Judge orders Google, Motorola to hand over Android data to Apple

The companies must turn over information about the development of Android , as well as information on their merger.

Apple will soon have far more information about Android and Google's Motorola Mobility acquisition than the search giant would like.

U.S. Circuit Court Judge Richard A. Posner yesterday ordered Motorola Mobility and its soon-to-be parent company Google to hand over development information about Android to Apple , according to Bloomberg, which obtained court documents. In addition, the judge said that Google must provide Apple with information about the company's $12.5 billion deal to acquire Motorola Mobility.

Apple has been asking for the data for quite some time in its battle against Motorola Mobility, which sells smartphones that use the Android OS.

And as one might expect, Google and Motorola Mobility have attempted to stop the sharing of any information with the iPhone  maker. However, according to Bloomberg, the judge believed it was a key component in the "discovery" phase of the trial.

Apple and Motorola are locked in a bitter patent dispute in Posner's court over several patents. The first jury trial, which will examine whether Motorola violated six Apple patents, will commence on June 11. After that's completed, Posner will hold a second trial over whether Apple violates three Motorola patents.

That Google has found its way into the trial is notable. After announcing plans to acquire Motorola Mobility last year, Google made it clear that it wanted the mobile company's patents. What it might not have expected, however, was the possibility of getting tossed into existing cases by virtue of that acquisition. Motorola has argued in this case that Google should not be a party to the lawsuit because the mobile firm has no "possession, custody, or control" over Google.

Looking ahead, there's no telling what either Apple or Motorola is hoping to achieve with their lawsuits. In earlier rulings, neither side has been able to win a decisive victory, and in most cases, simple workarounds ensure products stay on store shelves. The chances of that changing this time around seem slim right now.

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Bluetooth takes a new turn, Bluetooth 4.0 with a host of new features

Mr. Foley went so far to say that a traditional wireless mouse and keyboard using the new protocol could conceivably last for five to seven years before needing a fresh battery — likely outlasting the life of the product.

Already available in the Motorola Droid Razr and Droid Razr Maxx smartphones plus Apple’s iPhone 4S, Bluetooth 4.0 is expected to hit more handsets and all manner of accessories this year. The new Bluetooth, also known as Bluetooth Smart Ready, will be available in a host of different devices in the coming days.

One of the main functionality of the new technology is its compatibility with NFC chips. As mentioned above, NFC has been an innovation that is going places of late.

Both Bluetooth versions 3.0 and 4.0 can talk to NFC hardware in phones and laptops to make pairing a simple process of tapping the two devices together. So you can imagine configuring Wi-Fi settings on mobile gadgets just by resting them on NFC equipped routers or hooking up headsets with tablets and phones in the same manner. For example, Motorola’s new Elite Sliver headset already has this NFC pairing ability.

The tricky part of the new technology is its variants. As mentioned previously, the new tech has been named Smart Ready but it is divided into six different modes of the compatibility according to the version that is owned.

The top notch, Smart Ready has compatibility with all other versions, that is Smart Ready, simple Bluetooth and Smart. The simple 4.0 will be able to work with Smart Ready and the namesake in other devices. And the last one, though seems superior to 4.0 simple version, is the least compatible with Smart Read

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GSM Motorola Droid 3 arrives at the FCC

Soon after the original Motorola Droid, we saw the Motorola Milestone – an international version of the device. The trend continued with the Droid 2/Milestone 2, and folks overseas have undoubtedly be waiting for their Milestone 3. Now, a GSM Motorola Droid 3 (XT682) has hit the FCC, but isn’t said to be headed overseas just yet, rather to AT&T instead.

In the FCC filing, this GSM version supports 850/1900 bands as well as WCDMA bands II and V. These are the same bands used by AT&T, but doesn’t mean AT&T will launch the device. It’s just possible for them to. It’s odd to see the Droid 3 making a GSM appearance at all when you think about it; the Droid 4 has been out for a while, and the Droid 3 was released around 8 months ago. It may not seem that long, but in 8 months the standard for Android has increased tenfold.

This filing from the FCC makes its release makes it look like we’ll definitely see this Droid 3 variant, but it’s just too early to tell where. When more information leaks on this release, we’ll be the first to let you know. But until then, expect this old QWERTY to arrive soon; if the release is prolonged too long, it will look ancient next to the many quad-core phones that are to be released soon.

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Verizon’s DROID Fighter leaked for April 12th release date

We’re still in the dark on what exactly the DROID Fighter is. All we really know is that it’s coming to Verizon (thanks to the DROID moniker) and that it’s probably made by Motorola, HTC or Samsung, as all the previous DROIDs have been. The most we’ve seen of it thus far is a listing in internal Verizon documents, but today, we know a little more. The DROID Fighter appears to be scheduled for release on April 12th.

We know that it isn’t the LG Cayman, leaked alongside the Fighter for a March 29th release (though we don’t know a lot about that one, either). And it isn’t the next Incredible or the rumored cheaper Galaxy Nexus, as those have both been leaked for still more dates on Verizon. Given that it has the DROID name and we haven’t seen hide nor hair of it, it’s either a mid-range phone without much exciting, or Verizon’s getting a lot better about keeping their upcoming phones under wraps.

So, place your bets, ladies and gentlemen: is the Fighter a battery-extended version of the DROID 4, a la the DROID RAZR MAXX? Could it be one of Samsung’s innumerable international models with a more local flair, like the Galaxy S Advance? Perhaps it’s one of the HTC One phones shown off at Mobile World Congress, with a red-tinted makeover? Step up and lay down your money: the windows close in five weeks.

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