On Friday U.S. Judge Lucy Koh denied Apple’s motion for a preliminary injunction against Samsung, which, if it had been granted, would have halted the sale of the Infuse 4G, Droid Charge, and Galaxy S 4G phones and Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the United States pending the conclusion of the lawsuit. Because the case isn’t scheduled to go to trial until July 30, 2012 this would have been both a strategic and symbolic victory for Apple in its ongoing legal battles relating to alleged infringers of Apple’s intellectual property rights or, as Apple has called them, “copyists.” For now, we will have to wait and see what else Apple’s legal army will come up with in this dispute with Samsung. Barring further developments, Samsung can keep selling its Infuse 4G, Droid Charge, and Galaxy S 4G phones and Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the United States at least until the case is tried next summer.

For those of you who haven’t been following this lawsuit, Apple doesn’t like the fact that some of Samsung’s products happen to look a lot like its own products and is suing to stop Samsung from allegedly ripping off its intellectual property (product design and packaging, design patents, and trademarks) and to collect damages for any harm Apple has already suffered. This ruling marks the most recent development in this saga and the redacted 65-page opinion offers some interesting insight into the case.

The LandingZone is a dock for the MacBook Air that boasts a Mini DisplayPort, 4 USB ports, an Ethernet port, and a handy clamp or managing cables and your power cord. There’s also support for the Kensington lock cords so you’re MacBook Air stays safe.

For $200, the LandingZone looks like a pretty solid docking station for your MacBook Air. The project on Kickstarter is needing to reach its $50,000 goal before shipping begins, and pledging right now guarantees you a unit when they roll off the production line.

In the 50s, some futurists predicted food pills instead of meals. It never happened.

The biggest reason futurists fail is that too many predictions are based on the possible, rather than the desirable.

It’s now possible for anyone to take all their nutrition from pills. But people enjoy eating food. That’s why we don’t take pills instead.

If you want to predict the future, you need to deconstruct human nature. You also need to know what will be possible. Where these two things intersect is where accurate predictions can be made.

And that’s why I can already tell you what your iMac will be like in a few years.

I have this terrible habit of doodling on things while I’m on the phone. Often it’s to jot down information that the person on the other end is feeding to me, but sometimes it’s simply to draw silly faces and obscure patterns to pass the time. When I don’t have a notepad to hand, almost anything could become my biro-covered victim.

But the Papernomad case for iPad is begging to be doodled on. It’s a tear resistant sleeve made from a patented material that consists of several layers of paper, cotton, and Australian sheep wool; and it’s completely biodegradable.

The U.S. International Trade Commission has dismissed a complaint from S3 Graphics against Apple, ruling the Cupertino company has shown no violation of the patents held by S3, and terminating the investigation.

Apple’s iOS devices, especially the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, are famous for their inability to endure even the smallest of drops without their displays shattering into a thousand tiny pieces. However, according to a patent application from the company, future iPhones could employ a fancy airbag system that prevents them from cracking when they hit the ground.

A couple weeks ago, we posted about TwelveSix’s PlugBug, a cute little attachment that plugs into your standard MacBook MagSafe charger and gives it a 10W USB port, perfect for charging your MacBook and iPad simultaneously.

The PlugBug’s an ingenious little idea, and I’m reviewing one now. However, PlugBug’s days might be numbered: a new patent says that Apple is working on a universal power adapter that can charge MacBook Pros, iPhones and iPads, all at the same time.

It’s going to be four months until Samsung can get patent infringement claims against Apple’s iPhone 4S before an Australian court. The nation’s federal court announced it will take up the charges in March, earlier than the Cupertino, Calif. tech giant wanted, but providing several months before any sales ban can go into effect.

In a press release sent out just moments ago, Apple has just announced that former Genentech CEO Arthur D. Levinson has filled the vacant Chairman of the Board position that Steve Jobs left empty by his death in October.

Levinson has been on Apple’s board since 2005 as co-lead director and served on all three board committees over that period.

In addition, Apple has announced that Disney President and CEO Robert A. Iger will be joining Apple’s board and will serve on the audit committee.

Press release below.

The Recording Industry Association of America has targeted a business called ReDigi that specializes in selling “used” iTunes tracks online. While ReDigi promises users its practice is perfectly legal, the RIAA is having none of it, and wants the company closed down.

It demands the company abandon its business and its “infringing activities,” and hands over its sales records to the RIAA. It also wants ReDigi to open its servers so that the music files held by the company cannot be exploited.