02/13, 5:25pm
DOJ next to OK Google-Motorola and adds Nortel
The US Department of Justice in a brief said it had approved both Google's acquisition of Motorola and the joint purchase of Nortel patents by Apple, Microsoft, RIM, and others. Antitrust regulators in both cases had decided it was "unlikely" that the deals would hurt competition. It was partly reassured by Apple, Google, and Microsoft all promising to license standards-based patents based on FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) terms.
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02/13, 1:40pm
EU gives full approval to Google-Motorola
As anticipated, the European Commission on Monday approved Google's $12.5 billion buyout of Motorola. The approval was without conditions after the EU body decided that it wouldn't hurt smartphone competition or patent issues. Commissioner Joaquin Almunia was aware there was a chance Google might abuse patents to shelter Android, but he promised legal action if that was the case.
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02/13, 12:30pm
iFixIt gives Droid 4 poorest 4 out of 10 score
The Motorola Droid 4 is the latest subject of iFixit's teardowns. The team managed to remove the non user-removable battery fairly easily, though the hardware QWERTY keyboard is oddly integrated into the motherboard and difficult to repair. This was the main reason iFixit gave the Droid 4 its lowest repairability score to date, at 4 out of 10.
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02/10, 4:45pm
Apple uses patent exhaustion versus Motorola in US
Apple's lawsuit retaliation continued on Friday after it sued Motorola in the US over 3G patent issues. The iPhone designer sought to block Motorola from making patent violation accusations based on its use of Qualcomm's MDM6610 cellular chipset as well as any others it might use. It came after Qualcomm confirmed to Apple that it was already paying for a license to Motorola's 3G patents, which Apple took to mean that it was exempt from paying itself.
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02/10, 1:25pm
EU seen as likely to approve Google buy as US
Two insiders claimed Friday that the European Commission was likely to approve Google's acquisition of Motorola. In sync with talk of a likely US approval, Reuters understood that the EU regulatory body would greenlight the deal in "unconditional" form. The EC had reportedly decided that the takeover wouldn't be anti-competitive.
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02/10, 9:05am
Verizon ships Droid 4 LTE messager
Verizon delivered one of its first smartphones of the new year Friday in the Droid 4. The Motorola headliner we tried at CES is up for $200 on a contract, making it one of the more affordable LTE phones. Buyers can also pick it up for $550 contract-free.
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02/10, 7:00am
Motorola suffers setback in German court
Motorola has failed in its bid to force another 3G/UMTS-based patent injunction against Apple in the Mannheim Regional Court, according to Foss Patents. German Judge Andreas Voss dismissed the evidence presented in court by Motorola’s lawyers on the grounds that it had failed to demonstrate conclusive evidence that Apple had infringed upon the patent in question. Instead, Motorola had tried to argue in general terms that as the patent has been declared essential to the 3G/UMTS standard, that Apple by default had to have violated the patent by using the standard in some of its products.
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02/09, 10:25pm
Motorola intros sleek Gleam+ flip for Europe
Motorla kept its basic feature phone roster going Thursday with the Gleam+. The flip phone is 13.5mm thick and sports a unique LED matrix on its clamshell that displays the time or notifications and alerts. It earns its plus tag partly through its inclusion of an HTML-capable browser, still a rarity in something its size.
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02/09, 7:45am
Galaxy Tab 10.1N avoids preliminary ban
Samsung got a reprieve on Thursday after a Dusseldorf court ruling (PDF) denied Apple's call for a preliminary ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1N. Fulfilling early expectations, the judge determined that the 10.1N was sufficiently different from the iPad to avoid confusion over Apple's claimed design rights. The court also tossed ideas that even the consciously modified Tab 10.1N was breaking competition rules by unfairly using a similar product.
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02/08, 7:50pm
DOJ may OK Google-Motorola with conditions
The Department of Justice is leaning towards approving Google's takeover of Motorola, insiders leaked Wednesday. It wasn't clear what the motivating reasons were in the Wall Street Journal tip, but the approval could be publicized as soon as next week. Regulators would mostly be watching to see if Google abused the patents it would get with Motorola to attack competitors.
