Apple says Korean company must pay $40 per device for 'systematically' copying features to use on its newest devices
The smartphone world's fiercest rivalry is heading back to court again this week in the heart of the Silicon Valley, as Apple and Samsung begin a new trial - accusing each other, once again, of ripping off designs and features.
The trial will mark the latest round in a long-running series of lawsuits between the two tech giants that underscore a much larger concern about what is allowed to be patented.
Like the previous trial, held in summer 2012, the new one will be overseen by Judge Lucy Koh in the California district court in San Jose. Samsung is appealing against that verdict, where a jury found in Apple's favour on every count, though reducing its damages claim.
In the new trial Apple is seeking damages of $2bn, claiming infringement of five patents by Samsung devices sold in the US between 2010 and 2012, including Galaxy smartphones and tablets. Samsung is claiming infringement of two of its patents by the iPhone and iPad. Jury selection begins on Monday relating to data transmission and the use of video, audio and photos.
"There's a widespread suspicion that lots of the kinds of software patents at issue are written in ways that cover more ground than what Apple or any other tech firm actually invented," Notre Dame law professor Mark McKenna said. "Overly broad patents allow companies to block competition."
If Apple is successful, it could bring similar lawsuits against other Android handset makers, because the patents at issue are part of Google's Android software, rather than being particular to Samsung's TouchWiz software. Apple cannot sue Google directly because it is only when the Android code is implemented in hardware that infringement arises.
However the slow pace of lawsuits has raised the question of how effective such lawsuits are. Apple began the lawsuits when Steve Jobs expressed frustration at what he saw as "copying" by Android of iPhone features, and vowed to go "thermonuclear" in his attempts to stamp them out. But Apple has had very few concrete successes in courts, despite a number of successful cases, with Google's software now powering about a billion devices worldwide.
Apple filed the suit against the South Korean consumer electronics behemoth in February 2012 in what Koh called "one action in a worldwide constellation of litigation between the two companies".
The latest Apple-Samsung case will be tried less than two years after a federal jury found the South Korean firm was infringing on Apple patents. Samsung was ordered to pay $929m but has been allowed to continue selling products using the technology after Judge Koh denied Apple a sales injunction pending appeal. Koh ruled then that there was no clear evidence that the specific patents which Samsung had been found to infringe actually drove sales.
"Apple revolutionized the market in personal computing devices," Apple attorneys wrote in court filings. "Samsung, in contrast, has systematically copied Apple's innovative technology and products, features and designs, and has deluged markets with infringing devices."
Samsung countered that it has broken technological barriers with its own ultra-slim, lightweight phones.
"Samsung has been a pioneer in the mobile device business sector since the inception of the mobile device industry," Samsung attorneys wrote. "Apple has copied many of Samsung's innovations in its Apple iPhone, iPod, and iPad products."
In the upcoming case, Apple claims Samsung took a tap-from-search technology that allows someone searching for a telephone number or address on the web to tap on the results to call the number or put the address into a map. It also points to a Google Quick Search Box in the Android-powered Galaxy Nexus steals from patented technology used by virtual assistant Siri to answer queries in the iPhone. It also claims patents on autocorrection when words are typed. In addition, Apple says Samsung copied "Slide to Unlock," which allows users to swipe the face of their smartphone to use it.
Last week an Apple engineer who worked on the original iPhone told the Wall Street Journal about the intense pressure from Steve Jobs to come up with the company's first smartphone model - and how the team devised the slide-to-unlock feature. But Samsung is expected to counter that the idea had already been implemented by other companies on phones, which could render it invalid, depending on when Apple's patent was filed.
Samsung countered that Apple is stealing a wireless technology system that speeds up sending and receiving data. The most attention-grabbing claim in the case is Apple's demand that Samsung pay a $40 royalty for each Samsung device running software allegedly conceived by Apple, more than five times more than the amount sought in the previous trial and well above other precedents between smartphone companies.
Each side has 25 hours of court time to put their case and rebut the other side's.
If Apple prevails, the costs to Samsung could reach $2 billion. Apple's costs, if it lost, are expected to be about $6 million.
