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872 'Samsung' stories September 2010 - June 2012
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Samsung opens ‘Easy Phone Sync’ app to help iOS users move to Galaxy products

Avatar for Élyse Betters Jun 22 2012 - 9:47 am PT
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Samsung wants you.

The South Korea-based Company is making it easier than ever to jump ship from iOS to its Galaxy line with the Easy Phone Sync app. The software is free to anyone purchasing a Samsung Galaxy device, and it quickly installs on any Galaxy product, PC, or Mac.

In the most straightforward manner, it transfers media, contacts, content—and all that other stuff packed into handhelds—from iTunes to an Android-powered tablet or phone by Samsung. Users can also manage their content through iTunes to maintain preferences during the sync process.

For more information on Samsung’s plan to pilfer iPhone users from Apple, check out its newest marketing strategy that 9to5Google detailed earlier this week.

The press release is below. 


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Foxconn CEO Terry Gou: iPhone 5 will put Samsung’s Galaxy S III to shame

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jun 20 2012 - 1:19 pm PT
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According to several local reports, Foxconn’s Terry Gou made some pretty bold statements at Hon Hai Precision’s annual meeting of shareholders on Monday. While there are a few translations, all seem to claim Gou urged customers to wait for the iPhone 5, “saying that the new model will put Samsung’s Galaxy III to shame.” A report from Focus Taiwan quoted China Times:

Gou said he has made it a lifetime goal to defeat Samsung — “a company with a track record of snitching on its competitors.”… He was referring to Samsung’s action in 2010 of snitching on four Taiwanese companies in an investigation by the European Commission on price-fixing in the flat panel industry…Samsung was exempted from the investigation by serving as a “tainted witness.” … Gou also urged consumers to wait for the launch of Apple’s iPhone 5, saying that the new model will put Samsung’s Galaxy III to shame.

Gou also apparently claimed that Foxconn’s Sakai plant “has an exclusive agreement with Corning Inc., an American manufacturer of glass, on large panel supply,” and his “competitors will not be able to secure any such material if they wished to.” We are going to wait to see if Foxconn issues a statement regarding these quotes, because we know a couple of stories in recent months misquoted Gou…
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Apple in court: Apple vs Motorola, Samsung wins damages, Kodak sues

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jun 20 2012 - 8:12 am PT
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There are several reports today on Apple’s ongoing court cases with Samsung and Motorola. First, we have the latest on the United States case between Apple and Google’s Motorola Mobility with Reuters reporting on a “crucial hearing” scheduled for today:

Federal Judge Richard Posner in Chicago will hear Apple argue why it should be able to seek an order barring the sale of some Motorola phones. Posner’s decision could affect the iPhone maker’s ability to negotiate favorable licensing agreements in its legal fights against Motorola and other competitors like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd… last week Posner granted Apple’s request for a hearing on a possible injunction, and ordered both sides to submit legal arguments in advance. Those documents were filed under seal on Monday.

The last time we reported on this Apple/Samsung Galaxy case in the U.S., Apple was forced to request a separate hearing for a ban on the Galaxy S III. A trial date for Apple’s previous injunction requests for the Galaxy line is set for July 30. In its patent disputes with the company in Europe, Reuters reported today that a Dutch court in The Hague ruled Apple would have to pay damages for violating a Samsung patent with pre-iPhone 4S devices:

A court in The Hague ruled Apple had violated a Samsung patent used in some of Apple’s phones and tablet computers to connect to the Internet, and said damages should be based on certain iPhone and iPad sales in the Netherlands… Damages should be based on Dutch sales figures since August 4, 2010, which the court said was the date when Apple could have known it was violating Samsung’s patent.

FossPatents weighed in:

…there’s no question that Apple is ready, willing and able to pay a FRAND royalty rate. It just didn’t want Samsung to win an injunction, or pay an excessive rate. Court documents say that Apple asked Samsung half a dozen times (!) to quote a FRAND rate before the 2.4% demand, which the court considered outrageous, was made… Considering the parameters and circumstances I just described, Samsung will be lucky to even recover its attorneys’ fees with this. The dispute will continue.

