AllThingsD » Ian Sherr

Ruling Delayed on Apple-Samsung Patent Case

Ian Sherr — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 00:23:43 +0000

The U.S. International Trade Commission on Friday delayed its decision on whether Apple Inc. infringed Samsung Electronics Co.’s patents.

The commission, which has the power to ban the import of products that it finds infringes a company’s patents, said it now expects to issue a decision in the closely-watched case on June 4. A ruling had been expected Friday.

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Activision Warns on World of Warcraft

Ian Sherr — Wed, 08 May 2013 23:44:02 +0000

Despite a strong first quarter, Activision Blizzard Inc. said its cash cow World of Warcraft fantasy game is losing subscribers, and new videogame consoles may not lead to the sales growth some investors expect.

Bobby Kotick, Activision’s chief executive, said that while the videogame maker started the fiscal year on a good note, “we now believe that the risks and uncertainties in the back half of 2013 are more challenging than our earlier view, especially in the holiday quarter.”

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Nintendo Readying an Array of Games for 3DS Device

Ian Sherr — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 21:04:02 +0000

Nintendo Co. may not be releasing a new videogame console this year, but it is preparing a bevy of games for its 3DS hand-held gaming device.

The Japanese videogame company said Wednesday that it is preparing new installments in its popular Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong franchises. Each of those games, which have long been exclusive titles produced for Nintendo’s devices, should help its products stand out during the holidays, the company said.

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From Dell Insider to Suitor

Ian Sherr and Shira Ovide — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:30:40 +0000

Blackstone Group LP’s letter laying out a potential bid for Dell Inc. was co-signed by someone very familiar to the computer maker: David Johnson.

Mr. Johnson, a graduate of Boston College and a 27-year alum of International Business Machines Corp., joined Dell in 2009 as its senior vice president of corporate strategy and led the Round Rock, Texas, company’s mergers-and-acquisitions team.

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Next Sony PlayStation to Stream Games

Ian Sherr and Daisuke Wakabayashi — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 15:25:29 +0000

Sony is planning to offer technology to stream games to its next videogame console, people familiar with the company’s plans say, alongside other enhancements to bolster its position in the market.

The new technology, to be unveiled Wednesday along with the new console, will allow users to play games delivered over the Internet, these people said. The streaming service, they added, is designed to use current PlayStation 3 titles on the new console; the new device is also expected to play new games stored on optical discs.

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Sony to Unveil PS3 Successor

Ian Sherr and Daisuke Wakabayashi — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:54:32 +0000

Sony Corp. is planning to unveil its next-generation home videogame console during a February event, showing off a successor to its current PlayStation 3 system.

The Japanese electronics giant Thursday unveiled plans for a special PlayStation-themed event set for Feb. 20, teasing fans to “see the future” at the event. People familiar with the matter have said the new device will make its debut there, beating Microsoft Corp. the punch in announcing its own next-generation game machine.

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Has Apple Lost Its Cool to Samsung?

Ian Sherr and Evan Ramstad — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 22:00:54 +0000

Samsung Electronics Co. is succeeding where other technology companies have tried and failed: Closing the coolness gap with Apple Inc.

The deep-pocketed Korean company has used a combination of engineering prowess, manufacturing heft and marketing savvy to create smartphones that can rival the iPhone in both sales and appeal.

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Toyota, Audi Prep Self-Driving Cars

Ian Sherr and Mike Ramsey — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 00:29:18 +0000

Toyota Motor Corp. and Audi AG are throwing their hats into the ring of potential suppliers of self-driving vehicles.

Both auto makers confirmed on Thursday that they will be demonstrating autonomous-driving features at CES in the coming week, signaling a new effort to raise the technology’s profile among consumers.

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Start-Ups Adjust to Web's Down Cycle

Pui-Wing Tam, Greg Bensinger and Ian Sherr — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:30:10 +0000

Prominent venture capitalist John Doerr coined the phrase “SoLoMo” in 2010 to describe how three technology trends — social, local and mobile — were fueling a new Internet boom.

But now that Facebook Inc., Zynga Inc. and Groupon Inc. have fizzled in their first year on the stock market –even though they were considered on the cutting edge of some of those tech trends — the hype over “SoLoMo” has subsided.