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02/08, 7:20pm
Low-end phone features four-inch screen
Motorola has set out official plans to launch the MOTOLUXE in the UK. The entry-level phone sports a four-inch display and runs Android 2.3. Carriers weren't named, but resellers should have the phone by late February.
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02/08, 12:35pm
Samsung Galaxy Note ad out of top 10 for most
Samsung's Super Bowl ad for the Galaxy Note may have been one of the costliest mistakes in advertising in recent memory, based on new Nielsen data from the event. The Android phone's commercial appeared neither in the top 10 most-remembered ads of the football game nor the top 10 most-liked among Nielsen's nearly 12,000-person panel. Instead, the only technology picks went to E*Trade and to GoDaddy, whose flip-flop on SOPA still left it with the ninth most memorable spot.
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02/07, 11:15pm
Google may make Motorola license patents fairly
A pair of sources claimed Tuesday that Google was about to send a formal pledge to standards bodies that it would license and Motorola's standards-based patents fairly if its $12.5 billion takeover of the phone designer was approved. An official letter would go out within the next day, Bloomberg said, to groups like Europe's telecom agency ETSI. Google wouldn't directly confirm the message, but through spokeswoman Niki Fenwick claimed that Motorola already had been licensing on fair terms and wouldn't change.
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02/07, 6:30pm
Telus goes all-in on Optik console and mobile
Telus' Optik IPTV service got much more control over non-traditional viewing on Tuesday. Optik TV for Xbox 360 takes advantage of the fall Xbox 360 Dashboard update to use the console as the set-top box, including for remote DVR viewing if there's a traditional DVR on the same network. The support includes full Kinect motion control.
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02/07, 5:40pm
Release adds shake to awake and Wi-Fi configuring
Motorola has teased about what new features will be coming in its
next software update for its MOTOACTV exercise device. The company has blogged that it soon will be adding the ability to wake the display from sleep mode with a wrist flick. It should also be supporting over 40 new activities.
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02/07, 10:25am
Verizon to launch Droid 4, start promo deals soon
Apart from launching the Motorola Droid 4 on February 10, Verizon has a number of other promotions scheduled for that same day. While the Droid 4 has been officially confirmed, news of the other promos come from BGR and aren't yet a sure thing. The Droid 4 will cost $200 on a two-year contract, as expected. The other deals include a buy one, get one free for other smartphones, including the fairly recent RAZR MAXX and the new white and purple versions of the original.
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02/06, 10:25pm
Users still wait for Ice Cream Sandwich
Motorola has released software updates for its Droid Razr and Droid Razr Maxx smartphones, bringing a number of minor tweaks and bug fixes. The Android 2.3.6 build, which was announced in December, resolves issues related to mobile hotspot functionality and visual voice mail, while improving stability when switching through the home screen panes.
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02/05, 11:00am
Google takes Apple director Simon Prakash
Signs that Apple and Google are honoring laws barring no-poaching deals may have surfaced this weekend after new tips that Google had hired away one of Apple's veterans. VentureBeat understood that Simon Prakash, Apple's senior director for product integrity, had been hired away to work on a "secret project." He would reportedly start on Monday.
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02/04, 1:25pm
Motorola royalty demands of Apple uncovered
Newly uncovered documents from Apple's opposition to a Motorola attempt to silence its requests have uncovered Motorola's demands for a 3G patent license. In explaining why it needed to get details of Qualcomm's patent deal with Motorola, Apple mentioned that Motorola had wanted a 2.25 percent royalty on Apple product sales as its attempt at a FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) patent licensing offer. Florian Mueller, who unearthed the details, saw it as likely an excessive rate given that Apple wouldn't only be licensing from Motorola and that it could significantly raise the price of selling an iPhone or 3G iPad.
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02/04, 4:00am
MOTOACTV now lasts for 9h, gets more features
Motorola's MOTOACTV has received a second big update that significantly extends its usefulness. It has gained another hour on top of what it got in a first update and can last for nine hours on battery. An overdue battery meter in the status bar now gives a better indicator of how much charge is left.