In other Apple court news, bankrupt Kodak is suing the company this week for wrongly claiming ownership of 10 patents and “interfering with plans to sell a large patent portfolio.” Reuters explained:

In a lawsuit filed on Monday in U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan, Kodak said Apple, the largest U.S. company by market value, wrongly claims to own 10 patents arising from work that the companies did together in the early 1990s… Kodak said Apple is the largest infringer of patents in that portfolio, and also a potential purchaser of those patents… “Apple’s strategy has been to use its substantial cash position to delay as long as possible the payment of royalties to Kodak” and interfere with the sale, Kodak said.

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Apple won’t stop June 21 Galaxy S III launch

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jun 13 2012 - 8:34 am PT
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When we checked in last Friday on the ongoing Apple vs. Samsung cases in the United States, Apple’s lawyers were threatening Samsung with a temporary restraining order on the Galaxy S III to stop sales of the device before its June 21 release date. Apple was hoping Judge Lucy Koh would add the Galaxy S III to existing preliminary injunction requests that Apple previously made on other Galaxy products. However, according to a report from Reuters, Judge Koh ruled this week that Apple’s requests would “overload her calendar” given a July 30 trial date in the previous Galaxy cases is already set.

Apple can still request a ban on the Galaxy S III with a separate hearing date, but it likely will not be able to do so in enough time to block the device from launching later this month:

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, effectively dashed Apple’s hopes of stopping the launch of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s new Galaxy S III smartphone, which also runs on Android. Koh had said Apple’s push to get a court order blocking the June 21 launch would overload her calendar… Koh last week said Apple could ask for a temporary restraining order against the Galaxy S III phone, but that would likely delay the trial over a Galaxy tablet and other smartphones. In her order on Monday, the judge said Apple would have to request a new hearing date if it wanted to stop sales of the Galaxy S III phone. That likely would not take place before the phone’s scheduled launch. Apple has not said what its next move will be.

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Benchmarks for SSDs and USB 3.0 performance in new MacBooks

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jun 11 2012 - 11:02 pm PT
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Even before Apple’s unveiling of the all-new Retina MacBook Pros, refreshed previous-generation MacBook Pros, and MacBook Air lineups today, we knew most of Apple’s new Macs would receive performance improvements courtesy of new SSDs and USB 3.0. We are now getting our first look at benchmark data for the two new features—thanks to a Retina MacBook review unit benchmarked by AnandTech.

As for SSDs, we told you before that the new MacBook family would probably receive Samsung’s speedy 830 series. AnandTech’s report seems to narrow down the 830 series as the most likely scenario noting his review unit appears to be running a Samsung drive approaching read speed of 500MB/s, and writes close to 400MB/s:

The same updated SSD is present across all of Apple’s lineup: from the MacBook Air to the next-gen MacBook Pro. Based on the model number in Apple’s System Report I’d guess my review sample features a Samsung based drive… I ran a few tests using Quick Bench to validate Apple’s claims. In general it looks like read speed approaches 500MB/s, while sequential writes are closer to 400MB/s

When it comes to initial benchmarks for USB 3.0 performance, the chart to the right speaks for itself by showing a remarkable jump in performance over USB 2.0 on the early 2011 MacBook Pro:

USB 3.0 performance is much improved over the previous generation MacBook Pro. I used an Apricorn SATA to USB 3.0 adapter to measure copy time to/from a 512GB OCZ Vertex 4 SSD. The performance gap between USB 2.0 and 3.0 is nothing short of significant.

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Apple’s lawyers threaten Samsung with temporary restraining order to stop Galaxy S III sales

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jun 8 2012 - 7:11 am PT
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Last time we checked in on the ongoing U.S. patent-related court cases between Apple and Samsung, Apple’s lawyers were requesting to add the Galaxy S III to its previous motion for a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Nexus line of products from February.