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Steve Jobs’ Yacht Impounded in Amsterdam

Maarten Van Tartwijk and Ian Sherr — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 19:32:01 +0000

A yacht commissioned by the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has been impounded due to a payment dispute with its designer.

The yacht, whose design began in 2007 and was seen as a collaboration between Mr. Jobs and Philippe Starck, is called the Venus. The price to build it has been estimated at more than 100 million euros.

But the Dutch publication Het Financieele Dagblad reported that a dispute has arisen about that work. A partner at a Rotterdam law firm that represents Mr. Starck’s company, Ubik, subsequently confirmed that the 9 million euro bill for the commissioned work has not entirely been paid, and so the vessel has been impounded in Amsterdam until the dispute is resolved.

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Hewlett Packard: Products Weren't Knowingly Sold to Syria

Ian Sherr — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:30:12 +0000

Hewlett-Packard Co. says its technology wasn’t knowingly sold to Syria.

The Palo Alto, Calif., technology giant made that assertion to the Securities and Exchange Commission in response to a letter dated Sept. 6 and disclosed in a recent regulatory filing.

Last year, news reports surfaced saying H-P’s technology was being used as part of a surveillance program by the Syrian government.

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Microsoft Ups Xbox Ties to Web, Mobile Devices

Ian Sherr — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 14:30:46 +0000

Microsoft Corp. has big plans in mobile devices, aided by a new version of Windows coming Friday. But it is also making further moves in the living room.

The company on Tuesday is announcing new offerings to connect its Xbox gaming console to an array of devices. They include an app called SmartGlass, along with content partnerships to help smartphones and tablets running Microsoft’s latest operating systems act as a second screen for games and other offerings running on the Xbox.

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Apple Retail Chief Admits Staffing Mistake

Ian Sherr — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:33:03 +0000

Apple Inc.’s retail boss told employees the company made mistakes with its staffing levels, leading to news reports that the company was cutting employees, according to two people familiar with the matter.

In a communication with store leadership teams, senior vice president of retail, John Browett, who took the reins of Apple’s retail stores in April, said the company had been trying a new staffing formula for its retail stores.

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Tech Entrepreneurs Get a Hand Pairing Up

Ian Sherr — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 23:53:48 +0000

When David Hegarty moved to San Francisco from Seattle in 2009 to start a company, he had a problem: He didn’t know anyone he could to team up with.

Mr. Hegarty, now 34 years old, was a business guy who knew how to manage sales, make deals and strike partnerships. What he needed was an engineer.

On a whim, he signed up with FounderDating, a website that aims to help people find a partner to jointly pour blood, sweat and tears into a start-up.

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Activision to Bring New, Free Version of "Call of Duty" to China

Ian Sherr — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 16:13:03 +0000

Consumers in the U.S. frequently line up to pay $60 apiece for each year’s installment of Activision Blizzard Inc.’s biggest franchise, “Call of Duty.” But when the venerable war-simulation shooting game reaches China’s shores later this year, Activision will take a different tack: giving it away for free.

The Santa Monica, Calif., company is responding to the peculiarities of the fast-growing Chinese market, where game consoles barely have a presence and people typically gather in PC-laden Internet cafes to play free games that are supported by sales of virtual goods.

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Microsoft to Offer Xbox Subscriptions at Best Buy, GameStop

Ian Sherr and Steven D. Jones — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:53:04 +0000

Microsoft Corp. plans to boost the number of outlets offering its subscription plan for the Xbox, an effort to attract more users by lowering upfront costs of acquiring the game console.

The company, which had previously only made the offer available through 17 of its own stores, plans to extend its $99 offer — which combines a Xbox 360 and Kinect motion sensor with a two-year service contract — to all U.S. Best Buy Co. stores and a “select” grouping of GameStop Corp. stores.

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Sony Considered -- But Rejected -- Online-Only Game Console

Ian Sherr and Daisuke Wakabayashi — Wed, 30 May 2012 19:50:58 +0000

Sony Corp. considered but ultimately rejected a download-only plan for its next videogame console, people familiar with the matter said, opting to include an optical disk drive rather than break with decades-old industry practice.

