Apple

Despite Samsung’s lead, Apple continues to rule profits

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 6, 2012

Though Samsung sold twice as many smartphones during the June quarter compared to Apple, the South Korean company still lags behind Apple in terms of the most important metric, operating profit. According to latest estimates, Apple took home more than three out of four dollars earned in the cell phone making biz.

That's despite shipping only a little more than six percent of all mobile phones in the world, mind you. Even more interesting than that, Apple and Samsung together took 108 percent of the industry's operating profit. Wait, what?

Emails show Apple was interested in a clickwheel iPhone

Cody Lee ∙ August 4, 2012

Earlier this year, ex-Apple engineer Tony Fadell mentioned something interesting during an on-stage interview. He said that among the handful of prototype iPhone designs that Apple originally considered, one of them was actually built around the infamous iPod clickwheel.

That prototype came up again yesterday during the Samsung-Apple trial. Samsung brought up an email exchange between Steve Jobs and Jony Ive discussing a Samsung phone with a wheel-like interface, hoping to prove that Apple too found inspiration in its competitors...

Apple’s case against Samsung explained in 3 images

Cody Lee ∙ August 3, 2012

As you've probably noticed, Apple and Samsung are locked in a high stakes courtroom battle in northern California right now. Apple believes that Samsung intentionally copied its smartphone and tablet designs, and is seeking more than $2 billion in damages.

The debate on whether or not Samsung copied Apple has been going on since the Cupertino company filed its original lawsuit back in April of last year. But it's hoping to convince the California court journey with the help of these three product timeline images...

Scott Forstall on the early days of the iPhone project

Cody Lee ∙ August 3, 2012

It's day 5 in the ongoing patent trial between Apple and Samsung, and Scott Forstall, Apple's SVP of iOS software, is on the witness stand. As you can imagine, his time under oath has been fairly interesting thus far.

Earlier this afternoon, we told you about the internal email from Eddy Cue to Forstall that talked about Jobs' interest in a 7-inch tablet. And now we're moving on to the early days of Apple's smartphone project...

Internal email shows Steve Jobs was receptive to 7-inch tablet idea

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 4, 2018

Opponents of the rumored iPad mini have continued to recall Jobs' disdain for a smaller screen as evidence that it won't happen. And technically, they're right. The CEO has been quoted as saying 7-inch displays are too small.

But that doesn't mean it won't happen. And in fact, according to an internal email that just popped up in the ongoing Samsung-Apple trial, the CEO actually showed some interest in the idea as recent as January 2011.

Updated: screenshot of the actual email thread after the break...

Before the iPhone, Apple considered building…a car?

Cody Lee ∙ August 3, 2012

Apple's high-profile patent trial with Samsung kicked off this week in a northern California courtroom. And in the 5 short days, it's already yielded some pretty interesting information.

We've seen early prototype designs, of both the iPhone and the iPad, and have learned some other previously-secret stuff about the company. And today, we find out about the iCar...

Samsung to launch new Galaxy Note phablet two weeks before iPhone 5

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 3, 2012

From the courtroom to the marketplace, Samsung is adamant to counter Apple's strides and retain its leadership with new device announcements. Samsung's strategy of releasing multiple handset and tablet models has paid off. The company's tablet tablet shipments during the second quarter of this year rose 117.6 percent. The flagship Galaxy S III handset that launched in early-May has become the chief contender to the iPhone and now the company is set to refresh its fabled phablet, the Galaxy Note, which despite naysayers produced some nice numbers...

Apple demands sanctions against Samsung over evidence leak

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

When Samsung on Monday publicized previously excluded evidence related to its F700 phone and other devices it had been working on before the iPhone came along (to establish prior art), the company didn't just anger Judge Lucy Koh, it also drew ire of Apple's legal team.

Cupertino is now asking the court to rule in its favor because Samsung's unusual move was in an attempt to prejudice the jury. Because of that, Apple's attorneys are saying the court should rule that Samsung infringed Apple's patents as a way of punishing the South Korean conglomerate for misconduct...

Apple worked on curved-glass iPhone, but production was prohibitively expensive

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 2, 2012

This Apple vs. Samsung litigation may be the patent trial of the century, but to fans it's also a treasure trove of valuable information concerning the company's industrial design and craftsmanship, something Apple never detailed voluntarily.

One of the more interesting nuggets from yesterday's deposition by Apple's designer Christopher Stringer highlighted two interesting prototypes that Apple eventually passed on: one sporting a shaped glass and the other featuring all-aluminum enclosure akin to the iPod...

Poll: is Samsung’s F700 an iPhone copy?

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 1, 2012

An interesting argument arose in the Apple-Samsung litigation related to Samsung’s F700 handset. As you know, Samsung sought to present this and other handsets - but the F700 in particular - as trial evidence of prior art that they were designing handsets akin to the iPhone before Apple got to announce its phone in January of 2007.

Judge Lucy Koh excluded that device and a bunch of other Samsung phones from the hearings, but Samsung defiantly publicized the slides yesterday, angering the Judge.

Apple had originally included the F700 as patent infringing in its suit, but later dropped it as it realized Samsung was working on this before the iPhone was released and especially after learning that Samsung applied for a South Korean design registration application in December of 2006, a month before the iPhone’s public unveiling.

Kill me but I just don't see any similarities between the F700 and the iPhone, especially not ones that could establish prior art for either party.

Maybe you do?

Samsung: we went public with excluded exhibits because you asked for it

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 4, 2018

As we reported yesterday, Samsung has gotten itself in some hot water with Judge Lucy Koh who strongly condemned its attorneys' decision to influence the jurors by publicizing previously excluded evidence. Samsung was hoping to sway the court of public opinion by releasing a set of slides and a media release which it hoped to use in the litigation to establish that Apple sough inspiration for the iPhone's design from Sony, as its product chief suggested in a pre-trial interview.

The Judge demanded that Samsung's legal team reveal who exactly drafted the press release and who authorized it. The Galaxy maker today filed a brief responding to Judge Koh's request which explains Samsung's reasoning behind the unusual move...

Judge angered at Samsung for publicizing excluded evidence

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

We're only two days into this patent trial of the century and already things are getting out of control in the courtroom. Even though Judge Lucy Koh denied Samsung's request to present to the jury its pre-iPhone F700 device meant to establish it did not copy the iPhone, the South Korean consumer electronics maker just issued a press release with two batches of evidence Judge Koh specifically excluded from the litigation...