During the third day of the Apple vs. Samsung trial taking place in a San Jose courtroom this morning, Apple presented a set of new evidence through a series of six photographs that show the phone, music, contacts, photos, notes, and settings icons from iOS and Samsung’s custom TouchWiz UI layered on top of Android. Apple claimed Samsung “slavishly” ripped the design of its trademarked icons. As you can see in the gallery above, the icons look very similar across a series of Samsung devices. In fact, why would Samsung use a CD image on a phone?

Apple has two witnesses for the stand who are familiar with designing user interfaces on the slate. Those two include Happy Mac logo creator Susan Kare and the former President of the Industrial Designers Society of America Peter Bressler. Both, of which, could certainly help Apple a ton. Apple only used four hours of its trial time, so there is still roughly 21 more trial hours left until Samsung’s turn. You can check out the full gallery over at CNET. Did Apple just make its case?

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AT&T announced its new mobile data sharing plans last month that allows customers to share data between their phones and tablets while also allowing families or businesses to share data across their devices. Adding to the announcement, AT&T just announced this morning that the plan would be available to its customers Aug. 23. The carrier provided a tool for families to calculate just how much data they need, offering from 1GB to a whopping 20GB of data. Here is the cost matrix:

Sadly, you need an activated smartphone to use a shared data plan. It is disappointing you cannot go data only, because just being able to buy shareable data for a few iPads and Macs would have been useful. Will this save any of you money? I think it comes down to personal use.

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAkXnecQ2HQ&feature=player_embedded”]
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Over the years, Sharp has served as one of the key suppliers to Apple for several parts. Sharp’s president even said late last week that the company will begin shipping displays for the sixth-generation iPhone next month. The device is expected to be announced and to ship around the same time. You would think that Sharp would be well off with a contract from Apple, but that does not look to be the case. Sharp is in hot water, reported Bloomberg. Foxconn may be in-line to help the company survive, however, thus benefiting Apple.

You may remember when Foxconn announced that it bought a stake in Sharp in May. The company announced last week that it was seeking a lower price for the purchase, but it would continue to back the company. Bloomberg said that Foxconn wants to secure the stake in order to secure parts for its large client, Apple. Apple, of course, is one of the biggest parts buyers in the world, as it buys from Sharp, Foxconn, LG, Japan Display, and more.

Apple has a large bet on Sharp to ship its product worldwide. Without a key supplier like Sharp, Cupertino-based Apple could face huge delays when shipping a product by not keeping up with demand. Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has iterated the need to keep up with demand on the company’s quarterly earnings call time-and-time again. Furthermore, Sharp is said to be a key supplier for the rumored Apple television set that somewhat-famed, Apple-focused analyst Gene Munster said is coming sometime during 2013. Apple needs Sharp.

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Communication company Nuance launched a new personal assistant SDK this morning, called “Nina”. Nina has a focus on customer service, and it can be embedded in any iOS or Android app to provide a way for the customer to speak commands. Calling itself “a major competitive differentiator,” Nina understands who is speaking along with any rattled off commands. As you can see in the demo video below, a user can ask more personal questions, like banking- and insurance-related inquiries, without needing to enter a password. Nina simply picks up and identifies the user’s voice.

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IA4zHpqMDQ&feature=player_embedded”]

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Shortly after Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller took the witness stand, Apple Senior Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall testified in the Apple vs. Samsung case. Forstall has been with Apple for 15 years and is one of the main brains behind the creation of the iPhone. As noted by AllThingsD, which is in the courtroom, Forstall spoke at length about the creation of the iPhone.

According to Forstall, Apple’s late cofounder, Steve Jobs, told him in 2004 that he could not hire anyone outside of the company to assist with the device’s creation. Instead, Forstall had to go through the ranks of Apple to select the perfect team. He told potential candidates, “You are going to have to give up nights and weekends probably for a couple years.” The project was so secret —even behind the doors of Cupertino— that it was referred to as “Project Purple.” The team even hung a Fight Club poster outside of the office, signaling not to discuss it. The rest, as they say, is history.

Fast-forward to now, Forstall told the court that he has 10 people on his executive team and a whopping 1,000 people reporting to him and another 1,000 on his staff. That is roughly 2,000 people working on iOS.

