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769 'Android' stories August 2010 - September 2012

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iPhone 5 reviews released: ‘Impossibly light but solid feel, iOS is speedy on the expansive screen’

Jake Smith Sep 18 2012 - 6:00 pm PT

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[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5mac/status/248054034156617728]

Engadget:

[viddler id=82e97344 w=545 h=307]

The iPhone 5 is a significant improvement over the iPhone 4S in nearly every regard, and in those areas that didn’t see an upgrade over its predecessor — camera, storage capacity — one could make a strong case that the iPhone 4S was already ahead of the curve. Every area, that is, except for the OS. If anything, it’s the operating system here that’s beginning to feel a bit dated and beginning to show its age.

Still, the iPhone 5 absolutely shines. Pick your benchmark and you’ll find Apple’s thin new weapon sitting at or near the top. Will it convince you to give up your Android or Windows Phone ways and join the iOS side? Maybe, maybe not. Will it wow you? Hold it in your hand — you might be surprised. For the iOS faithful this is a no-brainer upgrade. This is without a doubt the best iPhone yet. This is a hallmark of design. This is the one you’ve been waiting for.

The Loop:

Many of us have experience with LTE from using the iPad. I’ll tell you it’s great to see it on the iPhone. I actually use LTE more on the iPhone than I do on the iPad, simply because I use the phone a lot more. The speed is incredibly fast, especially when compared to what the iPhone 4S could do.

Like the faster processor and graphics, LTE gives you the feeling of never waiting for anything. Apps open fast and you are ready to work or browse the Web right away.

The Telegraph:

[ooyala code=”xweHZ3NTp9064-eacNLMRkmDFJNXZGhI”]

Specificationists will say that with the iPhone 5 Apple is now behind its rivals in terms of features but in truth it’s hard to think of a feature offered elsewhere that the average person – as opposed to the tech obsessive – really needs. NFC is not sufficiently widely used, wireless charging is nice but still requires a charger plugged into the wall and most people get along fine without removable storage. The iPhone 5 is a great smartphone made even better. It’s fast, lightweight and backed by the largest application store for any device. It’s also probably the most beautiful smartphone anyone has ever made.

More reviews below:

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You will soon control the color of your energy-efficient LED light bulbs with your iPhone/Android [Video]

Élyse Betters Sep 17 2012 - 11:28 am PT

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Oh, Kickstarter. It is a primary place where tech lovers’ dreams have an opportunity to become reality; it not only promotes some of the most innovative ideas, but it also makes those of us in the real world more anxious for a gadget-filled tomorrow. Enter LIFX.

LIFX’s, well, life on Kickstarter is only nearing the 48-hour mark, but the reinvented light bulb already surpassed its set goal and hit $402,707 (as of press time) worth of pledges. In a nutshell: LIFX is a “Wi-Fi-enabled, multi-color, energy efficient LED light bulb that you control with your iPhone or Android.”

Just watch the video above for the full effect. A few of the more notable integrated uses include changing indoor light color to match any mood, visualizing music, security measures for while away, or even just enabling couch potatoes. Those who pledge at least $69 will get a handy-dandy LIFX “smartbulb” to try, with an estimated delivery pegged around March 2013.

Check it out: LIFX: The Light Bulb Reinvented

Home-automation technology is a huge hit among startups, such as former Apple Senior Vice President Tony Fadell’s popular Nest Learning Thermostat, and even carriers are trying to get on board by developing services that streamline life and home processes.

AT&T, for instance, produced a consumer home automation and security suite of services that began trials earlier this summer. The services, which exist under the “AT&T Digital Life” naming umbrella, control home functions and implement security features. With Nest and others creating a buzz in the mobile home-automation space, expect to see LIFX flying off retailers’ shelves this time next year.

This article is cross-posted on 9to5Google.

