A U.S. court has today ruled that Apple’s iPhone infringes three patents owned by MobileMedia Ideas, a so-called “patent troll” jointly owned by Nokia, Sony, and Denver-based MPEG LA.
U.S. Court Says iPhone Is Patent-Infringing

A U.S. court has today ruled that Apple’s iPhone infringes three patents owned by MobileMedia Ideas, a so-called “patent troll” jointly owned by Nokia, Sony, and Denver-based MPEG LA.
Xiaojie Li, a 44-year-old woman living in Newton, Massachusetts, was pinned to the ground and tasered by police on Tuesday when she attempted to buy a few too many iPhones from her local Apple store. Li says she was buying the devices on behalf of relatives in China, and she was carrying $16,000 in cash when police arrested her.
As is typical of Verizon every holiday season, they have gone ahead and updated their return policy to reflect an extended period for holiday purchases. Any new device purchased from Verizon between November 22 and December 25, 2012 may be returned or exchanged through January 15, 2013.
Hey, thanks Apple! Order online right now from the U.S. official Apple Storeand you get free 2-3 day shipping. Usually, Apple only offers free shipping if you spend more $50. That will make it a little easier to get a last minute stocking stuffer for your loved ones, don’t you think? Source: Apple Store
Amazon has updated its Instant Video app for iOS today, introducing support for the iPhone and iPod touch. The service has been available on iPad since August, but this is the first time it has come to smaller iOS devices, giving Amazon Prime subscribers more than 30,000 free videos in their pockets.
If you need something with more oomph for managing your photos than iPhoto but don’t really care for Aperture, good news: Adobe has updated Photoshop Lightroom to version 4.3, not just fixing a ton of bugs, but adding Retina support for MacBook Pros and adding support for twenty new digital cameras.
Apple could be looking to switch its graphics cards supplier from NVIDIA back to AMD for the iMac. The Cupertino company began using NVIDIA solutions for its latest all-in-one, which started shipping late last month, but a job listing on its website suggests it could already be preparing to switch back. Apple is looking for a Hardware Systems Electrical Engineer with experience in AMD graphics processing units (GPU).
Google released an official Google Maps app for the iPhone on Wednesday evening — I’m sure you’ve already downloaded it to your device — and as you might expect, it’s already incredibly popular. Users have since been rushing to reclaim the mapping service that Apple booted out of iOS with its latest iOS 6 update, helping Google Maps rocket to the top of the App Store’s free chart in just seven hours. It has knocked Apple’s own 12 Days of Christmas app down to second place.
Samsung might be Apple’s biggest rival, but it’s clear to see the Korean company loves its work. It’s been trying to make its Android smartphones more like the iPhone for many years — that’s hard to deny, no matter whose side you’re on — and it’s spawned retail stores, tablets, and even charging adapters that are remarkably similar to those form the Cupertino company.
Even Samsung’s executives can’t fight their love of Mac and iOS devices. One, Young Sohn, a chief strategy officer, admits to using a Mac, iPhone, and iPad at home, and praises Apple’s unique ecosystem.
In case you hadn’t already heard, Google finally released an official Google Maps app for iPhone on Wednesday night, and I must say, I think it’s terrific. It’s super quick, it looks fantastic, and it brings back all the mapping features you had on your iPhone before Apple gave Google Maps the boot — including Street View and transit directions. Google has also thrown its own turn-by-turn navigation into the mix for good measure.
In fact, the new Google Maps app for iPhone is so good that Google admits it’s better than the Android version. It also promises an iPad version is coming soon.
The United Kingdom is a little late to 4G — just a few months ago, 4G networks didn’t exist. Now it has one, EE, which is quickly trying to expand its 4G coverage across the country. It began its rollout in 11 major cities, and the company has announced today that it will be reaching an additional 17 by March 2013.
Scheduled as a December 13th launch, 1Password, version 4.0.2, is available now on the iTunes App Store.
The updated app brings a host of new features, and is available for $7.99, which is 50 percent off the typical price of the security app from atebits software.
After months of anticipation, Google just unleashed Google Maps for iPhone in Apple’s App Store. It was reported earlier tonight that the app was set to go live, and it’s now available.
After Apple abandoned Google Maps for its own mapping technology in iOS 6, Google has been working on a new, standalone app to submit. It’s finally here.
A new report from Reuters takes to the streets (or, malls, rather) of the globe to find out what folks are actually purchasing from retail shops around the world, including Apple, Microsoft, and Samsung retail spaces in cities like Sydney, Seattle, Palo Alto, Shanghai, Bangalore, Singaporte, Paris, London, Mexico City, and Boston. They spoke to store employees and retail shoppers to find out, really, what’s selling and what’s not.