Apple was hoping the courts would agree to withhold sales of the S III until a ruling on the preliminary injunction was made. Samsung recommended the judge dismiss Apple’s request and file a new motion, but Apple attorney Josh Krevitt threatened Samsung at a hearing on Thursday that Apple could file a temporary restraining order as early as today to stop sales of the S III before it launches June 21. Bloomberg reported:

Josh Krevitt, a lawyer for Cupertino, California-based Apple, told Koh he was considering filing a request for a temporary restraining order in the interest of blocking sales of the Galaxy S III before its scheduled release in the U.S. this month… Krevitt said a court order temporarily barring Galaxy S III sales in the U.S. will create “a mechanism to allow the court to decide this issue before the launch.”

First Samsung will have to prove in court today that the Galaxy S III includes a “different combination of features” from the Nexus in order to prevent Apple from adding the device to the previously requested preliminary injunction. According to Bloomberg, Samsung lawyer Bill Price claimed: “Apple’s urgency stems from its inability to “compete against the new features” of the Galaxy S III, and the company is trying to “prevent a phone from getting to the public that is better than Apple’s in many, many respects.”

Reuters noted that several Google attorneys attended Thursday’s hearing. If Apple files for a temporary restraining order, the scheduled July 30 trial date would likely be delayed. Apple is also trying its best to kill HTC.

 

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New Samsung CEO has strong relationship with Apple

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jun 7 2012 - 8:13 am PT
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Samsung officially appointed a new CEO today to replace Choi Gee-Sung, who will now take up a position as head of corporate strategy overseeing Samsung Group’s roughly 80 companies. Choi, who was CEO for over three decades, will be replaced by Kwon Oh-hyun, who Reuters explained is currently head of Samsung’s components business and has deep relationships with Apple. Samsung made a statement claiming there will be no major changes in the way the company operates, because Kwon will continue to run the components business that  “became the sole supplier of the mobile processors” for iPhone and iPad under his leadership:

The South Korean group named Kwon Oh-hyun as its new CEO. Currently head of Samsung’s components business, which oversees chips and display, Kwon cemented Samsung’s position in memory chips, where it has almost 50 percent global market share, and expanded into non-memory, or logic chips, which now account for 40 percent of Samsung’s overall semiconductor revenue… Under Kwon, Samsung became the sole supplier of the mobile processors that power Apple’s iPhone and iPad – rival products to Samsung’s own Galaxy and Note. The 59-year-old former engineer, who studied electrical engineering at Seoul National University and Stanford, has also led a restructuring of Samsung’s LCD flat-screen business.

This article is cross-posted on 9to5Google.com

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Apple seeks US preliminary injunction against Samsung’s Galaxy S III

Avatar for Élyse Betters Jun 6 2012 - 1:31 pm PT
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Apple put forward a second California litigation against South Korea-based Samsung earlier this week when it sought the court’s consent to add the Android-powered Galaxy S III smartphone to its motion for a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Nexus.

According to FOSS Patents:

Apple made this move approximately 20 hours after I wrote about the Galaxy S III being “the obvious next target”. In my blog post I speculated that Apple might bring a preliminary injunction motion against it, possibly after awaiting tomorrow’s preliminary injunction hearing. Apple decided to forge ahead now. Apple is on the offensive against Android. Earlier this week it filed an ITC complaint requesting an immediate import ban of 29 allegedly-infringing HTC devices. There’s an important overlap: the “data tapping” patent that Apple is seeking to enforce against HTC’s current generation of products is one of two patents Apple is using against the S III.

Apple purchased the S III in the United Kingdom, where Samsung launched it on May 29. The U.S. launch date is June 21 — precisely two weeks after the preliminary injunction hearing.

Apple’s motion notes that “[a]ccording to press reports, Samsung has already sold over nine million preorders of the Galaxy S III; indeed, the Galaxy S III has been reported to be the most extensively preordered piece of consumer electronics in history.”

Apple filed the first preliminary injunction motion against the Galaxy Nexus in February over four disputed patents. The Cupertino, Calif.-based Company’s requested in its latest motion that Samsung withhold the launch of the device’s successor in the United States until the court rules on the preliminary injunction request.

