After collectively bidding on Nortel’s 6000 wireless patents, Apple, RIM, Microsoft, Sony, Ericsson and EMC have been cleared by US courts and allowed to buy them for $US4.5 billion. [Reuters]
After furious bidding that saw Google and Intel’s hopes crushed–Apple, RIM, Microsoft, Sony, EMC and Ericsson scooped up Nortel’s patents for $US4.5 billion. The 6,000 patents span wireless, data networking, 4G and internet, and while we don’t know what they all plan to do with them, it’s notable that Google got excluded. [Reuters]
LG-Nortel seems to be a bit early on this one, but they’ve made what looks to be the first WiMax-enabled phone. It’s a standard phone with a videophone built in, which is where the WiMax fits in. With a camera and a screen for seeing your caller, it doesn’t look to be anything all that revolutionary. I don’t think WiMax is going to do anything to help videophones catch on, as the speeds aren’t anything faster than current broadband that videophones can plug into now, but I guess we’ll see.
There’s no release date for this, but I wouldn’t expect to see it for a while, as there isn’t going to be WiMax coverage in the States until next year, and even then it’ll only be in a handful of crappy cities. Yeah, I’m still bitter about that. –Adam Frucci
