The long-running saga of patent licensing for key video codec technologies continues – and the more video-centric mobile network usage becomes, the more important this saga is for the cellular ecosystem, and for the cost of devices. The latest news is that patent pool operator Velos Media is bailing on its pool for HEVC, one of the two main families of codec standards, with those patents now returning to their owners. Owner Marconi still claims some 400 assets, but this is down from some 5,700, and the Velos website no longer makes mention of BlackBerry, Ericsson, Panasonic, Qualcomm, Sharp or Sony. This is long overdue, and should significantly reduce the cost of licensing HEVC, as Velos was comically more expensive.…