Found 145 articles
17
Jan
evil apple

Apple Files Two New Lawsuits Against Samsung In Germany: One Against 10 Phones, The Other Against 5 Tablets

Posted by in Legal, News, Samsung

The ridiculous and wasteful patent war continues, with a German court confirming that Apple has filed two new suits against Samsung. The first is against 10 phones including the SGSII, and the second against 5 tablets. Details are light at the moment, but evidently Apple is using these two (unsurprisingly very vague) patents in the smartphone suit:

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Yes, seriously - their patents are basically for a shape. Readers familiar with the current lawsuit situation in the tech world know the situation is violently out of control, and close followers of AP have heard my thoughts on just how hypocritical and ridiculous Apple is.

05
Jan
sprint-nextel-ceo-pay-hessex-large

[Update: Clarification - Roaming Only] Sprint CEO Dan Hesse Admits Sprint Throttles Top 1% Of Data Users

Posted by in Editorials, Sprint
Last Updated: January 7th, 2012

Update: Dow Jones Newswires apparently left out a key piece of information from Hesse's statement on throttling, in an example of truly stellar journalism and attention to detail (unfortunately, we have no audio or video record to verify Hesse's statements). Hesse was discussing throttling of those who are on networks that Sprint has roaming agreements with (which, admittedly, Sprint has a lot of - including with Verizon). While this still makes Sprint's ads technically misleading, the throttling really only applies to those who live in areas where Sprint's data network relies chiefly on roaming - not to those using primarily Sprint towers.

21
Dec
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Hasbro Sues ASUS For Use Of Transformer Prime Name (Now Is Anyone Surprised Google Passed On It?)

Posted by in Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Legal, News

In a not too surprising move, toy maker Hasbro has sued ASUS, claiming that the Transformer Prime tablet's name infringes trademarks related to Optimus Prime and Transformers children's toys.

Hasbro filed the lawsuit late last week in Los Angeles federal court, seeking damages and a temporary injunction. Hasbro wrote to paidContent:

Hasbro continues to aggressively protect its brands and products and the specific actions we are taking today against Asus underscores yet again Hasbro’s willingness to pursue companies who misappropriate our intellectual property for their own financial gain.

In reality, Hasbro's case is not likely to succeed. MocoNews rightly points out that trademarks generally only cover limited categories of goods, and that it is not realistic to think that consumers might confuse ASUS' latest tablet with a popular children's toy line.

18
Dec
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British Telecom Jumps On The Bandwagon, Sues Google Over Six Patents Allegedly Infringed By Android, Other Services

Posted by in Android OS, Legal, News

British Telecommunications plc (aka British Telecom, or BT) has joined the long list of litigants looking to catch Google on alleged patent infringement, filing a lawsuit with the US District Court for the District of Delaware claiming that Google infringed six of its patents with Android and other services.

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BT is out for blood, seeking damages as well as an injunction over patents ranging from "Service Provision System for Communications Networks" to "Storage and Retrieval of Location Based Information in a Distributed Network of Data Storage Services." Among the services named as prime examples of infringement are Google Maps, Places, Offers, Music, Location-based advertising, Google+, and of course Android.

03
Dec
galaxy-tab-8.9

Respite For Samsung As U.S. Judge Denies Apple's Request To Block Sales Of Galaxy Devices

Posted by in Android OS, Legal, News, Samsung

The patent wars between Samsung and Apple are stretching everyone pretty thin, lawyers and judges from 10 countries are contending with over 20 cases, manufacturers are having to make last minute adjustments to devices, and most importantly reporters, including yours truly, are having a hard time keeping up with it all.

Bringing the discussion stateside, on Friday a U.S. District Judge in California denied Apple's request for a preliminary injunction against Samsung. Apple had earlier sued Samsung in the U.S. claiming that the Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets "slavishly" copied the iPhone and the iPad. However, the Judge disagreed and noted that "it is not clear that an injunction on Samsung's accused devices would prevent Apple from being irreparably harmed".

