Samsung

Olympic athletes may use Apple devices during opening ceremony after all

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 6, 2014

Cody ran an interesting story yesterday about Samsung allegedly requiring Olympians to cover the Apple logos on their iPhones and iPads during the opening ceremony, as part of giving free devices to athletes. It had all the elements you'd expect from a typical viral story: a pair of tech titans who hate each other's guts out, a major sports event, greed, ad money and corporate jealousy.

Too bad it wasn't true. It's been confirmed by both Samsung and the International Olympic Committee today that athletes are absolutely allowed to use any device they wish during the Opening Ceremonies. This means iPhones and yes - the Apple logos are allowed, too!

Samsung asks Olympians to hide Apple logo on iPhones during opening ceremony

Cody Lee ∙ February 5, 2014

This is kind of interesting. Ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics, which is scheduled to begin in two days, Samsung has requested that athletes participating in the Games hide the Apple logos on their iPhones while taking photos and recording video.

It appears that Samsung, a major sponsor of this year's Olympics, is particularly concerned with the opening ceremony. And it's asked that any athlete who plans to use Apple's handset to record the widely-broadcasted event to keep the logo hidden...

iWatch to tap LG Chem’s energy efficient stepped batteries, rumor has it

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

As Apple continues to build up its team of world-class sleep researchers, medical device experts and biosensing ace engineers for the iWatch team, the rumor-mill is in full swing with related chatter originating from the company's vast network of Taiwanese suppliers and contract manufacturers.

The latest rumor: the company is tackling battery challenges said to plague the project by using so-called stepped batteries, a technology offering better longevity and enhanced energy density versus the traditional solutions.

Stepped batteries can be applied to different shapes and, as a bonus, boost capacity by as much as sixteen percent. Conveniently, Apple recently filed for a patent detailing a flexible battery design that specifically mentions wearable devices...

A list of devices and patents involved in upcoming Apple-Samsung trial

Cody Lee ∙ February 5, 2014

Ahead of their high-profile trial, scheduled to start in March, Apple and Samsung have submitted a list of all of the patents they are accusing each other of infringing, and applicable devices. Well this is a pared down list, trimmed by each side at Judge Koh's orders.

This is the second time the two will meet in Koh's northern California courtroom. The first time around, Samsung was found guilty of infringing on a few Apple patents and was forced to pay close to $1 billion in damages. This time, there may be even more at stake...

Samsung sends out invitations for likely Galaxy S5 event

Cody Lee ∙ February 3, 2014

Outside of maybe Apple's next-gen iPhone, Samsung's Galaxy S5 is probably one of the most anticipated smartphones of 2014. The Galaxy line has gained a reputation for bringing about new and innovative features, and it has built up quite the following.

We were expecting to see the S5 appear sometime in March or April, but it looks like it could land much sooner than that. Samsung just sent out a round of press invitations for Samsung Unpacked 5, a media event to be held in Barcelona on February 24...

Lenovo CEO: Motorola purchase part of mission to surpass Samsung, Apple

Cody Lee ∙ Updated June 16, 2016

When news hit earlier this week that Google had agreed to sell its Motorola Mobility unit to Lenovo for $2.9 billion, it surprised a lot of people. Not only was the sale price some $10 billion below what Google paid for Motorola 3 years ago, but Lenovo? Where'd that come from?

According to a recent Fortune interview with Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yan, that was the plan all along. Yan says that his company has been eyeing Motorola since before Google came along , and it has major plans for it. Lenovo wants to become the #1 smartphone-maker in the world...

Rumor: Samsung to beat Google to smart glasses punch with September reveal of Galaxy Glass

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 27, 2014

The Korea Times is reporting that the South Korean conglomerate Samsung is readying its own Google Glass-like eyewear, with an unnamed Samsung official stating that the tentatively named 'Galaxy Glass' device will debut at the annual IFA trade show in Berlin, Germany this September.

Sony is also working on a smart glasses model of its own, by the way.

Samsung already sells the Galaxy Gear smartwatch and we previously reported that a brand new lineup of Galaxy Band health/fitness wearable devices is in the pipeline as well. Google currently sells the Explorer Edition of Glass to testers and developers in the United States for $1,500.

The search giant said that a consumer version would be available some time in 2014 for "significantly less" than the Explorer Edition, but the company wouldn't commit to a specific pricing or release date...

Samsung and Google agree to 10-year patent deal

Cody Lee ∙ January 26, 2014

Huge news coming out of Mountain View this afternoon. Google has announced that it has reached a global patent cross-licensing agreement with Android heavyweight Samsung, covering a broad range of technologies and business areas.

Few details are known about the agreement at this time, but the companies have said that it's a 10-year deal and that it covers all current and future technology patents. The move will bolster the patent positions for both Samsung and Google...

Samsung profits drop as the company faces fierce competition in both low and high end markets

Sébastien Page ∙ January 23, 2014

Things are not happy and beautiful any longer for Samsung, the world's number one smartphones manufacturer. As reported by Bloomberg, the Korean giant has posted its slowest growth since 2011.

Who's to blame for the slow growth pace? For one, there is Lenovo, Huawei and other makers of cheap smartphones who've been flooding the markets in many areas, especially in Asia, a strong ground for Samsung. Apple is also partly responsible from Samsung's decline as the fruity company has been luring high-end customers away from the Galaxy line maker...

Judge tosses two Samsung claims ahead of Apple patent trial

Cody Lee ∙ January 22, 2014

Apple and Samsung are gearing up for round 2 of their landmark US patent trial. The first round ended in Samsung paying nearly $1 billion in damages for infringing on some of Apple's patents, and this new trial will look for similar infringement in newer devices.

The court proceedings don't start for another two months, but Samsung has already suffered two big blows. This week, Judge Lucy Koh found the company's multimedia synchronization patent to be invalid, and found it to infringe on an Apple autocorrect patent...

Apple picks up ground on rivals in US smartphone race on strong Christmas quarter iPhone sales

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 16, 2014

Although we won't get to see some cold, hard numbers in terms of the iPhone's market performance until January 27, when Apple is scheduled to deliver its earnings results for the calendar 2013 holiday quarter, it already looks like the "disappointing" dual-iPhone launch has altered the landscape in the United States in Apple's favor.

Research firm NPD on Thursday published its survey of U.S. smartphone ownership, showing the Apple handset growing its share of domestic customers to 42 percent, a notable jump from the 35 percent share in the year-ago quarter...

The Apple-Nokia patent deal is expiring December 31, 2016

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 13, 2014

You may remember that back in June 2011 Apple lost a patent infringement case that the Finnish handset maker Nokia had filed against the Cupertino company, resulting in an undisclosed one-time payment and ongoing royalties to Nokia for use of their patents. The Nokia CEO Stephen Elop was “very pleased” to have Apple join Nokia licensees.

However, the essentials of the contract have for the most part remained confidential. Today, we get to learn more about the terms of the deal as Samsung told a U.S. court that the patent pact is expiring on December 31, 2016...