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Most Yahoo employees now have the option of getting an iPhone 5

Seth Weintraub Sep 15 2012 - 8:49 pm PT

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A fantastic, if not very accurate, title at BusinessInsider: “Marissa Mayer Just Gave Every Yahoo Employee An iPhone 5”! Well, not really, but it backs up an earlier claim.

The former Google executive did offer high-end smartphones to most of its employees (if the memo BI received is legit) including the iPhone 5, three Androids and a Nokia Lumia Windows Phone. These are probably the top phones on the market today, and they will replace the BlackBerries that Yahoo! employees were given until this point.

The memo is below. Mayer was notorious for her use of Apple’s iPhone, even within the walls of Google.

We have a very exciting update to share with you today – we are announcing Yahoo! Smart Phones, Smart Fun! As of today, Yahoo is moving off of blackberries as our corporate phones and on to smartphones in 22 countries. A few weeks ago, we said that we would look into smartphone penetration rates globally and take those rates into account when deciding on corporate phones. Ideally, we’d like our employees to have devices similar to our users, so we can think and work as the majority of our users do.

Moving forward, we’ll offer you a choice of devices as well as provide monthly plans for the data and phone.

The smartphone choices that we are including in the program are:

* Apple iPhone 5
* Android:
– Samsung Galaxy S3
– HTC One X
– HTC EVO 4G LTE
* Windows Phone 8:
– Nokia Lumia 920

We’re getting started right away and taking orders starting now

Clearly, Yahoo will buy a lot of iPhone 5s for its employees if they truly have freewill in the decision.

Cheap! Amazon new 7-inch Kindles now on sale starting at $159

9to5 Staff Sep 14 2012 - 12:03 pm PT

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From 9to5Toys.com

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAOJyBxjpcs]

Amazon just opened the floodgates to its forked-Android powered Kindles (7-inch only so far).

The original with some beefed up internals is just $159. The new HD version (which closely matches up with the Google Nexus 7) is $199 for 16GB and $249 for 32GB.

(Or you could wait a month and probably not hate yourself :P)

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YouTube iPhone app from Google lands in the App Store just month after Apple’s version disappears

Seth Weintraub Sep 11 2012 - 4:11 am PT

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On Aug. 6, Beta 4 of iOS 6 came out with one huge gaping hole: Apple’s YouTube app. There was speculation on both sides of the fence that Apple might have pulled it because of the ongoing war with Android or perhaps Google pulled it because it wanted more control of the app and/or it wanted to show more ads. In reality, it was probably a little of both.

Whatever the case, just a month after being pulled and just a day ahead of Apple’s iOS 6/iPhone 5 event, Google has released its own homegrown YouTube app into the App Store. It is formatted for the iPhone only (an iPad version is in the works), but it already has many features that its Apple-built counterpart lacked.

Description

Watch the world’s videos and keep up with your favorite YouTube channels with the official YouTube app for iOS. Sign in to access your subscriptions, playlists, uploads and more.

Features:
✓ Enjoy YouTube’s vast video catalog, including official music videos
✓ Find videos and channels more easily with voice search and query autocomplete
✓ Subscribe to channels and instantly access your subscriptions with the channel guide UI
✓ Read comments, browse related videos, enable subtitles and more – all while watching
✓ Easy video sharing to Google+, E-mail, Facebook and Twitter

Did Google throw this together in just one month or did it have some advance warning? We are thinking the latter; it is already receiving some good reviews and appears to be a well-polished product.

As TheNextWeb points out, it is not certain how you will upload videos to YouTube in the new app. Matt Panzerino postulates that Apple will allow YouTube to be granted rights in iOS to have a file handling menu option. We are not so sure that Apple cares if you can upload to YouTube natively (see Mountain Lion) from the OS. We are thinking that you will eventually need to open the YouTube app manually, browse to the video, and do it the old-fashioned way.

The more important question now becomes: where is the Google Maps app for iOS?