Samsung replied to the motion this afternoon, contending Apple cannot continue to add to its record for the Galaxy Nexus:

“If Apple wishes to seek an injunction against the Galaxy S III, the Court should require Apple to file a new motion and allow the parties to develop a full factual record on all four factors. Accordingly, the Court should reject Apple’s motion to amend its current notice of motion for a preliminary injunction.”

This article is cross-posted at 9to5Google.


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Apple faces delays in bid for sales bans in German Motorola case and US Galaxy Tab case

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jun 5 2012 - 5:52 am PT
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According to two separate reports today, Apple is once again facing roadblocks in its attempt to win sales bans in a patent-related litigation with Samsung and Motorola.

The first report comes from Bloomberg about a court in Dusseldorf, Germany, which said Apple would likely lose its bid for an injunction on Motorola’s Xoom tablet in the country:

The German court that banned Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy 10.1 tablet sales last year is unlikely to grant Apple the same victory against Motorola Mobility’s device, Presiding Judge Johanna Brueckner-Hofmann said at a Dusseldorf hearing. The assessment is preliminary and may change after today’s arguments are reviewed. A ruling is scheduled for July 17… “We don’t think someone sits in a coffee house using the Xoom and hopes other people will think he owns an iPad,” Brueckner-Hofmann said.

The second report is related to the ongoing United States Samsung/Apple patent case. Today, CIO claimed Apple’s request to ban Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 was delayed due to a judge in California telling the court it will hold off on a ruling:

Apple’s bid to get a ban on sales in the U.S. of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet has been delayed after a federal court in California said on Monday it could not rule right away on Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction, while the matter is before an appeals court… The judge said Apple can renew its request for a preliminary injunction once the appeal court issues its ruling.

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ChipWorks dives into the Samsung Galaxy SIII, discovers the Sony iPhone 4S camera

Avatar for Élyse Betters Jun 1 2012 - 2:27 pm PT
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ChipWorks and iFixit are hardcore when it comes to breaking open our favorite devices to see what is inside. The two websites decided to take it up a notch today by joining forces to publish a live teardown of the non-LTE Samsung Galaxy SIII. ChipWorks looked at the—you guessed—chips, while iFixit focused on repair aspects.

This is what the ChipWorks dissection unearthed: 

Yep, that is Samsung’s Exynos 4412, 32 nm CMOS, 1.4 GHz quad core ARM processor.

“The Exynos is in a standard PoP (Package-on-Package) assembly with a Samsung LP DDR2 Green Memory K3PE7E700M-XGC2,” explained ChipWorks. “It is notable that this is the same process generation as we documented in the Apple A5 rev 2, APL2498, also fabricated by Samsung and for which you can see the general structure.”

The device also features the Sony IMX145 is an 8-megapixel, 1.4 um pixel pitch, back illuminated CMOS image sensor. Sony designs and manufactures this image sensor, which the Apple iPhone 4S also boasts. Samsung provides its own storage, however, with the KMVTU000LM. According to ChipWorks, it is a multi-chip Samsung MOVI N and memory module.

Go to 9to5Google for more information. 


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Twig: the most versatile iPhone charging cord/tripod hits Kickstarter

Avatar for Élyse Betters May 29 2012 - 2:57 pm PT
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Apple’s medium-length, white docking cable is widely known for its, how would one say, cumbersome functionality when attached to iDevices.

It comes in every iPhone, iPad, iWhatever box, and it is in desperate need of an update. Sure, reports show the next iPhone will sport a mini-dock connector, so maybe a new charging solution is already around the corner. But, in the meantime, third-party firms are thankfully developing interesting alternatives. Twig, for instance, is a newly launched Kickstarter project that certainly caught our eye.