"You rarely get from the jury what you ask for, so companies aim high," German patent analyst Florian Müller said. "But in my opinion this is so far above a reasonable level the judge should not have allowed it." However the owner of a patent is under no obligation to license it at any price, unless it is part of a "standards-essential patent" (SEP) class - used in standards such as Wi-Fi or the video encoding system H.264 - in which case licensing at a "fair and reasonable" is obligatory. Neither side has any standards-essential patents at issue in the trial.
The problem, Müller said, is that each smartphone has thousands of patented ideas in it; Apple is challenging just five. Equally, a high proportion of those patents are SEPs, which are typically licensed for fractions of a penny per device.
Throughout the three years of litigation, Samsung's market share has grown. One of every three smartphones sold worldwide last year was a Samsung, now the market leader. Apple, with a typically higher price, was second, with about 15% of the global market. In the US, Samsung is now the provider of about a quarter of all smartphones in use, against 40% for Apple - making Samsung the second-largest smartphone maker there.
Apple claims the following Samsung products now infringe on Apple patents: Admire, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy SII, Galaxy SII Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy SII Skyrocket, Galaxy SIII, Galaxy Tab II 10.1, and Stratosphere.
Samsung claims the following Apple products infringe on Samsung patents: iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad mini, iPod touch (5th generation), iPod touch (4th generation), and MacBook Pro.
With the San Jose federal courtroom just a 15-minute drive from Apple's Cupertino headquarters, even jury selection can be difficult. In the previous case, several prospective jurors were dismissed because of their ties to the company.
The three battling operating systems that are featured in the hottest deices around have a number of updates and data to back up the fact that each one does have its own strength, but also proves that, because of that, innovation is becoming a key factor in the system that runs the devices in the electronics industry.
Android 4.4 Kitkat: In a study of crashes, it wins
Phone Arena reports about a study from Crittercism, wherein the study focused on the iOS 7.1 and theAndroid Kitkat OS and had come up with very surprising results in terms of the stability of the two OS.
Apparentnly, when taking into consideration the app activity, responsiveness and uptime from real-time requests over 1 billion users, the iOS 7.1 had crashed only 1.7% rate, making it the least of all the iterations since iOS 6.But the kicker is that it is still at a higher crash rate compared to all version for the Android 4.x Kitkat, which only had 0.7% crashes.
The main critique for the Android found in the study is that, despite its stability, developers still need to optimize their apps on this OS. A rather comprehensive infographic is in the link above, if you want to check it out.
iOS 7.1: Better received than Android counterpart?
While the study of crashes put the Android at a much better position, it seems that users are still more accepting of the iOS 7.1 compared to the Kitkat upgrade.
Design n Trend reports that data has shown a surprisingly vast difference in percentage of Android Kitkat vs. iOS 7.1 acceptance, with the latter having an 85% overall adoption rate for users, while the Android only had 8% total.
This is already a pretty good figure for the iOS given that it has previously been greeted with nothing but criticisms and requests for downgrading. Then again, it could also be that the latest version of the iOS 7 does have a smaller crash percentage compared to its predecessor, which could be the improvement that makes the difference.
Windows Phone 8.1 core possibly done, Store helps find great apps faster
The progress and updates for the Windows Phone 8.1 is anything but slow. In the span of two days, the news went from rumours of the Windows Phone 8.1 missing its scheduled preview at the Microsoft Build developers conference to being confirmed that the core has been completed.
Ubergizmo reports that the Windows Phone 8.1 might even be out for summer this year. The delay may have just been for a week, though despite the completion, the report states that the OS may be far from ready to roll out to manufacturers.
Still, this is a pretty good progress, despite reports pointing out that the BUILD conference will still not see the Windows Phone 8.1. However, there have been new leaks, particularly in the Windows Phone Store app department.
According to NDTV, the Windows Phone 8.1 OS has been seen with changes related to the app store, including the addition of new sections. There's a Quick Links section for new, top and featured apps and games, which are also classified as free or paid.
There's also a My App section for the installed apps and those requiring updates. Category selection of apps will also be possible. Lastly, there is the ability to follow active download with a status bar and even a smart way of suggesting different apps depending on the user's location.
TORONTO — BlackBerry Ltd plans to introduce high-end smartphones that cater to keyboard aficionados in the coming 18 months, in an effort to win back core corporate and government clients who have shunned the company’s touch-screen devices.
Chief Executive John Chen said in an interview that the company’s engineers have designed at least three different next-generation handsets that are being “kicked around right now.”
