The US International Trade Commission's Judge David Shaw, currently presiding over the Microsoft versus Motorola case, has recommended an import ban on the 4GB and 250GB versions of the Xbox 360 S.

According to The Courthouse News Service, Judge Shaw also recommended a cease and desist order to prevent the sale on the consoles and that Microsoft post a bond reflecting 7 per cent of value of already imported Xbox inventory.

Microsoft argued that the decision went against the public interest as it would leave consumers forced to fall back on the PlayStation and the Wii. Shaw dismissed this, and suggested Nintendo and Sony were capable of meeting demand for consoles. Microsoft also argued that the bond was unnecessary, while Motorola called for it to be raised to 100 per cent of the inventory value.

The recommendations are now with the ITC, who can choose to accept or amend them.

It was last month that Judge Shaw found that the console violated four Motorola Mobility patents. The commission is expected to finish its investigation on August 23.

Google now owns Motorola. Chinese regulators followed the U.S. and Europe in clearing the deal earlier this week, removing the last barrier. Although the acquisition opens new territory for the search giant, its most immediate effect could be remaking the existing Android landscape. Will Google use its new arm to pound all competitors, or just Apple?
. . .

The first big change will be to replace Motorola's chief. CEO Sanjay Jha is out, replaced by longtime Google employee Dennis Woodside, a man instrumental in the revenue growth of Google as a business over the last several years. Now his job will be to streamline Motorola’s smartphone product line, cut out the dead weight of Motorola Mobility and deliver on the Android geek’s wet dream.

Many pundits and analysts thought that when Google acquired Motorola, it was purely a patent deal. Google had just lost out on a boatload of critical mobile patents in the Nortel patent auction and Android looked more vulnerable to being taken down in the patent wars than ever. With Motorola in its war chest, Google all of a sudden had 17,000 patents from the company that basically invented the cell phone. With patents in hand, would Google spin off Motorola Mobility or sell it piece by piece?

Selling off Motorola's hardware division doesn't appear to be in the plan. If the search company were going to do that, Google CEO Larry Page likely would not have enticed one of his most effective lieutenants, Woodside, to take over. Yet, while the smartphone division will likely remain under Google's control, other hardware aspects of Motorola Mobility, such as its set-top cable box segment, may go on the block.

Google unit Motorola Mobility said on Tuesday it has taken steps to avert an interruption of U.S. imports and sales of its smartphones after the devices were found to infringe on a Microsoft patent.

The importation to the United States of some Motorola Mobility smartphones was supposed to stop Wednesday as the result of an International Trade Commission ruling that the phones infringed on technology that makes it possible for consumers to use the devices to generate meeting requests and schedule gatherings.

"While we can't share specific details, we have employed a range of proactive measures to ensure there is no continuing infringement under the ITC's interpretation of this single Microsoft patent," Motorola Mobility spokeswoman Becki Leonard said in an emailed statement.

One option for Motorola Mobility would be to remove the meeting-scheduling technology from its smartphones and tablets. Microsoft has previously said that Motorola Mobility should license the technology.

The affected phones were: Atrix, Backflip, Bravo, Charm, Cliq, Cliq 2, Cliq XT, Defy, Devour, Droid 2, Droid 2 Global, Droid Pro, Droid X, Droid X2, Flipout, Flipside, Spice and the Xoom tablet.

. . . Google's Android system has become the top-selling smartphone operating system, ahead of mobile systems by Apple, Microsoft, Research in Motion and others.