You have to feel for US District Court Judge Lucy Koh. For the past three weeks, she's had to listen to attorneys from both Apple and Samsung argue over boring technology patents.
On top of that, she's had to put up with the non-stop shenanigans from both side's legal teams, such as bickering, stalling, and tedious requests. And today, Koh finally had enough...
Today, Samsung's new 10-inch Galaxy Note tablet goes on sale in the United States, priced at $499/$549 for the 16/32GB version. The device comes with a stylus and has some interesting multitasking functionality. Samsung also has another 10.1-inch tablet, the Galaxy Tab. The device sports more traditional design akin to iPad and as such has caused contention between Samsung and Apple, resulting in Apple's copycat accusations.
Samsung industrial designer Jin Soo Kim took the stand yesterday to testify that his work on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 began in October 2009, insinuating that Samsung designed, engineered and manufactured its tablet before Apple unveiled the original iPad in January of 2010...
Google's Nexus 7 tablet launch a month ago has literally obsoleted Amazon's seven-inch Kindle Fire overnight. Three weeks ago, Reuters claimed Amazon was working on half a dozen new Android tablets, among them one with a larger display designed to take the iPad on the high-end.
The rumors were true as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) yesterday cleared an Amazon tablet with a larger display. Meanwhile, Samsung today launched its 10.1-inch Galaxy Note tablet with much fanfare.
It comes with a stylus (please, no jokes), has juicy hardware (a 1.4 GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM) plus some interesting multitasking features, such as split-screen functionality and a pop-up video player...
It's the third week of the Apple v. Samsung mega-suit and Samsung is on the offensive with some interesting assertions meant to invalidate some of Apple's key patents. For example, the Galaxy maker, whom Apple accuses of ripping off its iPad and iPhone wholesale, now counterclaims that Apple stole its patents related to things like e-mail, photo albums and playing music in the background.
Furthermore, Samsung brought a number of experts who testified that Apple's patents should be invalidated due to a bunch of prior art. Heck, the company even wheeled in a monstrous Surface-like tablet computer into the courtroom in an attempt to invalidate Apple's pinch-zoom feature and establish that everyone, even Apple, takes inspiration from someone else's work...
Attorneys for Apple embarrassed Samsung last week by showing the jurors half a dozen images meant to prove that the Galaxy maker shamelessly ripped off the look of the iPhone's icons. Though Apple believes that Samsung’s TouchWiz interface makes it a copycat, that's ultimately up for the jury to decide.
Today, a Samsung designer took the stand to testify that she didn’t copy Apple when creating the icons for the Galaxy line of products. Call me stupid, but how the heck then she'd managed to come up with icon design that strikingly resembles Apple's?
On the surface, Apple's beef with Samsung is fairly easy to understand. Apple feels that Samsung has intentionally copied the design of its smartphones and tablets, and it wants justice (along with compensation).
But in reality, Apple's claims are much more complicated. They involve four design patents, three feature patents, and around 20 different Samsung devices that Apple believes are infringing on its inventions...
Joining Strategy Analytics and IDC, research firm IHS iSuppli today published findings of its second-quarter tablet research. No surprises here, Apple's iPad remain the tablet to beat as Apple grew its tablet market share from 58.0 percent in the year-ago quarter to 69.9 percent in the second quarter of this year.
It's the highest number since the first quarter of last year, when Apple had a 70 percent share. Making Apple's surge even more noteworthy is the fact that a year ago Apple had fewer competitors in the marketplace...
Gartner is out today with their second-quarter phone sales data and the results confirm what avid readers of this site have known all along, that a lot of people are holding off their planned purchases as the next iPhone looms. With less than four weeks left until the rumored September 12 unveiling, Gartner has registered a 2.3 percent decline in worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users.
Out of the 419 million cell phones that shipped during the quarter, more than one-third were smartphones, or 36.7 percent. While the whole cell market contracted a bit, smartphone sales grew 42.7 percent year-over-year.
The fight for smartphone supremacy continues to be a two-horse race between Google's Android platform and Apple's iOS, which together accounted for nearly 83 percent of the world's market for smartphones. Other branded vendors all experienced a decline, with the notable exception of China's ZTE and Huawei whose global growth continues unabated..
It's been a long two weeks for US District Court Judge Lucy Koh, who is currently presiding over the high-profile Apple-Samsung trial. On top of the usual court arguments, it's been filled with nonstop bickering between the attorneys of both parties.
And Koh says she tired of it. In a new order, filed late yesterday afternoon, the Judge said that she was disappointed by the efforts to meet and confer on final jury instructions, and that she wanted lead trial counsel from sides to meet in person...
The high-profile patent trial between Apple and Samsung has exposed some pretty interesting intel on both companies. But the information brought to light tonight might be the best yet.
According to some new court filings, executives from the two tech heavyweights met in hopes of reaching a settlement back in 2010. And Apple actually offered Samsung a licensing deal...
Seriously, do you know anyone who in their right mind would mistaken a Samsung phone for an iPhone? Anyone? If your answer is a resounding 'no', congrats - you're officially a geek, just like yours truly.
Now, Apple's been arguing from the onset that the extent of alleged copying of its industrial design exhibited in Samsung's work introduces a strong likelihood of customer confusion between the two brands.
While gadget lovers whose morning routine includes skimming through tech news cannot grasp how anyone could possibly mistaken a gadget with the Samsung logo for one with a bitten apple on it, to those outside the tech circles - you know, the general public, average consumers and Joes Schmucks of this world - the similarities are painfully obvious.
Specifically, one in two thought they saw an iPhone when presented with an image depicting a Samsung phone...
Samsung's legal team sure has its hands full right now. The Korean company's attorneys are currently in a northern California court battling Apple's patent infringement claims in a trial that could cost them billions of dollars.
But apparently Samsung isn't going at it alone. A new report is out this morning claiming that Google has been quietly lending support to the consumer electronics giant, offering legal help and use of its large pool of resources...