Judge blocks Apple in Google smartphone war

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday ruled that Apple Inc cannot pursue an injunction against Google's Motorola Mobility unit, effectively ending a key case for the iPhone maker in the smartphone patent wars.

The ruling came from Judge Richard Posner in Chicago federal court. He dismissed the litigation between Apple and Motorola Mobility with prejudice, meaning it can't be refiled.

The ruling is a blow for Apple, which had hoped a decisive ruling against Motorola would help it gain an upper hand in the smartphone market against Android.

"Apple is complaining that Motorola's phones as a whole ripped off the iPhone as a whole," Posner wrote. "But Motorola's desire to sell products that compete with the iPhone is a separate harm -— and a perfectly legal one -— from any harm caused by patent infringement."

Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet declined to comment on the ruling. Motorola Mobility spokeswoman Jennifer Erickson said the company was pleased that Posner dismissed Apple's case.

Both parties have the option to appeal Posner's ruling.

Motorola sued Apple in October 2010, a move that was widely seen as a pre-emptive strike against an imminent Apple lawsuit. Apple filed its own claims against Motorola the same month.

Posner issued a series of pre-trial rulings that eliminated nearly all of Motorola's patent claims against Apple from the prospective trial, while maintaining more of Apple's claims against Motorola. That meant Apple had more to gain in the trial, which had been set to start last week.

However, Posner canceled the trial earlier this month.

Apple had sought an injunction barring the sale of Motorola products using Apple's patented technology. But in Friday's ruling, Posner wrote that neither party is entitled to an injunction.

Since Motorola could design around the minor technological features covered by Apple's patents, an injunction would be an inappropriate windfall for Apple, Posner wrote.

Posner also said that Apple had not clearly demonstrated that Motorola phones caused a loss of consumer goodwill significant enough for an injunction.

"To suggest that it has suffered loss of market share, brand recognition, or customer goodwill as a result of Motorola's alleged infringement of the patent claims still in play in this case is wild conjecture," Posner wrote.

In a bright spot for the iPhone maker, Posner also ruled that Motorola could not seek an injunction based on the one patent in the case that it was still asserting against Apple.

Motorola had pledged to license that patent - which covers an aspect of wireless communication - on fair and reasonable terms to other companies in exchange for having the technology adopted as an industry standard.

"How could it be permitted to enjoin Apple from using an invention that it contends Apple must use if it wants to make a cell phone," Posner wrote.

At a hearing earlier this week, Apple had argued that it would be satisfied with an injunction forcing Motorola to remove Apple's patented features within three months. But Posner found that proposal unworkable, in part because of the hardship in administering such an order.

"Because of the potential costs to Motorola and the federal judiciary I could not responsibly order injunctive relief in favor of Apple," he wrote in his ruling.

The case is Apple Inc. and NeXT Software Inc. V. Motorola Inc. and Motorola Mobility Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, no. 11-08540.

(Reporting by Dan Levine in Oakland, California and Jessica Dye in New York; Editing by Gary Hill and Jeremy Laurence)

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Google Announces Sharp Price Cuts for Google Maps [VIDEO]

In a solar system 1,200 light-years away from ours, there's a couple of planets that come so close to each other every 97 days they can see each other rise in the night sky. This odd duo, found thanks to data … Continue …

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The Internet is Not Enough: Google Shifts to Asteroid Mining

Google’s at it again. Last week it was redefining tech journalism, now it’s on to space mining. The tech behemoth’s ambitions are not limited to the Internet, or even global domination- it’s taking a crack at outer space. Google CEO Larry Page and the company’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt have joined forces with Avatar director James Cameron and X-Prize CEO Peter Diamandis for a space venture that will possibly involve mining asteroids. On the bright side, if it doesn’t work out, they can make a movie out of it. Oh wait, didn’t Cameron already do that in 2010 with Avatar?¹

The venture, aptly named Planetary Resources Inc., (I love the sci-fi pastiche) plans to “overlay two critical sectors — space exploration and natural resources — to add trillions of dollars to the global GDP” and “help ensure humanity’s prosperity,” according to a press release issued by the company this week.¹

And why not? Dominating the Internet was getting so passé.

TIME FOR RENEWAL

Google’s interest in global energy policy is not new. Way back in November of 2007, Larry Page announced a strategic initiative to develop electricity from renewable energy sources that will be cheaper than electricity produced from coal, which Google entitled “RE

As Larry Page explained at the time, "We have gained expertise in designing and building large-scale, energy-intensive facilities by building efficient data centers… We want to apply the same creativity and innovation to the challenge of generating renewable electricity at globally significant scale, and produce it cheaper than from coal….We expect this would be a good business for us as well."

