Samsung - page 53

Apple and Samsung are in the midst of what is perhaps the most heated patent lawsuit in history, but that doesn’t mean the two companies won’t still steal from each other’s camps. One of Samsung’s most prominent chip designers has joined Apple, the Korean company’s sworn enemy. “Veteran” processor guru Jim Mergard could help Apple create proprietary chips for the Mac, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Mergard’s expertise could mean that Apple will eventually switch from Intel on the Mac to its own processors, like its in-house “A” chip series for iOS devices.

While Tim Cook has been CEO, Apple’s stock price has been soared into the stratosphere. Some believe Apple’s incredible growth is bound to plummet in the near future because, come on, how many more iPhones and iPads can they really sell to their U.S. and European customers?

In a new story for Fortune, Bill Powell argues that the sky’s still the limit for Apple, they just have to win in China. But Apple – with all its power and iconic devices that consumers lust for – is actually an underdog in the battle to win the Chinese handset market, and they’re going have to learn some new tricks if they hope to beat Samsung and others.

Apple’s overactive approach to defending its patents may sometimes make it look like one of the industry’s biggest bullies, but you may be surprised to hear that the Cupertino used to patent hardly anything. In fact, it only began patenting its inventions after years of patent suit losses, one of which saw the company fined $100 million for creating the iPod.

Steve Jobs was passionate about a lot of things: simplicity, challenging the status quo, creating products that people loved, etc. He was a man of many shining strengths and deep personality flaws. As one of the most dynamic titans to ever grace the tech industry, one can only imagine what Jobs would think of Apple in 2012. How would he have handled Mapgate? We’ll never know.

Based on what we do know about the late CEO, there are several things Jobs would have definitely been proud of at Apple in 2012.

AT&T has announced that they will be the first to carry the 16MP, Android 4.1 touting, 4G Samsung Galaxy Camera we told you about back in August. AT&T is taking a gamble on this unique product, and I, for one, am curious to see how it turns out. I personally don’t believe there’s a market for it, but you never know (just look at the Galaxy Note).

Apple has climbed up to the second spot in Interbrand’s “Best Global Brands” survey of 2012, with an estimated brand value of $76.5 billion. The Cupertino company is second only to Coca-Cola, worth an estimated $77.8 billion, and it leaves IBM, Google, and Microsoft trailing behind.

According to a new report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, one in four adults in the United States owns a tablet of some kind. Two thirds of those adults have purchased them in the last year, according to the study, which was reported by The Economist. Further, the data doesn’t even include the new Google Nexus tablet, nor the new Kindle Fire HD from Amazon.

Is iPad in trouble? Is this a new era for Apple, one in which it must play catch up? The numbers of units do seem to tell that story.

I’m not buying it, though.

Samsung has asked Judge Lucy Koh to throw out the patent infringement verdict that saw Apple awarded more than $1 billion in damages this summer and order a new trial. The Korean electronics giant claims that the foreman of the jury, 67-year-old Velvin Hogan, is guilty of misconduct after he failed to answer the court’s questions truthfully and did not disclose a potential conflict of interest.

We had a sneaking suspicion Samsung would add the iPhone 5 to its patent infringement complaint against Apple shortly after the device made its debut. And the Korean electronics giant has now done exactly that, asking Judge Paul Grewal for permission to include the device in its latest countersuit against Apple.

You never meant for this to happen. In your rush to dive into the ocean, you forgot to take your iPhone out of your pocket, and didn’t realize it till you came out of the water. It’s a disaster. You leave your drowned iPhone 4S in a bag of rice for three days, praying to God, Allah, Jehovah, Moses, Shiva, and Oprah Winfrey that some magical power will make it work again. It doesn’t. You blow-dry it. Nada. Every conceivable way to resurrect your iPhone is met with failure and a blank screen.

Because you know the iPhone 5 is coming out in three months you decide not to waste your money and upgrade eligibility. Once you get home you rummage through your desk and find the Galaxy Nexus Samsung sent you three months ago. You sit in your chair staring at it almost hesitant to turn it on. You run your hands along the contours of its plastic grey body, pop in your new SIM card, take a deep breath, and then you dive in. This is it – your new digital home and the beginning of a three month exile into Android.

Nokia might have fudged some of their demos of the Lumia 920’s camera, but there’s no denying that the PureView technology that camera is based is incredibly impressive, especially in low-light. The iPhone 5, though, is no slouch when it comes to low-light either. How do they stack up?

Engadget recently went to Nokia’s Tepere, Finland R&D complex and were given access to a testing suite, where they were able to do low-light comparisons between the Lumia 920, the iPhone 5, the HTC One X and the Galaxy S III. Using each camera, they took photographs of a static scene at around 5 lux, which is about the same lighting level you’d see on a dimly lit city street in the middle of the night.

While the Lumia 920 was the clear winner, the iPhone 5 wasn’t too far behind, especially when compared to the absolutely terrible efforts of the HTC One X and Galaxy S III.

Source: Engadget

Google chairman Eric Schmidt is currently on a tour of Asia, where he announced the company’s $199 Nexus 7 tablet in Tokyo on Monday. During his announcement, Schmidt found some time to talk about Apple and its patent wars against other companies. Schmidt revealed that while Apple is a “very good partner,” he doesn’t agree with patent wars, and feels they “prevent choice” and innovation.