More… including a walkthrough YouTube video below:

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Apps & updates: Google Drive, Kindle for Mac, WSJ, more

Jordan Kahn Sep 10 2012 - 10:37 am PT

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As always, we’ll be updating the list below as more notable apps and updates hit the App Store today:

Google Drive version 1.1.0: We already knew it was coming when Google leaked the update last week, but today we get all of the details with the update officially hitting the App Store. Included in version 1.1.0 of the Google Drive iOS app is the ability to create, collaborate and edit with Google documents. You will also now be able to create and organize new folders and documents, upload photos and videos from your device, and delete files from your Drive. Google said the updated app also includes a “Richer Google presentations with animations and speaker notes.”

– Edit Google documents with formatting and collaboration
– Edits to your Google documents appear to collaborators in seconds
– Richer Google presentations with animations and speaker notes
– Create a new folder or Google document
– Upload photos and videos from your device or a photo directly from your camera
– Move an item to a folder in your Drive
– Delete and remove files from your Drive
– Drive is now available in over 30 languages

Kindle for Mac version 1.10.3: The Kindle Mac App Store app received a nice update today that brings full sport for Lion gestures including panning and swiping, and support for Kindle Format 8 books. Amazon also performance for content that includes a high number of highlights and notes, and included support for Japanese and larger libraries.

The Wall Street Journal version 4.0: With this release of the WSJ app, the updating Now edition is finally available on the iPhone and you can now access archive downloads on demand for up to seven days. A full list of what’s new is below:

• WSJ is now available on your iPhone! Get the updating Now edition on your iPhone, with the latest news, market data and multimedia
• Faster downloads and improved performance
• More frequent news updates
• 7-day archive downloads on-demand

With this release of The Wall Street Journal app, we have made substantial changes to improve app performance. Please note: when you update to version 4.0, any full issues you have saved will be deleted. All previously saved individual articles will remain.

Before you update, you can go to saved issues and save individual articles to keep them going forward.

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Nielsen: Young adults and teens push smartphone growth in US, with iOS at 34 percent of OS market share in July

Élyse Betters Sep 10 2012 - 9:05 am PT

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While getting its graphics’ proportions right this time around, research firm Nielsen revealed July 2012 findings today and announced 55.5-percent of mobile subscribers in the United States now own smartphones with young adults and teenagers leading the charge.

According to the Nielsen blog:

As mobile manufacturers announce new phones in advance of the holidays, Nielsen took a snapshot look at the mobile market in the U.S. Smartphone penetration continued to grow in July 2012, with 55.5 percent of mobile subscribers in the U.S. now owning smartphones. This is a significant increase compared to July 2011 when only 41 percent of mobile subscribers owned smartphones.

Overall, young adults are leading the growth in smartphone ownership in the U.S., with 74 percent of 25-34 year-olds now owning smartphones, up from 59 percent in July 2011. Interestingly, teenagers between 13 and17 years old demonstrated the most dramatic increases in smartphone adoption, with the majority of American teens (58%) owning a smartphone, compared to roughly a third (36%) of teens saying they owned a smartphone just a year ago.

Android still dominates the smartphone OS market in terms of owners and recent acquirers, but iOS maintains second place with 34 percent of smartphone owners and 33 percent of recent acquirers.

Nielsen’s monthly survey is conducted across 20,000 mobile subscribers from the ages of 13 and up in the U.S.

Get additional details at Nielsen.

This article is cross-posted on 9to5Google.

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Report: iOS and Android make tech history with worldwide, fast-growing adoption

Élyse Betters Aug 27 2012 - 8:53 am PT

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Mobile analytics firm Flurry published a new report today asserting iOS and Android handsets have experienced adoption at such a supersonic speed that their growth rate has now eclipsed all consumer technology in history.

According to Flurry:

The rate of iOS and Android device adoption has surpassed that of any consumer technology in history. Compared to recent technologies, smart device adoption is being adopted 10X faster than that of the 80s PC revolution, 2X faster than that of 90s Internet Boom and 3X faster than that of recent social network adoption. Five years into the smart device growth curve, expansion of this new technology is rapidly expanding beyond early adopter markets such as such as North America and Western Europe, creating a true worldwide addressable market. Overall, Flurry estimates that there were over 640 million iOS and Android devices in use during the month of July 2012.

