Samsung debuts Galaxy Note 10.1 for stylus users craving a full-sized tablet
Samsung on Wednesday officially unveiled its new Galaxy Note 10.1 to the United States. The device is an update to Samsung's part-phone-part-tablet Galaxy Note which debuted last year and was met with equal amounts of fascination and derision.
Unlike its 5.29 inch predecessor, this device will not be confused with a phone in any light because it has a full 10.1 inch (1280 x 780) LCD display like the Galaxy Tab family. It's equipped with a 1.4 GHz quad-core Exynos processor, 2GB of RAM, Android 4.0.4 (ICS), and has a 5 megapixel rear camera and 1.9 megapixel forward-facing camera. It comes in 16GB and 32GB variants and has a microSD slot for additional storage.
Apple vs Samsung: The defense of common sense
The transpiring events of Apple’s lawsuit against Samsung divides the technology industry and hones in on several overarching intellectual property talking points and issues that far extend the perpetual "eye for an eye" battle the companies occupy. Many writers and pundits state that the lawsuit will be a primary stepping stone to IP and patent reform and will be a primary decider of the future of patent law in the technology industry.
What the trial really rises to the surface: the two differing approaches with which Apple and Samsung view the situation. Apple’s perspective hinges on protecting the intrinsic and unique value of their intellectual property, whereas Samsung focuses more on the end game of consumer perception.
What does Apple REALLY want from Samsung?
Answer: One-hundred percent of all profits gained from Sammy's smartphones and injunction barring sales of future models. Is that clear enough for you? Because it might not be from the stilted news stories about the Apple-Samsung trial under way here in California. Apple feels entitled to everything. That's how highly the company's top-brass thinks about their intellectual property and how little they do about Samsung's.
Instead of reading about how much Apple demands, blogs and news reports focus on the puny 2.4 percent per phone Samsung asks Apple for so-called essential patents or the extent of copying as told by the fruit-logo company. The story you read everyday about the Apple-Samsung trial is a good yarn, but there's enough urban legend to warrant a Snopes.com entry.
Samsung brings VoLTE to the Galaxy S III, but they’re not the first as they claim
The Galaxy S III is currently Samsung’s flagship smartphone and one of the best Android devices on the market today. To top it off, the Korean manufacturer has announced that the Galaxy S III will get VoLTE (Voice over LTE) starting August 2012 in Korea, which will be followed by "availability in global LTE markets" according to an announcement from the company on Thursday.
If the buyers of the Samsung Galaxy S III LTE model haven’t got the same quad-core processor or video card to play with (unless they’re in Korea), they now have VoLTE to play with which is exclusive to the LTE model.
10 interesting things we’ve learned from the Apple vs. Samsung trial (so far)
We’re only into the second week of the "patent trial of the century" but we’ve already been granted an unprecedented peek behind the curtain into the notoriously secretive world of Apple Inc. Here, in no particular order, are ten of the most fascinating reveals from the trial to date.
Steve Jobs was open to the idea of a seven inch iPad
Apple is not smart, Samsung is the Borg
I was supposed to be on CNN on Monday night to comment on the Apple v. Samsung patent infringement trial that just started in San Jose, Calif., but then presidential candidate Mitt Romney insulted the Palestinians and I was bumped. The way these things work is CNN calls the day before so I have time to think up something pithy to say. The question now is what to do with all that pith? So I’m dumping it on you. Consider this the long distance view of this legal battle in the context of what it really is -- brands at war.
As a practical matter, I think it is very unlikely that Apple can win based on its accusation of “slavish copying”. We have laws based around copyright and patents for that, and if patent or copyright had been broken, this would be an easier case. I suppose there may be laws that cover “slavish copying”, but my guess is that it is something hard to prove. Even if the products look similar, the internals are likely to be quite different, as is the OS.
Samsung takes a bite out of Apple smartphone share
Like I wrote two days ago, "iPhone sales are slowing", all while Samsung's increase. Today, IDC released calendar second-quarter smartphone shipments, and Samsung and ZTE took share from every other major manufacturer, including Apple. Let's be clear: iPhone doesn't typically lose share. It's a persistent gainer. Well, that is, until now.
Apple shipments into the channel increased by 27.5 percent year over year to 26 million units from 20.4 million. But global market share fell to 16.9 percent from 18.8 percent a year earlier. Meanwhile, Samsung smartphone shipments surged 172.8 percent to 50 million units from 18.4 million. Market share rose to 32.6 percent from 17 percent a year earlier. Quarter on quarter, Apple share fell from 24.2 percent, erasing most of the gains following the iPhone 4S launch last autumn. Meanwhile, Samsung rose from 29.1 percent.
Samsung charges up Galaxy smartphone marketing
I'm out of the office today attending Freshman orientation with my daughter. We were at San Diego State University for day-long lectures a month ago, but I saw something today either missed before or that is new (I'm convinced it's the latter). The East Commons has two Samsung charging stations that promote Galaxy S II and S3. It's simply brilliant marketing.