Samsung is hell bent on telling iPhone users that they are all a bunch of hipster sheep that missed the cool wave, by showing them that Samsung Galaxy S3 users are a bunch of hipster sheep that switched their loyalties from Apple to Samsung.

It’s probably not going to work, but they just made two more commercials to try to convert us. What do you think of Samsung’s marketing strategy? Will it ever work or influence you? Let us know in the comments.

Rumors had suggested that Samsung would add Apple’s iPhone 5 to the list of devices involved in a patent infringement suit between the two companies, and it looks like that’s going to happen. The Korean company has confirmed that it expects the latest iPhone to infringe the same patents the iPhone 4S does, and that it will be adding the handset to its case after it has had time to “analyze” it.

There goes Samsung. Trying to win over iPhone users by releasing a new commercial that calls them a bunch of dumb hipster sheep. Again. Samsung isn’t going to win any fans by releasing these commercials every year, but to be honest, I actually enjoy them.

I mean, I don’t think the Samsung Galaxy S3 is better than the iPhone 5, or that people who wait in line for the new iPhone are stupid. But you totally hear Apple fans say ridiculous things like, “this phone is going to be like a precious jewel,” or “they should have a priority line for people who have waited five times.”

There’s no point in taking your smartphone preference too seriously, and even though Samsung’s newest commercial is almost offensive, it’s also kind of funny.

On Tuesday, the first Geekbench benchmarks surfaced for the iPhone 5. Those have been followed by SunSpider Javascript benchmarks which show Apple’s latest iPhone 5 beats everything when it comes to Javascript performance. It’s twice as fast as the iPhone 4S, and significantly snappier than high-end Android handsets like the Samsung Galaxy S III, the HTC One X, and the new LG Optimus G.

Check out the image above, and then marvel that Samsung put this together for the court case it lost to Apple a couple weeks back in US District Court. Judge Lucy Koh understandably excluded the slide from Samsung’s final argument documents – these comparisons have nothing to do with the actual merits of the case, but rather show that Apple was asking for a lot of money in damages.

Regardless of the facts, though, this image is pretty hilarious. It does show what a crazy amount of money companies are taking in and/or losing in our current “touch economic times,” rendering the phrase meaningless when set next to these kinds of figures.

Samsung can’t catch a break. Samsung Mobile USA posted the following question on their Facebook page – “If you could only take one electronic device on a deserted island, what would it be?”

They probably figured fans would respond that they would totally take their Galaxy S3 or some other Samsung device that no one cares about. But when you’re on a fantasy island, you probably want the best phone possible, right?

So rather than receiving a mob of responses declaring their desire to never be parted with their Galaxy S3, a lot of people just said that they wanted an iPhone 5. Or an electric boat.

Sorry, Samsung. Maybe people will actually want the S4?

Source: Facebook

Via: Thomas Lampo

Complaining about Apple gypping you by changing its terrible, bulky, hard-to-use 30-pin dock connector for the sleek, double-sided Lightning connector? Then take a look at the alternative from Samsung. One of the few things it didn't copy from Apple was the giant connector, but that's not to say it got anything right.

When Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 last week, the company promised that its custom A6 chip deliver performance twice as fast as its predecessor, the iPhone 4S. But according to the handset’s first benchmarks, this isn’t just the fastest iPhone yet — it’s also one of the most powerful smartphones money can buy.

Remember Samsung’s dishonest, offensive “It Doesn’t Take A Genius” ad that, as my colleague Alex heath wonderfully put it, tried to proclaim the Samsung Galaxy SIII to be a better handset than the iPhone 5 by making its “contrived spec list” longer?

Well, two can play at that game. If you’re going to selectively leave features off of one phone to make yours look like you can do more at it, well, we’re only a quick Photoshop away from turning the tables.

As a final note, I love what this ad says about Samsung. They still just don’t get it: they’re still playing the spec game when Apple has built its billions upon the true fact that no one gives a shit about specs anymore. The proof is in the experience.

Source: Reddit

Look at that. Just look at it. That’s Samsung’s latest anti-iPhone 5 advert. It’s absolutely ridiculous. Not only is it one of the most slanted product comparisons I’ve ever seen, but it’s got a pitiful message: “Our phone is better because our contrived spec list is longer!”

Add another mark in the “winning” column for Apple today, as a judge from the US branch of the International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that Apple did not infringe any of the four patents brought before the commission by Samsung.

Judge James Gildea posted his ruling in a short notice on the court’s website. He also found that Samsung was unable to prove that it had a “domestic industry” that used the patents in question. This last bit has to do with a requirement of the ITC that the patents being brought before the court must actually be used in the same country as that court. This ruling is preliminary; the full ITC panel will review the ruling early next year.

If you are one of the many who were holding off on buying a new smartphone until after Apple unveiled the iPhone 5, it’s now time to make a decision. You’ve seen what the iPhone 5 has to offer and now it’s time to compare it to what’s available on Android. I’ll show you a few options, how they compare to the iPhone 5, and then you can decide what’s the best option for you. Ready to explore?

The iPhone 5 will probably be my first iPhone. Up until now, I have gotten by with a combination of dumb phones (and recently something even worse), an iPod Touch and an iPad. I have also tossed a camera into my bag more often than not upon leaving the house. Why? Because I almost never never make phone calls. Because I don’t want to sign a cellphone contract. And because my other gadgets do the job just fine. So why am I buying an iPhone now, after five years of holding out?