back to article Turn off the mic: Nokia gets injunction on 'key' HTC One component

Nokia has said it bagged a court injunction in Amsterdam that effectively prevents HTC from using the microphones that are a "key" component of its HTC One smartphone. The Finnish phone maker won a preliminary ban on the mikes, made by ST Microelectronics, stopping the firm from selling them on to HTC or anyone else. "In its …

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  1. noboard
    Stop

    Wait a minute

    If the microphone is genuinly good and contains stuff designed by Nokia, this may actually be a story about patents working the way they should.

    I think I need to lie down.

    Of course Nokia may have simply patented using a microphone in a mobile to record stuff.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Wait a minute

      http://www.androidcentral.com/htc-injunction-will-not-affect-current-one-phones-new-mic-design-progress

      Nokia has NOT obtained an injunction in The Netherlands, or anywhere else, against the HTC One.

      The Dutch proceedings were brought by Nokia solely against STM. HTC was not sued by Nokia in the Netherlands.

      The Dutch injunction prohibits STM from selling certain microphones to any company other than Nokia for a limited period.

      The judgment against STM states that HTC can continue to use microphones already purchased from STM in its products, because they were purchased in good-faith. Nokia's attempt to obtain a recall of microphones already sold to HTC failed.

      HTC will transition to improved microphone designs once its inventory of STM microphones is exhausted.

  2. D. M
    FAIL

    Maybe HTC could focus on

    bringing what customers want, instead what they wanted to push, they'd sell a lot better? The crap mic doesn't matter.

    I still think HTC has solid build, but the stupid copying Crapple no SD card policy, is a really killer.

    Nokia, well, that company died long time ago.

  3. ansi.sys
    WTF?

    "The microphones represent innovations known at Nokia as "High Amplitude Audio Capture", the company claimed, adding that they allow users to record music "that sounds as good as when you first heard it"."

    Hmmm. Who exactly writes / believes this rubbish?

    1. Vladimir Nicolici

      Actually, this not a patent issue. HTC didn't just copy the technology. They actually used the same hardware component (the same microphone), that was based on a Nokia design:

      See this picture showing the component:

      http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/04/htcnokiainjunction.jpg

      Nokia had an NDA with ST electronics about this component, and ST seems to have failed to follow the terms of the NDA.

      1. Asiren
        Paris Hilton

        Would the problem then be ST electronics?

        Nokia: "Here's our tech, use it only in our phones."

        ST: "Okay."

        HTC: "We need a good mic, any ideas?"

        ST: "Well, we have this one lying around..."

        How was HTC to know that the component wasn't "freely" available?

        Paris, because she sounds better on mute anyway.

        1. JimC

          > How was HTC to know that the component wasn't "freely" available?

          Ignorance isn't a defence. You need to ask.

          Even if you did ask and were told lies I suspect you probably still lose the patent case, but you do have a good case against your supplier.

        2. John Riddoch

          It depends if HTC asked/pressured ST for it specifically, but yeah, ST should be feeling some heat from Nokia as well, certainly I'd be surprised if many tech firms trusted them to build kit for them for some time.

        3. Charles Manning

          re: Would the problem then be ST electronics?

          Yes, RTFA.

          But then ST can no longer supply HTC, so it also becomes HTC's problem too.

        4. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          "How was HTC to know that the component wasn't "freely" available?"

          Who cares, the injuction isn't against HTC.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Thank you for a proper posting about this issue, not some Eadon troll rubbish.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      It's called RichRecording

      If you didn't already know, it's called RichRecording. Best to go on youtube, find an example taken with Nokia's 808 PureView and then set the player to HD 1080p to see/hear for yourself how this works. It really is amazing tech, with plenty of hi quality examples taken from live concerts. The range on these mics is incredible (up to 160dB)...a huge improvement that rivals a purpose built device.

      1. Flywheel

        Re: It's called RichRecording

        I'll bet the music industry vultures are just going to love this! I suspect that given time, the bootlegs are going to be better quality than the stuff that the biz will be trying to flog us..

