Samsung Galaxy Note 6 may feature a BlackBerry Hub-like experience called Samsung Focus | Android Central
How much can they and others copy off BB HUB before it's patent infringement? I mean the entire concept is BB's, why doesn't BB go after these guys?
Is the HUB patented?
That's one question. Another is, can BB afford a long, drawn-out legal battle? Samsung can, and they'd prolong any court case as long as they could. Just ask Apple.
You can't patent an idea or a business process. Only the specific implementation and design. So long as their hub doesn't use Blackberry's technology or look and feel, they can invent a parallel approach to the same process without risk of a successful lawsuit.
For example, they might not be able to allow the user to swine right to see a list of accounts, or show the number if unread messages in the same manner as the Hub does.
However, it's also worth remembering that Samsung and BlackBerry reached a wide-ranging patent sharing agreement fairly recently, so they may have licensed the Hub patents or be free to develop something similar in any case.
Posted via CB10
Was not aware of that.... Was aware that Samsung and BlackBerry partnered to make BES compatible with KNOX, so that all those customers switching to KNOX hardware, could still use BES to manage those devcies.
If you remember, Samsung once offered $7.5B US to buy BlackBerry, primarily for its patents. It seems logical that the Knox deal also included some patent agreements.
However, I may need to amend my claim, as I can't find any press release to confirm that they reached a broader agreement.
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Or they just blatantly plagiarize it and fight it out in court. Wouldn't be the first time.
Posted via BlackBerry Priv STV100-1
Agreed. That is a perfectly valid strategy if Samsung is comfortable with the risk.
Posted via CB10
Both BlackBerry and Samsung know that BlackBerry can't do anything about it lol. Instead BlackBerry will continue to pick on the smaller guys with infringements!
Posted via CB10
Not sure what you mean by that. Blackberry has plenty of legal firepower available if needed.
Posted via CB10
I'm a patent litigator. BlackBerry is very active in patent litigation.
Unrelated note: their outhouse lawyers carry CrApple phones.
Ride or die: PRIVelege-acy
The basic idea of hub has appeared previously on android before - I remember using an app like it about three or four years ago (the name escapes me but the word 'snow' keeps coming to mind)
Then I don't know why they haven't fired off on Samsung but yet they went off on a small company like Avaya.
Posted via CB10
There are two questions relevant to that.
1) is Samsung actually using Blackberry's patented technology or copyrighted designs, i.e. does BlackBerry have a legal case.
2) Has Samsung licensed technology or designs from Blackberry. Both companies have worked together extensively, and Samsung may already be compensating BlackBerry.
Posted via CB10
Samsung had a "hub" type app in the Android 2.2/2.3 era, and at least one other company made something similar... Of course, they weren't exactly like the BB Hub, but it was the same overall concept of unified messaging and notifications.
Yep!
TouchWiz UI actually began as a sort of Notifications Hub in Samsung's Symbian phones (i8910 OmniaHD) AND their touchscreen feature phones, this was back in 2009. ;)
It had a panel that you swiped from the left, and had a consolidation of Notifications, Calendar, Time, Notes and what song you had played last in your Media Player.
Lets not forget Sony Ericsson's short lived TimeScape UI, in the Xperia X10, X10Mini and X10MiniPro, it to consolidated your Emails, Social Media, Calendar etc... In one feed.
The more I think of it, BB Hub isn't that original, most major OEMs have had/has something like it for a long time, and either scrapped it for a lighter UI or took a diff approach.
BB's implementation is the best, they timed it well in terms of hardware and software. Got it installed in my Note 4 and will install in my Note7, its super fluid.