After losing a patent case to Apple, HTC has been forced to begin shipping custom Android builds in the U.S.
Had they not, the company would have faced an import block at U.S. customs for the infringing devices, says The Verge.
The first two devices that would have faced the block are the new One X and Evo 4G LTE, both of which have clear differences from their international counterparts.
During the case, the ITC found that the stock Android messaging app, HTC's own messaging app and the stock Android browser all infringed upon Apple patent #5,946,647 for "data tapping." Verge explains that the "ITC also specifically found that Apple's patent claims were limited to the system both detecting data structures like phone numbers and email addresses in text and then presenting a menu of options when those detected structures are clicked."
For the U.S. models, if your tap on the phone number, the dialer will launch instead of a menu of options, as seen in Apple's patents. Additionally, the U.S. versions have added an "app associations" settings screen where users can choose the default app to use when certain functions are chosen.
The first two devices that would have faced the block are the new One X and Evo 4G LTE, both of which have clear differences from their international counterparts.
During the case, the ITC found that the stock Android messaging app, HTC's own messaging app and the stock Android browser all infringed upon Apple patent #5,946,647 for "data tapping." Verge explains that the "ITC also specifically found that Apple's patent claims were limited to the system both detecting data structures like phone numbers and email addresses in text and then presenting a menu of options when those detected structures are clicked."
For the U.S. models, if your tap on the phone number, the dialer will launch instead of a menu of options, as seen in Apple's patents. Additionally, the U.S. versions have added an "app associations" settings screen where users can choose the default app to use when certain functions are chosen.
