In an allegedly unholy coalition, Apple, Microsoft and Research in Motion have joined hands to demote Android's position in the smartphone market.
Six of Google's rivals tied up recently to prevent Google from buying a critical trove of telephony patents, at Nortel's wireless technology patents auction, with judges in the United States and Canada approving the $4.5 billion transaction.
The American Antitrust Institute has asked the US Department of Justice to intervene and to probe whether the tech-giants' tie-up against Google is lawful. Apparently AAI believes the coalition is illegal and points out that the consortium, which called itself Rockstar Bidco, bid five times as much as Google's opening bid for the wireless technology patents.
Nortel, which went bankrupt recently, has been in phone manufacturing business for decades, which means they owned patents that cover some of the most basic technology features in telephony. These patents would prove noxious to rivals, as most mobile device makers invariably use some of these basic technologies. more at IBTimes