Jason Hilbourne created a docking cable—err thing—that lacks a cord, can fit into a pocket, bends like Gumby, and sports a variety of color options. No tangle, no mess, and no headache. Oh, and the best part is that this little doohickey also doubles as a tripod. Go watch the video on the Kickstarter page to see how Hilbourne developed the product before deciding upon the last iteration. Those who are interested can get Twig at the $18 contribution level.

In related Kickstarter/docking cable news, Dave Hakkens has developed the Plugbook. Yes, it is in the shape of a book, so it can hide between other books. However, 10 feet of cable hides inside. Interesting, eh?


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Siri vs S-Voice on Samsung’s Galaxy S III

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 25 2012 - 7:50 am PT
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X9YbwtVN8Sk]

The Verge recently went hands on with Samsung’s new flagship Galaxy S III launched earlier this month and during its review put the device’s new Vlingo-powered “S-Voice” feature up against Siri on the iPhone 4S. Other than the striking resemblance to Siri’s UI and canned responses, the first thing we notice is Siri appears to be much quicker than S-Voice running on the Galaxy S III.

When asked “Who is the president of France”, Siri quickly asks to search the web, while S-Voice takes a little longer but comes up with the correct answer. However, in most scenarios, both Siri and S-Voice request to search the web for the majority of the same queries. You’ll also notice S-Voice has no problem keeping up with Siri when scheduling appointments, but both have some of the same issues understanding The Verge’s commands.

S Voice consistently chews up my words when I try asking it questions, although it works better when instructed to schedule an appointment or set an alarm. It can also be used as an unlocking mechanism once you pre-record a pass phrase. That adds to the face unlocking option that’s native to Android 4.0 in being frustratingly unwieldy and planted firmly within gimmick territory — more than once I was stuck repeating “hello” without any recognition from the phone.

While we don’t have all of the info on S-Voice, we know it is using voice recognition technology from Vlingo, the same as the previous Voice Commander feature for the Galaxy S II. Last December Nuance acquired Vlingo. It’s no secret Apple is currently using Nuance to power speech in Siri, and Siri co-founder Norman Winarsky told us in October that Siri originally used Vlingo, but that Nuance has by far the most “IP in speech synthesis technologies”. However, he also noted Apple could likely easily replace Nuance if something better was available.

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Is Apple building a haptic/optical stylus for its tablets?

Avatar for 9to5 Staff May 24 2012 - 6:14 am PT
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Not likely… but it has decided to patent an optical stylus anyway. We will also go ahead and note the fatty nature of that big iPhone thing pictured below:

It would be quite amusing if Apple tried to use this patent to take out Samsung’s Galaxy Note.

Another patent released today details a different type of Stylus—one with haptic feedback. Also, do not expect to see this at any point in the future. (via Unwired View)

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Shocker: Apple and Samsung agree to nothing during their two-day forced summit

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 23 2012 - 6:28 am PT
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A couple days ago, we updated you on the ongoing legal battle between Samsung and Apple with Reuters reporting Samsung chief JK Shin was considering cross-licensing options ahead of court moderated settlement talks between Apple and Samsung scheduled for May 21. While it is not much of a surprise to anyone following the case, The Korea Times reported today that a Samsung official confirmed no agreement was reached during the two-day summit:

Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung and Shin Jong-kyun, head of the firm’s mobile division, left Seoul Sunday for the United States to meet Apple CEO Tim Cook by order of the Northern District Court of California, in an attempt to settle the patent fight without going into costly legal proceedings… The two technology giants could find no clear agreement through the talks, according to a Samsung official. Apple Korea declined to comment on the matter.

According to the report, the ongoing patent battle and trial in California is scheduled to continue June 27. As for what was discussed at the meeting…

According to foreign media outlets, both technology giants held firm on their assertions: Samsung continued to demand Apple pay royalties for using its wireless transmission technology and Apple insisted that Samsung copied its design in various products.

