Apple

Apple calls in expert to explain why it deserves $2 billion in damages from Samsung

Cody Lee ∙ April 9, 2014

The high-profile patent trial between Apple and Samsung wages on, with Apple on Tuesday calling in a damages expert Chris Vellturo to speak to the jury. The MIT-trained economist's job was to help the company explain why it deserved the damages it's asking for.

For those who missed it last week, Apple is asking the court to award it $2 billion ($2.19B to be exact) in damages from Samsung for infringing on 5 of its utility patents. And according to Vellturo, that amount is fair based on a mix of lost profits and owed royalty fees...

Samsung takes more swipes at iPad in new Galaxy Pro ads

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 8, 2014

Samsung's back at it again. The company has aired four new ads that bash the iPad while painting its own 12-inch Galaxy Tab Pro tablets in favorable light. Samsung released these big tablets three months ago. The ads convey a few hard-hitting yet simple to grasp messages that likely won't sit well with loyal fans of the California-based company.

One ad tells the viewer that anyone can multitask like a pro on Samsung's tablets that can run two apps side-by-side. Another commercial focuses on Samsung's 'Multi User' mode allowing different people to use devices, with each person's settings, documents and apps separate of the others, a feature notably absent from the iPad.

Yet another video, titled 'Pixel Density', offers a critique of the iPad's 2,048-by-1,536 Retina display at 226 pixels per inch. Apple's "Retina thingy", the ad explains, pales in comparison with the Tab Pro's sharp 10.1-inch screen at a whopping 2,5600-by-1,600 resolution with a pixel density of 299ppi.

I've included all four ads for your viewing pleasure right below the fold...

Samsung’s #1 priority for 2012: beat Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 7, 2014

A treasure trove of internal documents have been leaking out of Apple's second California trial against the Galaxy maker Samsung.

Not only has the confidential material given us an unprecedented look into the firm's development process for the iPhone and Steve Jobs's wish list for the Apple TV (apps, something called 'magic wand' and more), it's also provided us with valuable insight into Apple's marketing survey explaining why the iPhone's growth has been slowing and another internal research highlighting the most often requested features by early iPhone 5 adopters.

And now, a new set of internal Samsung documents proves the South Korean conglomerate has been pretty much obsessed with crushing Apple in the marketplace, so much so that it devoted all of its energies throughout 2012 to one goal: beating Apple.

The presentation entitled '2011 Summary & Lessons Learned / 2012 Business Forecast' made it clear to Samsung's managers that beating Apple was their #1 priority for 2012. "Everything must be in context of beating Apple," reads the memo.

The document offers an insight into Samsung's thought process, marketing tactics and how it went about containing the iPhone threat by pouring billions into advertising, playing ball with carriers and carpet-bombing the market with countless variants of devices with different screen sizes and price points...

Internal Apple slides explain why it thinks iPhone growth is slowing

Cody Lee ∙ April 6, 2014

Despite posting 50+ million iPhone sales last quarter, Apple's stock slid some 6%. As impressive as the numbers were, they still fell short of Wall Street expectations and reaffirmed fears of slowing growth. Apple's YoY (year-over-year) iPhone growth is now down to just single digits.

The question is why? And Apple has a pretty good idea of what the answer is. According to some internal documents brought to light by the ongoing Samsung trial, the company attributes the slowing in iPhone growth to consumer want for larger, cheaper handsets and other factors...

Steve Jobs email reveals past Apple TV ideas: apps, ‘magic wand’ remote and more

Cody Lee ∙ April 5, 2014

We're only a few days in, but we've already learned a lot from the Apple-Samsung patent trial. With it being a legal proceeding, the public is given access to information it wasn't previously privi'ed to by way of executive testimonies, corporate emails and other evidence.

In fact, earlier today a particularly interesting email surfaced from former Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The document, which was submitted as evidence in the case, features a list of things Jobs wanted to discuss at the company's 2010 'top 100' meeting, including the Apple TV...