Smartphones making headway as they spread worldwide is nothing new, but their history-making adoption rate is certainly notable. The report illustrated countries with the greatest number of device activations as well as the fasting growing markets. The results indicated the United States sits at No. 1 with 165 million iOS and Android handset activations for July, but China experienced a leading 401 percent activation growth during the same period.

: Fastest Growing Countries (Flurry)

: Top Countries by Activations (Flurry)

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Apple’s stock opens at record $680 with $637B market cap following win against Samsung

Élyse Betters Aug 27 2012 - 6:55 am PT

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Apple’s stock opened at a record $690 per share following its triumph in the pivotal patents trial against Samsung last Friday. Today is the first day of trading since Apple came out on top and its latest record soars past the previous best of $674.88 per share. The unparallelled all-time high also forced Apple’s market capitalization to $637 billion.

[tweet https://twitter.com/jaydeezy17/status/240086109554606080]

Check it out: NASDAQ:AAPL

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Amazon adds ‘Parks and Recreation’ to Prime Instant Video, with more popular NBCUniversal content

Élyse Betters Aug 24 2012 - 7:33 am PT

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Amazon, NBCUniversal Cable and New Media Distribution announced an agreement today that will bulk the online retailer’s Prime Instant Video selection with hundreds of award-winning TV episodes.

Amazon’s Instant Video touts 22,000 movies and episodes for Prime members to stream on the Android-powered Kindle Fire or other supported devices like the iPad. A few of today’s catalog additions include “Parks and Recreation”, “Parenthood”, “Friday Night Lights”, “Heroes” and “Battlestar Galactica”.

Check out the full story at 9to5Google.com.

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Poll: Should Apple build an iOS high-end, point-and-shoot/prosumer DSLR?

Élyse Betters Aug 20 2012 - 12:46 pm PT

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIRBxRlsYR0&feature=player_embedded#!]

iLounge reported in May that Apple is allegedly working on a “standalone digital camera, specifically a point-and-shoot model.” The website further said the device would deliver an image quality far beyond what the iPhone and iPad could deliver and attributed its information to sources, camera-related job openings at Apple, a re-trademarked iSight filing, and Walter Isaacson’s biography on Apple’s late cofounder. According to Isaacson, Steve Jobs named photography as one of three industries that he wanted to transform.

With that said, a camera would be a decidedly high-end market that Apple is seen exiting post haste (see Mac Pro, etc.). A REAL CAMERA with iOS camera apps would seem cool, but Apple does not take this type of high-volume market seriously. Most people are perfectly content with the amazing iPhone camera…and the new iPhone’s camera can only get better.

Nevertheless, perhaps Apple needs another hobby. Alternatively, maybe Apple can stave off the upcoming Android camera invasion by partnering with Canon or other makers to provide a hardware development kit that would tie into an iPod touch or iPhone for the user-interface. Imagine automatically uploading pictures from anywhere and using the power of apps to edit and manipulate while on the go. That dream may arrive first in Android format:

NikonRumors just posted leaked press shots of the Android-based Coolpix “s800c” camera, and it begs the question: Would Apple ever build an iOS-powered, point-and-shoot camera?

The leaked s800c pictures reveal a touchscreen menu on the backside, apparently running a Gingerbread flavor, with apps for a camera, email, browser, music, etc. Additional specs labeled on the front of the camera detail a “12X Wide Optical Zoom ED VR” in HD and a 4.5-54.0mm stock lens. NikonRumors, which has a decent track record in scooping Nikon, first discovered the s800c in a filling with the Indonesian Communication Agency. It originally noted the camera would tout a 3.5-inch OLED screen, Android 2.3 with Google Play apps, and built-in GPS and Wi-Fi.