During the cross-examination, Samsung exposed Jobs’ interest in the 7-inch iPad via an email from Eddy Cue to other Apple executives (even after Jobs said the company would not go into that market).

Up next, Apple plans to call the following to the stand:

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image Samsung cia CNET

Going against his claim that a 7-inch tablet would not work (seen in a video below), and that Apple would not go into the 7-inch market, Steve Jobs seemed receptive to the thought of a 7-inch iPad according to an email with Eddy Cue. The Verge, which is currently in the courtroom where Scott Forstall testified, reported: 

Wow. Forstall is shown a 2011 email from Eddy Cue, in which Cue forwarded an article that a journalist wrote about dumping the iPad after using a Galaxy Tab. Cue writes “Having used a Samsung Galaxy [Tab], i tend to agree with many of the comments below… I believe there will be a 7-inch market and we should do one. I expressed this to Steve several times since Thanksgiving and he seemed very receptive the last time.”

[tweet https://twitter.com/jonfortt/status/231494904621170688]

[tweet https://twitter.com/iansherr/statuses/231497155028856832]

After months of rumors, the 7-inch iPad is believed to be announced at a media event on Sept. 12 along with the new iPhone. Several other publications confirmed the initial report shortly after.

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Apple.pro has located alleged photos of shells, via social network Weibo, for the upcoming iPad mini that is rumored to launch alongside the new iPhone Sept. 12. The validity of the photos is not clear (at best), and the shells are missing a spot for a camera as you can see above. It seems unlikely that Apple would exclude a camera from the iPad mini, especially considering there is a camera on its cheap iPod touch line. They really look a lot on the fake side to us, but you should have a look anyway.

The second set of photos was posted late last month by ZooGue. These have cameras and are consistent with the above.

Earlier iPad mini-type photos show a shape more like the current new iPad (here and here), have a camera, and look much better (below).

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Apple and Samsung have just convened into a San Jose, California courtroom to begin the second day of the Apple vs. Samsung trial. Apple’s SVP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller is currently on the stand, with SVP of iOS Software Scott Forstall up next. We’ll be updating this thread throughout the day with live tweets and analysis from those inside the courtroom. Follow along and share your thoughts below!

First ruling of the day in #appsung Apple can't keep its customer surveys secret.

— Ina Fried (@inafried) August 3, 2012

Judge denies Apple request for sanctions against Samsung but will poll jurors to see if they have heard anything about #appsung case

— Ina Fried (@inafried) August 3, 2012

Judge Koh promises jurors a compilation of #Apple #Samsung articles at end so they don't feel like they're missing out. too funny.

— Yukari Iwatani Kane (@yukarikane) August 3, 2012

More below:

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After agreeing to have its content hosted on both Netflix and Amazon, CBS Chief Executive Officer Les Moonves once again expressed his willingness during the CBS quarterly earnings call yesterday to have CBS content hosted on the Apple TV. Moonves said he would agree to have the content hosted if the terms of the deal were right, primarily if the payout was on key. Here is how the executive answered the analyst’s question on the matter:

Look, Anthony, you’ve — we’ve had this discussion many times before. You’re right, it depends what the terms are, it depends what we get paid for. It depends on what effect Apple TV would have on either our advertising, our syndication or our retrans, which are our 3 main buckets of revenue for our content. So if it sits in well, like Netflix did and Amazon did, we’re happy to discuss it. If it doesn’t and we’re — they’re using our content to build a business, we’re not quite as favorable to that. So the devil is in the details. I know it sounds like a pat answer, but it’s really true.

This is not the first time we heard about Monnves’ interest in the Apple TV. We reported several times that CBS turned down the partnership due to fears of losing revenue. However, perhaps after seeing Hulu’s agreement earlier this week, CBS may of change its mind.

Then comes the issue: are customers interested in live content anymore (besides live news, weather, etc.)? Everyone just watches content through other means like Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon, right? Still, it is interesting that the executive of a huge media company might be willing to dip into new, unfamiliar waters.

The discussion I really want to hear is about the TV set. [AllThingsD]

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Update: the first ruling this morning is that Apple can’t keep its numbers withheld. Samsung can indeed reveal them.

