their own gadgets for improved performance over those issued by their company.

Whilst fans may be disappointed that Apple have not announced the iPhone 5, the affordability of the mid-range 4S, alongside its processing power, is likely to cause a greater influx of new iPhones into the workplace.”

Ahmed Datoo, chief marketing officer at Zenprise, added: “There’s a bring-your-own-device phenomenon going on and I expect on October 12^th, admins are going to see plenty of people trying to connect with iOS 5. We recently worked with a customer running 10,000 devices to examine which systems were being used, and 80 per cent were on iOS.

“In short, embrace iOS 5.0, it’s going to make your life easier in the long run”.

But what impact will the launch of the iPhone 4S have on the competition? James Lamberti, VP global research & marketing at InMobi, said the company has been undertaking research into the impact the iPhone 4S will have on the market.

“Ahead of yesterday’s Apple event, we wanted to ascertain consumer take-up of an iPhone 5 versus an iPhone 4 update.  We found that more than one in ten current mobile users were likely to purchase an iPhone 4S, with a quarter of iPad users saying that they would do so, and nearly one in five BlackBerry users.”

“We anticipate that Android and RIM will lose market share, but at a much slower rate than they would have experienced should iPhone 5 have been announced.  Over the last quarter, we’ve seen Apple lead the market in terms of mobile advertising impressions and we anticipate that yesterday’s event will continue that trend.”

Gil Bouhnick, director of mobility solutions at ClickSoftware, added:

“Once the disappointment about the missing iPhone 5 calms down, iPhone 4S sales will be solid. Android’s momentum will not be stopped by the iPhone 4S but a closer look at iOS5 and the new price tags for older iPhone models, shows that the new capabilities might actually deliver a death blow to BlackBerry’s domination at the enterprise and Microsoft’s aspirations to lead the way with the new WP7 Mango release.

“There are a few basic features that I was desperately waiting for. The biggest one is tasks integration with Microsoft Exchange and Outlook – this one is coming to iOS5, which means that you can write down tasks (using a new app called: Reminders) and automatically synchronize them with either Exchange, Outlook, iCal, or Google Tasks.

“Ironic that so close to the release of WP7 Mango, that also includes Tasks, and Exchange improvements, and other “enterprise-ready” improvements, comes Apple and crushes, once again, Microsoft’s aspirations to take over enterprise mobility.”

And the impact on networks is another factor that the telecoms industry will have to consider, according to Stephen Rayment, CTO at BelAir Networks.

“Amongst the many promises of the iPhone 4S, one thing’s for certain: It will place greater strain on mobile networks that are already over capacity in busy or crowded areas,” said Rayment.

Mervyn Kelly, EMEA marketing director at Ciena, added:

“The launch of the iPhone 4S is great news for consumers and Apple lovers and brings the promise of an enhanced customer experience and exciting new video applications.

“However, fulfilling the promise of a superior customer experience depends greatly on the network performance and that is making carriers rethink their network strategy and look for more efficient ways to support data growth.”

So the responses are mixed – there’s one camp that lauds Apple’s efforts, summarised Francis Sideco, senior principal analyst, wireless communications, for IHS:

“As Apple always does, the company selected features for the iPhone 4 that are designed to deliver a superior customer experience, rather than to provide technology for technology’s sake. Because of this, Apple declined to offer an LTE-enabled iPhone that would have been more expensive, larger and more power hungry—and instead opted to introduce a device that delivers nearly the same wireless data speed, but with a superior user experience.”

But there’s another camp that believes that the new handset will not be enough to stem the growth of competing smartphones, as Malik Saadi, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, explained:

“In light of all these super-smartphones coming to market from the likes of HTC and Samsung, the iPhone is no longer a champion in terms of user experience.”