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02/03, 5:30pm
Galaxy Nexus on Verizon, Nexus S 4G degraded
(Update: Google follow-up An investigation into Google's supported device has revealed that Google has quietly demoted the CDMA version of the Galaxy Nexus. The Verizon model, and possibly the upcoming Sprint version, aren't listed anymore as supported hardware, Droid-Life said. Google now claims "no CDMA devices are supported" and has also pulled the Nexus S 4G and Verizon-edition Motorola Xoom from the list.
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02/03, 2:40pm
Motorola Woot auction slips Xooms with user info
Motorola has started up a return program after a minor but still significant privacy gaffe during a Woot auction. About 100 of 6,200 refurbished Xoom Wi-Fi tablets sold during auctions between October and December are believed to have still had some private data stored inside. These could have included anything from account logins through to personal files, Motorola said.
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02/03, 11:15am
Apple cleared to sell 3G devices in Germany again
Motorola's German ban against Apple was short-lived Friday after the court suspended the ban following an appeal. Apple in a statement hours later told SlashGear that it would have iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and 3G iPads back on Germany's online Apple Store soon. The iOS device builder reiterated the point of view behind the appeal, which contended that Motorola was violating policies around licensing patents on FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) terms.
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02/03, 6:20am
Motorola strikes a blow for Android against Apple
Motorola has scored two significant victories against Apple in Germany, the result of two separate legal actions it has initiated in a Mannheim court, according to FOSS Patents. The first of the two cases dates back to a decision handed down in December where Motorola won an injunction against Apple on its implementation of 3G/UMTS technology and has resulted in Apple pulling its iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4 as well as all of its iPads from its online store in Germany. The second has resulted in an injunction against Apple’s implementation of push e-mail in iCloud and MobileMe.
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02/01, 4:05pm
Motorola Droid 4 may have reasonable prices
Two sources have hinted that the Droid 4 may have an imminent launch and a moderate price point. The Droid-Life contacts had it shipping on February 9 for $199 on a contract, or as much as the pared-back 16GB Droid RAZR. It was originally rumored to come a week earlier but was moved back for unknown reasons.
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01/31, 7:05pm
Google may put own man at Motorola lead
An as yet unconfirmed rumor floating around Google suggests that the company's chief business officer and senior VP Nikesh Arora would take effective control of Motorola should its proposed takeover be approved. The tip to Business Insider had Arora "agitating" for a CEO role at some level ever since Larry Page took over from Eric Schmidt last spring. The jump would possibly be a way to calm that friction before Arora risked jumping to a competitor.
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01/30, 3:25pm
Samsung hopes to make irrational appeal in US
Samsung's marketing lead Younghee Lee outlined a different plan of attack for reaching the US in an interview published on Monday. She made clear to AllThingsD that Apple was the company's main target. Americans were "obsessed with Apple," she said, and her goal was to trigger that same, seemingly irrational desire for Samsung's devices.
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01/29, 11:50pm
Moto RAZR Dev Edition gives what carriers won't
Motorola on Sunday night briefly teased (now pulled) a special Developer Edition of the modern RAZR. The new version will make the promised unlocked bootloader readily available so that users can easily load custom firmware or otherwise go beyond what carriers and Motorola allow. It should ship this week in Europe, and a "developer device" that may or may not be the RAZR should come to the US in "coming months."
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01/29, 7:05pm
HTC may run afoul of patent after decision
An examination of a decision in a Chicago court in Apple's lawsuit versus Motorola could see most any Android device face inherent patent violations. Florian Mueller has noticed that Judge Richard Posner interpreted a realtime API (app programming interface) in such a way that Motorola and other Android supporters not only would be infringing on the technology, but wouldn't have an easy way around it. HTC had already been found violating the patent and could now see that definition enshrined in the courts.
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01/27, 11:10am
ABI says iPhone 4S rise led to Android loss
Apple's record iPhone sales have led to Android shrinking for the first time in its over three-year history, ABI Research estimated Friday. Operating on the belief that next-closest Samsung shipped 33 million smartphones, it had Android's collective share drop from 52.5 percent in the summer to 47 percent this fall. Apart from the iPhone 4S' launch effect, Android had 'sagging midsection' where LG, Motorola, and Sony had been fighting just to become profitable.