: Polaroid SC1630

: Nikon s800c

: Nikon s800c

: Nikon s800c

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OnLive closing? Company says ‘of course not’

Jordan Kahn Aug 17 2012 - 12:25 pm PT

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Update: While OnLive provided the same statement (below) to Kotaku as they did to Joystiq, a new report from Kotaku, citing a source inside OnLive, claimed the company is about to file for bankruptcy and layoff most of its employees:

The source says that everyone at the company knew things were tight. This morning, an all-hands meeting was called at 10 a.m. this morning where CEO Steve Perlman said that OnLive would be filing for ABC bankruptcy in the state of California—a status that affords them a level of protection from creditors. Perlman also said that the company as it stands now would cease to exist and that no one would be employed by OnLive. A subset of employees would be brought on to the company created from the remains of OnLive.

[tweet https://twitter.com/onlive/status/236537627526979584]

OnLive’s Director of Corporate Communications Brian Jaquet has shot down rumors that the game streaming service is closing its doors after several media outlets reported the story earlier today. A report from The Verge, citing video game developer Brian Fargo and emails from former OnLive staff members, claimed the game-streaming service would shut its doors and lay off staff immediately. Emails obtained by The Verge’s sister site, Polygon, claimed a new company would be formed. However, current OnLive employees would be let go for the time being:

“I wanted to send a note that by the end of the day today, OnLive as an entity will no longer exist,” reads an email forwarded to Polygon. “Unfortunately, my job and everyone else’s was included. A new company will be formed and the management of the company will be in contact with you about the current initiatives in place, including the titles that will remain on the service.”

Speaking with Joystiq, Jaquet confirmed OnLive is not shutting down:

“We don’t respond to rumors, but of course not… The exciting news is that the first VIZIO Co-Stars (Google TV stream players) with the OnLive app built-in have just arrived in customer homes,” he continued, “and our second of three ‘Indie Giveaway Weekends’ is going on now. OnLive users can get a free copy of the award-winning games Space Pirates and Zombies and SpaceChem.” So it sounds like OnLive is still open for business.

When asked about possible layoffs, Jaquet confirmed: “The OnLive service is not shutting down.”

Space Pirates and Zombies for PC or Mac for free for OnLive members, more

Pinterest refreshes mobile apps, launches new iPad version

Jordan Kahn Aug 15 2012 - 8:34 am PT

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Pinterest updated its entire line of mobile apps today with a completely refreshed design, and it released an all-new iPad app that the developer described as “the best Pinterest experience yet.” As for the iPhone, the app received a new two-column layout, improvements to speed, stability, and an overall refreshed UI. Pinterest walked through some of the new features in a blog post announcing the updated apps. The universal app is available as a free download on the App Store.

iPad owners may have the best Pinterest experience yet. Our new iPad app is perfect for sitting on the couch, on a train, or in bed where users can effortlessly discover, save and organize the things that interest them. The app offers users new ways to engage with pins, whether swiping the screen to resume browsing after viewing a board, or using the embedded browser to see what others are pinning from their favorite sites.

AT&T refutes report that employees were instructed to sell Android and Windows devices over iPhone

Jordan Kahn Aug 1 2012 - 8:40 am PT

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Update: AT&T seemed none-too-pleased with the allegations and gave us the following statement:

The idea that we would steer any customer away from a particular device couldn’t be more farfetched. Our reps do what it takes to align customer needs with the best device for them. iPhone remains one of our most popular devices, which doesn’t happen by steering people away from it. Our reps are encouraged to try all devices so they are more knowledgeable on our industry-leading smartphone lineup.

