DailyTech - Google Ditches Patent Claim Against Microsoft for Xbox Video Compression

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Gadgets Google Ditches Patent Claim Against Microsoft for Xbox Video Compression
Tiffany Kaiser - January 9, 2013 10:49 AM

2 comment(s) - last by Alexvrb.. on Jan 10 at 12:33 AM

(Source: techli.com)

Google hasn't withdrawn all patent claims against Microsoft, though

Google recently nixed a patent claim against Microsoft that would affect technology for the Xbox console.

Google had filed a patent claim with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) against Microsoft that would stop the Windows giant from applying video compression technology to the Xbox video game console.

On Microsoft's side, it was looking to license two standards-essential patents for H.264, which Google controls. However, Microsoft didn't want to license these patents on royalty terms with Google.

It appears that Google has dropped the patent claim, though. But Google hasn't withdrawn all patent claims against Microsoft. In Washington state and Germany, Google is still going after Microsoft for SEP injunctions in pending lawsuits.

Just last week, Google and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) settled an antitrust probe without Google having to pay any fines after a nearly two year investigation. Instead of paying fines, the FTC made Google promise that it would stop scraping reviews and information from other websites, stop requesting sales bans when suing companies for patent infringement and allow advertisers to export data in order to evaluate advertising campaigns.

The decision to not fine Google after such a long investigation surprised many rival companies -- especially Microsoft, where Dave Heiner, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Microsoft, wrote a post about the fact that the FTC is not doing enough to force Google to conform with antitrust laws. More specifically, Microsoft is upset that Windows Phone still cannot get a full YouTube app while the competition (Android and iOS) are able.

Source: All Things D

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Open Standards

By DarkUltra on 1/9/2013 7:57:48 PM , Rating: 2

Now even Microsoft can understand the benefits of open and free standards. Ogg Vorbis and theora FTW (for the world)! On a more serious note, can ogg video encoding or decoding be done in hardware on any of the latest GPUs, even with a wrapper, or do we have to build new hardware? Maybe with a little tweaking they can support both?

RE: Open Standards

By Alexvrb on 1/10/2013 12:33:08 AM , Rating: 2

Parts of Theora are licensed, although permanently free. The free and clear part of Theora is good. But how does it perform as an actual video codec? The sad truth is that Theora is rather weak compared to a decent H.264 (AVC) encode. Theora is more on par with the older MPEG-4 Part 2 standards (like DivX prior to their adoption of H.264 and Matroska).

Not to mention H.265 (HEVC) is just around the corner. As long as licensing issues are about the same as H.264, I'd say it's well worth it.

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