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01/27, 7:50am
IHS iSuppli and Strat Analytics show Apple shift
Separate IHS iSuppli and Strategy Analytics studies Friday have backed Apple's rapid return to the top of the smartphone space in the fall. Determining that Samsung had shipped 36 million smartphones, slightly higher than Samsung's preliminary estimates, IHS iSuppli put Apple's 37 million iPhones just on top. Although Samsung nearly quadrupled the amount of smartphones it shipped and moved more year-long, Apple's higher starting point meant it could just double its yearly shipments to stay competitive.
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01/26, 9:35pm
Motorola Xoom sequel now shipping as Wi-Fi-only
Motorola has sent an e-mail to its customers indicating that it has started shipping the 10.1- and 8.2-inch versions of its Xoom tablet sequel, the Xyboard. The company has also made the devices available for purchase through its webstore in two storage sizes for each device. The Xyboard 10.1-inch will cost $600 (32GB) and $500 (16GB), while the Xyboard 8.2-inch will cost $500 (32GB) and $400 (16GB).
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01/26, 5:15pm
Motorola Q4 2011 up on tablets, down on phones
Motorola Mobility posted fall results Thursday underscoring the gap between its ambitions in tablets and its actual performance. The company shipped 200,000 Xoom and Xyboard tablets in the last three months of 2011, which while better than its low point in summer was still lower than what it managed in the first two quarters of 2011. It shipped just one million of its Android tablets all year, which Apple's iPad at its current pace can eclipse in less than a week.
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01/25, 8:20pm
Good Technology shows iOS widening lead at work
Good Technology broke down its latest enterprise stats Wednesday to show that the iPhone 4S had a tangible impact on share at work. The new Apple phone made smartphone activations through the enterprise platform "skyrocket," making up for any pent-up demand from the summer with a record in the fall. iOS as a whole made up 70 percent of the newly switched-on activations, keeping its summer share even in the face of theoretically tougher competition.
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01/25, 6:30pm
Razr lineup set to expand
Motorola is reportedly preparing to expand investment in its Smart Actions management features that are available on the company's new Droid Razr handsets. Senior VP Alain Mutricy has confirmed that the company is not done developing the system, which will likely be expanded to additional handsets this year.
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01/25, 3:35pm
Motorola lawsuit swings to newer Apple releases
Motorola has escalated its countering campaign against Apple with a new lawsuit in Florida. Filed Tuesday but only made public today, the complaint focuses on more recent releases and alleges that both the iPhone 4S and iCloud violate six of its patents. These include basics such as having a hidden external antenna, communicating filtered data, managing use, and a "pager status" sync patent also used in Motorola's German actions.
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01/25, 3:15pm
Moto RAZR gets early Android 4 with Blur changes
Some users over on the droidrzr forum have shared images of their Motorola RAZR using Android 4.0.3. What's unique about the OS, however, other than that build number, is that this is the first instance of Android 4.0 with a very slight customization from Motorola and its own Blur interface.
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01/24, 11:05am
Droid RAZR MAXX gets confirmed release schedule
Following unintentional slips, Verizon on Tuesday confirmed that the Droid RAZR MAXX will be on shelves this Thursday, January 26. The extra-long lived 4G smartphone will be the new high-end version of the RAZR and carry the 32GB that was cut in half to lower the price for the original design. A RAZR MAXX wil cost $300 on a contract like the original 32GB version.
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01/24, 8:20am
Verizon Q4 2011 defined by iPhone
Verizon on Tuesday posted a rare loss for its fall quarter despite an otherwise upbeat result defined by the iPhone. It lost 71 cents per share through pension compensation but had its best subscriber additions in three years, adding a net 1.5 million new customers. Having shipped 4.2 million iPhones, the credit could go primarily to Apple for the record performance.
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01/23, 12:00pm
Apple wants ex parte discovery of Ericsson patents
Apple on Friday is now known to have called on information from Ericsson to help defend against Motorola's patent lawsuits in the US and Germany. An ex parte request for discovery is asking Ericsson whether or not it has a license to the same Motorola patents that are being used to sue Apple. The requests would be used primarily in German courts, where Apple has so far lost to Motorola.