[tweet https://twitter.com/leewalker10/status/230703524634300416]

We heard reports in the past that retail employees at other carriers were instructed by higher-ups to push Android and other alternative smartphone options to customers interested in the iPhone. However, BGR claimed today that AT&T’s slow 3 percent growth of iPhone activations in the second quarter was likely the result of a similar strategy. Although iPhone activations made up roughly 73 percent of smartphones in AT&T’s Q2 report, the initiative has apparently been confirmed by three independent sources:

Regional retail sales managers at AT&T have been instructing store managers to pump the brakes on Apple’s iPhone. Instructions handed down from corporate state that customers seeking smartphones at AT&T retail stores should be steered away from Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone and towards Android phones or Windows Phone handsets like the Nokia Lumia 900 instead. BGR has confirmed the directive with three independent sources

[tweet https://twitter.com/rjonesy/status/230700916075020289]

The report also claimed that one source indicated iPhone sales dropped from 80 percent to 50- to 60- percent of smartphone sales, at least in one region, since the initiative began. BGR also claimed retail staffs at AT&T in some regions are forced to choose an Android or Windows device over the iPhone for their company phone. We reached to AT&T for a comment and will update this post shortly when we hear back.

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ComScore: Ahead of iPhone refresh, Apple outgrew Android and the iPhone took market share from Samsung, Motorola and LG

Seth Weintraub Aug 1 2012 - 8:37 am PT

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Today’s comScore report measured the U.S. phone landscape from March to June with some surprising surges from Apple noted. Apple was the only manufacturer to gain market share in the overall handset business by growing 1.4-points in the three months. This is particularly notable because Apple’s iPhone is expected to get refreshed in September.

Additionally, iOS outgrew Android in the three-month span from 1.7-points to 0.6-points (see chart below). The gains by both OSes to a whopping 84 percent of all smartphones measured were at the expense of Microsoft, RIM, and Symbian. On the changes, comScore said:

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Apple leads global PC shipments with 19 percent share, primarily due to the new iPad

Élyse Betters Aug 1 2012 - 8:02 am PT

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Global client PC shipments rose 12 percent year-on-year in Q2 2012, with the new iPad recognized as the primary influence on growth rates, according to the latest data report from Canalys, who treat the iPad as a PC (and with the ability to operate without being tethered and to use external keyboards and monitors and the like, why wouldn’t you?)

Apple lead the overall charge, boosted by strong iPad sales, with an estimated 19 percent share of global PC shipments. Canalys explained:

Growth in pads more than compensated for disappointing sales of Ultrabooks. The new iPad had the biggest single impact on growth rates in the quarter, but Asus and Samsung made progress with their Transformer and Galaxy Tab product lines. Total pad shipments increased 75% to 24 million units, representing 22% of all PCs.

“There is now a large base of replacement buyers that simply must have the latest Apple product, and the decision to continue shipping the iPad 2 at lower price points has opened up new customers, for example in education,” added Canalys Research Analyst Tom Evans.

Samsung lead as the “Android pad vendor” in Q2. It more than doubled its Galaxy Tab shipments compared to Q2 2011, and Canalys said the company is “Apple’s chief challenger” in the tablet sector.

Get the full report at Canalys.

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Verizon spanked by FCC for charging extra for tethering/apps, should drop extra fee in short order

Jul 31 2012 - 4:21 pm PT

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Verizon iPhone Personal Hotspot settings (Image: TechCrunch)

Verizon was fined a measly $1.25 million today for blocking access to tethering apps mostly on the Android platform. That does not apply to most iOS users (currently), however. That is because this ruling —for now— only affects LTE 4G devices. With the next-generation iPhone, which will launch in mid-September, heavily rumored to be the first iPhone to include LTE access, this will affect those choosing to go with Verizon Wireless for their fancy new iPhone.

The ruling asserts that Verizon must not charge an additional fee for tethering on its devices—so long as they are not on the grandfathered unlimited data plans. The iPhone has included tethering support since iOS 3.0, and the feature was taken to the next level by Apple and Verizon Wireless with the launch of the Verizon iPhone 4 and the wireless Personal Hotspot feature in early 2011. The feature was soon spread to iPhone carriers globally with iOS 4.3.

