On Friday last week, Samsung asked the court to force Apple to turn over the full details of its recently announced patent settlement with HTC. It feels the terms of the deal could be useful in its ongoing legal battle with the iPad-maker.
Apple has since agreed to allow Samsung to see the pact in a heavily redacted document — leaving all of about 33 words. But tonight, a judge has granted Samsung's motion to compel. So Apple will have to reveal the entire agreement...
Don't tell me you didn't see this coming. Ever since the social networking behemoth Facebook acquired Instagram, the popular photo-sharing service, folks have been wondering if the two will perhaps merge down the road. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg has been adamant that Instagram will be maintained separate of Facebook, but that doesn't mean the two shouldn't play nicely.
Just recently, Instagram brought us Facebook-like web profiles and previously rolled out automatic translation of Instagram @mentions to correct Twitter usernames in tweets. According to Reuters, Facebook is now proposing to combine user data with that of Instagram and is thinking about "loosening restrictions" on emails sent to @facebook.com address...
After Apple rejected Sparrow's iPhone 5 update earlier in the month, critics cried foul and commentators happily pointed out Apple was attempting to derail the popular email client for iOS devices and Macs. There was little hope left for new features after Google acquired Sparrow in June. Plus, the search giant acknowledged as much when it said the Sparrow team would move to Google's Mountain View offices to work on new Gmail features. It's a welcome sign, then, that a new version of Sparrow just surfaced on the App Store. Though short of features, it does bring out two major nice-to-haves: support for the iPhone 5's taller display and Passbook integration...
Earlier this week, the ITC announced that it would be reviewing its September-decision that Apple's products don't violate some of Samsung's patents. It's a pretty big deal, as an overturn could result in a sales ban.
As you can imagine, Samsung is thrilled with the ITC's choice to revisit its previous ruling. And this morning, the company's head of mobile and IT division Shin Jong-kyun had a few things to say about the case...
Apple engineers agonize over every imaginable aspect of the company's products. Their attention to detail is legendary and all-encompassing, from packaging and unboxing experience to press releases and TV commercials to screws, wires and the specific snow white paint for the home button of the white iPhone. No detail is too small, no stone is left unturned.
So why should it be any different with a massive circular structure and the 176-acre campus, dubbed by the media iSpaceship and officially named Campus 2? As Cody told you, the project has been delayed until 2016. A spokesperson for the iPhone maker just issued an official statement, basically saying the company is designing Campus 2 the same way they'd build an iPhone...
Last month, the U.S. Immigration and Customer Enforcement agency and government consultant Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. both announced plans to drop BlackBerry smartphones and deploy iPhones and Android devices instead. The Pentagon is also prepping to deploy Apple's and Google's platform.
The Defense Department is conducting search for a contractor that will build a system to manage and secure a fleet of 162,500 iPhones, iPads and Android devices. And now, rubbing salt into the wound, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board confirms it will be making the switch.
In a document posted last week to a federal website, the agency dissed BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, writing its devices have been “failing both at inopportune times and at an unacceptable rate”. Ouch!
Last we heard, Apple delayed iTunes 11 until end of November because the team needs more time "to get it right". With nine days until the deadline, Apple has now emailed record labels and artists, asking them to upload pictures and galleries of their artists to iTunes for use in the new Music Store layout that will debut with iTunes 11. The company specifically warned content owners that iTunes 11 "is about to be released within the next days", indicating it's about to hit the deadline...
I see a pattern emerging here. Apple comes up with the iPad and Microsoft launches the Surface. Then, Apple makes the iPad mini while Microsoft is allegedly readying a gadget code-named Xbox Surface, basically a seven-inch Surface tablet focused on gaming. And now, word on the street is that Redmond is working on its own set-top box to take on the Apple TV and others in the living room space. Aptly named Xbox TV, it's aimed at casual gamers and regular couch potatoes...
Apple's iMessage was first introduced at WWDC 2011 and billed as a data-driven communications service for exchange of chat messages, images, contact cards, locations and more between iPhones, iPods and iPads. iMessage also replaced the old iChat client with the OS X Mountain Lion update, enabling Mac owners to interact with other Mac and iOS users simply by using their email handle or cell phone number. Apple originally filed for an iMessage trademark in September 2011 and today the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted the Cupertino firm two registered trademarks for iMessage, in addiction to another one for the Passbook icon...
Google Shopper, a free download for the iPhone, was last updated on October 3 with minor tweaks. Though optimized for the iPhone 5, the search Goliath seems to have forgotten about shoppers looking to use the program to "browse for gift ideas, research products and locate great deals on the go” using their iOS device. How's that?
Well, the Android version of Google Shopper was updated to version 3.0 on November 9 with attractive new features for holiday shopping. Meanwhile, Google Shopper for iOS remains stuck at version 2.6. Worse, it was last updated more than a month and half ago and contains none of the new features from Google Shopper 3.0 for Android. So, where does this leave folks who want to shop smarter with Shopper?
What an incredible year in terms of giveaways for iDB readers. We gave away a new iPad, an iPhone 5, and iPad mini, and today we're giving a second iPad mini to one lucky winner.
Over the course of the last week, we held a contest in collaboration with the fine folks at Big Fish Games. The rules were pretty simple: all you had to do was downloading a free copy of Fairway Solitaire. The results are now in, and we're ready to announce the winner...
With the holiday season upon us, Best Buy wastes no time and in a one-day promotion is luring would-be iPad buyers by shaving $50 off the third-generation iPad. And sweetening the deal even more, the retailer is throwing in a $75 gift card with each iPad sold. Part of its "Deal of the Day" promotion, the offer is good only for today. If you're thinking about taking the plunge, go past the fold for additional terms and conditions you should be aware of...