Category Archives: Apple

Samsung Goes After Apple in France

Posted by on September 13, 2011 No comments

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After losing a big battle to Apple in Germany where it was ruled that the withstanding injunction against their Galaxy Tab 10.1 would not be lifted, Samsung’s legal team has found something else to do in the meantime while they wait for the opportunity to appeal the ruling.

They’ve taken the battle to the streets of Paris. They’ve sued Apple in France for patent infringements on three different technologies. All iPhones from the 3G upward are included as well as both iPad tablets. It’s odd to see Samsung acting proactively in this instance, but we imagine them getting the jump on Apple in another region before Apple gets a chance to do the same is important. No word was given on which of Samsung’s patents Apple were infringing on. [AFP via Google]

iPad 2 Dominates GPUs in Benchmark Tests, Galaxy S II Left In the Dust

Posted by on September 12, 2011 1 comment

The folks of anandtech recently decided to take the Samsung Galaxy S II for a spin and did an extensive review of the device, including tons of benchmarks. These showed, among others that the handset comes with a very powerful GPU. Also, it showed that the iPad 2 is two times more powerful than the Galaxy S II, as far as graphics performance is concerned.

The iPad 2 uses a PowerVR SGX 543MP2 GPU that we’ll most likely find on the iPhone 5 as well, so in upcoming benchmarks expect the Galaxy S II supremacy to be removed. The only aspect where the Galaxy S II fails it he triangle throughput, where the iPad 2 once again rules, getting 64.9 millions of triangles per second.

One might notice that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is also on the list and it’s not doing that well, especially in comparison with the iPad 2, that’s got a beef with the Samsung product, that’s considered its clone. Imagine an Apple A6 CPU and what it would do to the other tablets… Intel, Qualcomm or Nvidia must come out with something really great to kick Apple’s behind…


Google Removes eBook Purchases from Books App for iPad/iPhone, Blames New Apple Policies

Posted by on September 9, 2011 No comments

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Google has sent out an email to users of its Google Books app for the iPad and iPhone informing of a change in the way they will be able to download new eBook content. The email points to new Apple policies as the reason for the removal of book purchases from within the app, but doesn’t delve into too much detail. It most likely relates to policies announced last February that require in-app purchases be handled through iTunes with Apple taking a 30 percent cut of sales. Detailed in the email are workarounds for both the iPhone and iPad allowing users to easily circumnavigate the Google Books application and continue purchasing new eBook content. Apple’s new policy forced a similar move from Amazon. The retailer replaced the ability to directly purchase content within the Kindle app with a link to their online storefront.

Germany Declares War on Galaxy Tab: Forever Banned!

Posted by on September 9, 2011 No comments

Germany should be called AppleLand, considering the number of decisions they’ve taken in favor of the fruit and against Samsung. This is the country that originated the European ban of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the same country where the ban still stands and also applies to the freshly announced Galaxy Tab 7.7. And it gets worse…

Now it seems that the local authorities have decided to ban forever the Galaxy Tab and all its versions from Germany. The reason? Samsung is ripping off the design of the Apple iPad, a dispute that’s been going on and on in court and outside it. Most people expected Samsung to win the legal battle, especially with Apple using doctored pictures, but it seems that the fruit won, since the court considered the products are too similar.

Samsung declares that it’s disappointed with the decision and also sees this as a limitation of consumer choices and rights in Germany. An appeal for this ruling is set to come from Samsung’s side in  the following weeks. And now HTC is starting a beef with Apple. Will Germany ban HTC devices as well?


Judge Upholds Injunction Against Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany

Posted by on September 9, 2011 12 comments

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Samsung may have gotten their victory in the Netherlands but I’m sure Apple’s not mad at the latest decision in their Germany lawsuit. A judge has ruled that the preliminary injunction against Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (which effectively blocks the sale and advertisement of the device in Germany) will not be lifted.

They didn’t indicate whether or not this injunction would be permanent, but Samsung will have a chance to make an appeal or countersue Apple. Surely you don’t think they’ll take this one lying down, either.

