Engadget: Two portable speakers clamber into the ring, each boasting big, beautiful sound for their diminutive size. Both cost $200. Both have the same technology inside. The Jawbone Jambox and the Soundmatters foxL v2 with Bluetooth each want to be your wireless audio wunderkind, blasting music and taking Bluetooth calls. At best, you're only going to buy one.
For once, the he-said-she-said legal fight between Fitbit and Jawbone appears to be simmering down. Jawbone tells us in a statement (below) that Fitbit has dropped its US International Trade Commission patent case, which sought to ban sales of Jawbone devices in the country. If you ask Jawbone, this ends "baseless" allegations that were meant solely as a "burden." This doesn't mean that the company will respond in kind (its accusations of trade secret theft will see trial in 2017), but it's one less battle to worry about. But why did Fitbit change its mind?
Fitbit Inc did not steal rival Jawbone's trade secrets, a U.S. International Trade Commission judge ruled on Tuesday, dashing Jawbone's hopes of securing an import ban against Fitbit's wearable fitness tracking devices.
If recent reports are to be believed, Jawbone is in serious trouble after missing a payment to a creditor. Sources close to the company have denied it, but this isn't the first time we've heard such rumors. The Information reported earlier this week that the firm is running out of money and has put itself up for sale. If that's the case, then I can think of the perfect suitor: Intel.