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Samsung chief says company looking to resolve differences with Apple ahead of court rendezvous, options include cross-licensing deal

Avatar for Jake Smith May 20 2012 - 11:39 am PT
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The legal battle between Samsung and Apple is nothing new, because the two companies have duked it out in court for quite sometime. Both companies are ordered to meet to talk about a deal tomorrow. Not surprisingly, Samsung chief JK Shin is looking to resolve the differences between his company, and Apple is looking toward negotiating with them, according to Reuters. One of the ways he suggested is a cross-licensing deal: “There is still abig gapin the patent war with Apple but we still have several negotiation options including cross-licensing.”

Headed to the United States today, Shin is accompanied by chief executive Choi Gee-sung. Both will meet with Apple’s CEO Tim Cook and company in a San Francisco court tomorrow to try to hammer out a negotiation.

The interesting part of this whole kerfuffle is that Samsung is a key supplier for many parts that Apple uses in its products. South Korean-based Samsung even has a factory in Austin, Texas dedicated to making chips for Apple’s iOS devices. However, even with giving each other their business, the two companies’ relationship is not very good. Samsung is one of the most popular manufacturers of Android handsets, leaving both Apple and Samsung suing each other to try to back up their respective devices.

We will cover anything that comes out of the court tomorrow, but do not expect the two companies to strike a deal very quickly, because it looks like it is going to take a bit to settle their differences.


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New MacBook Pros will get Samsung’s fast 830 series SSD too

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 17 2012 - 11:47 am PT
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In January, following a meeting with Samsung Storage solutions at CES 2012, we told you that Apple’s next-gen MacBook Air would likely make the switch to the speedier 830 series SSDs from Samsung alongside an update to Ivy Bridge. This was of course before we revealed some major changes coming to Apple’s new MacBook and iMac lineups. In addition to Retina displays for almost the entire new lineup, the new ultra-thin 15-inch MacBook Pro will be getting a complete redesign, losing the optical drive, and bringing it closer to to the thin design of current Airs. Like the new MacBook Airs, we have been told that at least some of Apple’s prototype MacBook Pros have used Samsung’s 830 series SSDs…

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Samsung & Apple take half of global smartphone market, Android & iOS hit 80 percent

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 16 2012 - 9:52 am PT
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Research firm Gartner released its numbers today for “Worldwide Mobile Device Sales” during Q1 2012. There are not many surprises in the report when it comes to Apple, but Gartner estimated Samsung sold 38 smartphones during the quarter, which is less than the 42.2 million estimated by IDC earlier this month and more than the 32 million by IHS iSuppli. With Apple confirming 35.1 million iPhones sold during the quarter, Gartner’s numbers put Samsung as the both the No. 1 smartphone and overall mobile device vendor. The report also noted Samsung and Apple together accounted for 49.3-percent of the global smartphone sales, which is up from just 29.3 percent in Q1 of last year:

“The continued roll-out of third generation (3G)-based smartphones by local and regional manufacturers such as Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, Yulong and TCL Communication should help spur demand in China. In addition, the arrival of new products in mature markets based on new versions of the Android and Windows Phone operating systems (OSs), and the launch of the Apple iPhone 5 will help drive a stronger second half in Western Europe and North America. However, as we are starting to update our market forecast we feel a downward adjustment to our 2012 figures, in the range of 20 million units, is unavoidable.”

On the platform side, Gartner’s report estimated both Android and iOS accounted for 79 percent of global smartphone sales—up from just 53.3-percent in Q1 2011. Of that 80 percent, Android grabbed 56.1-percent, which is slightly higher than the 51 percent of the United States market, according to estimates from comScore earlier this month. Apple took in the remaining 22.9-percent, which is less than the 30.7-percent comScore estimated for the U.S. market:

Gartner analysts said the smartphone market has become highly commoditized and differentiation is becoming a challenge for manufacturers. “At the high end, hardware features coupled with applications and services are helping differentiation, but this is restricted to major players with intellectual property assets. However, in the mid to low-end segment, price is increasingly becoming the sole differentiator. This will only worsen with the entry of new players and the dominance of Chinese manufacturers, leading to increased competition, low profitability and scattered market share.”