03
Dec
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AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Motorola, And Apple Are Also Sued Alongside HTC, Samsung, And CarrierIQ In A New Class Action Lawsuit

Posted by in AT&T, HTC, Motorola, News, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile

Yesterday, we caught early wind of two class action lawsuits filed against CarrierIQ, HTC, and Samsung in Chicago and St. Louis. You can now add a whole new class action suit to the pile, except this time it also names AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Motorola, and Apple in addition to the aforementioned three companies.

Led by law firms from Delaware and New Jersey - Sianni & Straite LLP, Eichen Crutchlow Zaslow & McElroy LLP, and Keefe Bartels L.L.C. - the lawsuit "asserts that three cell phone providers (T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T) and four manufacturers of cell phones (HTC, Motorola, Apple and Samsung) violated the Federal Wiretap Act, the Stored Electronic Communications Act, and the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act." CarrierIQ is not named in that quote, but it is listed in the press release's title, so don't worry - the whole gang is included.

02
Dec
carrierIQ

HTC And Samsung Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Carrier IQ, Could Potentially Cost Them Millions

Posted by in HTC, News, Samsung

We all knew it was going to happen - the first lawsuits are being filed against Carrier IQ and its data-stealing nature. Not only is CIQ getting hit with a suit, but HTC and Samsung are also being thrown into the ring since many of their phones support the software.

The suit claims that Carrier IQ is in violation of the Federal Wiretap Act, which makes intercepting "oral, wire, or electronic communications" illegal. The punishment isn't a light one, either - $100 per day for every incident; that could potentially cost Sammy and HTC millions of dollars.

Information is just now becoming available about the suit, but we'll make sure to keep you posted as more details become available.

01
Dec
attDeathStar

Hell Hath No Fury Like A Corporation Scorned: AT&T Responds To The FCC's Merger Report

Posted by in AT&T, News, T-Mobile

So yesterday, the FCC released a report detailing its feelings on the AT&T/T-Mobile. The FCC basically called it like it is and said the merger will reduce competition, raise prices, cost jobs, and AT&T will have to build out its network with or without T-Mobile.

Well, AT&T got wind of that report, and they are not happy. Today they responded with all the composure of a rejected middle schooler:

We expected that the AT&T-T-Mobile transaction would receive careful, considered, and fair analysis.   Unfortunately, the preliminary FCC Staff Analysis offers none of that.  The document is so obviously one-sided that any fair-minded person reading it is left with the clear impression that it is an advocacy piece, and not a considered analysis.

16
Nov
htc-vivid

[LOL] HTC Facing Possible Lawsuit From Vivid Entertainment For Trademark Infringement

Posted by in News, Vivid

Maybe you've heard of a new AT&T LTE handset from HTC called the Vivid. Maybe you haven't. Either way, HTC has gotten itself in a bit of hot water using such a risqué name on the blazing fast beast. By whom, you ask? Why, adult entertainment company Vivid Entertainment, of course.

Vivid is threatening HTC with a possible trademark infringement suit if the name of the device isn't changed. When asked about the suit, HTC had this to say:

We are reviewing the complaint and don't expect to have any further comment until it is resolved.

Yeah... typical public relations crap.

08
Nov
hi-124-8

PayPal For Android Updated To Version 3.0 - Adds NFC Support, Tablet Compatibility, UI Design Changes, And More

Posted by in Applications, News

PayPal's popular app for Android has received a significant update this morning, and the biggest change allows those with NFC phones to request money from other NFC-enabled devices using PayPal - nifty. While NFC has been slow to see adoption, Google's efforts with Wallet and MasterCard WavePay have no doubt raised a few eyebrows (and one lawsuit) over at PayPal, the world's largest online-only payment service.

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NFC support is enabled via a widget, and when in proximity to another NFC-enabled, PayPal-widget-using handset, you can hit the "Request Money" button and the request will populate on their PayPal account.

This version also enables tablet support, though the interface is not what you'd call "tablet-optimized" so much as "tablet compatible." Other changes include a general revamp of the app's UI, and particularly of the "Send Money" feature, which allows you to categorize your transaction as well as select and save PayPal info to your Contacts.

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