Category: Technology

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News Technology

Motorola Mobility registers a handful of “Electrify Icon” domain names

Motorola Electrify Icon

On April 10, 2012, Motorola Mobility registered several new domain names around the phrase “Electrify Icon”.

The registrations include names such as ElectrifyIcon.com and MotorolaElectrifyIcon.com.

At this point, it’s unknown what exactly the “Motorola Electrify Icon” will be, as Motorola has not officially announced plans for a product by the same name.

The “Electrify Icon” could be the next phone in the company’s Electrify line, but at this point, it’s just speculation.  Motorola released the “Motorola Electrify” Android-powered smartphone last year.

Here’s the full list of domain names that were registered this week:

http://whois.domaintools.com/electrifyicon.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/electrifyiconmotorola.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/moto-electrifyicon.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/motorola-electrifyicon.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/motorolaelectrifyicon.com

(Image of Motorola Electrify via Motorola.com)

Categories
News Technology Video Games

Ubisoft working on something called “Talk and Play” according to domains

Ubi Talk and Play

New domain names registered by Ubisoft have revealed that the company could be working on something called “Talk and Play”.

On April 3, 2012, Ubisoft Entertainment registered the domains UbiTalkandPlay.com (Whois) as well as Ubi-Loud.com (Whois).  The registration of the hyphenated name Ubi-Loud.com follows an earlier registration of UbiLoud.com (without the hyphen) that was reported this week.

Obviously, “talk and play” appears to be a reference to gamers chatting it up while playing video games.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the registration of Ubiloud.com followed the announcement that Ubisoft would launch a cloud-based storage system that will allow players to save game data across multiple devices such as an iPhone and iPad.

With any new domain registration, it’s tough to speculate what a company’s intentions are, so it may be some time before we know of the company’s plans.

At the moment, none of the domains resolve to a web page and Ubisoft has made no official announcement.  Nor has the company filed any trademark applications for “Talk and Play” or “UbiLoud” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

(Image of Ubisoft San Francisco office via Ubisoft.com)

Categories
News Technology Trademarks

Samsung files trademarks for Galaxy Sire, Lift, and Perx smartphones

Samsung Electronics

On March 30, 2012, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. submitted trademark applications for the Galaxy Sire (Serial Number: 85585397), the Galaxy Perx (Serial Number:85585381), and the Galaxy Lift (Serial Number: 85585386).

As with many of Samsung’s recent filings over at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the goods and services described in each application cover the same thing: Mobile phones; Smartphones.

Other than the limited information in the trademark applications, there’s not much to go on at this point.

No details on specs just yet.

At the time of this writing, Samsung has made no official announcement of releasing these smartphones.

Discussion: Phandroid, Geeky Gadgets and Android Police

(Image of Head of Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business via Samsung.com)

Categories
News Technology

Research in Motion (RIM) acquires BlackBerrySpin.com domain name

BlackBerry Spin

BlackBerry Spin

It looks like Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM) has privately registered the domain name BlackBerrySpin.com after it recently expired.

On March 25, 2012, the domain name BlackBerrySpin.com (Whois) was registered through the brand protection company MarkMonitor, where other web properties that RIM owns like BlackBerryTablet.com (Whois) are managed.

As with any domain registration, it may be nothing more than a defensive measure to protect RIM’s intellectual property.  In fact, it may just be a reference to the BlackBerry PIN — the personal identification number assigned to each device.

RIM is also close to launching a new BlackBerry. 

According to Bloomberg, “Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) plans to give software developers prototypes for its new BlackBerry smartphone platform in early May, signaling RIM is a step closer to debuting a handset it’s betting on to lift sales.”

At the time of this story, the domain does not resolve to a web page nor has RIM announced anything about a “BlackBerry Spin” product.

[Updated 4:40pm Est:. It appears RIM acquired other domain names that had expired and were previously owned by the same registrant — LawleyCorp out of Canada.  RIM also got its hands on BlackBerryBytes.com (Whois) and  BlackBerryWhine.com (Whois).]

Discussion: Geeky Gadgets and N4BB

(Image of BlackBerry World Keynote via BlackBerry.com) 

Categories
News Technology Trademarks

Google trademarks Showy for software that turns a device into a remote control

Showy Trademark

Late last month, Google registered the domain name GoogleShowy.com.   With such generic words in the name there was not much to go on.

But now, Google has filed a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office revealing more details as to what “Showy” will be when it’s finally released.

The goods and services in the trademark application (Serial Number:  85570895), which was submitted on March 15, covers: “Downloadable software which allows users to use their computer, tablet device, or mobile phone as a remote control to operate video display devices and televisions; and downloadable software which allows users to remotely control the content on internet-connected digital signage.”

The information in the trademark filing sounds related to a Google patent which was recently talked about in news sites and blogs.

In February, Patently Apple reported that Google was developing a new remote for Google TV.

“The new remote will use voice controls associated with Google’s own cloud services. The user will be able to use their Android Phone as the remote to make inquiries about TV shows and the TV will list what’s available as illustrated in our cover graphic,” wrote Jack Purcher.

But of course, nothing is certain until Google actually releases Showy.

As of today, Google has made no official announcement on releasing Showy and the domain name GoogleShowy.com does not resolve to a web page.

Discussion: Techmeme, Business Insider, MobileSyrup.com, Android Police, San Francisco Chronicle, Electronista, Phandroid.com, Softpedia, Marketing Land, Android Authority, androidandme.com, Yahoo! News and 9to5Google