Earlier this year, Apple brought the Personal Hotspot feature to its tablet with the LTE iPad. Something notable with Apple and Verizon’s agreement for the iPad is that the wireless tethering feature is included in the pre-paid data plans. If a user pays a certain amount for data, they will not have to pay anything extra to access the wireless tethering system. With the LTE iPhone, according to today’s FCC ruling, users will have the same, great experience.

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Apple vs. Samsung: Opening Statements in the (Patent) trial of the century

Élyse Betters Jul 31 2012 - 2:21 pm PT

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Apple and Samsung appeared in a San Jose federal court today, where U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh presides, to give opening statements starting at 9 a.m. PST.

Apple filed the first suit in this monumental case in April 2011. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company claimed Samsung infringed its patents by “slavishly copying” its iPhone. Samsung, a South Korea-based Company, promptly countersued.

This is one of the important cases to go to trial among a slew of other litigations on smartphone patents. If Apple wins, Samsung could suffer a financial blow and the ability to sell its infringing products in a large market. If Apple loses, its “thermonuclear war” against Android smartphone manufacturers could essentially wither away as Samsung collects royalty fees.

This morning’s most notable highlights are below (continually updated).

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Amazon Cloud Drive’s gets ‘scan and match’, higher bit rates, much more

Seth Weintraub Jul 31 2012 - 11:42 am PT

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A huge update today from Amazon:

Amazon Cloud Player is a service that enables customers to securely store music in the cloud and play it wherever they are on a Kindle Fire, Android phone, Android tablet, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Mac, or PC. Amazon Cloud Player now has more benefits, including:

Faster music import for Cloud Player using scan and match technology
Upgrade of matched files to high-quality 256 Kbps audio
Delivery of future Amazon MP3 purchases directly to Cloud Player
Delivery of eligible past Amazon MP3 purchases to Cloud Player without having to import them
Ability to edit song and album information (such as title and track number), and the ability to import that information for matched files directly from Amazon’s catalog
Support for more music file types

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Samsung objects to ‘gratuitous’ images of Steve Jobs in trial, prefers thermonuclear quotes instead

Élyse Betters Jul 30 2012 - 8:00 am PT

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Samsung vehemently objected to pictures of Steve Jobs in Apple’s opening slides for today’s massive trial, but U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh struck down the objections over the weekend.

The South Korea-based smartphone manufacturer claimed the “gratuitous images have no evidentiary value,” as it filed 14 objections to Apple’s opening slides.

The company further noted, as FOSS Patents reported, if Apple is given permission to use these slides, Samsung will “request that the Court allow it to use the quotes from Mr. Jobs — which do have nonprejudicial evidentiary value — and yet were excluded by the Court’s ruling on Apple’s Motion in Limine No. 7.”

In other words, Samsung wants to use the “thermonuclear war” quotes from Walter Isaacson’s “Steve Jobs biography” if Apple can use images of the company’s late founder. The contentious quotes from the biography were previously deemed hearsay and inadmissible in this litigation.

According to FOSS Patents, Apple explained the use of the pitcures in its responsive filing:

Three of the images are “from a joint exhibit – 1091 (the MacWorld 2007 video), which Samsung itself relies on in its opening demonstratives (at Samsung slide no. 148)”, so “Samsung cannot complain about Apple’s use of the same video” that shows “the public introduction of the iPhone on January 7, 2007, which launched the fame that the iPhone trade dress has acquired”. Also, “[b]ecause they demonstrate Apple’s notice of the 200+ patents covering the iPhone — including the asserted patents, they thus are relevant to willfulness”.

Another slide refers to an exhibition relating to Steve Jobs’s patents, which was organized by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. “Among the highlighted patents at the PTO exhibit are at least two patents at issue in this litigation — the D’677 and D’889” — and Apple argues that “[t]he Patent Office exhibit demonstrates praise by others to rebut non-obviousness”.

The fifth image of Steve Jobs in the presentation is “a screenshot from the announcement of the iPad in July 2010” and, therefore, “relevant to the introduction of the iPad and its acquisition of fame and secondary meaning”, Apple says.

