Episode 28: We share our thoughts on Apple's rumored Beats Music acquisition and what it could all mean. Jeff explains why he both likes and dislikes the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Samsung Gear Neo 2 smartwatch.
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Despite their frequent disputes in the court room, Apple and Samsung remain close supply chain partners. The Cupertino company has been trying to distance itself, but Samsung still makes a number of components used in the firm's line of mobile products.
In fact, according to a new report by ZDNet Korea, the South Korean tech giant was Apple's number one iPad display supplier in the first quarter this year. The outlet says Samsung claimed the top spot by shipping 5.4 million panels for the iPad Air during Q1...
The Great Apple-Samsung Legal War has been raging on for years now, and on a scale almost unprecedented in business history. The latest in the saga involves a California court awarding Apple $119.6 million in damages over Samsung patent infringement, a far cry from the $2 billion the iPhone maker was shooting for.
The ruling has prompted many watchers to question the wisdom of Apple's thermonuclear war on Android. Adding the latest damages award on top of the $900+ million awarded to Apple from the first patent megatrial barely results in $1 billion. I'm certain this is the price Samsung is happy to pay for profiting from willfully lifting Apple's patented iPhone technology.
But no amount of litigation will ever stop Android dead in its tracks, argues an attorney for Samsung who represents the South Korean conglomerate in the courtroom...
Apple reclaimed its top spot in J.D. Power's latest US tablet customer satisfaction study this week after falling to Samsung in November. You might recall that the results of the report were fairly controversial, as the iPad beat the Galaxy Tab in 4 out of 5 categories and somehow still lost.
But not this time. It was close again, but Apple managed to retake #1, earning a 5-star rating and a score of 830 (out of a possible 1,000). Samsung finished in second place with a 3-star rating and a score of 822, and Asus came in third place, also with a 3-star rating, and a score of 820...
Following Apple winning its second trial in the US against Samsung for patent infringement, Vanity Fair is out with a piece extensively detailing the Apple and Samsung smartphone war that has been raging on for years.
It details the back-story behind the two smartphone giants and the public trial, like misconduct at Samsung revolving price fixing, then COO Tim Cook expressing his concern over infringement to Samsung president Jay Y. Lee in August 2010, and theorizes why Apple may win the battles but still lose the war...
After finding Samsung guilty of infringing upon three of the five Apple patents included in the second Apple vs. Samsung suit in California and awarding the iPhone maker maker a paltry $119.6 million in damages, the jury on Monday found that the Galaxy maker did not owe Apple any additional money.
Therefore, the original verdict has stayed intact.
Judge Lucy Koh asked the jurors to recalculate the damages after Apple's legal sharks complained that one infringing Samsung device was left out of the final tally. Hit the jump for the full details...
The verdict has just been given in the second trial opposing Apple to Samsung, which has taken place in California over the last month.
After hearing 50 hours of testimonies and deliberating for three days, the jury has finally come to an agreement and found that Samsung has infringed on three Apple patents, while Apple infringed on one Samsung patent...
Samsung has announced a media event "around health" set to take place on May 28 in San Francisco. The invitation came from the company's sensors and components unit, rather than its devices unit, so the announcement could be centered around next-generation tech for Android and Tizen-based devices, rather than a new Gear Fit 2.
The event is notable given Apple is holding its Worldwide Developer Conference on June 2, also in San Francisco. Apple is rumored to have some big health-centered announcements at its Conference keynote, and it looks like Samsung is trying to get a leg up.
Yesterday, four new feature tour videos cropped up on the Samsung Mobile USA channel on YouTube, showcasing the handset's full HD Super AMOLED screen, the selective camera focus feature, its ultra-power saving mode and the bundled S Health app. Unlike some of the conglomerate's previous promotional videos, these clips do a good job explaining how the four aforementioned features enhance experience for the user.
However, Samsung being Samsung meant the firm couldn't resist comparing its flagship to Apple's iPhone 5s in terms of the display size, image quality and pixel count. I've included that clip, along with the remaining three videos, after the jump...
Samsung said profit fell for a second straight quarter as sales in its smartphone division continued to dip. The South Korean electronics giant announced its earnings for Q1 2014 this morning, and its operating profits for the period fell 3.3% from the year-ago-quarter.
Investors are particularly concerned with the growing trend of slumping handset sales—Samsung's mobile division is also down 1.2% year-over-year. The just-released Galaxy S5 is expected to give its Q2 numbers a boost, but the future beyond that is less than certain...
We've known pretty much all along that Google was going to be more involved this time around in the Apple-Samsung trial. Many of the features Apple claims infringe on its software patents are baked right into Android, so of course it would be in the Mountain View company's best interest to become much more involved.
But I'm not sure anyone knew the extent of Google's involvement until yesterday, when a lawyer for the tech giant said that it had reached an agreement with Samsung to foot the bill for a large portion of its legal fees. It also told the Korean firm it would cover much of the damages, should it be found guilty of infringement...
Apple continued its Earth Day PR push this morning, taking out print ads in UK newspapers. The company has thus far painted the leaves on many of its Apple Store logos green, released a video with Tim Cook and announced a new recycling program, and today it took out full page ads to tout its environmental efforts.
The advertisements show a large image of the enormous solar farm that runs Apple's data center in North Carolina, and talk about the company's work to reduce its impact on climate change. But perhaps the most interesting about the ads is that they take a not-so-subtle jab at Samsung and their ongoing patent lawsuit...