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01/21, 6:30pm
HTC to use IBM business apps on Android devices
HTC and IBM together said in an interview Friday that they were working together to get Android into the workplace. IBM's business apps were running on HTC's phones and tablets, HTC's Global Enterprise and Services director David Jaeger told eWeek. On its side, HTC was making sure both that the devices took full advantage of the IBM apps and that they "focused extensively" on security.
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01/21, 5:35pm
Apple story shows China flexibility over US
Newly uncovered details behind Apple's original iPhone launch have underscored the reasons why manufacturing jobs aren't likely to return to the US in large numbers. Referring to Apple's well-known decision to switch from plastic to glass for the original iPhone's touchscreen, the New York Times understood that Jobs was furious the iPhone couldn't be put in a pocket with keys and avoid display scratches. The only way to get scratch-resistant glass in a timely way was to go to Foxconn's plants in Shenzhen, where Apple from a sudden midnight notice could have them producing 10,000 units a day with the updated model inside of 96 hours.
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01/21, 3:30pm
iGR shows most Andorid phones bought without study
A new study from iGR has suggested that Android might be dominant in the US but that many of those buying weren't making a conscious choice for the platform. About 47 percent of the smartphone base in the country reportedly was using Android, but only 45 percent of those were knowledgeable about Google's OS and chose it by name. Another 27 percent picked their phones based on Google's reputation.
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01/19, 1:35pm
EU sets deadline for decision on Google, Motorola
The European Commission on Thursday set a February 13 deadline for its decision on whether or not it will approve Google's acquisition of Motorola. The fixed date came after Google brought forward documents requested during a temporary freeze of its approval process. EC staff haven't given clues as how they might rule and are likely to remain silent on their opinion until the ruling.
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01/18, 7:35pm
Study shows iPad still in wide lead on tablet web
Apple's iPad still doesn't have any immediate threat from other tablets if web usage is an indicator, Chitika reckoned on Wednesday. For every 100 iPad web hits, just 2.4 came from the next-closest Amazon Kindle Fire. Its design sibling the BlackBerry PlayBook was next at about 1.8, while the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy Tab families were near-even at 1.6.
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01/18, 6:40pm
US launch planned for 2012
Motorola has confirmed that it has invested in Shaker, an Israeli startup that specializes in social networking experiences. Shaker last year won an award at TechCrunch's Disrupt conference for its Facebook game that enables users to socialize in a virtual bar and meet new contacts.
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01/17, 2:00pm
Limited edition Defy+ with JCB branding now out
Motorola has teamed up with construction machine maker JCB on a limited-edition model of its ruggedized Defy+ smartphone. It includes a visco-plastic protective sleeve with the JCB logo on the back, and has construction site-oriented apps preloaded, including a spirit-level, a theodolite, a decibel meter and recorder, a flashlight, a unit converter, a calculator, and a DIY store locator. Push to Talk functionality will also be included in the phone.
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01/17, 2:00pm
Verizon lops $100 off Motorola Droid RAZR price
Verizon has reduced the price of its Motorola Droid RAZR by $100, with the smartphone now priced at $200 on a new two-year contract. It had originally cost the $300 that Verizon typically reserves for its highest-end smartphones. No reason was given for the rapid price cut.
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01/16, 3:30pm
Kopin shows early version of wearable computer
A company called Kopin has shown off its wearable, Motorola-branded computer, the Golden-i. It connects to the cloud using 4G and has many possible uses, from law enforcement, to medicine (such as surgery) to mechanical work at home. It sports Kopin's uniquely dense one-inch display, which equates to a traditional 15-inch monitor due to its proximity to the wearer's eye, and the display appears to be 18 inches away.
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01/14, 12:35am
Phone offers up to 21.5 hours talk time
On Wednesday, Motorola unveiled its latest high-end 4G LTE smartphones, the Droid RAZR MAXX and Droid 4. The company didn't provide a release date but has inadvertently ">posted on its own product page that the new Android hardware should ship January 26. The mentions aren't consistent but show that the date may have already been locked before CES.
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