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Rough date set for round five of Apple v. Samsung patent trial, to (maybe) finalize damages

A rough date has been set for round five of the battle over Samsung’s infringements of Apple patents in five of its products. The Recorder reports that U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh has said that the revised damages will be determined by a jury trial in March or April 2016.

In case you need a refresher, the story so far is this. In round 1, the first jury trial, Apple was awarded $1B in damages. In round 2, Judge Koh vacated $450M of that award and ordered a retrial to determine a revised sum. Round 3 was that jury trial, with Apple awarded a lower sum of $290M – making a revised total of $930M. In round 4, the US appeals court ruled that while Samsung did indeed copy iOS features, it should not have been penalised for copying the general look of the iPhone, and therefore the damages should be reduced. The new trial, to revise those damages, will be round 5.

Unless, that is, the Supreme Court intervenes … 
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Samsung adds a $100-200 bribe to its test-drive program aimed at converting iPhone users

Samsung has upped the ante on its ‘ultimate test drive‘ program, intended to persuade iPhone owners to switch by offering them a free one-month trial of an Android-powered Galaxy smartphone. For those who end up purchasing the phone, Samsung will give them $100 of Google Play credit which can be used to buy apps and other content.

If you end up trading in your iPhone, Samsung will additionally send you a check for $100 – on top of whatever trade-in deal you were offered by the retailer.

Of course, switching to Android is not without its health risks

Via Android Central

Trade secrets stolen from TSMC helped Samsung win Apple’s A9 chip business, rules Taiwanese court

Taiwan’s top court has ruled that former TSMC R&D director Liang Mong-song revealed to Samsung trade secrets that enabled it to copy the chipmaker’s FinFET manufacturing processes, reports DigiTimes. The processes are used by both companies to produce the A9 chips used in the upcoming new iPhones.

It was recently suggested that Apple was playing off the two companies against each other, with Samsung reportedly offering discounted prices in order to “grab the majority of A9 chip orders.”

The ruling of the second-instance court was according to an analysis conducted by third-party experts regarding key manufacturing processes of TSMC and Samsung […]

“The 16nm and 14nm FinFET products that both companies will mass produce this year were even more alike,” the report indicated. “It could be hard to tell (if the product) came from Samsung or TSMC if only structural analysis is used.”

Liang resigned from TSMC to take up a position at a Samsung sponsored university where all the students were said to be Samsung employees.

As Patently Apple notes, the penalty for passing on the trade secrets hardly acts as a deterrent: Liang has merely been banned from working for Samsung for a period of four months.

Gartner: Worldwide iPhone sales grew 36% YOY, while Samsung sales fell 5.3%

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New data from Gartner suggests that iPhone sales grew 36% year-on-year, while Samsung’s sales fell 5.3% in the same period. Apple’s market share climbed from 12.2% in Q2 2014 to 14.6% in the same quarter this year. Other winners were Chinese brands Huawei and Xiaomi.

Gartner said that while overall smartphone growth was sluggish, Apple continued to dominate the premium end of the market, with other vendors struggling to compete.

Apple’s double-digit growth in the high-end segment continued to negatively impact its rivals’ premium phone sales and profit margins. Many vendors had to realign their portfolios to remain competitive in the midrange and low-end smartphone segments. This realignment resulted in price wars and discounting to clear up inventory for new devices planned for the second half of 2015 … 


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Samsung plans appeal to U.S. Supreme Court in never-ending patent war with Apple

Following a request for a rehearing of its battle with Apple earlier this summer, Samsung last week had its plea denied by the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, putting the case on its last leg. Samsung was hoping that the federal appeals court would reconsider the U.S Federal Circuit Court’s decision to uphold damages from a 2012 ruling. Following last week’s rejections, Samsung’s final option would be to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and now it appears that the company is doing just that.


