Google found NOT guilty in infringement case with Oracle

Just over a week ago, the jury began deliberations on the ongoing patent infringement case between Google and Oracle. After waiting in the wings, with bated breath, the verdict is finally in, as Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court of Northern California dismissed the jury this afternoon after a unanimous decision that ruled in favor of Google’s mobile OS, declaring that Android did not in fact infringe on the Oracle patents in question.

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Google officially closes acquisition of Motorola Mobility

Months in the making, the deal is finally done. Motorola Mobility is officially part of Google. After receiving blessings from Europe, the US and China, the Internet giant has put the finishing touches on its purchase of Moto's mobile division. Though the corporate marriage faced plenty of obstacles, Big G was able to put the manufacturer on its ledger for the price of $40 per share, or about $12.5 billion. As it stands, Motorola Mobility will continue to operate as a separate business entity and as a licensee of Android, but Mountain View is still claiming the purchase will allow it to "supercharge" its mobile ecosystem. The future of the new subsidiary's employees is a different matter, however. Rumors have been swirling for the last week or so that there could be significant layoffs at Moto following the merger, which would further enforce the perception that Google is more interested in the company's patents than in entering the hardware business. Of course, whether or not we'll see layoffs or perhaps a Moto-branded Nexus is still a mystery. For a bit more on Google's victory lap, check out the PR after the break.

Google has also settled on a replacement for Sanjay Jha as CEO of Motorola Mobility, Dennis Woodside. Woodside is a longtime Googler who got his start in sales, building out business in Africa, Eastern Europe and Russia, before becoming President of the Americas sales operation. Hit the break for the press release.

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Google found guilty of copyright infringement

Google plans to move for a mistrial after Jury fails to answer fair use question. The case is being watched closely by Silicon Valley, as Oracle accuses Google of infringing copyrights it holds related to the Java programming tools it provides. 

A federal jury on Monday found that elements of the Android operating system infringed on technology from Java, a platform bought by Oracle only two years ago. Google had questioned whether Oracle's copyrights were even valid, and that it should be excused under fair use principles, as it only used parts of Java that have always been freely available. 

Oracle is seeking over $1 billion in damages from the search giant, but the Jury's failure to determine whether Google's actions were legally protected fair use comes as a major blow to Oracle's prospects of securing such high damages. 

Samsung Galaxy S3 gets a release date, plus some photos

Earlier in the week, we reported on the hardware of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S III. The handset maker has listed the "carrier preference" list for the phone on its U.S. signup page, and although it has not been confirmed, the following carriers are listed: Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, MetroPCS, US Cellular, and C Spire. 

Samsung says the device will hit Europe on May 29th and the U.S. and Canada "in June." In Europe the phone will be a Vodafone exclusive for the first 30 days. HIt the break link for some press photos.

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus available on Sprint with Google Wallet

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is now available to Sprint users. Like its CDMA counterpart on Verizon, the flagship Android 4.0 phone will have LTE support, but unlike the Verizon version, the Sprint model will give access to Google Wallet, an NFC app which turns the phone into a virtual wallet. 

The device will sell for $200 with contract, and is available now. 

One catch with the phone being LTE, however, is that Sprint does not actually have an LTE network yet. The company is transitioning from WiMax to LTE and the network will only be available in 10 cities over the summer before rolling out more widespread in 2013. 

In terms of Google Wallet, the mobile payment system is fully supported and Google will even give you $50 for activating within a week of buying the phone.

Samsung Galaxy S3 expected May 3

Samsung has sent out invites for an event on May 3rd for us to "Come and meet the next Galaxy." It is widely assumed that this is in reference to the much anticipated Galaxy S3, Samsung's next super phone.

The expected specifications of this device are staggering. We are looking forward to seeing a quad-core variant of Samsung's own Exynos processor, a full 2 GB of RAM, Android 4.0, a beautiful HD screen, and a 12 megapixel camera. All of that should be packed in to a nice, neat, thinner-than-it's-predecessor's frame. While that may seem like the stuff of fantasy, remember that Samsung- unlike some other phone manufacturers like Apple and Motorola Mobility- design and build all of their own major components, such as the processor, RAM, screen, etc. That means that Samsung, unlike those companies that merely buy their components and pay someone to piece them together (cough cough Apple), gets first pick of components with less overhead costs associated with them. So the fantastic specs don't seem so hard to reach for Samsung!

However, this is all speculation, of course. We'll be waiting with bated breath for the facts from Samsung on May 3rd. Remember that you can read about it first best here on The Geek Domain!

Facebook to buy Instagram for $1 billion

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has let slip that his company plans to buy popular photo-sharing app Instagram (pending all of the standard regulatory approvals, naturally). According to a report from All Things D's Kara Swisher, Facebook will pick up the social app, which got its own long-awaited Android version, for a cool $1 billion in cash and shares. Zuckerberg confirmed the news on his personal blog, adding that the deal won't affect Instagram's integration with competing social networks:

We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom confirmed via his site's blog that the service, "is not going away," adding, "The Instagram app will still be the same one you know and love." Check out some PR on the subject after the break.

