It doesn't seem to matter where you turn at the minute, it seems pretty much impossible to get away from the Apple vs. Samsung patent trial that has been going on over the last few weeks in a San Jose courtroom. The main trial has come to an end with Apple notching up a pretty astronomical win over their Korean rivals, but even though the overseeing jury have reached and announced their final verdict, it doesn't mean the final word has been spoken on the matter. Additional courtroom dates have already been set for Samsung to attempt to have the injunction on their Galaxy Tab 10.1 overturned, as well as a date in early December for Apple to ask for eight Samsung handsets to be removed from sale.
Although Apple is still floating on a fluffy cloud of victory after the weekend’s verdict in their San Jose trial against Samsung, they will understandably just be wishing that the legal system was simple and straightforward that forced Samsung to pay their dues and allow both companies to move in with minimal fuss. Unfortunately, the world doesn't work that way, and although the nine man jury found in favor of the fruit company in pretty much all of their claims, there are still additional court dates required to determine the next steps for both companies.
It's approaching that time of the year again when the live iTunes Festival begins, this time featuring a string of well-known artists who will descend on The Roundhouse in London to entertain the masses. One of the fantastic things about the festival is that every ticket is totally free of charge and lets music lovers see performances from their favorite artists while also letting Apple heavily promote the iTunes brand that has been so influential in the music industry over the last decade.
You may have thought, with the San Jose court ruling, Samsung has to pay Apple in excess of a billion dollars for infringing on its patents and keeping it cool for copying its ideas - at least for a bit. The video of Samsung's new Sydney retail store made us all chuckle a couple of days ago for its almost inch-by-inch emulation of an Apple retail store, and now, it looks as though the Korean outfit is after snippets of Apple's desktop operating system.
What is it that makes a smartphone smart? Is it the advanced, flexible operating system that grants users the ability to install apps to extend their device’s feature set? Is it a high megapixel camera? A touch display that can differentiate between accidental taps and real ones? An HD display? GPS? Wi-Fi? Support for 4G LTE? It’s features like these that – according to today’s standards, at least – make up a smartphone.
A new report claims that both iOS and Android smartphones are currently outpacing any previous consumer technology, with worldwide sales driving huge user adoption. A quick glance at any social network, technology blog or even the man in the street will show that smartphones are big business and gaining traction rapidly. Everyone seems to have either an iPhone or an Android phone these days, and mobile analytic firm Flurry has done what it does best - take a lot of numbers and extrapolate them into an interesting collection of facts.
Were you wondering where the Apple vs. Samsung patent battle would turn next? Now you know, with the news that a hardware ban is firmly within the Cupertino firm's sights. Fresh on the heals of winning a tasty victory in the courts on Friday, Apple has today named the eight Samsung smartphones which it hopes those same courts will ban from sale in the United States.
Prior to this year's WWDC keynote, it was widely presumed Apple would add a Retina display to each of its MacBooks, as well as possibly the iMac. Of course, considering history, we should have been wise to Apple's plan; Include the Retina in one model, add a couple of extra perks, and slap an extortionate price tag on it, and see how many consumers can resist until said features are added across the board.
Mac users are happy to accept the changes which Apple make and deem necessary in order to provide us with a great experience when using their hardware and software products. Deep down we don't always agree with them, especially when upgrading from an older version of iOS or OS X, only to find one of your favorite features being removed, but we live it due to our faith and belief that the experts know what they are doing. On the other hand, some people can't live with it. They see it as a company flexing their corporate muscle to force their will upon us.
September is nearly upon us and we are waiting with our fingers crossed in the hope that Apple take it upon themselves to push out some official invitations to their purported September 12th media event to allow us all to rest a bit easier in the knowledge that we will indeed be getting a new gadget in the next few weeks. Until that happens, we will have to console ourselves by flicking back over the numerous part and component leaks which we have seen in the last few months, which also give us a pretty good idea of what to expect from the sixth-generation iPhone.
