Apple-Led Rockstar Consortium Sells Remaining Patent Portfolio for $900 Million [Mac Blog]

San Francisco patent company RPX today announced it is purchasing more than 4,000 telecommunications patents from Rockstar, an Apple-led consortium that previously acquired the patents from bankrupt Nortel Networks. The sale will net Rockstar $900 million, a fraction of the $4.5 billion the conglomerate of technology companies paid for the entire patent portfolio in 2011, although many of the high-value patents were previously dispersed to the consortium's members.





As reported by The Wall Street Journal , RPX confirmed its subsidiary RPX Clearinghouse, will license the patents to a syndicate of technology companies that include Google and Cisco Systems. RPX is making the patents available with non-exclusive licenses to all syndicate members, whose funds helped pay for the purchase. RPX also will license the patents to outside companies under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, and members of the Rockstar consortium will retain licenses for the patents.



Rockstar was formed in 2011 when Apple, BlackBerry, Ericsson, Microsoft, and Sony joined together to purchase patents from bankrupt communications company Nortel. The consortium purchased 6,000 patents, with 4,000 patents being held under the Rockstar umbrella and the remaining 2,000 patents being distributed to member companies.



The sale of the patents follows Rockstar's rather unsuccessful attempts to license the patents. The consortium also filed patent infringement lawsuits against a variety of technology companies with Google and Cisco recently settling their disputes for undisclosed amounts. As part of this patent sale to RPX, Rockstar has agreed to drop its existing suits against Samsung, LG and HTC.

Read More [...]

Posted in 2014 at 04:06PM, December 23

SAVE $33: 8 awesome paid iPhone apps you can get for free right now

We started off this week with a bang, sharing eight great paid iPhone and iPad apps that were made available for free for a limited time. Some of them can still be downloaded for free if you hurry, but today we have a fresh new batch of apps to share with you. Mobile photography fans will find several awesome options in Tuesday's list, and there are a few non-camera apps in there as well. As always, these sales could end at any time so be sure to download anything that looks appealing right away.

Continue reading...

Read More [...]

Posted in 2014 at 04:06PM, November 11

Apple Issues Media Invitations for September 9 Event: 'Wish We Could Say More'

As noted by The Loop , Apple today issued media invitations to the expected September 9 event where the company is expected to show off not only the iPhone 6 but also its first wearable device, popularly referred to as the iWatch. The invitations carry the tagline "Wish we could say more."





The event will take place at 10:00 AM Pacific Time at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of De Anza College in Cupertino.

Read More [...]

Posted in 2014 at 04:06PM, August 28

Apple Forgets to Renew SSL Certificate, Breaking OS X Software Update

Several readers have noted a strange error message appearing when trying to perform software updates from the Mac App Store.

An Error has occurred



The certificate for this server is invalid. You might be connecting to a server that is pretending to be "swscan.apple.com" which could put you confidential information at risk.

Swscan.apple.com is one of several servers that Software Update uses to communicate with Apple. The apparent problem is that the security certificate for the server appears to have expired. Originally valid from May 22, 2012 to May 24, 2014. This is a problem that Apple will need to fix on their side. In the meanwhile, users can manually download updates from Apple's support site.

Read More [...]

Posted in 2014 at 04:06PM, May 25

Angela Ahrendts May Delay Apple Start Until Mid-Year

Burberry chief executive Angela Ahrendts resigned last October from the British luxury fashion house to join Apple as the head of its retail division. According to The Guardian , Ahrendts is free to leave Burberry this month, having fulfilled her six-month notice period, but her actual exit date is not yet known.



Ahrendts may be staying longer at Burberry to help smooth the transition over to her successor Christopher Bailey, who is currently serving as the company's chief creative officer. Money also may be a factor in Ahrendts leaving as she is slated to receive a two million pound bonus in June for her recent performance as Burberry CEO.

"It's a big sum of money. In some ways it would be good to see the business moving on after six months of handover time. You want to see clarity," said Rahul Sharma, an analyst at Neev Capital.



But he said investors were also likely to feel reassured by Ahrendt's presence ahead of some big moves for Burberry and continuing concerns about Bailey's ability to combine his creative role with that of a chief executive.



"That is a big concern in the back of investors' minds and Ahrendt's presence delays that point of judgment," he said.

Another factor may be Ahrendts' critical role in Burberry's revamped Japanese business strategy, which involves severing long-term apparel licensing agreements in 2015 and creating its own distribution system in the important Asian market. Burberry is expected to confirm this plan as part of the company's annual report next month.



Ahrendts will join Apple as the Senior Vice President of Retail and Online Stores, a position that has seen significant turnover in the past several years. In 2011, Ron Johnson left Apple for J.C. Penney, after building up Apple's retail presence during his 11-year tenure. Johnson was replaced by Dixons CEO John Browett, who served less than a year at Apple.

Read More [...]

Posted in 2014 at 04:06PM, April 17

All new Apple TV coming soon with revamped software and a game store

After recent reports have revealed that Apple may be in talks with Comcast to include pay TV features in a future Apple TV version that would also act as a cable box, 9to5Mac sheds new details on Apple’s fourth-generation Apple TV model, which will reportedly launch in the first half of 2014.

Continue reading...

Read More [...]

Posted in 2014 at 04:06PM, March 24

New screens of Yazuka Restoration look gorgeous in 1080p on the PS4

With the Japanese launch of the PlayStation 4 just days away, several third-party developers are preparing to release their first games for the Sony console. One of those games is the latest in the long-running Yakuza series, a franchise that has found success in Japan as well as overseas. Although the upcoming title, Yakuza Restoration, is going to be released on both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3, Sega's fresh batch of PS4 screenshots show off a game that looks as incredibly detailed as anything else on the console.



Continue reading...

Read More [...]

Posted in 2014 at 04:06PM, February 20