Internal emails reveal Google's desperation over Skyhook's Android deal with Motorola

While Skyhook's lawsuit against Google has been ongoing since September, we've yet to hear the latter's side of the story to fight back anti-competition claims. That's all changed now that a Massachusetts state court has published a collection of internal emails from Mountain View, shedding some light on the reasons behind Motorola's -- and apparently Samsung's as well -- abandonment of Skyhook's XPS location service on its Android phones. In particular, soon after the deal was announced in April 2010, an Android product manager became worried that such a deal would pull more manufacturers away from Google's Location Service, thus jeopardizing the company's ability to maintain and improve its location database through continued data collection. "That would be awful for Google," wrote the manager.

Fair enough, but here comes the juicy part of the story: in the following month, Google informed Motorola that it wasn't happy with the way Skyhook blends location data from WiFi, GPS, and cellular signal. Or in Google's words: this is data "contamination." Despite Motorola refuting such concern, a week later it informed Skyhook that Google had told Moto that its choice for a third-party location service "renders the device [Droid X] no longer Android Compatible." It's not exactly clear what this compatibility issue is, but it's believed to be the ultimate reason that forced Motorola -- being a close pal of Google -- to drop Skyhook's XPS in favor of Google's Location Service. If you're still not feeling sorry for Skyhook, then note that last month Google called this "a baseless complaint" and a "thinly veiled fishing expedition" for internal Google documents and emails. Funnily enough, one email quotes an Android manager saying it was obvious to phone manufacturers that "we are using compatibility as a club to make them do things we want." Question is: which direction will the club swing now that the two companies are battling it out in court?

New York Times

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Manual for Alienware M11x with Sandy Bridge confirms NVIDIA GT540M graphics

If the previous Alienware M11x R3 spec leak got you all giddy, then we have some good news for you: according to a manual dug up by one of our eagle-eyed readers, it appears that this year's M11x refresh will indeed be coming with second-gen Core i5 ULV and Core i7 ULV options, along with a faster DDR3 bus (1333MHz instead of 800MHz), a higher-res webcam (2MP instead of 1.3MP), an HD TrueLife LCD, and optional 3G / 4G mobile broadband. But of course, the real meat on this laptop is its graphics card, which turns out to be an NVIDIA GeForce GT540M with either 1Gb or 2GB of dedicated memory -- not bad for a laptop of this size. Unsurprisingly, no dates or prices are mentioned here, but given the early start of inventory clearance, it shouldn't be long before Round Rock reveals all. Dell (ZIP)

IBM shows off Smarter Traveler traffic prediction tool

Traffic alerts on GPS devices may be old hat at this point, but there's obviously still plenty of room for improvement, and IBM now says it's managed to do just that with its new "Smarter Traveler" traffic prediction tool. Developed with the help of UC Berkeley's transportation group and the California Department of Transportation, the tool relies on predictive analytics software, GPS monitoring and sensors already on the roads to not only offer alerts, but build a model of each person's usual commuter route. Once the system is trained a bit, commuters are able to check out what's effectively a forecast of their entire route before they even leave the house, rather than simply be alerted to traffic problems before it's too late to avoid them. Head on past for the complete press release, and a quick video explanation of how it works. IBM, Caltrans and UC Berkeley Aim to Help Commuters Avoid Congested Roadways Before their Trip Begins First-of-a-K...

Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo delayed to Q3, Arc and Play facing limited supply due to Japanese quake

There hasn't been much good news coming out of Japan lately and this sadly keeps up with the unhappy trend. Sony Ericsson has officially bumped the broad launch (it's already available in limited quantities) of its Xperia Neo handset to at least July, explaining the delay as the result of "supply chain disruptions." Additionally, the Xperia Arc and Play devices, two other members of the company's new Android Gingerbread family, will be available in smaller volume than expected, at least for the near term. We guess that might go some way to explaining why the Xperia Play failed to reach some UK carriers in time for its April 1st launch date. Skip past the break for a statement from Sony Ericsson, who promises to be more explicit about the situation when it delivers its latest quarterly results on April 19th. As Sony Ericsson continues to assess the impact of the situation in Japan on its business, we have communicated to our operator customers and dis...

NYC

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