The ongoing patent battle between Apple and its bitter rival Samsung has taken yet another turn, this time with a Tokyo court ruling that Apple can continue to sell their industry leading iPhone smartphone in Japan. Samsung Electronics had filed two separate claims in Japan over the last few weeks, both claiming that the iPhone infringed on patents held by the Korean company in the hope that the court would agree with them and ban the sale of the device altogether in Japan. No such luck.
Reports coming out of Korea today are suggesting that Samsung Displays have already taken the internal decision to terminate an ongoing contract with Apple in a move which means that the company will no longer supply the Cupertino-based giants with Liquid Crystal Display panels for their mobile devices. Although Apple and Samsung have been long-term corporate partners, the rivalry that has been growing between the two companies has been intensifying of late with the relationship eventually reaching meltdown.
Released a couple of days before the iPhone 5, iOS 6 has seen its fair share of criticism from technology enthusiasts but the way general consumers have upgraded to it so quickly to it is a shining example for the Android camp where users have to wait months for their smartphone manufacturer to be updated to the latest version of Android.
It isn't long now until the official Apple media event that we hope will eventually introduce us the new miniature iPad that we have been hearing so much about in recent months. It's extremely likely that the event this coming Wednesday will bring us more than just one product but so much attention and speculation has been lavished on the new iPad that it will be a relief to have some official information regarding it. With the announcement only days away, it seems like the Apple online store is already gearing up for customer searches by returning suggested "iPad mini" and "mini iPad" search strings.
Ever since rumors first sprang up with regards to the smaller iPad, or "iPad Mini," as it is being unofficially dubbed, one of the immediate questions springing to the minds of many has been "what about the iPod touch?" After all, the so-called "iPhone without the phone part" has been the only device offering the iOS experience minus the iOS price, but with the iPad Mini combining the lower-end cost with a larger screen and a set of features easily matching the iPod touch, is there really a place left in the market for it?
According to a report from the generally-reliable 9to5Mac, the entry-level model of the upcoming iPad Mini will cost $329. Given the purported specification of the device, the price point was always going to be dramatically lower than that of the main iPad, and although it's not as cheap as the Nexus 7, it's still, one suspects, cheap enough to potentially command huge sales.
By now, I’m sure you’ve heard of the Apple media event set for October 23rd, invites for which were sent out four days ago. Although there is nothing in the invite image that suggests this (like it did with new iPad and iPhone 5), it is widely expected to be the event where Apple announces their entry to the small and economical tablet market that is currently dominated by the likes of Amazon’s Kindle Fire (HD) and Google’s Nexus 7.
If you thought your part of the world was the only area that seemed to get gripped by fruit-based fever whenever a new physical Apple Store opened up, then think again. The new Wangfujing store in Beijing has officially been opened for business and immediately became the largest Apple Store in Asia, much to the delight of the sizeable crowd that turned out for the occasion.
When Apple put a Retina display into the iPhone 4, the world was stunned by its crisp visuals, and equally so with the third-gen iPad when it dropped back in March. While the MacBook Pro's Retina display certainly doesn't fail to dazzle, consumers haven't leapt to adopt the very latest addition to the Cupertino's notebook family in such high numbers.
Another year as brought another iPhone, and as has been the case all too frequently, yet another controversy. Sure, the problems haven't been on the same level as the Antennagate scandal of 2010, and perhaps not even as significant as the battery issues with the early iPhone 4S devices, but the metal backplate of the iPhone 5 has certainly agitated more than a few consumers.