The Japanese electronics maker’s flirtation with dropping the optical drive underscores the rising importance of online networks in the videogame industry, which allow console users to download games, television shows and music without the need for disks or cartridges.

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Microsoft Banks on Mobile Apps

Shira Ovide and Ian Sherr — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:00:18 +0000

Microsoft Corp., struggling to dent the dominance of Apple Inc. and Google Inc. in the smartphone market, is stepping up efforts to court app makers like Hemi Weingarten.

Last fall, Microsoft aggressively recruited Mr. Weingarten to convince him to build his nutrition app Fooducate for its Windows Phone. Microsoft proposed putting a Fooducate engineer in Tel Aviv through a weeklong boot camp, and offered a new Windows-based Nokia phone for software testing.

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Apple Seeks Injunction Against Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Ian Sherr and Jessica Vascellaro — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:36:00 +0000

Apple is asking a California court to issue a preliminary injunction to block sales of Samsung Electronics’s new Galaxy Nexus smartphone, alleging the device infringes four Apple patents.

The Cupertino, Calif., company has launched suits in multiple jurisdictions against Samsung and other companies making products that compete with its hit iPhone and use Google Inc.’s Android operating system. In its latest action, Apple argues the Samsung device — which uses a new version of Android dubbed Ice Cream Sandwich — is the most credible competitor to the iPhone yet and poses a potent threat to Apple’s market share.

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Apple Sues Motorola in Latest Legal Spat

Ian Sherr — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 03:23:32 +0000

Apple filed a lawsuit against Motorola Mobility on Friday, saying Apple’s iPhone 4S is protected under a license agreement from Qualcomm. The lawsuit, which was filed Friday in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, is the latest maneuver in a series of legal battles between smartphone makers that include litigation between Apple and Motorola in Germany.

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Justice Department Poised to Clear Google-Motorola Deal

Thomas Catan and Ian Sherr — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:48:04 +0000

The U.S. Justice Department is poised to clear Google Inc.’s $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. as early as next week, according to people familiar with the matter, giving Google a powerful armory of technology patents to deploy in the smartphone wars.

However, antitrust enforcers in the U.S. and Europe remain concerned about Google’s commitment to license key Motorola patents to competitors on fair terms, those people said, and are likely to closely monitor Google’s use of the patents. The European Commission has set a deadline of Monday to decide whether to approve the acquisition.

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Apple Asked Standards Body to Set Rules for Essential Patents

Ian Sherr — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:30:43 +0000

Apple Inc. has asked a telecommunications standards body to set basic principles governing how member companies license their patents, an increasingly contentious topic for rivals in the smartphone industry.

In a letter to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, Apple said the telecommunications industry lacks consistent licensing schemes for the many patents necessary to make mobile devices, and offered suggestions for setting appropriate royalty rates that all members would follow.

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Take Zap! Tech Geeks, Starved for More Battery Power, Give Themselves a Charge.

Geoffrey A. Fowler and Ian Sherr — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:49:12 +0000

Any geek can tell you that battery life hasn’t kept up with gadget innovations. But not to worry: Inventors are figuring out how to turn geeks into batteries.

While most gadget lovers hunt for empty wall sockets to charge their devices, Kevin Bartholomew just plugs his cellphone into his hip. That is where he keeps a nine-inch device looped around his belt that converts the kinetic energy of his motion into enough power to keep his devices running.

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Vizio Jumps Into PC Fray

Ian Sherr — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 17:57:53 +0000

Vizio Inc., which shook up the market with inexpensive high-definition televisions, now wants to become a computer manufacturer.

The Irvine, Calif., company, which ranks as one of the top sellers of televisions in the U.S., plans to show a line of thin laptop computers and all-in-one desktop PCs running Microsoft Corp.’s Windows software next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

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Judgment Day Looms for Apple, HTC

Ian Sherr — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 03:58:49 +0000

Apple Inc.’s claims that some smartphones running Google Inc.’s Android software copy its inventions are approaching their first big judgment day in the U.S.

The International Trade Commission in Washington on Wednesday is expected to rule on whether some phones made by HTC Corp. violate Apple’s patents. The ruling could lead to a ban on handsets sold by the Taiwanese company, which uses the Android operating system and is the No. 3 smartphone provider in the U.S. market, according to research firm Nielsen.

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