Guess what they found out? While Apple may be the darling of naysayers who like to crow about the stock slippage or the competition from Android and (sometimes) Windows Phones, Reuters found that the people they talked to and the stores they visited were far from anti-Apple, and, in fact, positively glowing about the Cupertino-based tech company’s products.
Good news for those of you that have been led astray by Apple’s iOS 6 Maps: Google is set to release its iOS app for Google Maps in the App Store tonight. The reliable AllThingsD is reporting that the app is set to go live after internal worry at Google that Apple would reject the app.
If you use the official Time Warner TV iPad app, then you’re in luck. A big update has brought the ability to view On Demand content, including 4,000 TV and movie titles from 91 different providers.
Content is available in HD and standard def depending on the provider, and you have full power to search and browse the catalog right from the comfort of your iPad.
When you think of Redbox, you probably don’t think of streaming movies to your TV or smartphone. Redbox has represented the last remnants of paying to rent physical media, but that’s about to change. Today Redbox announced its plans to take on Netflix with its own movie streaming service. Accompanying apps for Android and iOS will come out when the service begins its invite-only rollout later this month.
For $8 per month, Redbox will give you unlimited streaming and four nights of physical DVD rentals from any Redbox kiosk. Pay $1 more and you’ll get four Blu-ray rentals as an upgrade. Netflix customers can either have unlimited streaming or only unlimited DVD rentals for $8 per month.
Alex Peake leads Primer Labs, an indie game development company that has been working on Code Hero, an innovative game that’s meant to teach students how to code software. The game was said to be in development for Mac and Windows, with an iOS version also in the works.
Code Hero was a huge success on Kickstarter earlier this year, as Peake raised $170,000 in just a couple days. The funding was supposedly going directly towards the development of Code Hero, and backers were promised physical copies of the game.
Since early in the year, Peake and Primer Labs haven’t been responding to backers, and now it’s been revealed that the educational tool will probably never see the light of day.
Intel’s latest Ivy Bridge processor powers Apple’s 2012 iMac, and leaked details for Intel’s next-gen “Haswell” chips point towards the future in 2013. VR-Zone has gotten its hands on what it claims to be a leaked chart for Intel’s Haswell desktop architecture, slated to ship in the spring of 2013. Based on the leak, we may have the specs for what will power next year’s iMac.
Apple UI designer Robert Padbury took the above pic from Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California. The location is Caffe Macs, Apple’s world class cafeteria. As you can see, Apple has decorated its campus for the holidays, and others pause to look at the giant Christmas tree outside.
Apple is shutting down iTunes Connect from December 21st-28th to give employees time off to enjoy the holidays.
Source: Instagram
Believe it or not, Black Friday has already come and gone. Pretty soon the Christmas season will begin, and we’ll mark this midwinter festival by getting together with friends and family and continuing to drink and eat far too much.
Meanwhile, we also buy gifts for those same friends and family members, whether they want them or not. Luckily, we’re here to help, and if you follow our festive advice, your gifts just might make it into the “wanted” category.
From now until Christmas, Cult of Mac will be putting together holiday gift guys full of ideas for the special ones in your life, no matter what their interests or your budget. Today, we’re looking at gifts for people who are like, totally into their iPads. Totally.
Using Apple Maps in Australia is freaking dangerous. Like, if you’re just trying to get directions to your girlfriend’s aunt’s house, you might get navigated to a cave full a flesh-eating mutant wallabies. Or it might just navigate you off the road and into the wilderness if you’re not paying attention to where you’re driving, but whatever.
Samsung has decided that Apple’s Map fiasco in Australia should not go unnoticed, so they’ve created a guerrilla marketing campaign to lure people into using a Samsung Galaxy SIII because it has dependable maps.
Glassdoor, a jobs and career community, releases a list of the best places to work for every year. A lot of other websites comprise similar lists, but what makes Glassdoor’s list unique is that it’s based on feedback from anonymous employees who actually work at the companies.
For the last three years Facebook has been in the top three while Apple has appeared in the number spot in the past as well. For 2013 Glassdoor ranked Apple as the 34th best place to work at, while Facebook grabbed the number one spot.
The distinctive startup chime that greets every Mac owner when they start up their machine in the morning? That sound of a synthesizer playing a “slightly flat, by about thirty cents, G flat/F sharp chord” that tells you everything’s all okay and right with your Mac? Apple now owns a registered trademark for that sound. Hoorah!
Source: Patently Apple
New York has reportedly been pitched a proposal that would see a 3.2 million square foot computer chip factory built in the state… and Government Andrew Cuomo is slyly hinting that the proposal might come from Apple as part of a big to start building their A-Series iPhone and iPad CPUs domestically.