TheWoopWoop

When this is finished it will be a really sweet upgrade for iPhone users.

@Hazdaz They are going to be a really weak MVNO who tries to supplement things with some of their own sporadic coverage. The prices will not be competitive. They are banking on their existing customers enthusiastically bending over for whatever bundle this will certainly be a part of. That's my prediction anyway.

This is the worst form of competition, both for consumers and for the companies themselves.

@saposmak Do you truly think that Expose cost Apple billions of dollars in R&D?

I'm a true capitalist, and of course I believe that innovative software companies should make enormous amounts of money. But as a capitalist I also believe in competition. Do I think that Apple should be the only company in the world who is allowed to have an Expose-like feature in their operating system for another 15+ years? Certainly not.

The system is broken beyond repair. Abolishing software patents would result in more competition, not less, and more innovation, not less. Companies would not be allowed to rest on their laurels for five years and then re-enter a market that they let languish as a formidable bully with the power to punish the companies that picked up the slack. Windows Mobile is a perfect example of this. It was a pile of neglected trash for years and now that Apple, Google, and others have entered the void that Microsoft willfully left open they get to come back and slow things down with the threat of lawsuits.

Continue to innovate, and you will continue to make money. Trying to hold other innovators back with patents is anti-capitalist behavior in my opinion.

@saposmak The fact that what you say is so reasonable and plausible (that HTC may claim they are already licensing overlapping patents from Microsoft) just goes to show how broken the system is. Overlapping patents?

I think that you are also being overly generous in your use of the word "innovations." Sometimes it is possible for two incredibly smart entities to solve a similar problem in the same way at around the same time, and totally independently from one another. It shouldn't mean that one of them has broken the law.

The entire enterprise of software patents is a drain on actual innovation and financial resources. Can anyone seriously argue with a straight face that Apple's suit against HTC is somehow good for consumers?

@deepen03 Is this an elaborate troll? Hilarious work if so.

Sense UI is the only thing keeping Winmo 6.5 even remotely relevant these days. It most certainly does not look anything like the UI abomination that is vanilla Windows Mobile.

@chrono5577 Rest assured, copyrights are not at stake. Microsoft never releases the list of patents that are being infringed upon for fear of ridicule because it would be a hilarious litany of obvious ideas that they somehow managed to shove through the system. They were recently awarded a patent for privilege escalation--a concept that has existed in Unix since the early 1970's. That should give you some idea of the level of merit here.

@liquidmonkey No, Microsoft doesn't own Linux. Every company in the world infringes on everyone else's software patents. This is because software patents do not operate the same way that traditional patents do.

A patent in the real world for a particular cereal box top doesn't prevent other manufacturers from coming up with a different way. Software patents on the other hand are so overly broad (and granted by a patent office that is not only overwhelmed but also frequently technologically illiterate) that they would prevent anyone from selling cereal, even in a bag, without infringing.

Microsoft is infringing on several thousands IBM patents, Novell patents, etc. Microsoft also infringes on tons of patents that are part of the Open Invention Network, a consortium set up specifically to protect Linux from pathetic software-patent based attacks:

http://www.openinventionnetwork.com/

Software patents are used exclusively by large corporations to stifle competition and for small trollish companies that have never produced anything of value and who do not have any products whatsoever (such as NTP vs. RIM) to extort money from the actual innovators. Patents were never designed to be used this way--they were intended to promote and protect competition. Software patents are a perversion of the system.

Software patents are such bullshit, and any case involving them is wholly without merit. I instantly lose respect for any company that feels they have to resort to using them instead of competing with quality. I will never, ever, purchase a Windows Phone 7 handset now. Ever. And as the quintessential geek in my family and social circle I am frequently asked for advice before my friends make their purchases. Guess which two platforms will never receive a recommendation?

This is just part of Microsoft's dirty strategy. They (along with Apple) want to make Android look like it's risky for manufacturers and that shipping homogenized versions of their handsets will keep you safe from litigation. First of all, could this more plainly look like extortion if it tried? "Nice mobile phone company you have here. It'd be a shame if anything happened to it. You should buy protection, from us." Second of all, Windows Mobile isn't free to license either.

The reality of the situation is that any piece of software of even modest complexity infringes on hundreds if not thousands of spurious software patents that should have never been granted in the first place. You can't write a "Hello world!" program in any language without violating several.

This is pure FUD on the part of Microsoft. Android will be fine--it's not like Google is a tiny company that can be easily bullied. The Open Handset Alliance just needs to pool some of their patents together and call Microsoft's bluff. There's no way that Windows Phone 7 isn't infringing on thousands upon thousands of Samsung + HTC + Motorola patents.

Hopefully the upcoming Bilsky decision in the Supreme Court will cut down on some of this nonsense.

@Johnny Rockets It has been two weeks since their last update actually. 1.4 came out at the end of February and 1.4.1 came out two weeks ago. 1.3.5 came out in January and enabled support for 3D games that still are not possible on any other platform aside from the iPhone. Palm is really kicking ass with their updates in terms of both quality and frequency and to imply otherwise is delusional trolling.