Patent craziness, Google+ mobile updates highlight today’s Google news

There’s a lot of news surrounding Google to digest today, so let’s get started:

• The biggest piece of news from the tech world’s perspective was that a jury unanimously ruled that Google did not infringe upon patents held by Oracle relating to its Java programming language.  This is significant because for the past several years seemingly everyone has been suing both Google and Android device manufacturers for alleged intellectual property infringements surrounding the Android mobile operating system.  The litany of patent suits against Google and Android vendors was one of the chief reasons Google decided to purchase Motorola and its 24,500 patents for $12.5 billion.  While the Oracle verdict doesn’t completely get Google out of hot water, it is a feather in the company’s cap and eliminates one major obstacle to Android’s continued dominance in the mobile space.
• In another (potential) piece of good news for Google, Network World’s Yoni Hessler reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook seems to be a lot more open to negotiating with Android vendors over patent infringements than his famous predecessor was.  The bad news is that Cook’s recent settlement talks with Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung have basically gone nowhere.  As Ars Technica’s Chris Foresman writes:

   Despite two days of court-ordered mediation between Samsung and Apple, the two smartphone giants were unable to reach any agreement that might have staved off their impending patent litigation. Though Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung and Apple CEO Tim Cook were both present for the talks, no compromise could be made, according to a Samsung official who spoke to The Korea Times.  

  If the two parties can’t reach a deal, this puppy’s going to trial in July.  Since Samsung is the biggest Android vendor in the world right now and since it also has one of the most extensive mobile patent portfolios in the world, a Samsung-Apple trial would really be the tech IP trial of the year.  My purely speculative guess is that the two parties manage to wrangle out some kind of settlement.  Unlike smaller vendors such as HTC, Samsung just has too many key patents and I don’t think Apple really wants to get in a protracted legal battle with them.  But we’ll see!
• This, one the other hand, is not-so-good news for Google: 

  Google, which spent $12.5 billion to acquire Motorola and its patents in a deal that closed Tuesday, suffered a major legal defeat at the hands of Microsoft, which successfully argued to a German court that Motorola had violated a patent related to text messaging. The ruling means Microsoft can enforce a ban on Android products in Germany. But more importantly, it could signal an end to at least one long-running dispute between Microsoft and Android players. In the increasingly popular game of technology legal warfare, the side that gets to a significant ban first typically had the upper hand in negotiating a settlement. “Google-Motorola will have to take a license, leave the German market, or face serious issues that affect app developers and users,” Florian Mueller, a legal consultant who runs the blog Foss Patents, tweeted today.

  Unlike Apple under Jobs, however, Microsoft has been more than willing to take a licensing agreement, so it’s doubtful that Android-based products will be banned in Germany for an extended period of time.
• On to non-patent-related news:  Google has updated the Google+ app for Android to let you schedule hangouts right from your smartphone!  From Google’s official blog: 

  Start a hangout from anywhere, and ring the folks that matter most 

  With Hangouts we want to help people connect face-to-face-to-face—at any time, from anywhere. Of course, there’s really only one device that’s always by your side—your phone—so we’ve invested in mobile hangouts since early on. Today we’re adding another important feature to the mix: the ability to start a hangout directly from your mobile device. To get started, tap “Hangout” in the (new) navigation ribbon, add some friends and tap “Start.” We’ll ring their phones (if you want), and if someone misses the hangout, they can ring you back with a single tap.

  Hangouts are just about the only feature in Google+ that gives it any sort of edge over Facebook.  Being able to set up video chats with your friends on Google+ from your smartphone is a legitimately cool feature.  The big question, though, is do enough of your friends actively engage on Google+ to actually know that you’re hosting a Hangout?  Even with its recent improvements, Google+ is still a vastly inferior social network to Facebook so I don’t think mobile hangouts alone are enough to really help out.