While we’re not sure how much Samsung values their business in Germany, we’re almost sure they don’t value it low enough to brush the decision off and move on. We’re in for a lengthy one, folks. [FOSSP via Gizmodo]

Apple Files Another Suit Against Samsung, This Time in Japan

Posted by on September 8, 2011 No comments

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Apple, it seems, won’t be happy until it has systematically wiped Samsung’s Android efforts from the face of the earth. As part of the company’s continuing proxy war against Google yet another lawsuit has been filed, this time in Japan, with the intention to halt sales of the patent-infringing Galaxy S in the Land of the Rising Sun. The Cupertino-based smartphone maker also seeks to recover damages to the tune of  ¥100 million (~$1.3 million).

The court room dramatics are already underway as of Wednesday, though neither company has commented on this most recent case of alleged intellectual property theft. The exact patents in question are not clear at this time.

[via Engadget]

iPad 3 Will be Even Thinner and Lighter, Judging by the Next Gen Battery It Holds

Posted by on September 8, 2011 No comments

Apple has already started working on the iPad 3 and securing deals with Simplo Technology Co. and Dynapack International Technology Corp. These will supply battery packs for the upcoming iPad, according to Taiwan Economic News.

The new power source will be thinner and lighter than the batteries that Apple used previously in iPad 2 models. The result will be an increased cost in the power packs used by the Cupertino company, of 20% to 30%. According to the same report, the new iPad 3 batteries will provide an even longer life than the 10 hours we got from the iPad 2, which is a brilliant feat.

With a thinner and lighter battery there’s the opportunity to stuff inside the next iPad that thicker Retina Display we’ve been waiting for a while now. However, Apple could only be happy with making the device slimmer and keep the same screen…


3G iPad 2 Soon Available in China, Retail Stores Coming to Hong Kong

Posted by on September 8, 2011 No comments

Apple has finally been given the certification to sell the 3G iPad 2 in mainland China, after a period of only being able to sell the WiFi units, Wall Street Journal informs us. All that the Cupertino giant needed was a network access license from the Tellecommunication Equipment Certification Center in China.

The device is now listed as model number A1396, compatible with the 3G WCDMA standard and working on local carrier China Unicom. Yesterday, there were already iPad 2 3G units listed for sale on the Apple Chinese website, but they were removed since then. Shipping mentioned 2 to 3 weeks of waiting time. Among Apple’s plans for that region we also find a new Hong Kong retail store, that will open this quarter in the International Finance Center’s IFC mall.

September 24th is the opening date and with Tim Cook seeing Greater China as an opportunity expect the local Asian market to evolve a lot in the following years.


HTC Obtains Patents From Google, Uses them to Sue Apple

Posted by on September 7, 2011 No comments

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Another lawsuit has been filed in an ongoing battle between smartphone Android manufacturers and Apple. This time the maker of the iPhone and iPad was on the receiving end, as HTC filed a complaint in a Delaware federal court claiming infringement upon several newly acquired patents. The previous owner of said patents? Google. Their origin? Motorola.

HTC acquired nine patents originating with Motorola Inc., Palm Inc., and Openwave Systems Inc. from Google on September 1st. Four patents first registered by Motorola are being cited in court documents relating to the Delaware case, while three patents first registered with Openwave and two first registered with Palm are part of an infringement complain filed with the US International Trade Commission in Washington.

[via Bloomberg]

iPad Sales Figures Close to Revealing? Apple May be Forced to Do So, to Fight the Galaxy Tab

Posted by on September 7, 2011 No comments

In an unprecedented move, Apple may be forced to reveal its sales figures at least regionally in order to support the legal case against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet. We all know that the Cupertino giant is not to keen on revealing publicly sales figures, for competitive reasons…

Bloomberg is saying that Apple may need to reveal sales figures in the US and UK, in order to prove that the sales of the iPad and iPad 2 were affected by the Galaxy Tab 10.1. That will apply mostly to the areas where the product is already available. However, don’t get this wrong and think that you’ll see the figures for yourselves, as they only have to be shown in court and not on public TV, for example.

Samsung took advantage of this break to try and convince the court that its product does not interfere with the iPad sales. Meanwhile, Apple’s attorney Steven Burley said that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is incredibly similar to the Cupertino-produced slates and that this is hurting the sales. We remind you that Apple started with the lawsuit series against Samsung in April for copying the look and feel of iPhone and iPad products. And now it has come to this…