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U.S. Patent Office invalidates an original iPhone patent in Samsung lawsuit

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Earlier this month, the United States Patent Office made a non-final ruling that one of Apple’s design patents for the original iPhone is invalid within Apple’s long-running lawsuit against Samsung, according to a report from FOSS Patents. This particular patent, as seen in the drawings above, references the overall design of the original iPhone launched in 2007. It is known as the “D’677” patent in court proceedings and legal documents. FOSS explains the reasoning behind the invalidation:


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Court rejects Samsung’s latest appeal request in never-ending patent case

In its seemingly never-ending legal battle between Apple, Samsung earlier this summer asked a federal appeals court to reconsider the U.S Federal Circuit Court’s decision to uphold damages from a 2012 ruling. Today, San Jose Mercury News reports that the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected Samsung’s request to have its case reheard.


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Ahead of new iPhones, Samsung announces Galaxy Note 5 & S6 Edge+, Samsung Pay launch, Gear S2

Ahead of the new iPhones currently rumored to be announced on September 9th, Samsung has today announced the latest in its Galaxy line of smartphones. The Korean company introduced the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, as well as a larger S6 Edge called — yes, it’s a bit of a mouthful — the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+. The company also detailed the launch of its Samsung Pay mobile payments platform.
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New 15TB SSD fits world’s highest-capacity hard drive in compact, 2.5-inch package

Continuing its push to make solid-state drives (SSDs) the dominant storage medium of next-generation computers, Samsung has revealed the PM1633a, a 15.36TB SSD that is believed to be the world’s highest-capacity hard drive. More amazingly, notes an Ars Technica report, that incredible capacity — over 120 times the storage of an entry-level MacBook Air or MacBook Pro — fits within a compact 2.5″ hard drive enclosure.
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Report: Apple squeezing Samsung and TSMC for last-minute price cuts on A9 chips

A new report suggests that Apple is playing A9 chip makers Samsung and TSMC against one another in the lead up to the launch of new iPhones, attempting to extract last-minute price reductions for its next-generation processors. According to the report from Digitimes, which has a mixed track record regarding upcoming Apple products, Apple is requesting lower prices from both companies. Though TSMC is “inclined to refuse,” Samsung has agreed to discount the chips, offering Apple “almost-free backend services” in an effort to “grab the majority of A9 chip orders.”

The report suggests that Apple is leveraging the novelty of the FinFET chip manufacturing process to extract concessions from TSMC, which has relatively few FinFET chip orders from other customers. A claimed reduction in Apple’s demand from 30,000 wafers per month to under 20,000 wafers would leave TSMC to make up a significant difference between Apple’s original order and the Taiwanese company’s FinFET production capacity. The impact on Apple’s upcoming A9X, which was believed to be handled by TSMC, is unclear…


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IDC: iPad lead continues to decline while overall tablet market shrinks

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Apple’s iPad continues to lead the tablet market, according to new data from IDC, but its marketshare has dropped a few points year-over-year, and the overall market for tablets saw negative growth, based on units shipped globally. That’s according to second quarter 2015 unit shipments and marketshare over the same quarter a year ago, as Apple shipped 10.9 million units versus 13.3 million units during the second quarter of 2014. While the iPad continues to lead in the tablet space, IDC’s data shows Apple’s market share dropping nearly 3 points from 27.7% to 24.5% …
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IDC: Apple snatches 3% of smartphone users from Samsung

IDC has just released its smartphone market share data for Q2 2015, and at least one thing is clear: Samsung is still struggling, and Apple is still doing really well. The Korean company’s smartphone market share dropped from 24.8% to 21.7% year-over-year, a 3.1 percentage point drop. Conveniently, while other manufacturers made gains as well, Apple’s numbers are up about the same number — 2.4 percentage points year-over-year to 14.1%…
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Report: Apple Watch sales took an estimated 75% of global smartwatch marketshare in Q2 2015

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New data from research firm Strategy Analytics shows that Apple’s introduction into the smartwatch market made a dramatic shift in both the overall size of the market and which companies are on top.