First ruling of the day in #appsung Apple can't keep its customer surveys secret.

— Ina Fried (@inafried) August 3, 2012

Update 2:

Judge denies Apple request for sanctions against Samsung but will poll jurors to see if they have heard anything about #appsung case

— Ina Fried (@inafried) August 3, 2012

The sun is just rising in San Jose, Calif., where members of both Apple and Samsung’s legal team are set to convene for the second day of the Apple vs. Samsung case. The stakes are high, as both companies are accusing each other of patent infringement, with Apple asking for a whopping $2.5 billion in damages from Samsung. So far, in the case, we learned a ton about early Apple prototypes, the design process that happens during the creation of many great Apple products, Samsung getting in-trouble for publically releasing barred evidence and a lot more. Today, things should get more interesting before the court breaks for the weekend.

Apple’s next witnesses certainly are not strangers: Senior Vice President of Marketing Phil Schiller (who briefly took the stand earlier) and Senior Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall, according to CNET. As a 17-year Apple veteran, Schiller should bring some interesting anecdotes to the witness stand. Before court broke last Tuesday, Schiller began to explain the creation of Apple’s baby: the iPhone. Schiller has been alongside many other executives on-stage at Apple announcements before, as he definitely plays a key role in the company. Another public face of Apple, Forstall, brings 15 years of experience at Apple to the stand. Forstall is one of the main brains behind the creation of the iPhone and iPad. It should make for an interesting day.

As for non-Apple witnesses, Apple plans to call to the stand a few Samsung employees and industry experts:

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Tweetbot for Mac alpha received a substantial update this evening. It brings new features that will allow users to have a Tweetdeck-like setup if they so choose. First spotted by The Next Web, Tweetbot for Mac now features the ability to pop out separate timeline windows and easily dock them together to create a Tweetdeck-like interface, notification improvements, and a new menu in the menu bar that allows you to manage signed-in accounts more easily and to compose a new tweet. To dock windows together, you first click the gear in the bottom right corner to open the timeline that you are currently viewing in another window. Once you have the windows you would like, you then touch the right edge of the windows together to dock them. As you can see in the screenshot above, I docked my timeline, favorites, and Twitter search into one big, Tweetdeck-like window. To ex-out of the Tweetdeck-like view, you simply grip the bottom of the window to pull and then exit out of the undesired window.

The next feature that has been added in 0.6.3 9 (alpha 4) is a new menu on OS X’s menu bar. The menu allows you to manage all of your Twitter accounts for viewing tweets, mentions, and direct messages. You can also easily compose a new tweet. Lastly, Tweetbot for Mac on OS X Mountain Lion now displays notifications from all of your Twitter accounts, whereas it previously only displayed notifications for the one you were viewing. Also, on Mountain Lion, you can now embed your location in a tweet.

Tweetbot for Mac is currently a free alpha on the Tapbots website. It is set to eventually reach the Mac App Store for a price, which will then include the awesome iCloud integration that Tweetbot for iPhone and iPad offers. With tonight’s update, Tweetbot for Mac is inching closer to being the best Twitter client of them all. You can view the release notes below.

[Tweetbot for Mac 0.6.3 via The Next Web]

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“Our role is to imagine products that don’t exist and guide them to life,” said Apple industrial designer Chris Stringer (no relation to Sony’s ex-CEO Howard Stringer), who has been a part of every design since 1995, when he testified today in court as part of the Apple vs. Samsung trial.

Who helps imagine those products that come to life? Stringer told the court that Apple has a small team of only 15 or 16 people who design the original idea for the company’s key products, from the iPhone to the MacBook Pro, AllThingsD first reported. Apple’s lead designer, Sir Jonny Ive, is of the group.

Interestingly, he added the design process begins around a kitchen table, where the intimate team hashes out ideas to someday come to light. If the team believes an idea is good enough, the idea will be made into a physical model. In typical Apple design fashion, the group pays so much attention to detail that there can be up to 50 drawings for one button. What a crazy look into the start of the products we use everyday.

Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller is set to take stand next in the case, where both parties are seeking damages over a slew of patents. What a treasure trove of information this case is turning out to be.

 [AllThingsD]

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