Some Say Patents the Real Reason for Nexus Prime, Ice Cream Sandwich Delay
If you haven’t had a chance to take a peek at the calendar, take a look at today’s date. It is October 11th, the day the tech world anticipated as the debut of Samsung’s Nexus Prime in conjunction with Google’s Android Ice Cream Sandwich update. But last week after the passing of Steve Jobs, Samsung and Google announced they would postpone their announcement originally scheduled to occur concurrently with this week’s CTIA events. The gist was that the announcement would be delayed out of respect for the loss of such an iconic figure in the tech world, but some are saying the cancellation of Samsung’s Unpacked event is soiled by the same patent problems that have plagued Android and its partners in recent months.
Trusted industry insider Eldar Murtazin offered his take on the situation via a tweet this morning. “Nexus Prime and Android 4.0 are under question. Google removing some features which are subject of patent war. No timeline for this job,” Murtazin reported. While there is no confirmation of accusations of patent infringing features found within the Ice Cream Sandwich source, the allegations put Google and Samsung in a tough position. It would be in extremely poor taste to pawn off the delay of a device announcement on the death of Jobs rather than simply admitting some elements of the software still needed work.
We’re not quite sure what to make of the situation, but with word ramping up that the release of the phone is now less than a month away, we have to wonder if patent issues really were a factor. After all, Google and Samsung could have still shown off the non-infringing elements of the software at the event as scheduled and then spend time fixing issues prior to the actual device’s release, rumored for November 3rd. It is also possible that Samsung and Google are waiting for the results of an October 13th court hearing to settle current litigation with Apple dealing with Samsung’s lineup of Galaxy devices. The truth is, barring Samsung and/or Google coming clean and admitting patent issues are holding up the next Nexus, we may have to simply take their word at face value for now.
[via AndroidForums, BGR]