Apple has already received plenty of plaudits for the way it has worked to try and reduce the number of iPhone thefts in big cities, but a newly discovered patent application shows that the firm isn't resting on its laurels. Instead, if we're reading this Thursday's patent application right, Apple is working on technology that will analyze usage patterns in order to discern whether a device is in the hands of its rightful owner.
They say there's no rest for the wicked, and that's never been more true for Apple's lawyers after the Cupertino firm set about another attempt to put Samsung out of business in the United Stated while simultaneously taking the Korean company for as much as it can in the process.
In the very latest Apple vs. Samsung court battle, the latter was ordered to pay its rival damages to the sum of almost $120 million, but as one might perhaps have anticipated, the Korean company is having none of it. John Quinn, Samsung's lawyer in this particular case, has noted that the Galaxy maker will request that the award of damages be reduced to zero, which is a rather brazen step given the size of the initial award.
The jury has finally reached a verdict in the round two of Apple vs Samsung trial and has found Samsung to have infringed on two out of five patents of Apple. As a result, Samsung has been ordered to pay Apple around 120 million dollars ($119,625,000 to be exact) in damages, a far cry from $2.2 billion which Apple asked for.
Apple's approach to the cameras that it puts in its iPhones has always been rather different to some of its competitors. Nokia likes to throw as many pixels at its cameras as it can, and Samsung tends to follow a similar theme with the cameras that it puts in its Android smartphones. Apple, instead, likes to stick with its 8-megapixel shooter but to tweak it, adding features in both hardware and software that will make it shine when it counts; in the photos you take.
Every year, a new trend seems to hit the smartphone market, and if it isn't large displays or gold color configurations, then it's the manufacturers' new found love for a curved display. Naturally, Samsung was first to the draw with the Galaxy Round, closely followed by its compatriot LG with the impressive G Flex, and although an iPhone featuring an angled panel would seem quite a way off right now, a newly-awarded patent suggests that the Cupertino company is very much considering it.
Apple applies, and is granted, it's fair share of patents. As with any large technology company, the iPhone maker isn't shy about asking for a patent on anything and everything it comes up with that it thinks might be of use later on, which means that just because there's a patent application for something, it isn't guaranteed to make it into a shipping product.
Apple's iPhone 5s includes a wealth of exciting new hardware features, but whilst we've been more than impressed by the new 64-bit A7 processor, much has been made of the Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Allowing iPhone users to unlock their devices without going through the tiresome rigmarole of typing in a passcode, it has been a big hit in its short lifespan, and according to a recent patent filing by Apple, could be about to get even better.
Apple, like all of the big tech companies, is always filing new patents and ideas with the USPTO, and one published this week suggests that the company could be looking into solar-based charging options for both the MacBook and the iOS device range. Such technology is already available, but its use is extremely limited, and with solar charging peripherals often bulky and impractical, Apple is looking for a simplified way to charge devices without he use of an inevitably hard-to-find plug socket.
In breaking news, the International Trade Commission (ITC) has just delivered its verdict on a long-running case between Apple and Samsung, ruling in favor of Apple in a decision that will see certain Samsung devices banned from import to the US. The case has been running for a number of years, and this particular ordeal began when Apple counter-sued Samsung in 2011 after the Galaxy maker claimed that a handful of the Cupertino-based company's devices were infringing on its patents.
