Samsung has shamelessly ripped-off Apple‘s products every step of the way, but this has got to be a new — well, not low, but something. Not content to just rip-off Apple’s product designs, Samsung is now stealing the very actresses from Apple’s own commercials!
It seems it’s all RIM can do these days just to hang on to the, well, rim. A new report by Business Insider reveals the same predictable result in last quarter’s round of the Smartphone Wars: Apple’s subscriber base is growing, with Android also growing, but at twice the speed — and mostly at the expense of Blackberry-maker Research In Motion.
In the war between Apple and Android, there are no holiday breaks. That incessant back-and-forth could be seen in how many devices were activated during the Christmas weekend. According to a mobile analytics firm, Apple destroyed Android in places like the U.S., the U.K. and Germany, often spearheaded by the iPod touch and iPad.
Apple is unlikely to convince German courts to block sales of Samsung’s newly-revised Galaxy Tab 10.1N tablet. That’s the opinion of one report, citing comments that the device “has moved sufficiently from the legally protected design.” In this instance, looks are everything and the South Korean company appears to have dodged a legal bullet using cosmetic sleight of hand.
The courtroom battles between Apple and Samsung seem never-ending. The latest chapter: Apple now claims its South Korean patent pal is copying not just smartphones and tablets, but also their cases. During an Australian court hearing, Samsung’s lawyer said Apple believes the cases infringe 10 patents.
The rumor is now official: Apple, the world’s largest consumer of flash memory, has paid $500 million for consumer-grade flash memory maker Anobit. The move solidifies Apple’s supply of solid-state memory used by the iPhone, iPad, iPod and MacBook Air. The half-billion dollar price tag tops the inflation-adjusted $472 million acquisition of NeXT back in 1997.
Samsung dropped its lawsuit against Apple in Germany after discovering a Qualcomm licensing agreement could shield the iPhone 4S from 3G patent-infringement charges. The South Korean smartphone maker later denied it was letting Apple completely off the hook.
While most of the components crammed inside your iOS devices are built by low-cost Asian manufacturers, its dual-core A5 processor is actually built a little closer to home — at Samsung’s new factory in Austin, Texas.
Despite Apple’s best attempts to get the tablet banished from Australian soil, Samsung is now selling its Android-powered Galaxy Tab 10.1 down under, and it has a whole new marketing angle that’s guaranteed to attract attention. The Korean company is now labeling its device “the tablet Apple tried to stop.”
Samsung appears to have its eyes on yet another segment of Apple revenue: iTunes. There is no ‘iTunes killer’ out, but the South Korean company today hired a new executive to create “a new presence in media.” Taking on iTunes has become a cottage industry that usually ends with disappointment — but will Samsung be different?
You would think Apple, which hails from the land of movies and make-believe, would understand the old Hollywood maxim that all publicity is good publicity. If not, courtroom sidekick Samsung can certainly teach a refresher course. Turns out, all the legal battles trying to stop Galaxy tablets instead have been good PR for the South Korean company — at least in Australia.
For only the second time in recent memory, Apple has used its pile of cash to buy a hardware company and threaten survival of another tech industry. Reports say Apple is ready to spend up to $500 million to acquire Anobit, an Israel-based flash memory maker already used in the iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air. It probably didn’t hurt that the purchase could free Apple’s reliance on its courtroom buddy Samsung.
Founded in 2010, Digitude Innovations is a company based in Virginia that has decided against selling products or services, but chooses instead to sue other companies for patent infringement. Yes, it’s a patent troll. And according to one report, it’s doing all of Apple’s dirty work.
Apple recently requested that Samsung start designing its tablets differently. Why? So as not to infringe on the iPad’s precious design.
What would Samsung’s next tablet look like if Apple had its way? The answer: really, really bad.
Here’s a great sleight-of-hand trick from Samsung: trumpet that you’ve sold 300 million phones through November. While everyone is amazed that the South Korean company pumped out nearly six times as many mobile phones than Apple, people will forget the iPhone maker rules smartphone profits. Nice try, but it won’t work.
In the ever-changing patent wars, somedays you are the windshield and some days you are the bug. After coming up roses Thursday, Apple finds itself on the losing side against Samsung and Motorola.
While all the information we have on Apple’s iPad 3 is purely speculation at this point, it seems inevitable that the device will boast a high-resolution Retina display. The Retina display has been a big selling point for the iPhone and the iPod touch for a couple years now, and we’re all crying out for one in the iPad.
However, Apple may not be the first to bring a Retina display tablet to market, because Samsung is working on one of its own which could be unveiled in February.
Samsung has a hit on its hands. Unfortunately, it involves being thrown out of court — this time in France. To add insult to injury, not only did a French panel call an attempt to ban iPhone 4S sales “disproportionate,” but ordered the South Korean smartphone company to pay Apple’s legal bills.
We received some interesting insight into the contentious courtroom war between Apple and Samsung, thanks to a technical slip-up from the U.S. District Court in charge of the patent-infringement case. What was revealed appears more intriguing than the actual ruling denying Apple’s attempt to quickly block U.S. sales of Samsung’s Galaxy phone and tablet. Not so well hidden behind sloppy redaction was Apple’s own internal analysis finding Samsung’s devices would steal more Android than iOS users.
Although it is widely believed that Apple refuses to license its patents to competing companies, it turns out that’s a huge misconception. In fact, the company licenses a patent covering iOS touch-based scrolling to the likes of IBM and Nokia, and it offered the same deal to rival Samsung, who wasn’t at all interested. If it had taken Apple up on the offer, however, it could have spared the Korean company a whole load of trouble in court.
Just a day after the injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 was lifted in Australia, allowing Samsung to sell the device down under for the first time, Apple has won a one-week extension that will once again put the tablet’s launch on hold while it prepares its appeal to the High Court.
With the recent controversy surrounding Carrier IQ, U.S. Senator Al Franken has jumped back into the fight for privacy and sent an open letter yesterday to Carrier IQ asking the company to answer a number of questions concerning the company’s key-logger and data logging software. Senator Franken’s letter contains 11 pointed questions mostly asking why the company logs information, what type of information they’re tracking, who receives the information, and how is it used?
Carrier IQ’s software is currently running on millions of smartphones in the U.S. Apple released a statement on Thursday promising to eradicate all traces of Carrier IQ’s software with a new software update. Android manufacturer HTC released a statement today blaming carriers for the inclusion of CarrierIQ on their phones. Samsung also released a similar statement.
An Australian court has lifted the ban placed on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 allowing the Korean company to sell its Android-powered iPad rival down under. However, it had better start shifting them quick, because Apple is preparing to appeal the decision to the High Court.
Apple’s series of heated lawsuits with Samsung have put the two companies at odds, and Apple has been reportedly looking to other suppliers for hi-res displays. Specifically, Apple now has Sharp on deck to supply screens for the upcoming iPad 3.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple is adding Sharp to its roster of screen suppliers for the next-generation iPad. The displays will allegedly be of higher resolution and thinner than the screens found in previous generations.
While Samsung itself is quick to take Apple’s innovation and pass it off as its own, resulting in a number of lawsuits, the Korean electronics giant is still happy to mock the device that inspires many of its Android-powered smartphones. In a new TV commercial for its popular Galaxy S II handset, Samsung pokes fun at the iPhone and its devoted fans who wait in line for hours to pick up the device on launch day.
I think someone’s a little jealous that they don’t see endless queues when they churn out a new product.
To be fair to Samsung, it is rather humorous. My favorite bit: “You know, if it looks the same, how will people know I upgraded?”
[via The Mac Observer]