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Have you heard it? It allows a phone to record sounds that the human ear would too, but an average phone would distort.

      There's been lots of concert footage recorded on the 920 by people where it sounds pretty good. You could even hear people talking as well as the music.

      http://www.slashgear.com/nokia-lumia-920-haac-rich-recording-microphones-confirmed-07246489/

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Who exactly writes / believes this rubbish?"

      Owning a Lumia 920, I can confirm that this is true. You can record live concerts with stupidly loud volumes, that sounds great, but come out massively distorted on other handsets like the iPhone for instance...

  4. Gordon861

    Copyright?

    So Nokia have developed a phone mic that is perfect for making bootleg recordings of concerts etc, and they are now suing HTC so that only their phone is able to make these recordings.

    I assume the music industry and film industry will now be suing Nokia for producing tools to copy their content.

    1. Kristian Walsh Silver badge

      Re: Copyright?

      Oh come on...

      Tools are just that: tools. The fact that a device can be used to record a concert doesn't mean that it's infringing copyright. The person using the tool bears the responsibility.

      There are many loud social occasions where you would want non-distorted audio capture (110 dBA is easy to reach if someone is shouting and cheering very near to your mic), few would involve copyright infringement. Sporting events (amateur or otherwise), parties, motorsport, funfairs are a few that come to mind straight away.

      The best reading of the situation is that STE have made a huge mistake; the worst is that HTC have stolen another company's work without compensating them. The part is Nokia's design, even the packaging is the same. STE, as manufacturer, had no right to sell the parts to a third party, any more than Foxconn could start selling iPads to a white-label rebrander. The contract they made with Nokia would have made this very clear.

      It's bad news, because the HTC One is a nice phone - HTC should not have taken this risk - and this is why I suspect it's STE's failure, not HTC's. Nokia are within their rights to pursue HTC for compensation, or have sales blocked until they change the part (which they are going to do).

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @Kristian Walsh

        "Oh come on... Tools are just that: tools."

        As is, evidently, Gordon861.

        1. Jamie Jones Silver badge

          Re: @Kristian Walsh

          ""Oh come on... Tools are just that: tools."

          As is, evidently, Gordon861."

          I think you are being unfair to Gordon. He didn't say any sane group would justly sue Nokia, but that the music and film industry might.... And you only have to look at their track record...

  5. Schultz

    Could anybody explain...

    what is special about the 'high amplitude microphone'? I was under the impression that decent microphones were around for a while and the availability of a high-powered processor capable of handling multiple microphone sources should allow trivial enhancements even in the small form factor of a phone. So what is special about this microphone to give Nokia a valuable patent?

    1. Dave the Cat
      Go

      Re: Could anybody explain...

      I'm not hugely up to date with these things but my understanding is that something about it's design allows it to tolerate and record much louder sounds without distorting, this allows the user to make perfect recordings in what would normally be very problematic for anything except high end recording kit. A poster above mentioned that it can faithfully record up to 160db which in anyone's book is bloody loud...

    2. Kristian Walsh Silver badge

      Re: Could anybody explain...

      Human hearing has approx 130 dB of dynamic range. Microphones with good audio quality at this kind of range are expensive, and too large to mount in a mobile phone.

      A compromise (used by just about everyone else) is to use a less sensitive microphone, with 100 dB of range, but this means that loud sounds will cause it to distort. Alternatively, it can be mechanically damped so that it will not distort at high volumes, but then you lose the ability to detect softer sounds because the microphone diaphragm is now too resistant to movement.

      Nokia's idea was to use two mics, one damped one for high level sounds, and another undamped one for lower level, and use some clever signal processing to mix these dynamically. A different version of the technology uses one diaphragm (with, I suspect, a non-linear amplitude response), and better signal processing to re-form the sound signal afterwards.

