How Google Can Save Android from Patent Lawsuits

How Google Can Save Android from Patent Lawsuits - Android's open-source code and ready availability to manufacturers are boons to developing economies and high-tech corporations alike, from "community knowledge workers" in Uganda to companies like HTC and Samsung. Both corporations are under fire by Apple, though, which is trying (and succeeding) to ban their Android smartphones and tablets using patent law.

Meanwhile, well-funded "patent trolls" like Lodsys are going after indie Android app developers, for supposedly infringing patents they didn't even know about and can't defend themselves against. What is Google to do, as the Android world fractures around it?

Google Exec John Lagerling says that "we have very strong paths that we can take to protect the values of Android". He wasn't very specific about what those "strong paths" entail, but I have an idea that might help:

Indemnify all Android manufacturers and developers.

In a nutshell, Google should step up and take responsibility, by assuming the costs of the ongoing patent lawsuits and protecting all current and future Android device manufacturers. It should also revise the Android Market developer's agreement, so that instead of shaking down Android developers individually, a patent troll like Lodsys will have to deal with the titan itself.

A bold move? Expensive and potentially suicidal, maybe? It's not completely unprecedented: In response to Microsoft's vague patent threats a few years ago, business software vendor Red Hat indemnified all of its customers against lawsuits. The key difference, though, was that in Red Hat's case, nobody ever sued anyone. The company wasn't stepping up to bat for others, it was calling Microsoft's bluff.

Google's, and Android's, situations are far more dangerous. For all that Apple's patents may be spurious (Apple sued Nokia over the exact same patents last year), Samsung's devices really do bear an uncanny resemblance to the iPhone and iPad. And Google itself seems to have been aware from the get-go that Android would have lots of patent issues, and to have decided to go ahead anyway.

That's why Google needs to do this.

The tech titan needs to own up to what it's done. Google's right when it points out, in blog posts, the unfairness of the patent system and the way it destroys innovation. But at the same time, Google widely touts Android's open-source code and supposed openness, while keeping mum about inconvenient truths like HTC's royalty payments to Microsoft.

Should HTC have to pay Microsoft, for the privilege of using something that neither of them invented? No way. So instead of paying the patent trolls, companies like HTC and Samsung should instead be paying Google a fee for the privilege of using its closed-source, exclusive apps, like Google Maps and the Android Market. That fee could go towards the costs of a long-term assault on the broken patent system. Meanwhile, Google could increase its Android Market developer fees, and win some decisive battles against Lodsys in order to dissuade other trolls from setting up literal toll booths.

It's either that, or downplay Android's "openness" in favor of a warning label: If you write any apps or build any smartphones that use this, you will be attacked.

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Giant iPhone table features working camera, buttons

iPhone owners are a dedicated lot, but we doubt many would go to the lengths that Benjamin Bachmeier did to show his devotion. The German Apple fan took it upon himself to built a larger-than-life version of a white iPhone 4, complete with massive display and working buttons. He calls his creation iTableous, and it's almost certainly the coolest iPhone tribute we've seen.

The massive phone — which can make calls through Skype functionality — stands nearly 4' tall when upright, but is much more useful as a table when secured to its custom stand. The screen is made of a 1080p HD widescreen display and is protected by 8mm of high-strength Plexiglass. The guts of the white monolith are capable of running both Windows 7 and Mac OS X operating systems (through dual booting), and a massive 500GB hard drive ensures that the mega smartphone will have plenty of room for apps.

The phone's gigantic buttons serve purposes like volume and fan speed control, and the front-facing camera is a fully-functional 5.7 megapixel lens. Unfortunately, if you're drooling on your keyboard at the prospect of owning the goliath iPhone, you better have your do-it-yourself hat on, because Bachmeier isn't planning on making another. Though if you're feeling ambitious, a collection of in-progress pictures can be found on Bachmeier's website.

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