Think about it. Education is considered to be an Apple stronghold; some of that is reality, some perception. Two days ago, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said about fiscal Q3: "We achieved all time record Mac sales to US education institutions during the quarter. We sold more than twice as many iPads as Macs to US education institutions. We are extremely pleased with these results".
Samsung error removes universal search from the Galaxy S III, not Apple's patent war
Now here’s an interesting thing. A couple of days ago Samsung disabled the Google local search function from the international version of its Galaxy S3 handset, preventing users from being able to search their phone’s apps and contacts. It was believed to have been done as a result of a patent dispute with Apple, and followed the search-on-device disabling update that hit Galaxy Nexuses in the US.
Users were understandably up in arms because they weren’t told that installing the new stability update would remove the universal search feature, and probably a fair few of them felt compelled to join the boycott Apple movement as a result. (Fortunately I didn’t update my S3 so my opinion didn’t change. Not that it would have.)
What’s stopping Apple and Samsung from settling?
Patent settlement talks between Apple and Samsung have been planned for a while, and despite the major importance they have to both companies, it wasn't until last week that executives met to discuss whether they can agree on ending the quarrel between them. So what happened? They couldn't set their differences aside as the settlement talks have hit a bump in the road, not agreeing on each other’s value when it comes to patents.
After numerous meetings in court it's clear that settlement is the best option, but the companies haven't yet arrived at a compromise, and the two companies' other legal disputes haven’t been put on hold, as Apple is still trying to resolve an issue it has with Samsung in a San Jose federal court on July 30.
Who's the patent bully now? Apple or Samsung?
Samsung and Apple are two of the most popular smartphone and tablet manufacturers in the world right now and those top spots don’t come without responsibilities. But there's a disconnection somewhere in the corporate brains, with the companies seeing these responsibilities as green lights to be at each other’s throat in every major market over patents -- all that the cost of customer choice and satisfaction.
The latest round in the never-ending patent war between Samsung and Apple began today in Australia, where a local Judge started hearing evidence on their latest legal dispute. Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple claims patent infringement. The two companies dispute whether the touchscreen technology used by Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 violates Apple owned patents. The South Korean manufacturer's counter-claim: Apple uses 3G patents without a license, which is supposed to be available on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.
UK Judge tells Apple to run adverts Samsung doesn't copy iPad
According to the Bloomsberg News Agency a UK judge has ordered Apple to publish a notice on its website and in various newspapers and magazines (the Financial Times, the Daily Mail, Guardian Mobile magazine, and T3) informing visitors and readers that Samsung did not copy the design of the iPad. The judge, Colin Birss, also stipulated that the notice on Apple’s website should remain there for a minimum of six months.
The order follows Apple’s failed attempt to block sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablets in the United Kingdom and is apparently intended to correct any damaging impressions consumers may have been given about the South Korean company as a result of the litigation.
Samsung Galaxy Note comes to T-Mobile
Let’s assume you’re a big fan of the Samsung Galaxy Note and you want one, but you reside in the United States and your carrier happens to be T-Mobile. Well, take Note! T-Mobile has officially confirmed that it is coming online and to select stores. Phablet fans, rejoice.
There are no details on pricing or when it’s going to be officially available at the US carrier, but what we do know are the juicy details on specifications. You’re still getting that huge 5.3 inch AMOLED display, 8-megapixel back-facing camera with 1080p video recording; 2MP front-facing camera with video recording; 1GB of RAM; and HSPA+ connectivity (42Mbps download is a nice selling point, even better than the international version), among other things. And the biggest news is that it will actually come with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box and Samsung Premium Suite preinstalled as well.
Samsung accuses LG of corporate espionage
In a rather unexpected move, Samsung Mobile Display Co. is throwing a corporate espionage bomb, by accusing LG of stealing and leaking OLED technology secrets. The news comes as a shock indeed, because if found guilty of orchestrating it the consequences can be disastrous for LG.
Eleven people were indicted Sunday on charges of leaking or stealing core OLED technology from Samsung. The list also includes executives from LG, which currently trails Samsung as the second largest LCD panel manufacturer in the world. To top off bad news with more bad news, it is reported that six more suspects were formerly or currently working for Samsung.
Apple threatens retailers: Stop selling Samsung Galaxy devices now or else
It's bad enough that Apple uses patents to bully competitors. Now the company threatens retail partners, demanding they remove two Samsung devices from store shelves. Apparently, court orders aren't good enough for Apple, which also ignores one of them.
Apple, through its army of lawyers, has sent a letter to an unknown number of retailers and carriers selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet and Galaxy Nexus smartphone. Last month a US court issued temporary injunctions against both devices, but temporarily lifted the one against Galaxy Nexus.
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