Monday, January 31, 2022
BlackBerry sells mobile and messaging patents for $600 million
BlackBerry is adding another sad chapter to the downfall of its smartphone business. Today the company announced a sale of its prized patent portfolio for $600 million. The buyer is "Catapult IP Innovations Inc.," a new company BlackBerry describes as "a special purpose vehicle formed to acquire the BlackBerry patent assets."
BlackBerry says the patents are for "mobile devices, messaging and wireless networking." These are going to be the patents surrounding BlackBerry's phones, QWERTY keyboards, and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM). BlackBerry most recently weaponized these patents against Facebook Messenger in 2018, which covered ideas like muting a message thread and displaying notifications as a numeric icon badge. BlackBerry—back when it was called RIM—was a veteran of the original smartphone patent wars, though, and went after companies like Handspring and Good Technology in the early 2000s.
If the name "Catapult IP Innovations" didn't give it away, weaponizing BlackBerry's patents is the most obvious outcome of this deal. According to the press release, Catapult's funding for the $600 million deal is just a $450 million loan, which will immediately be given to BlackBerry in cash. The remaining $150 million is a promissory note with the first payment due in three years. That means Catapult is now a new company with a huge amount of debt, no products, and no cash flow. Assuming the plan isn't to instantly go bankrupt, Catapult needs to start monetizing BlackBerry's patents somehow, which presumably means suing everyone it believes is in violation of its newly acquired assets.
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Oppo's clamshell foldable to undercut Galaxy Z Flip in Q3
Oppo is working on a clamshell folding phone, similar to the Galaxy Z Flip3, and it aims to deliver it by Q3 of this year. Per a 91Mobiles report, citing information from Mukul Sharma, the Oppo flip phone will be cheaper than the $999, €1,049 Galaxy Z Flip3 5G. Other than the clamshell form factor and the Q3 of 2022 timeline, the last bit of information is that the foldable will be under the Oppo Find series, signaling that it will be a flagship. Finally, Oppo is reportedly already working on a successor to the Find N. It's likely coming by the end of 2022 and hopefully it will...
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OnePlus trademarks Two Plus, Six Plus and Eight Plus
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Here are the leaders of the European smartphone market
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Things, that can be done with the versatile camera of Ulefone Note 13P
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Sunday, January 30, 2022
ANYCUBIC Vyper 3D printer review
Introduction While not directly related to what I do here at GSMArena, 3D printing is a huge passion of mine. Having recently done an in-depth review on the CREALITY HALOT-ONE resin 3D printer, I recently got a chance to play with the ANYCUBIC Vyper and can now share what its real life performance is like. I have been doing Fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing for over a year and have owned a total of three 3D printers - my current Monoprice Select Mini V2, which is the only one I could reasonably keep with the limited home space I have and before that Prusa i3, which...
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Vivo Y33s 5G Specifications, Pricing & Image Leaked Before Launch
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Infinix Zero 5G Design Revealed Via Renders, See Expected Specs
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Micromax In Note 2 Goes On Sale In India, See Price, Offers & Specs
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Top 10 trending phones of week 4
A few events had major impact on our trending chart this week, but above all it was the Redmi Note 11 series' global debut. The Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G has finally dethroned the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE, which has occupied the top since the start of the year. We've also got the Redmi Note 11 Pro in fourth and the Redmi Note 11 in fifth. The other major development was the massive Galaxy S22 series leak that propelled interest in the Galaxy S22 Ultra to new heights and the second place in our chart. The Galaxy S21 FE is down to third. The OnePlus 10 Pro is down to sixth, followed by the...
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Huawei Watch GT Runner in for review
The Huawei Watch GT 3 is one of the best smartwatches on the market, and the company recently announced a new version called Watch GT Runner. The new device has a lot of similarities with the GT 3, but there are also some differences that need testing. The Huawei Watch GT Runner feels quite light, and has a bit sportier design with the cool stripes on the rubber strap. Another major change is the antenna design - it claims improved communication with the L1 and L5 satellites. The looks might be different, but the core functionality is largely unchanged. The Watch GT Runner is...
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Week 4 in review: Samsung Galaxy S22 series in the spotlight
The Samsung Galaxy S22 series was the hottest topic this past week. The three phones are officially coming on February 9 alongside the Galaxy Tab S8. We saw high-res renders of all models in all colors, got detailed specs and even prices. To recap the Galaxy S22 will have a 6.1-inch 1080p AMOLED of up to 120Hz variable refresh rate. On the back we'll see 50MP main camera alongside 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP 3x telephoto units. The battery capacity is going to be 3,700mAh. The Galaxy S22+ adds a bigger 6.6-inch display and 4,500mAh battery. The Galaxy S22 Ultra will have a 6.8-inch display...
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How to use an iPhone Face ID while wearing a mask or glasses
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Saturday, January 29, 2022
Gionee G13 Pro With iPhone 13-Inspired Design Launched, Specs & Price
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Oppo Reno7 lineup's LDI design process detailed ahead of February 4 global launch
The Oppo Reno7 series unveiled in November in China will begin its global journey on February 4, starting with India. The lineup consists of Reno7, Reno7 SE, and Reno7 Pro. We know the Pro model will launch in India, but the company hasn't confirmed if it will bring both the vanilla and SE versions to the Asian country or skip one. While we await more confirmation on the number of Reno7 phones launching in India next week, Oppo has detailed the design process of the LDI technology we'll see on the global models of the Reno7 series. LDI, which stands for Laser Direct Imaging, is used to...
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Celebrate Valentine’s Day with discounted Oclean dental products
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