News - HTC One Mini banned from sale in UK after Nokia’s patent victory

[HEXUS]

Major sales ban in the UK hits HTC’s One Mini and Max, will come into effect as of Friday.

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[RussiaForever]

Nokia scrounging on whatever morsels it has left...

[Brewster0101]

Nokia scrounging on whatever morsels it has left...

Well not really. This is a clear copy of technology that HTC have tried to get away with using.

Not a typical Apple Patent spat, a simple clear copy of using someone else's technology.

[Myss_tree]

Its not going to make me think of buying a Nokia if i cannot buy a HTC. ;-)

[moeburn]

Its not going to make me think of buying a Nokia if i cannot buy a HTC. ;-)

That's not the point. They are trying to bleed them of money and time, in an effort to destroy their company and make their products either crappy or non-existent. This isn't a publicity stunt.

[OilSheikh]

Does Nokia think it's Lumia phones are better than HTC One ?

[Noxvayl]

The fact that this got to court annoys me. Is it that hard to reach a licensing agreement these days? Microsoft have been doing very well with licensing agreements from Android manufacturers...

[zdn1042]

A lot of HTC devices banned. Boy, this is not a very good year for HTC.

[Number29]

That's not the point. They are trying to bleed them of money and time, in an effort to destroy their company and make their products either crappy or non-existent. This isn't a publicity stunt.

It's not even that. Nokia are just trying to stop HTC from profiting from something it isn't entitled to sell.

Does Nokia think it's Lumia phones are better than HTC One ?

I should hope so!

[Biscuit]

I was preparing myself for the usual, 'WHEN WILL THE MADNESS END' message, but actually perhaps this is one of the few patent lawsuits that is actually sensible. Without knowing the true details of the particular device and how it infringes its hard to say, but if this is a piece of real technology that has been developed by nokia and stolen without royalties by HTC then fair play. The law suits i have a problem with are ones about daft floppy features like 'bounce back'.

[crossy]

The fact that this got to court annoys me. Is it that hard to reach a licensing agreement these days? Microsoft have been doing very well with licensing agreements from Android manufacturers...

Yep - but from what I've seen Microsoft's approach has been compared to a visit from two bulky dudes in suits called Vinnie and Mario suggesting you might want to buy fire insurance from them, otherwise there WILL be a fire!

Microsoft slagging apart, anyone know if HTC were offered FRAND terms and refused, or is this Nokia being vindictive? I'm also assuming that Microsoft is less than happy that all HTC's Windows gear is effected too.

Does Nokia think it's Lumia phones are better than HTC One ?

Undoubtedly they (Nokia) do think that the Lumia's are better than HTC's Windows phones - and probably better than the Android-running HTC One. From what I've seen of the two Windows phones in this household, I'll not disagree with that assessment. The HTC8S is nicer looking and slightly faster than the Lumia 620, but the latter gives me less "support" issues - it just works. The 8S's lack of storage (and DataSense) are the major issues at the moment.

Still, as Biscuit says, it's not one of those Applesque "we patented a rectangular phone device" or similar patent (pun intended) nonsense!

[Biscuit]

...The HTC8S is nicer looking and slightly faster than the Lumia 620, but the latter gives me less "support" issues - it just works.

Less support issues is perhaps fair but, 'it just works' is not my experience with the 620. Mine restarts itself all the bloody time.

[shaithis]

Would be nice to know the full details.....I wouldn't be surprised if they asked for the permission but was given a silly price per handset to patent.....Nokia have a decent patent portfolio....but not a lot else...and would be looking to leverage that where possible.

[crossy]

Less support issues is perhaps fair but, 'it just works' is not my experience with the 620. Mine restarts itself all the bloody time.

Sounds like you've got a bad phone then - the 620 is my wife's phone and she's not exactly tolerant of misbehaving tech. Only criticism she's voiced is that the battery life isn't that good ... "This darned thing always seems to need charged", but then again she came from a feature phone in which case I was expecting that comment.

Daughter's got the HTC8S and loves the looks, but loathes the pathetic internal storage (1GB free v's 4GB for the 620). Other daughter - like me - is an Android fan, her with an HTC One S and me with my Samsung S3.

[TheAnimus]

Only criticism she's voiced is that the battery life isn't that good ... "This darned thing always seems to need charged", but then again she came from a feature phone in which case I was expecting that comment.

Try running it constantly in battery saver mode, if she doesn't need the features running in the background?

[iamlorro]

for work i have an 820. it's not given me too many problems, but i'd choose a HTC over it any day.

Nokia phones always seem heavier than their equivalents from samsung et al