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Instagram for Android is finally here

Android lovers rejoice! The insanely popular photo sharing social netowrk, Instagram, made famous by iOS has finally arrived on Android today! It is a little smaller than the iOS version visually, but that is hardly a deterent.  The app will work on Android phones running 2.2 or later.  It will not work on tablets.  Around a half of a million users signed up for the app on the company's waiting list over the past year.  Now it is time to get your hands on it.  Head over to the Google Play store via the reference link below and download it now!

Ice Cream Sandwich now on 2.9 precent of devices, 63.7% still using Gingerbread

Android Ice Cream Sandwich has seen some growth since its launch half a year ago, but there are still very few devices adopting the Google OS. Usage has grown from 0.6 percent in January to a whopping 2.9 percent in March, but that is still a far cry from the amount of users running Gingerbread which is at 63.7 percent.  The Android user base is upgrading slowly and charts like these will give developers ideas on what and how to develop apps.  So it may be a while before we see ICS specific apps in the Google Play store.

Adobe Releases Flash Player 11.2 and AIR 3.2

Adobe has already hinted at its plans for Flash Player 11.2, but today, those plans finally became official. The company formally announced both 11.2 and AIR 3.2 this morning, reaffirming its commitment to browser-based gaming. With 11.2, Adobe is bringing support for mouse-lock, right and middle click events, and multi-threaded video decoding. The software also supports 2D and 3D graphics at speeds of up to 60 frames per second, and, when running on Windows machines, will automatically update itself in the background. As for AIR 3.2, it now supports Stage3D graphics on both iOS and Android, promising "jaw-dropping visuals" with monstrously fast GPU rendering. A new partnership with Unity, meanwhile, will allow developers to easily upload 3D games to Flash Player, as part of its premium features package. Devs will be able to use these higher-tiered features for free until their apps accrue $50,000 in revenue. Once they do, they'll have to siphon off 9 percent of their earnings to Adobe, though these conditions only go into effect as of August 1st. (AIR 3.2 apps are exempt from this charge.) For more details on the new releases, check out the source links below, or the explanatory video after the break.

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Google Wallet Prepaid cards back up. Gives you $5 for your patience

If you opened up your Google Wallet app lately, you will notice that you have been granted an extra five dollars to your prepaid card as an apology for the recent security SNAFU. Also, Google fired off an email to existing Wallet users stating the following:

We are happy to announce that you can now add the Google Prepaid Card back to your wallet with the newest version of Google Wallet, and any funds that you previously had on the card should be restored, unless you contacted Money Network and asked for a refund of those funds. To add the Google Prepaid Card back, you will first need to update your Google Wallet application to the most recent version.

Just in case you haven't been following along, here is a quick recap on the entire Wallet saga. On February 9th, it was discovered that it was trivial to access Google Wallet prepaid accounts on a stolen phone by clearing the app's data and re-provisioning it. Google disabled creating new cards, then re-enabled that but left re-provisioning disabled, then re-enabled the whole thing by securing it with a Google Account password. If you've been living through this entire ordeal as a Google Wallet customer, five bucks seems like the least the company could do.

This fix comes in the form of an update for the Android app, if you are a Verizon Galaxy Nexus owner like I am, you can't simply go to the Google Play Store and download this update since Big Red is still blocking the use of the app. Lucky for us however, the good fellows over at XDA have pulled the APK and you can find all the info on how to get your hands on the latest version at the reference link below.

Instagram finally heading to Android "very soon"

Instagram is heading to Android "very soon," according to founder Kevin Systrom. Speaking at South by Southwest, Systrom raved about the app's growth, boasting of its 27 million registered users. "They're not excited about it because it makes your photos look beautiful," he says, "They're excited because it networks people across the world and it's the single fastest growing thing in mobile period." The Android version is currently being tested in a private beta, and it's reported to be superior than its iOS counterpart. "It's really, really fast," Systrom said. Don't look so surprised, he did tell us, after all, that iOS was just the beginning.

Samsung Galaxy S2 to get ICS this Saturday UPDATE: Just kidding

Two days. That's the amount of time remaining for you, dear Samsung Galaxy S II owner, before the long-awaited upgrade to Android 4.0 -- the dessert known as Ice Cream Sandwich -- becomes readily available for your device through Kies. Naturally, this is going to be adorned with Sammy's TouchWiz UI, and it's only going to be ready on the GT-I9100 (global version) for now. According to the notes, we can expect to see Face Unlock, Android Beam and data usage included, and multitasking and some apps will be improved. We're sure this is just the tip of the feature iceberg, however. Curiously, the site specifies that because of "ICS OS feature," Flash and Bluetooth 3.0 HS won't be supported.