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Samsung loses $10B market value due to Apple order rumor

Avatar for Élyse Betters May 16 2012 - 8:30 am PT
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Samsung’s shares dipped more than 6 percent yesterday, erasing $10 billion from the manufacturer’s market value, due to a rumor that claimed Apple ordered large amounts of chips with rebounding Japanese chipmaker Elpida.

According to Reuters, Taiwan tech website DigiTimes reported that the Cupertino, Calif.-based Company requested huge orders for dynamic random access memory chips with Elpida’s Hiroshima, Japan plant. Unnamed industry sources said the order fastened about 50 percent of the factory’s total chip production.

Samsung is the world’s foremost DRAM manufacturer, but its shares subsequently fell 6.2-percent to around $1,100 USD after the piping hot rumor circulated the blogosphere. The abrupt plunge is the stock’s 9-week low and sharpest daily fall in almost four years. SK Hynix is the second-largest memory chipmaker after Samsung, and its shares closed down 9 percent, which is a 20-week low and steepest slump in nine months.

Two things to note here:

1. Digitimes is about 20% right at best on its calls so their reporting is hardly a done deal

2. Anyone who follows Apple knows that a). they never only have one supplier – they choose multiple suppliers and b). they are shrewd negotiators and probably bought the RAM for just above cost which won’t yield much profit for Elipida.

Read the full story at 9to5Google.


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Apple to judge: Samsung intentionally ‘spoiled’ documents

Avatar for Élyse Betters May 11 2012 - 5:27 am PT
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Apple filed a motion in the Northern District of California on May 1 that claimed Samsung ruined documents it needed to submit for the discovery process in a “spoilation of evidence,” according to the legal jargon that described the act. NetworkWorld elaborated:

  • In effect, Apple wants the Judge to instruct the jury as follows:
  • 1. Samsung had a duty to preserve relevant evidence, failed to do so, and acted in bad faith in failing to meet its legal duty.
  • 2. The jury may infer that documents Samsung failed to produce would have been advantageous to Apple’s position.
  • 3. If the jury finds Samsung liable for infringement, they may presume that the infringement was “intentional, willful, without regard to Apple’s rights.”
  • Apple’s motion doesn’t pull any punches, accusing Samsung of spoilating “vast quantities of relevant evidence in blatant disregard of its duty to preserve all such evidence.” Consequently, Apple writes that strong adverse inference instructions are required.

A hearing on Apple’s motion is scheduled for June 7, with Samsung’s reply brief due by May 15. However, Samsung said the claims are without merit, and it wants the due date extended to May 29. It is also seeking to have the matter’s hearing pushed to July 10, 2012, but Apple wasted no time and quickly filed a reply on May 7 that asked Samsung’s motion to be denied.


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Samsung’s Tizen prototype has a familiar home button

Avatar for 9to5 Staff May 8 2012 - 8:49 am PT
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Samsung just cannot shake the blatant copying—almost like it is part of its DNA. Its latest Tizen reference device, besides an OS that copies the look and feel of Android, has a circular home button right where Apple’s iPhone has one.

Samsung is being dragged through the courts the world over for copying the iPhone’s look and feel. That behavior does not seem to be abating any, and might even be increasing. Samsung is now the world’s largest handset and smartphone maker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rJ1y7CpIaVA
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RIM announces new COO, CMO following anti-Apple ‘Wake Up’ reveal

Avatar for Élyse Betters May 8 2012 - 6:45 am PT
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[youtube=http://youtu.be/Ldq2tNLRDwA]

The big May 7 uncloaking that revealed Research in Motion is behind the seemingly anti-Apple “Wake Up” flash mob from last week occurred on schedule, but not too many people appeared to care as the steam from the confusing campaign already ran its quick course.

The “Wake Up. Be Bold” marketing scheme unveiled yesterday at wakeupbebold.com by BlackBerry Australia & New Zealand, and it included a Star Wars-like running script read aloud by a narrator prompting viewers and listeners to “Wake up.” Now, less than 24 hours after the brains behind the campaign came to light, RIM announced a newly appointed Chief Operating Officer and Chief Marketing Officer—Kristian Tear and Frank Boulben, respectively.

