Qualcomm’s at it again. Renowned for being a world-class patent troll, it’s once again suing Apple over…get this…using Palm Inc. patents it bought in 2014 in the iPhone X.
Their big hangup is that the iPhone X borrowed Palm’s user interface or more specifically the interface found on webOS phones like the Palm Pre.
Who hasn’t been saying the cards interface was stolen from webOS years ago when we first saw it popping up on Android devices? EVERYONE uses it. From Ubuntu Touch, iOS, Sailfish, BlackBerry 10, Windows Phone, and of course Android, they all use some styling of the cards for multitasking or rather task switching.
Their demands? Ban the iPhone X in the US among other things.
Yeah….right. Good luck with that.
Whatever it is, Palm did it first and did it better.
Yesterday we heard a rumour from Bloomberg news that Hewlett Packard was seeking buyers for some of its mobile IP, very possibly including the patent portfolio it acquired from Palm Inc.
Of course, this is not the first time HP has attempted to make this sale, but it is suggested that certain restrictive conditions have been removed to make the patents more appealing to buyers.
Quite what this implies for the future of webOS is unclear at this time. There is an Open source version of webOS in the hands of community members and LG continues to develop their TV system. LG in fact would probably be the preferred buyer for all of us as they seem to have some faith in the system and are a significant player in the mobile sphere. There is however, no evidence that they have any interest in developing webOS as a mobile operating system.
If you enjoy predicting the future, speculating on possibilities or prophesying doom, leave your comment below.
