Apple

Apple posts “Samsung didn’t copy the iPad” notice on UK site

A week ago, Apple tried appealing a recent ruling by the High Court in London that Samsung's Galaxy Tab didn't infringe on its design patents. As you may recall, this is the same case where the presiding Judge ordered Apple to run advertisements stating that Samsung didn’t copy the iPad.

Well, Apple lost that appeal. And this morning, it made good on its orders by posting a notice on the ruling to its UK website...

LG Display beats Samsung handily for Apple display orders

According to a new supply chain report, LG Display beat its arch-rival Samsung for display panel orders and has now become the primary supplier of screens that Apple uses to build virtually all of its recently refreshed products.

Specifically, LG Display is said to provide panels for the new iPad mini, fourth-generation iPad with Retina display, 13-inch MacBook Pro and both 21.5 and 27-inch revamped iMac models. This is of particular interest to would-be shoppers eyeing the iPad mini because "frustrated suppliers", per one analyst, previously had issues meeting Apple's exacting standards...

Apple wins significant ITC ruling against Samsung

Apple's legal team has suffered some major blows over the past few weeks, in their ongoing battle with Samsung. First, they lost an appeal on a UK ruling that will force the company to publicly state that Samsung did not copy the iPad. And just a few days ago, the USPTO invalidated one of Apple's more significant patents.

But things may be looking up for the Cupertino litigators. According to a new report, an ITC (International Trade Commission) judge has just ruled in Apple's favor in a complaint case against Samsung, a ruling that could see some of its devices blocked from entering US...

Dutch court rules Samsung did not violate Apple’s prized multitouch gesture patents

A court in The Netherlands let Samsung off the hook, ruling that some of the South Korean conglomerate's many Galaxy smartphones and tablets did not infringe upon Apple's prized patents related to multitouch gestures on iPhones and iPads. As you know, Apple took Samsung and other handset makers to court, arguing they copied the zoom to pinch feature and other multi-finger gestures on iOS devices.

This ruling alone won't help Samsung evade the $1+ billion payout from a massive loss in the Apple vs. Samsung mega-suit in the United States. The U.S International Trade Commission is set to determine on Thursday whether Samsung really infringed on Apple's patents...

US Department of Justice probing Samsung over use of FRAND patents against Apple

The South Korean conglomerate Samsung has become the target of another antitrust investigation concerning suspected abuse of FRAND-pledged standard-essential patents, which the company asserted against Apple in litigation and recently used to sue the Cupertino, California firm over 4G wireless technology utilized for the iPhone 5.

This time around, the United States Department of Justice is preliminary probing Samsung, which could lead to a full-blown investigation. If it finds an unlawful use of standard-essential wireless patents on Samsung's part, it'll clear Apple of a possible U.S. import ban sought by Samsung because the iPhone maker had refused to accept a Samsung-suggested per-device royalty fee of 2.4 percent (Apple wanted to pay half a cent per device)...

Apple fires Korean chief ahead of the iPhone 5 launch

Just days before the iPhone 5 is scheduled to launch in South Korea, Apple fired the chief of its business unit there. According to a report, Dominique Oh, hired only 17 months ago, was canned after supposedly sluggish sales. South Korea is important for Apple, as the Asian nation is home to its chief rival Samsung. Apple confirmed Oh's contract was terminated, but said it could not address speculation on the reasoning behind the company's decision...

Samsung denies cutting LCD supply to Apple

A newspaper report yesterday by a South Korean media outlet spread like a wildfire across the blogosphere. It has been asserted that Samsung, Apple's fierce rival in mobile and its major supplier of components, will cease selling displays to the Cupertino, California iPhone maker, reportedly because Samsung's components arm dubbed Samsung Display no longer sees Apple as “a cash-generator due to the iPhone maker’s stiffer supply-chain management structure”. Now it appears Samsung has basically denied the story and asked The Korea Times newspaper to revise its false report...

US Patent Office invalidates Apple’s rubber-banding patent

This is a pretty big deal: the United States Patent and Trademark Office has just tentatively invalidated Apple's rubber-banding patent. This is the infamous '381 patent that covers the 'bouncing' effect when scrolling on a touch screen.

Why is this a big deal? Because this was one of the major patents Apple used in its $1 billion victory against Samsung back in August. And if the USPTO's decision holds true, Samsung could be looking at a much smaller penalty...

Galaxy Note II TV ad sold me on the stylus thing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NNNHLjMc9I

Pundits are holding their breath as Apple is prepping to unleash the iPad mini upon the world, but over at Samsung it's business as usual. The company's mobile arm this morning posted to its official YouTube channel an interesting television commercial for the massive 5.55-inch Galaxy Note II phablet.

Now, it's true the media slammed Samsung over its stylus thing called S-Pen, but I'll be the first to admit this  30-second ad effectively makes the case for a stylus-based tablet computing. A team of people is seen collaborating on ideas while on the go, using the stylus and apps optimized for it.

It's not likely Apple will release a stylus-based device in the near future. Remember, Steve Jobs once said, "if you see a stylus, they blew it". Samsung hardly blew it with the Note: by August, it sold ten million units worldwide. Somebody out there must be loving a stylus on their tablet...

Samsung said to end LCD sales to Apple

More fallout from Apple's patent lawsuit win against Samsung: the South Korean company's LCD arm will stop selling displays to the Cupertino, California iPhone maker. The reason? Samsung Display no longer sees Apple as "a cash-generator due to the iPhone maker's stiffer supply-chain management structure," a South Korean newspaper reports.

"We are unable to supply our flat-screens to Apple with huge price discounts," a senior Samsung source was quoted Monday. To make up for the lost business, both Samsung's own handset unit and Amazon are upping their orders from Samsung Display, the source said...

Google’s October 29 agenda outed: Nexus 10 aiming squarely at the iPad

Google's Android event is scheduled to take place on October 29 in New York, but the company's planned product launches have apparently been outed by The Next Web. In addition to a 32GB version of the seven-inch Nexus 7 tablet (which has already turned up in U.S. stores) and the long-expected cellular version of the device, Google is said to take Apple on the high-end with the introduction of a ten-inch Nexus tablet thought to incorporate a 2,560-by-1,600 pixel screen with a pixel density of 300 pixels per inch versus the iPad 3's Retina display which tops the 264 pixels per inch on its 9.7-inch 2,048-by-1,536 Retina display...

Nope, Google’s $249 Chromebook totally didn’t rip off MacBook Air wholesale

I kinda like the concept of an Internet-only notebook which boots in a few seconds, is always on and runs smoothly. I wanted to like Google-branded Chromebooks and almost bought one before realizing that Apple has already ticked all the right boxes with its iPad computer. But if a portable computing device with a physical keyboard which runs a browser-based OS and runs only web apps is your thing, this new Chromebook surely will pique your interest.

Apart from being a total rip off of the MacBook Air down to its black rounded keys, trackpad and the recess right where the lid opens, know that this Chromebook is a quarter of the Air's asking price and half the iPad's. On paper, the machine is a must-have: it weighs in at only 2.43 pounds, is 0.8-inches thick, runs 6.5+ hours battery and rocks a 11.6-inch display at a 1,366-by-768 pixel resolution.

Per usual, there are some caveats that a flashy commercial (included below) fails to mention...