Tear joins RIM from Sony Mobile Communications, where he served as Executive Vice President, and Boulben is the former Executive Vice President of Strategy, Marketing, and Sales for LightSquared.

More information about the fledging company’s new executives is available in the presser [here].


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Apple in court: iPhone data collection, Samsung/iPad patent case, & double iTunes billing

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 4 2012 - 10:39 am PT
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When we reported on Apple’s courtroom woes in March, we told you lawmakers were sending letters to iOS devs (Apple included) and questioning them on their privacy policies about how apps access contact data without explicit user permission. Despite promises, Apple has yet to carry out an update requiring apps to ask for user-approval, but an earlier case over the collection of user data has been given the green light by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in California. Reuters reported the lawyers representing customers in the case claimed in court today that Apple “collected data on customers’ geographical locations even after users said they didn’t want to share the information.” The judge is asking Apple to submit relevant documents to the plaintiffs by May 17.

In other courtroom news, ComputerWorld reported this week that Judge Koh ordered Apple and Samsung to “streamline” its patent claims ahead of a trial set for July 30. According to the report, the companies have already cut back the claims included in the case to 37 products, 16 patents, six trademark, five trade dress claims, and an antitrust suit, but Judge Koh said the extent of the case is “cruel and unusual punishment to a jury.” If Apple and Samsung do not agree to reduce the set of claims, the trial could be postponed until next year. The news comes after the companies agreed with Koh to have their CEOs meet for settlement talks related to the patent cases on May 21-22.

Justia.com reported this week that Apple is facing a class-action lawsuit over claims that iTunes is continually double billing a customer for downloads of a song. Apple apparently refuses to refund some customers for these double billing incidents, citing its Terms of Service. A copy of the lawsuit and more information on the class action is here.


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Samsung announces Galaxy S III with S Voice and a bunch of other iOS features

Avatar for 9to5 Staff May 3 2012 - 12:36 pm PT
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lpLGb1WW8E&hd=1]

Samsung announced the Galaxy S III today at the Unpacked event in London. Apple’s biggest competitor in the smartphone space, and the only other manufacture making any significant profit, showed off the upgraded 4.8-inch 720P SuperAMOLED display device that now weighs 133 grams among other minor spec improvements.

A few of the features shown off were S-Voice, which is like Siri, Scan and Match for Music (iTunes Match), and Airplay-like “AllShare Cast” for streaming content to your HDTV through the AppleTV-like AllShare Cast Dongle.  Samsung also named its iPod nano-like music player “Pebble,” which bears a resemblance to the iOS Kickstarter watch that goes by the same name.

One cool new thing is a face recognition photo app. It lets you instantly send pictures to your friends that it recognizes in your pictures. The S III also has a pop-up player, which is sort of an app version of picture-in-picture that allows you to watch a movie while you switch around to other applications.

Initial reviews seem a little luke-warm on the device. Most call it an incremental update from the S II with new features that also brought some new flaws.

Oh, and Phil Schiller will not like this news: Flipboard for Android is debuting on the S III.


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Apple posts growth among OEMs in March, as iOS and Android capture 80 percent of US market

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 1 2012 - 9:49 am PT
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Following IDC’s report this morning that highlighted Apple’s continued growth among mobile phone marketshare worldwide, while coming second to Samsung in global smartphone marketshare, research firm comScore just released its numbers for United States mobile subscribers for the three-month period ending March 2012.

According to comScore, Apple posted impressive growth during the quarter with 30.7-percent marketshare among smartphone platforms in the U.S (up from 29.6-percent). Increasing from 47.3-percent in December 2011 to 51 percent in March 2012, Android was able to grab the top position for platforms during the quarter. Growth for Android and iOS continues to come at the expense of RIM. The company grabbed just 12.3-percent of the platform market in March, which is down from 16 percent in December 2011. Microsoft also lost marketshare with 3.9-percent, which is down from 4.7-percent…

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