Apple engineer explains how the iPhone was designed for ‘normal people’

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

The Samsung trial marched on today, with Apple's Greg Christie taking the stand. You might remember Christie, the senior software engineer, from this WSJ article last month, where he detailed some of the early stages of original iPhone development. And this afternoon, he did the same thing in court.

More specifically, Christie shared some new details on the development of the iPhone's 'Slide to Unlock,' which is one of the patents that Apple's accusing Samsung of infringing. He said initially, his team wanted the handset's display to be always on, but they quickly discovered it needed a locked mode...

Samsung one step closer to commercializing ultrathin graphene screens for wearables

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 4, 2014

Samsung has been the world's largest maker of LCD panels since 2002. By 2004, the conglomerate was the world's top manufacturer of OLED panels accounting for a 40 percent market share worldwide and as of 2010 has a commanding 98 percent share of the global AMOLED market.

Small wonder that Apple used to source most of its screens for iOS devices from Samsung up until 2012, when Tim Cook & Co. began slowly shifting display orders away from the Galaxy maker amid the ongoing patent spat.

But Samsung is not standing still. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal Friday, the Galaxy maker has claimed significant progress on graphene, described as the next wonder material...

Video pits Apple’s Touch ID against Samsung’s Galaxy S5 fingerprint scanner

Cody Lee ∙ April 4, 2014

Following the debut of the iPhone 5s and its Touch ID fingerprint scanner in October last year, Samsung introduced the Galaxy S5 with its own fingerprint recognition tech. The handset was unveiled last month, and is slated to launch for major carriers on April 11.

The two scanners are quite different, with Touch ID requiring a press-and-hold action and Samsung's solution more of a swiping motion, but they essentially serve the same purpose. So we thought this new video comparing the two of them was worth a look...

Apple seeking $2 billion in damages in new Samsung trial

Cody Lee ∙ April 1, 2014

As most of you know probably know by now, round 2 of Apple's US patent battle with Samsung kicked off this week in a San Jose, California court room. The last time these 2 companies met on American soil, in the fall of 2012, Apple was awarded $1 billion in damages.

This time around, the iPad-maker is asking for twice that much. And although it's using different patents, and going after different Samsung devices, it's ultimately trying to prove the same thing as it did before: that Samsung intentionally copied its patented inventions...

Russian government dumps iPads for Samsung tablets

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Russia's telecoms minister Nikolai Nikiforov told news agencies yesterday that government officials for the country recently traded in their iPads for Samsung tablets. Reporters spotted the new devices at a cabinet meeting, and the minister explained that the changeover was due to security concerns.

"Some of the information at government meetings is confidential in nature," he said, "and these devices fully meet these demands and have gone through the strictest system of certification." And the timing of the switch is certainly interesting, considering what's going on at the Russia/Ukraine border...

Apple engineer offers detailed look at development of original iPhone software

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

The Wall Street Journal published an interesting interview with Apple senior software engineer Greg Christie yesterday, in which Christie offers a detailed look at some of the events that led up to the original iPhone. Apparently the Cupertino company gave him permission to discuss the development process of the handset.

Admittedly, a lot of the things mentioned we've heard before—from book excerpts, court testimonies, etc.—but Christie does provide a few new details. For instance, he says at one point Jobs gave him and his team two weeks to come up with something or he would be reassigning the 'iPhone software' project to another group...

New report alleges Samsung will build iPhone 6’s A8 processor after all

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 29, 2016

Shortly after Taiwan’s Commercial Times ran a story about Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) seemingly having started production of an upcoming Apple-designed A8 chip on an exclusive basis (as Samsung reportedly dropped out of the race due to yield issues), an unnamed Samsung executive in a defensive PR move took to blogs to argue that the rumor is greatly exaggerated.

Pouring cold water on the Commercial Times report, the Galaxy maker told ZDNet Korea (via GforGames) that the conglomerate has already signed a contract with Apple concerning next-generation A8 chip production. Moreover, the firm is currently in the final testing phases and is gearing up to kick off mass A8 production at its Austin, Texas facility.

The multi-billion dollar chip plant is almost entirely dedicated to Apple silicon production. Samsung's semiconductor arm has thus far churned out every iOS device processor since the original iPhone...