      It is clever, and it does work. That's why they got the patent. But this isn't about patents... HTC didn't use the method to make their own part; it seems that their supplier, STElectronics, supplied HTC with the *exact* part that they were making on Nokia's behalf. That's not patent infringement, it's breach of contract and possibly theft (STE were making these for Nokia, and Nokia alone, so the components were not STE's to give to HTC).

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Could anybody explain...

        Obviously, what they need to do is follow the model of the human ear: a sensitive mic, with a mechanical damper that can be actuated at need, like the human tensor tympani muscle.

        Then, if somebody claims prior art.....

        Oh wait. I forget the courts will allow people to patent things already in the human body.

    3. 142
      Happy

      Re: Could anybody explain...

      @Schultz The trouble with using small mics with a high maximum amplitude is that they either have a very high noise floor (i.e. they generate a lot of noise themselves, drowning out someone whispering, for example), or they simply don't respond to low level sounds because they're too heavy.

      What nokia have done, it appears, is have a "high dynamic range" - that means it can capture both quiet and loud sounds. All whilst presumably not draining the battery by powering power hungry preamps, or by having to supply a massive phantom power voltage to the mic.

      I'd like to see the patents actually - anyone got any links to the ones being argued about?

    4. The_Regulator

      HAAC Mic's

      Go check YouTube for concerts filmed with the Lumia 920 I think there ws one with the Transsiberian Orchestra that sticks out in my head. Listen to the audio anyway and you will hear the difference between these Mic's and your standard ones in most other cell phones. The audio clarity when recording with them is impressive to say the least. Just another small detail of the 920 that has not been advertized enogh imho.

  6. Magnus_Pym

    Hold on!

    They are in court defending their IP on a technology that allows users to bootleg live concerts? Ironic or what.

    1. EddieD

      Re: Hold on!

      It wasn't designed to bootleg concerts anymore than the compact cassette was designed to pirate albums.

      Bootlegging concerts is an unintended consequence, the microphone was designed to give good response in any environment with high ambient noise - e.g. city streets, factories

      1. Magnus_Pym

        Re: Hold on!

        "It wasn't designed to bootleg concerts anymore than the compact cassette was designed to pirate albums."

        I know. However it has been pointed out in earlier posts that a we should listen to the quality of a recording made at a live concert to judge this technology. That is something that it excels at. Recording live concerts is something a lot of performers see an infringement of their IP. They complain that 'live' music recordings can be sold by the artist to generate earnings from their work. These earnings are lost if the concert is bootlegged. It's similar to the situation with IP laws not designed to stifle competition and keep the small players out of the market. However that is what i happens in real life. IP arguments were used successfully to impose a levy on blank cassettes to give to artist who may be losing out on sales. Here they appear to be using the legislation to protect the IP of an anti IP technology.

        Hence the irony. Jesus.

    2. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

      Ironic?

      "You keep using that word. Somehow I don't think it means what you think it means."

      1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
        Happy

        Re: Ironic?

        It's like rain on your wedding day apparently...

        Or possibly like goldy, silvery and bronzy. Talking of which can we have an El Reg irony badge please?

        1. Simon Harris
          Happy

          Re: Ironic?

          "Talking of which can we have an El Reg irony badge please?"

          I believe it should be lavender.

          http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/02/01/the_color_of_irony/

  7. James 47

    Poor ST-E

    They must have been desperate for the cash. Nokia arse-raped them when Symbian was canned

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Megaphone

    Nokrosoft desperation.

    They can't sell their rubbish handsets for love or money, and have no other revenue stream but litigation.

    Sad times, from a once great innovator. We can only imagine how good a Nokia Android handset could have been, they could have been where Samsung are today, had they not been pushed into propping up the failing Windows Phone...

    1. Down not across

      Re: Nokrosoft desperation.

      "They can't sell their rubbish handsets for love or money, and have no other revenue stream but litigation.

      Sad times, from a once great innovator."

      Nokia innovated to come up with the mic. I don't see why they shouldn't be able to defend their innovation.

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