According to the firm’s data, Apple claimed a massive 75.5% of the global smartwatch marketshare in Q2 2015 with the launch of the Apple Watch in late April. It also shows that Apple’s entrance stole a huge portion of Samsung’s marketshare as the previous smartwatch market leader dropped 66 points from 73.6% marketshare to a single digit 7.5% … 
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Apple again lands behind Samsung at #15 on Fortune Global 500 list, #2 by profit

Fortune is out with its latest Global 500 today ranking the world’s largest 500 companies by revenue and Apple has once again landed at #15 on the list. Apple comes in behind #1 Wal-mart, a long list of petroleum companies, Volkswagen, Toyota, and #13 Samsung.

After a bumpy start to 2014, Apple’s stock finished the year up 40%, adding nearly $200 billion to the company’s market value. A product pipeline that’s gotten Apple fanboys lining up all over again has certainly helped reenergize revenue growth: In addition to unveiling new categories like Apple Pay and Apple Watch, the company launched the iPhone 6, selling a record-breaking 10 million units in the first three days. As CEO Tim Cook recently told investors: “It’s tough to find something in the numbers not to like.” The normally low-profile Cook is breaking new ground in other ways too–in October, 2014 he came out as the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

In Fortune’s calculations, which account for total revenues for the fiscal year that ended before March 31, 2015, Apple came in with almost $183 billion in revenue, compared to around $195 billion for Samsung and $485 billion for #1 on the list, Walmart. Apple, however, comes in at #2 on the list when filtering by profit with $39.5 billion compared to $44.7 billion for the #1 company by profit, Industrial & Commer. Bank of China. Other tech companies coming in behind Apple for profit include Microsoft at #8 with $22 billion and Samsung at #9 with $21.9 billion in profit.

The new Fortune 500 Global list follows Apple’s Q3 2015 earnings report yesterday where the company reported record revenue for several products, hinted at over $1 billion in Apple Watch sales, and crossed the $200 billion in cash mark for the first time.

Large tech companies side with Samsung in its appeal against award for infringing Apple’s patents

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In the latest news in the patent case that feels like it will never end, a number of tech giants have taken Samsung’s side in its appeal against the damages it was ordered to pay for infringing Apple’s patents.

It’s almost three years since Apple was awarded $1B in damages after a jury found that Samsung infringed five of its patents. $450M of that award was later vacated and a retrial ordered to determine a revised sum, with Apple awarded a lower sum of $290M – for a revised total of $930M. The US appeals court later ruled that while Samsung did indeed copy iOS features, it should not have been penalised for copying the general look of the iPhone. The court now needs to once again revise the amount awarded.

The amount awarded in part reflected the profits Samsung was deemed to have made by infringing the patents, and it is this aspect that Google, Facebook, Dell, HP, eBay and other tech companies say is unreasonable … 
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Samsung reportedly feeling pressure from the upcoming iPhone 6S Plus, launching Galaxy Note 5 early

Samsung’s existing Galaxy Note 4

Samsung is planning to bring forward the launch of the Galaxy Note 5 from September to August, according to the WSJ. It’s believed the change in schedule is designed to get the device on sale ahead of Apple’s anticipated September launch of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, which is likely to dominate tech media coverage that month.

Samsung has always previously launched its Note models on the eve of the IFA conference, which takes place in Berlin in September. The WSJ cites only a single source for the claim, but it’s not the first time we’ve heard suggestions that the company may bring forward the launch this year.

A Korean report back in May suggested that the Note 5 would be launched in late July, also citing a desire to get ahead of Apple’s launch. A second reason was said to be to align with the anticipated launch of the company’s mobile payment platform, named (yep) Samsung Pay – but this is now expected to be be pushed back to September.

Samsung was hit hard by Apple’s move into larger-screened phones, the iPhone 6 Plus in particular providing the first Cupertino competition for its Galaxy Note phablet. Apple is reportedly expecting big things of its launch of the iPhone 6S this September, aiming to produce 90M units by the end of the year.

Apple’s MacBook SSD OEM Samsung takes wraps off pair of monstrous 2TB internal solid-state drives

From 9to5Toys.com:

Samsung today has announced that it will be adding a 2TB option to its 850 EVO and PRO 2.5-inch internal solid-state drive offerings. Previously, the largest sized capacity was 1TB for both models, which have been on the market since last year. These new models will ship with a hefty price tag to match the larger storage capacity.