Last November, however, Google killed the RE

Or maybe Page and Co saw an opportunity for richer pickings in space mining.

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

Earlier this year, entrepreneur and X-Prize CEO Peter Diamandis (whose name couldn’t be better for this article) hinted he was about to unveil something amazing: a startup that will mine asteroids for precious metals.

“Since my childhood I’ve wanted to do one thing, be an asteroid miner,” (actually a very common boyhood aspiration, right up there with fireman and baseball player) Diamandis told Forbes. “So stay tuned on that one.”

And now he can realize this dream with Planetary Resources Inc.’s asteroid mining initiative.

Apparently Diamandis has long talked about creating an ‘exothermic reaction,” — science jargon for a process that releases energy in the form of light or heat, often in the form of an explosion – in space.

The Forbes article goes on to point out that space scientists have long talked about mining asteroids, which could be rich in rare earths essential to the electronics industry.

Say that again?

HANDS OFF MY RARE EARTH

Remember that brouhaha last month between the US, Japan, etc. and China over China’s rare earth metal hoarding? It was a big enough story to mobilize Obama.

An excerpt from an article in Mashable on March 13th:

The U.S. will argue before the World Trade Organization (WTO) that China’s limitations on its rare earth mineral exports are unfair, President Obama announced Tuesday. The hard-to-find minerals are used in the production of high-tech equipment such as smartphones (my emphasis) and hybrid cars.

Obama also insisted that the U.S. needs fair access to the rare metals in order to ensure that American companies can use them to develop advanced homegrown technologies.

“Being able to manufacture advanced batteries and hybrid cars in America is too important for us to stand by and do nothing,” Obama says. “We’ve got to take control of our energy future, and we can’t let that energy industry take root in some other country because they were allowed to break the rules.”

Good for you, Mr. President. But why are rare earths causing such an uproar?

As it turns out, in 2011 China produced 97 percent of the world's supply. Beyond being critical for the production of high-tech commercial equipment such as smart phones, rare earths are also used in sonar, radar satellites, lasers and precision strike munitions.³

In other words the US needs rare earths to sustain its cutting-edge military. This problem was so concerning to the government that in mid-December 2011, Congress passed the 2012 Defense Authorization Act, which included a requirement for a study to be submitted to the Secretary of Defense this year on the feasibility, costs, and market effects of starting a new rare earths stockpile.³

It sounds like these rare earths are a pretty big deal for the future of commercial and military technology worldwide.

And guess what many asteroids are chalk full of? Yep, you guessed it: rare earth metals.

Pardon me for my skepticism, but with the Internet’s dramatic shift to mobile, coupled with Google’s intense competition with Apple and others in the mobile space, Google’s involvement in the Planetary Resources, Inc. initiative smacks of corporate opportunism at best, and diabolical James Bondesque baddie practices, at worst.

And don’t forget about the US Government’s desperation to stockpile rare earths for future military needs.

“If I have a near-term shot at becoming a billionaire, it will probably be through my interest in asteroid mining,” Diamandis recently said.

Don’t worry, Mr. Diamandis, you won’t be alone. Google will be right there with you.

¹ Mashable, “Google Execs, James Cameron Plan Space Venture”

² Mashable, “Google’s Search for Clean Energy”

³ IB Times, “China's New Rare Earth Policies Could Sharply Diminish Exports Of Critical Minerals, Weakening Western Manufacturers"

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Why You Should Use Google+ Hangouts On Air for Your Next Webinar

As you probably know, yesterday Google+ announced it will begin rolling out Hangouts On Air to the general public. Plenty of articles have already been written detailing exactly how the new service works (Hubspot wrote a great summary here), so I’ll spare the Internet another one. Instead, this blog will focus on a critical new functionality Hangouts On Air offers businesses and marketers: the ability to promote and host webinars that are open to the Google+ audience, and can be indirectly accessed by the billions who use Google’s search engine.

Google+ Hangouts already enables live video chat with a small circle of people (up to 10). With Hangouts On Air, however, you can broadcast to a much wider audience through your Google+ stream, YouTube Channel, or even your website.

Better still, you can see exactly how many users are viewing your Hangout in real time, and once your broadcast ends, it is automatically uploaded to YouTube for easy viewing and sharing.¹

Pretty cool.

Here are a few suggestions to maximize the effectiveness of a webinar hosted via Hangouts On Air:

Promote Your Webinar - As with a traditional webinar, make sure to promote your broadcast ahead of time through your social media, blog, website, and email marketing channels. Consider creating a hashtag so you can track and monitor the conversation leading up to, during, and after the broadcast.² Remember to keep promoting your webinar after it ends by uploading a copy of it to your website and other social media channels.