The update will come to individual carriers and their own GSII variants eventually, after a hefty amount of testing on their end, but at least this -- combined with HTC's rollout of Sense 3.6 to the Nordic countries today -- means the ICS ball is officially rolling for custom skins. Let's just hope it's going down a steep hill. If you happen to be packing a GT-I9100, be sure to check the links below for the full set of instructions, and let us know what you find.

Update: Samsung's just tweeted that March 10th date is (sadly) wrong. It added that once the upgrade schedule is concrete, it'll confirm through its dedicated Twitter account.

A few Highlights from Mobile World Congress 2012, day one

The Mobile World Congress (MWC) takes place every year in Spain and is the exciting platform for major mobile announcements. This year, we're seeing quad-core phones, awesome tablets, and plenty of delicious Ice Cream Sandwich to go around on these Android wonders. Read on to find out more!

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Apple Acquires Chomp, spends a lot in the process

So for those of you that don't know, Chomp is an app discovery search engine that helps you find app for your mobile device by a keyword search.  A very cool piece of tech if you ask me.  Apparently Apple thinks they are pretty cool as well since they have decided to purchase the app searching company for a large amount. The exact details of the deal are not known at this time.  

Chomp uses technology that is far above that of the current keyword search in the Apple app store, but was used on many of Verizon's Android market searches.  I think it is safe to say that Chomp will no longer be used on Android handhelds, so Google will have to find a new way to help out customers that have no idea what they want.

Ubuntu Desktop for Android

Canonical has announced Ubuntu for Android. Your Android smartphone can now fully scale up in to a full fledged desktop computer!

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Are we going to see Android Jelly Bean as early as this summer?

Last October all the hype was around Google's newest iteration of their mobile operating system Android, named Ice Cream Sandwich.  Yet after five months, there is still only one device currently supporting the OS, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.  Although there have been promises that the operating system will get pushed to a number of other devices, we will not see those until late this year. 

And now, sources close to the matter, are stating that the next operating system for Android could be out as soon as this June.  The next mobile OS, codenamed "Jelly Bean" will primarily be geared toward tablets. The OS will be a slight improvement upon ICS with the added ability to dual boot between Android and other operating systems.  Namely, it is aimed at dual booting between Android and Windows 8, making the Microsoft mobile operating system even that more diverse.

This is all speculation at this point, but with Windows slated for a fall release, Android Jelly Bean could see its debut just prior to that.

Android 4.0.4 ROM leaks out for the Galaxy Nexus on Verizon

A little gem known as Android 4.0.4 wriggled its way onto the interweb last week, and while it was geared specifically for Sprint's Nexus S 4G, a similar version has just cropped up for the CDMA / LTE Galaxy Nexus from Verizon. While it's only available for tenacious users who've unlocked their bootloader, it seems that a host of improvements are on deck for the official release. First and foremost, the ROM is said to be noticeably faster, with the speed gains also extending to the web browser and the device's boot time. The release also packs a new radio file that (at least from user impressions) offers more seamless transitions between the CDMA and LTE networks. All in all, the rest of the changes are rather minor, but if you'd like to join the bleeding edge, you'll find everything you need in the source link below.

XDA-Developers

Chrome Beta browser comes to Android

Well it has been a long time in coming, but the good-hearted fellows over at Google have released an official Chrome browser for their Android operating system.  I can personally say that it is the best browser I have used on a mobile device. Since its inception Android has tried tirelessly to defeat iOS's Safari, and with the exception of Flash plugins, they have always fallen short.  The native browser that shipped with Samsung's Galaxy Nexus was the best browser for Android to date, but today even that has been dethroned.  

Besides a fresh UI, Google is touting a new, more natural tab management interface, bookmark and tab synchronization with the desktop, support for incognito windows (this is Chrome, after all), and something called Link Preview that makes it easier to select the right link in a densely-populated area of a page. More on that in a bit.

Don't believe me? Go download it on the Android Market and see for yourself.

App Watch: Steam app now available for Android and iOS

Here at The Geek Domain, we're all PC gamers to the core. So, naturally, we're on Steam all the time. Happily for folks like us -- and, I suppose, you,  our awesome reader -- Valve's now made the whole process mobile. No, you can't actually play games, but you can do just about everything else.

Using one of those newfangled Apple-cations on your texting/Facebook machine that also (but rarely) makes calls, you can chat with friends, look at groups and user profiles, ogle screenshots, and -- of course -- achieve Zen-like one-ness with the undulating pulse of each and every Steam sale.

For now, it's in closed beta, so you can download the app, but attempting to login merely adds you to the pool of potential beta invitees. So at the moment, you can look, but not touch.

Still though, this looks fairly promising. Also, Valve's known for kicking off its experiments on a small scale and then growing them until they've taken over the world and we're all living in fear of masked, electro-stick-wielding not-men. Could Steam's iron fist eventually add mobile gaming to its grasp? We shall see.