While these won’t fit in any recent MacBook/Pro/Airs, the new SSDs will allow you to upgrade older non-Retina SATA III MacBook Pros or Mac Minis/iMacs to 2TB drives.

More importantly, however, it means that 2TB PCI SSDs that will work withApple’s current and future Macs are right around the corner. We’d hope and expect that Apple would adopt 2TB SSD products within a year’s time.

The 850 EVO line includes a five-year warranty and can deliver read/write speeds of 540/520MB per second. Samsung’s 850 PRO solid-state drives double the warranty to ten-years and offer a slight speed bump of 550/520MB per second. Each product includes Samsung’s 3D Vertical NAND technology which stacks memory on top of each other enabling larger capacities and reduced power consumption, according to the manufacturer. Both models are consumer favorites, dominating the top spots in Amazon’s best-sellers list.

While a release date has yet to be announced, the EVO series is expected to carry a $800 price tag while a 25% price bump to $1,000 will deliver the PRO version. Samsung states that it will be expanding its mobile solid-state offerings with larger mSATA and M.2 form factors in the near future to address the laptop and gaming PC market.

In need of storage now? 9to5Toys currently has Samsung’s 850 EVO 500GB model on sale.

Samsung Electronics Leads Consumers into the New Era of Multi-Terabyte SSDs with Launch of 2-TB 850 PRO and 850 EVO

Samsung Electronics, a market leader in advanced memory technology and an innovator in consumer electronics, introduced the 2-terabyte (TB) 850 PRO and 850 EVO solid state drives (SSDs). Samsung’s 3D Vertical NAND (V-NAND) based retail SSD lineup now features 20 different products with a wide range of capacity options from 120 gigabyte (GB) to 2TB. Available in 50 countries, the launch of the 2TB drives addresses the ever-increasing consumer demand for high-performance and high-capacity memory solutions.

“Samsung experienced surge in demand for 500 gigabyte (GB) and higher capacity SSDs with the introduction of our V-NAND SSDs. The release of the 2TB SSD is a strong driver into the era of multi-terabyte SSD solutions,” said Un-Soo Kim, Senior Vice President of Branded Product Marketing, Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue to expand our ultra-high performance and large density SSD product portfolio and provide a new computing experience to users around the globe.”

The new 2TB 850 SSD PRO and EVO drives remain in the same 7-millimeter, 2.5-inch aluminum case as their predecessors did. Equipped with Samsung’s advanced chip solutions, including 128 individual Samsung 32-layer 128Gb 3D V-NAND flash chips, an upgraded high-performance MHX controller that supports 2TB capacity, and four 20nm-class process technology-based 4Gb LPDDR3 DRAM chips, the 2TB 850 family provides industry-leading performance and power efficiency. With added capacity, professionals and consumers can experience a smoother computing environment prepared for the intense demands of rich content such as 4K UHD video editing and viewing.

Samsung guarantees the 2TB 850 PRO for 10 years or 300 terabytes written (TBW), and the 2TB 850 EVO for five years or 150 TBW.

Following the launch of the 2TB 850 drives, Samsung will expand high capacity 3D V-NAND SSD lineups to include mSATA and M.2 form factors to address the gaming PC, laptop PC and high performance SSD markets.

Supply chain rumors say brighter Apple Watch, pink iPhone 6S with Force Touch camera en route

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Two new reports out of Asia this morning purport to shed light on improvements coming to Apple’s next-generation Apple Watch and the iPhone 6S.

According to a report out of Korea (via Naver/Digital Daily), Apple has decided to source flexible OLED screens for the Apple Watch 2 from both Samsung and LG, prioritizing improved outdoor visibility rather than changing the screen size, shape, or resolution. Outdoor screen visibility is a particular issue for the more reflective, sapphire-faced Apple Watch and Edition, which noticeably reduce the underlying screen’s apparent brightness compared with the glass-faced Apple Watch Sport. The report also claims Apple is more concerned about thinning components than reducing weight, in order to make room for a larger battery.

