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Oct

Apple Still Required To Run 'Samsung Didn't Copy Us' Ads In The UK After Appeals Ruling

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Legal, News, Samsung

It may be pretty hard for Apple to get away from the ruling that it has to state publicly on its website and in advertisements that Samsung didn't copy the iPad. An appeals court has ruled that the previous sentence should still be in place. The judges stated that, if Apple wasn't the one to clear up the confusion, the damage caused by the lawsuits all over Europe would be irreparable to Samsung.

Said the judges:

The acknowledgment must come from the horse's mouth. Nothing short of that will be sure to do the job completely.

The one thing the appeals court did change is that the web-based disclaimer doesn't need to take up a large amount of real estate on Apple's homepage, and instead a simple link to "Samsung/Apple judgment" will suffice.

Oct

Apple's Patent-Based Injunction On The Galaxy Nexus Overturned By US Appeals Court

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Galaxy Nexus, News, Samsung

Justice may be sweet, but when it comes to patents, it's not usually swift. In the case of Apple's multiple, far-reaching patent disputes with Samsung, it took them a few weeks to get an injunction on the Galaxy Nexus based on the controversial results of the billion-dollar patent infringement suit. After Samsung took its case to the 9th Circuit US Court of Appeals, the higher judiciary power has sided with the Korean manufacturer. The judge in the case accepted their claims that the relatively low sales numbers of the Galaxy Nexus didn't pose a threat to Apple's business, and that sales of the device couldn't be directly connected to the offending patent feature (universal search).

Oct

Apple Granted Another Slide-To-Unlock Patent That Covers More Than Just Predefined Paths

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Legal, News

Following up on last year's slide-to-unlock patent grab (which itself built on a patent granted in 2010), Apple has been granted another, yet more expansive slide-to-unlock patent, one which ditches the previous patents' emphasis on "predefined paths" in favor of more ambiguous language covering the movement of an unlock image to "an unlock region" on a device's display.

While US Patent 8,286,103 is largely similar to Apple's previous two slide-to-unlock, its language is considerably broader. The logic of the patent is not concerned with what path a user takes to unlock a device, nor where the user starts or stops that path, just that an unlock image is moved "from the first location to an unlock region."

Essentially, the language of the patent has been loosened to cover workaround solutions (presumably like the circle locks of Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean) and, ostensibly, to ensure that pretty much any method of unlocking a device through a continuous touch movement is protected.

Oct

Is This A Nexus LG HTC Samsung Apple Patent Key Lime Pie 5.0 10 7 4G LTE Google Lawsuit Galaxy? Click To Find Out

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Features

The rumor mill churns and, having churned, moves on. The big story today is that according to sources familiar with the matter, reports have leaked that lead us to believe that an employee who asked to not be named has told Digitimes that sources say the next Nexus may have already been patented by Apple as the subject of the latest lawsuit to come out of Cupertino.

According to the sources, LG, HTC, and Samsung are all working on their own Key Lime Pie-based variants of the Nexus Google Experience Galaxy 10 7 4G LTE series. Early reports peg these devices as being faster than the old versions and also thinner, and probably bigger, but definitely expensive.

Oct

Samsung Galaxy S III Sales Shot Up 16% The Week Of The Apple Verdict, 15% The Week Of The iPhone 5 Announcement

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy S III, News, Samsung

In Apple's mind, here's how it was all supposed to play out: Samsung loses in court, and customers see a bad-nasty-bad company that steals ideas. Who wants a cheap knock-off, anyway?

Funny thing is, it seems that the Apple v. Samsung trial actually had a very favorable effect on Samsung, because it has been selling GSIII's like hotcakes ever since. In fact, according to a new study by Localytics, sales of the device grew by 16% during the week of the Apple verdict. Ha!

Instead of seeing Samsung as an inferior knock-off company, consumers actually took notice. If Apple thought Samsung's products were good enough to take them to court over, then they must be a viable option, right?

Oct

Jury Foreman Vel Hogan On Samsung Vs. Apple Case Failed To Disclose He'd Been Sued By Seagate, Partially Owned By Samsung

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Legal, News

Just when you thought this whole Samsung vs. Apple case couldn't get any weirder, we're now hearing that Vel Hogan, the jury foreman on the case who helped guide the jurors on patent law and owns some patents himself, was once sued into bankruptcy by Seagate. Samsung, as it turns out, just happens to be the largest single investor in Seagate, owning 9.6 percent of the hard drive company's stock. While it doesn't guarantee that a juror's judgment could be clouded, it is the kind of information one would expect to be volunteered to a courtroom. Mr. Hogan, however, did not disclose this information.

Oct

New Marketshare Numbers Show Android Holding Its Lead Worldwide, ComScore Says US Smartphones Will Soon Become Majority

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News

Every so often, with all the new device releases, lawsuits, feature scandals, and scathing editorials that fly back and forth across the tech world, it's nice to step back and take a look at the state of the industry from the comforting safe haven of numbers. ComScore's recent round of stats shows an unsurprising yet telling look at the US mobile industry. Predictably, Android remains the top dog with iOS following closely behind. For the period from May to August, gains made by both platforms were much higher than they were between February to May. Obviously summer is a pretty big time to buy smartphones, especially given the late-June launch of the Galaxy S III in the states.

Oct

Samsung Adds iPhone 5 To Lawsuit Complaint: The Patent Wars Are Far From Over

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in News, Samsung

If you hate to read these stories, imagine how much we hate to write them: yet another volley has been tossed in the patent battle between Samsung and Apple. This time it's the Korean manufacturer taking its intellectual property guns out against Apple, claiming that the shiny new iPhone 5 violates eight of its software patents.

Samsung claims six utility patents and two standard essential patents. The later (USPTO filings 7,551,596 and 7,756,087) have to do with data transfers on mobile networks, while the former (USPTO 7,672,470, 7,577,757, 7,232,058, 6,292,179, 6,226,449, and 5,579,239) are more varied, ranging from audio streaming and control to keyboard and voice inputs.

Sep

This May Just Be The Best Email To Ever Hit Our Inbox

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Off-Topic

Earlier today, we received an email with the title "iPhone 5 PR Stunt Ends in Disaster Leaving 21 Homeless." You won't see any spoilers from me - just read:

iPhone 5 PR Stunt Ends in Disaster Leaving 21 Homeless

September 26th, 2012, San Francisco, in a series of "stunts" to gain public attention for a new Apple iPhone 5 and iPad game launch, a startup went overboard causing massive property damage.

At 7:00 am, a crew drove 3 cranes, equipped with 1.5 ton wrecking balls, to a mid-city housing complex. The wrecking balls were painted to look like roundish flying Yumbies, adorable characters who smash through buildings and other structures in the game.

Sep

Wirefly Compares The Samsung Galaxy S III To The Apple iPhone 5 In The Newest Schmackdown

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy S III, News, Samsung, Videos

We've seen Wirefly Schmackdowns before, but we've never seen one like this. Under normal circumstances, we watch them compare two high-end Android phones. Today, however, they've put mortal enemies in the ring for a fight to the death: the GSIII and the iPhone 5. Oh snap.

They compare the size, weight, display, hardware guts, and software, ultimately calling a winner at the end. Honestly, we're not surprised at how it turns out, but you won't find any spoilers here. Hit play and watch for yourself.