Judge Koh overruled Samsung’s objections on Sunday and said the images are “relevant to Apple’s iPhone design patent and trade dress claims and is not unduly prejudicial.”

Get the full report at FOSS Patents.

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We’re hearing word of sporadic iMessage outages this weekend

Seth Weintraub Jul 22 2012 - 2:12 pm PT

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Although Apple’s iCloud System Status thinks all is good, clearly not all is well in Maiden. We received a load of tips over the past day or so claiming iMessages are randomly not going through, people are not able to sign in (“activation issues”), and messages are randomly deleting. Others are not having any issues (or are not aware of any). Here are just a few of our readers’ responses:

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Find My Facebook Friends app forced to change name – becomes ‘Locate’

Jordan Kahn Jul 20 2012 - 6:33 am PT

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Developers of the Find My Facebook Friends app have had quite a rough time getting their app past Apple’s App Store review team. The app was originally called “Find My Friends For Facebook” until Apple rejected the app name and icon for being too similar to its own Find My Friends app, forcing the developers to resubmit the app with a new icon and name. While the app has been live in the App Store and steadily growing among users as “Find My Facebook Friends” since March, the developer told us today that it is once again being forced to change its name—but this time by Facebook.

After a few emails with Facebook’s Platform Operations team, Find My Facebook Friends has now been renamed “Locate”. Facebook also requested the developer remove the “f” logo, and then alter the white silhouette used in its icon. It appears Facebook’s platform policy and trademark rights allow iOS developers to use “for Facebook” in their app titles to clearly indicate the app is “for” Facebook and not an official app. However, there are many apps, such as Facebook Chat+, that seem to violate Facebook’s policies the same as Find My Facebook Friends, and they have been available in the App Store for almost a year. The developer noted Facebook contacted him after briefly testing its location-based Find Friends Nearby feature, which did not include the exact same functionality. However, it could easily be confused with Find My Facebook Friends by its title alone. The app still includes the same features, allowing you to locate Facebook friends on a map, receive proximity alerts, and more, but it is now available as “Locate: Real-time Location Sharing for Facebook” in the App Store.

Facebook adds new Find Friends Nearby feature to apps, makes it easy to add new friends (9to5google.com)
Former Apple employee discusses the App Store review process (9to5mac.com)
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Gene Muster and Horace Dediu talk about Apple’s long term risks

9to5 Staff Jul 17 2012 - 8:25 pm PT

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Chat from Fortune Brainstorm Tech, where Inside Apple’s Adam Lashinsky asks Gene “Apple Television” Munster and Asymco’s Horace Dediu about a post-Steve Jobs Apple and the biggest risks to the company in the future.

Non-Flash here.

Motorola Xoom does not violate iPad design patent, rules German court

Élyse Betters Jul 17 2012 - 8:34 am PT

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A German court ruled this morning that the “popular” Android-powered tablet does not violate the patented look of Apple’s tablet. The Duesseldorf court discarded one claim by the Google-owned manufacturer, however, about the iPad’s design patent being inapplicable.

FoxBusiness explained:

Apple initially sued Motorola for allegedly infringing three iPad designs with the Xoom. It sought to have the device banned across Europe.

Although the judges ruled Motorola’s Xoom doesn’t infringe on the iPad, the court rejected a counterclaim brought by Motorola alleging the iPad’s design patent is invalid, a spokesman for the court said.

As the court ultimately rejected both parties’ claims, it ordered Apple to pay two-thirds of costs and Motorola to pay a third, the spokesman added.

[…] During two hearings prior to the ruling, the presiding judge had indicated the court was leaning in Motorola’s favor. Judge Johanna Brueckner-Hofmann said in March that the court considered the evenly bent back and shaped edges on the front of the Xoom tablet sufficient to give the product individual character.

Apple is also suing Motorola in a Mannheim court for allegedly breaching a patent on multi-touch enabled devices.

Get the full report at FoxBusiness.

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