A second and more questionable report out of Taiwan, allegedly posted to microblogging site Weibo by a Foxconn employee before being pulled and recirculated by PhoneArena, claims to offer a series of additional details regarding the upcoming iPhone 6S. As detailed below, a new pink color, higher-resolution cameras with Force Touch simultaneous video/photo modes, and a faster Touch ID fingerprint scanner are all said to be on tap…


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Apple reportedly planning increased storage in next-gen iPhones, negotiating with Samsung

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The Korea Times today reports that Apple is in negotiations with Samsung to have the company supply the flash memory for the next-gen iPhone models. Currently, the flash storage is provided by Toshiba, SK hynix and SanDisk. The report also notes that Apple is looking to increase the storage capacity of its iPhone models.


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9to5Toys Last Call: iPad Air 128GB Wi-Fi + LTE $449, Timbuk2 30% off, network UPS w/ USB ports $48, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

iPad Air 128GB LTE, Folio Case, more: $449 shipped, tax in NY ($280 off), iPad mini 3 $100 off, more

Timbuk2 30% off sitewide: Command Messenger Bag 2015 $97 (Reg. $149), much more

Keep your Wi-Fi and iPhone running during a power outage w/ APC’s Back-UPS Connect for $48 shipped (Orig. $80)

$10 Lumsing Father’s Day deals: 10,400mAh power bank (Reg. $20), Bluetooth speaker w/NFC (Reg. $16), USB chargers, more

Belkin is set to take on Philips Hue with its new WeMo smart home LED bundles

Ondesoft Mac Bundle with X-Mirage, iTunes Converter, Audiobook Converter and more: free ($146 value)

$50 iTunes gift card for $40 shipped

iTunes cards buy one, get one 30% off at Target, email delivery or 10% off at Best Buy

Restaurant and apparel gift cards 20% off: JCPenney, T.G.I. Friday’s, Legal Seafood, Steak n’ Shake, Jiffy Lube, more

Quick Review: Kano’s Raspberry Pi 2 computer kit shines as a learning tool for kids and DIYers alike

More new gear from today:

Seagate 8TB Backup Plus USB 3 Desktop Drive: $250 shipped (6TB: $200, 5TB: $134)

Samsung’s T1 Portable SSDs are smaller than a business card, now on sale: 250GB $98, 500GB $198, 1TB $398

More deals still alive:

App Store Free App of the Week: Slayin endless RPG goes free for the first time ($1 value

Charge up to four USB devices at once w/ this RAVPower Desktop Charger for $9 Prime shipped (Reg. $16), more

New products & more:

Giveaway: The DODOcase $80 Apple Watch and iPhone charging solution stands out amongst the rest

Parrot details new drones with upgraded specs for land, water and air

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Samsung celebrity spokesman LeBron James gives Apple Watches to teammates

Samsung isn’t having the best of luck with one of its paid celebrity endorsements. After NBA player LeBron James last year tweeted that his Samsung phone had erased its entire contents, Cleveland.com reports that he has just chosen an Apple product as a gift for his teammates.

But before they went their separate ways that night of the meeting, James had another surprise. He gave them all brand new Apple watches

It was another way of displaying his appreciation for his guys.

It’s not the first time Samsung’s sponsorship deals haven’t generated quite the positive publicity the company had hoped.

Via Business Insider

Latest comScore data shows Apple increase lead as top OEM, iOS gain on Android for top platform

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comScore today has released its latest data regarding smartphone market share. The analytics firm says that 188.6 million people owned a smartphone during a three-month period ending in April. That equates to 76.9 percent of the mobile market being made up of smartphones at this point. Apple, according to the data, further strengthened its lead. The company saw a 1.8 percent increase in market share this time around, going from 41.3 percent in January to 43.1 percent in April.


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Samsung looks for any possible advantages in new pair of ads bashing the iPhone 6

Samsung today has shared two new ads for its Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge flagships and in typical Samsung fashion, both of the ads take multiple disses at the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The first ad features the Galaxy S6 Edge and focuses on how the curved display of the device is “useful.” Samsung touts that the S6 Edge lights up on the side when someone calls, while the iPhone 6 simply vibrates. Because a strobing light is definitely more useful than a vibration…


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