Anand Shimpi has been rounding up the rumors with regards to the next iPhone, and yesterday concluded the likelihood of Apple implementing NFC into its smartphone was decidedly slim. Now, Jim Dalrymple has corroborated that notion, with the famous Cupertino insider chipping in with his familiar "yep" quip.
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.
Google has released a public statement in which it tackles the recent legal goings on between both Apple, and the largest Android phone maker, Samsung. While both Samsung and Apple were keen to release statements following the court's decision to order the Korean firm to pay over one billion dollars to the iPhone maker. The whole thing revolves around Samsung's use of technology which infringes upon Apple's patents, and with Android beating at the heart of Samsung's smartphones, many wondered what Google would have to say about the matter.
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.
Nobody truly knows everything that goes on behind the closed doors at companies like Apple and Samsung, even though they have been forced to expose more than they would like in the last few weeks with a lot of their inner workings coming out during the recent patent trial in San Jose, it's unlikely that we ever will have a full understanding of the design and development process that goes on internally when designing a new product.
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.
It’s all over the (technology-focused) news! The jury in San Jose, California has passed the verdict for the Apple vs. Samsung case, with a ruling that goes completely in Apple’s favor: Samsung is guilty of multiple patent infringements in most of its smartphone lineup and is to pay over 1 billion dollars to Apple in damages; Apple is to pay absolutely nothing to Samsung because they are innocent (at least in thee eyes of the courts).
After a well-documented and rather grueling court hearing, Apple has prevailed over its Korean-based rival Samsung in a number of patent disputes, and with a settlement of over a billion dollars having been dished out in the Cupertino's favor, a few of the nine-person jury have given their accounts of why they came to the decision that Apple was indeed just with its lawsuits.
A while ago, my colleague made some good points with regards to the importance of the iPod touch. With the iPad and iPhone having lead the way, the touch has taken something of a backseat, amounting to little more than a mere footnote in the continually-evolving story of the iOS device family.
Up until this week, it had been presumed Apple would announce the next iPhone, iOS 6, and a new, smaller iPad at a single event, but John Gruber - as informed as ever on the ins and outs of the Cupertino company - leaned towards the idea of the smartphone dropping first in September, with the "iPad mini" following in October.

