Between the growth and accessibility of the internet, the proliferation of smart devices, and the increased portability and power of those devices, connecting people anywhere on the globe is easier than ever. But new technologies also represent new opportunities for bad actors: from the Nigerian prince email, to phishing, identify theft, hacking…
Read MoreThe Justice Department (DOJ) has concluded an investigation into collusion between two wireless carriers and a related trade association regarding embedded SIM card (eSIM) technology. AT&T, Verizon, and the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (or GSMA) were the subjects of the DOJ investigation that will yield changes to how eSIM standards…
Read MoreIn 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged semiconductor and telecommunications equipment giant, Qualcomm, with anticompetitive behavior. After a protracted legal battle, Judge Lucy Koh of the District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the company had indeed violated antitrust law, creating potentially seismic repercussions for the chipmaker’s business…
Read MoreNew class-action lawsuits have been filed against major US cellphone carriers AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint in US District Court in Maryland. Each suit alleges violation of Section 222 of the US Communications Act in mostly identical terms via (in the words of the AT&T suit) the real-time “collection of geolocation data…
Read MoreNokia’s recent settlement with HTC over smartphone patents was widely reported in the media on Friday, resulting in the dismissal of all pending patent litigation worldwide between the two companies. Industry observers widely cited the outcome as an important step for Nokia in its effort to generate royalties from its patent portfolio.…
Read MoreDr. George Edwards, Quandary Peak’s resident guru of location-based mobile services, has been asked to testify as an expert witness in a lawsuit alleging infringement of a patent for “Method and System for Providing an Image Vector-Based Traffic Information.” The case, Porto Technology, Co., Ltd. et al. v. Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon…
Read MoreSoftware consultants at Quandary Peak recently completed an lengthy, in-depth source code review of twenty-nine mobile devices running the Android, Windows Mobile, and Windows Phone 7 operating systems. The consultants, George Edwards and Brad Ulrich, drew on their many years of experience in smartphone application development and mobile systems research to document…
Read MoreDeveloping a smartphone app takes a considerable time commitment, and, unless you’re doing it purely for fun, prospective revenue is a motivating factor. In the second part of my Guide for First-Time App Developers series, I discuss the current state of the smartphone app market and the opportunities to consider when choosing…
Read MoreTurning a great idea into a great app is not necessarily as straightforward as you may expect, and involves a number of important decisions: Which platform(s) should I target and in what order? Is this going to be prohibitively difficult or costly? How can I make sure that my app reaches the…
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