TouchDroid for TouchPad, Nexus Prime rumor and Google Moto battle

TouchPad reborn with TouchDroid Project

Over the weekend, the Internets were all abuzz with news of the drastic price drop on the TouchPad from HP. First, the news was of HP killing the TouchPad after lackluster sales. Next, of crazy blow-out prices on HP's erstwhile tablet. The 16GB model was going for $100 and the 32GB went for $150.

Mere days later, a group of Android devotees launched TouchDroid. TouchDroid is supposed to be the online hub and rallying point for Android dev types eager to get HP's webOS off and the latest version of Android on to the discontinued tablet.

I pinged the developers to ask for an ETA on the project. Strangely, I was kickbanned and told in no uncertain terms that I was no longer welcome.

So who's working on the project? Well, that's the rub. As the TouchDroid project wiki page says:

"Considering that hardly anyone even has a tablet yet, and some the developers umm, don't yet realize they are going to be developers... figure this will take a good long while."

Whatever the case and however long it takes, if you were able to snag a TouchPad in the fire sale you may have just secured yourself the most inexpensive Android tablet yet... with a little patience.

Samsung not next for Nexus?

Rumor has been swirling as to who will be tapped to make the next Nexus. In episode 21 of Android Weekly, we made a pretty compelling case that Samsung was up to bat again. They're the company behind the current Nexus, the Nexus S.

It looks like we may have been wrong... or maybe not. Let's explore.

A Samsung release road map has been leaked. Sammy, of course, disavows any knowledge, but it looks and sounds legit. If indeed it is legit, Samsung's first Ice Cream Sandwich phone will be the GT-I9250... and it won't see release until December of this year. That would put it out of the running as the next Nexus, believed to be called the Nexus Prime.

Nexus phones launch with the latest version of Android. They're the narrow end of the wedge. As Ice Cream Sandwich, the launch OS for the next Nexus, is apparently scheduled for release in October of this year, the Nexus Prime will launch right along with it.

So, either the leaked roadmap is out of date, the Ice Cream Sandwich rumored launch date is wrong or -- the most likely option -- some combination of the two is in effect.

Google Moto mating makes an enemy

We were pretty happy to hear and report on Google buying up Motorola Mobility in last week's episode. Anything that kills off MOTOBLUR and protects Android from some patent disputes has got to be a good thing, right?

Not if you listen to John W. Keating... which, he assures all involved, you should, dammit!

Mr. Keating, a Motorola shareholder, is a little miffed at the sale price that Google was able to scoop Motorola for. If you recall, that sale price was $12.5 billion. That's $40 per share or 63 per cent more than the trading price at the time.

Much of the value Motorola Mobility holds for Google and Android is in patents. Using fuzzy logic he comes up with this equation:

17,000 patents granted plus 7,000 patents pending times $510,204.08 = near enough to the $12.5 sale price. The $510,000 number comes from the sale price of Novell patents not too long ago.

Keating contends that Motorola effectively sold its patents and gave away its mobile division. Think of it as the biggest BOGO sale of all time... except that the logic is flawed. Not all patents are created equal. Pending patents don't hold the same value as actual, bona fide patents. Also, patents have a shelf life of about 20 years. Motorola's been around for 30. Surely there are some patents nearing their expiration date among the portfolio.

Our advice to Mr. Keating? Take your 63 per cent or better return on investment and stick it... in a high-interest, low-risk security or similar financial instrument.

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