Edit Your Webinar - Once the Hangout ends, you’ll have an opportunity to edit the recording, so you can clean up any mistakes, or spruce it up with additional context or content. Make sure to do this right after the event and before you distribute it beyond YouTube.

Clarify Your Goals - Why are you hosting this webinar? What is it about? Who is your target audience? Asking these questions will help you decide whether to broadcast the webinar on your Google+ page or your website. With Hangouts On Air, users can embed a livestream on any web page. This feature gives you the option of driving traffic to your own website to add more punch to your lead generation and conversion efforts (make sure to use CTAs and landing pages to capture leads).

If your goal is to build up your Google+ user-base, however, then you’ll want to host the webinar on your G+ page.²

Hosting a webinar on Google+ Hangouts On Air offers a double benefit by expanding brand your reach and improving your SEO on Google’s search engine.

For these reasons alone, Google+ may have finally hit its first homerun.

How are you planning on using Google+ Hangouts On Air for your business?

¹ CNet, “Google+ Hangouts On Air: Broadcast yourself to the world”

² Hubspot, “Google+ Launches Hangouts on Air to the Masses: What Marketers Need to Know”

Image Courtesy of The News Tribe

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Social for Small Business: Is Facebook Cooler than Google?

In case you missed it, YouTube/Google threw a star-studded event for advertisers Wednesday night to promote its $100 million investment in new "channels," Google’s initiative to bring professional entertainment to the world's largest video site.³ There was Jay-Z, Flo Rida and the Neon Trees, Julia Stiles, Jennifer Beals, and Virginia Madsen, all partying down with the search giant’s generalissimo, Eric Schmidt.

Better still, Google unveiled a $200 million campaign to market the premium video channels by using YouTube and the Google Display Network, among other resources.¹

Get ready, you’re about to see a flood of online ads promoting Google’s latest pet project.

"We will fish where the fish are in a mighty big pond," said Google VP of content Robert Kyncl in an appeal to ad agency execs. "If you want to lead, join us now for the next seven years. We can build audiences together. We can build brands together" (my emphasis).¹

Yuck.

What happened to good ol’ “do no evil” Google? Let us remember the words of Larry Page, who wrote in a recent blog post, “We have always wanted Google to be a company that is deserving of great love.”

But I’m confused. Isn’t this the same company that changed its search algorithm to level the playing field for the little guy, who supported such free-love inbound marketing principles as unique content creation?  

Judging by the preponderance of back slapping from the cigar-chomping, scotch-swirling Madison Avenue illuminati in attendance at the YouTube gala, I’d say Google is more focused on making a “push” toward the old-school marketing world order.

By contrast you have Facebook, whose apparent rejection of big media, even as the social network prepares for its historic IPO, has left ad agencies in an uproar. As David Smith, the CEO of digital agency Mediasmith, noted with exasperation: "Facebook just doesn't seem to care. They're still trying to grow this thing. The question is, do they want the big bucks?"²

Big bucks indeed.

When taken together, these two developments leave me asking one question: Is Facebook cooler than Google?

ABOUT FACE(BOOK)

Paul Sloan of CNET wrote a post on this topic, where he quotes Mike Parker, the co-president of U.S. operations of Tribal DDB, talking about his frustration with Facebook: "For the longest time, we've been trying to call Facebook to do business with them and there's nobody to pick up the call," said Parker. "They're very focused on the consumer experience, and less focused on revenue and working with advertisers."

Flakes.

Sloan goes on to recount the grievance of another exec at one of the world's biggest interactive agencies, who spoke on the condition of anonymity: "We know the reach is there," she said. "The problem is that Facebook isn't willing to do anything different for the client that wants to spend $10,000 versus $10 million." (How about those of us with considerably less than 10k to spend?)

So what’s got big media champing at the bit to advertise with Facebook, anyway?

As I noted in an earlier blog, Facebook has been aggregating the profile information of its now roughly 900 million-strong user base for years, and it’s able to use much of this information to provide marketers laser-focused ad targeting. Location, age, gender, precise interests, Facebook connections, sexual orientation, relationship status, languages, education and specific workplaces are some of the fields on offer for keen marketers.

If they can get at it.

Much to the consternation of ad execs, Zuckerberg reminds us in a recent letter to shareholders, "Facebook was originally not created to be a company …it was built to accomplish a social mission -- to make the world more open and connected." And that mission, he writes, continues to underlie all decisions the company makes.²

TAKEAWAY

In fairness, all glitz aside, Google (as usual) has big plans for its YouTube video platform, envisioning it as the logical evolution of cable TV.  As Chris Hardwick, host of Nerdist channel, points out, "The web will be to cable TV what cable TV was to broadcast.”³

As the world goes social mobile, it’s hard to argue against web-based video playing a prominent role in the future of entertainment. In fact, that’s exactly what Google is betting on with its focus on YouTube premium channels.

I don’t often question Google’s destination, just its disjointed motives. As Google tries to be everything to everybody, Facebook seems to be staying on message by aligning with Zuckerberg’s social mission (at least as much as a 100-billion dollar company can these days).

I doubt if this point will be lost on the Millennials, whose spending power is set to eclipse that of the Baby Boomers by 2017, thereby driving the future of American Consumerism.

What’s the bottom line for small business? At least for now, Facebook is cooler than Google.

¹ Mashable, “Google Pledges $200 Million to Market Premium YouTube Channels”

² CNet,”Frustrated advertisers to Facebook: Take our money -- please!”

³ Ad Age, “YouTube Commits $200M to Promote Premium 'Channels'”

Image Courtesy of Ogilvy

 

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Google, Facebook and Mobile Flush Groupon Down the Toilet

Online daily deal provider Groupon, once the darling of Wall Street, has had its share of woes in recent months. Its stock is down over 50% from November's IPO price, thanks in part to a pending SEC investigation of the company’s Q4 2011 earnings restatement (actual net revenue was significantly lower when refunds to consumers for unused deals were factored in). In addition, merchants are beginning to pull back from Groupon, surveying their options in an increasingly crowded geo-local marketing landscape that includes the likes of Yelp, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Living Social and Foursquare, to name a few.

In his yearly letter to shareholders released Monday, Groupon CEO Andrew Mason tried to rally the troops by announcing his vision to re-shape the company into a one-stop marketing solution for local merchants, or as he put it, “the operating system for local commerce.”

Unfortunately for Groupon, Mason’s vision does not mesh with reality. The truth is, the daily deals site has already seen its best days, and will soon be marginalized by its competitors, especially Google and Facebook, who are rolling out geo-local couponing programs that will suck the air out of Groupon’s market share.

MOBILE HASTENS THY DEMISE

As smartphone adoption continues to grow nationwide, nearly three-quarters of smartphone owners are accessing their mobile devices to get location-based information in real time. A new study conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that about 74% of smartphone users utilize location-based services to find information. In addition, one in five (18%) are checking in to local businesses with geo-social services like Foursquare.¹

Facebook and Google have responded in kind to this trend toward mobile-based local marketing.

On May 3rd, Facebook rolled out its new local marketing platform, Facebook Offers, to all local U.S. companies. With Offers, businesses can distribute coupons or other promotions to fans directly through their news feeds. Facebook isn’t charging anything for the service, and when a Facebook user claims an Offer, his or her friends will see it in their news feed, further amplifying its reach.

Less than a week later (May 9th), Google announced its latest update for Google Maps for Android that supports Google’s Groupon-like daily deal platform, Google Offers. With the new update, local merchants can attract customers to their storefront with free giveaways or coupons that Android users can see pop-up in real time on Google Maps.

THY COMPETITION ENSURES IT

This is not good news for Groupon, considering Facebook has nearly 500 million fairly engaged mobile users. Groupon, on the other hand, cannot boast a huge social media or search platform. As such, the daily deal site is dependent on people going out of their way to engage with its mobile app when looking for offers. The problem is, if people don’t find any relevant offers on Groupon’s mobile app, they might give up and jump on Facebook or Google, where they’re much more likely to stay engaged. It’s more advantageous for platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Google to insert on-site offers because people are already there.²

As Facebook and Google adapt to the dramatic consumer shift to mobile, Groupon’s days are numbered. Each will utilize economies-of-scale coupled with their massive reach to outflank Groupon, while smaller players like Yelp and Foursquare continue to nibble away at Groupon's market share one merchant at a time.

I fear that before it’s all over, Andrew Mason and crew will be wishing they had taken Google up on the $6 billion buyout offer while they had the chance.

For small businesses trying to shape a marketing strategy, the intense competition in the geo-local business space is a good thing, especially with the relevant players tripping over themselves to offer your brand a better deal.

Whatever you do, make sure to experiment with various platforms, and avoid committing to any large ad spend or long-term contract until you’re absolutely sure you’ve found the golden goose. Above all, remember that in today’s era of frenetic marketing-tech innovation, the only certainty is change.

Just ask Andrew Mason.

¹ Mashable, “More Smartphone Owners Use Location-Based Products”

² Venture Beat, “Why Groupon Now Won’t Work”

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