“The focus is going to be very keyboard centric,” said Chen, the former Sybase CEO who took the reins of the Canadian company just over four months ago.
Chen, viewed by tech industry insiders as a turnaround artist, wants BlackBerry to zero in on its core base of corporate and government clients, and on its services arm, which secures mobile devices on the internal networks of big clients.
He sees that strategy as the best way to reverse market share losses to Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics and other companies that make smartphones powered by Google Inc’s Android operating system. BlackBerry reported a fiscal fourth-quarter loss on Friday.
Last month, at the annual Mobile World Congress trade fair in Barcelona, BlackBerry unveiled a new “classic” model with a keyboard that boasts a return of the command keys that include ‘Menu,’ ‘Back,’ ‘Send’ and ‘End’ buttons, along with a trackpad. The device, dubbed the Q20, will hit store shelves before the end of 2014.
Last year, BlackBerry’s product launches emphasized full touch screens. And even the keyboard-equipped devices that it did introduce came without the command keys, alienating some of their die-hard fans.
BBM FOR DESKTOPS
Chen, who has been meeting with BlackBerry clients, said another item that may be on the agenda is bringing the company’s popular BlackBerry Messenger service, known as BBM, from mobile devices onto desktop computers.
Such a move, Chen said, would allow employees of big companies and government agencies to go mobile on group chats started on their PCs, without skipping a beat.
We are certainly going to take a very serious look at putting BBM on the desktop
“We are certainly going to take a very serious look at putting BBM on the desktop,” he said.
Last month, BlackBerry said that it would make BBM available on Microsoft Corp’s Windows Phone and the upcoming Nokia X platforms in the coming months. The messaging tool was last year opened up to users of iPhones and Android devices.
BBM, with over 80 million users, was a pioneering mobile-messaging service, but user growth has failed to keep pace with that of WhatsApp and other competitors, in part because BlackBerry had long refused to open the program other platforms.
The potential value of a messaging platform was highlighted by Facebook Inc’s acquisition of WhatsApp for $19 billion in stock and cash. The news had helped boost BlackBerry’s stock.
In February, BlackBerry outlined its plans to launch BBM Protected for enterprise clients in regulated industries, such as the financial sector.
Chen said BlackBerry is now back on solid financial footing after it sold the vast majority of its real estate portfolio and arranged a convertible debt financing in 2013.
The CEO said he was “very comfortable” with the balance sheet and plans to be cash flow positive or neutral by the end of this fiscal year. Still, any hope of turning a profit is quite a few quarters away.
“It is our plan to return to profitability at some point in fiscal 2016,” said Chen. “We need to generate cash and make money on a consistent basis, and it’s got to come from our big installed base of enterprise and if we can do that, then we can branch out to do a lot of other stuff.”
Amidst the endless number of leaks surrounding the Windows Phone 8.1 update, including several videos and images, it has been noted that the latest version of Microsoft's mobile operating system might offer speedy access to hot and trending apps in the Windows App Market.
According to the latest leak, the Windows Phone Store app in the Windows Phone 8.1 OS is seen with some noticeable changes, with several new sections.
The 'Quick Links' section in the Windows Phone Store app is said to include new tiles for New+Rising Apps, New+Rising Games, Top Free Apps, Top Free Games, Featured Apps, Featured Games, Top Paid Apps and Top Paid Games.
The 'My Apps' section, as shown in the leaked images, will let users see what apps they have installed and what apps require updates. Users will also be able to select the apps based on the categories for games, entertainment, lifestyle and more, as per WP Central. Furthermore, the latest Windows Phone 8.1 OS would let users follow active download via a dedicated status bar and get better suggestions of apps depending on the user's location.
If the leaked images are to be believed, the app and game listings have also been changed to give a fresh new look to the Windows Phone Store. Along with a new layout seen in the images, the menu options have been also tweaked. The app screenshots are said to appear in the same screen as the app description. Review section is expected to include a graph-based rating system for easy sorting of reviews. The app details like language, version number, and last update will have their own separate section.
Is Android Wear a revision of Google Glass, or a completely different vision? Either way, it'll have a huge influence on the rest of the wearable product landscape in 2014 and beyond.
Wearable tech has been a big, messy patch of tech wilderness. Then along came Google, announcing Android Wear and a future developer SDK. Google's not the first major company to enter wearables (Samsung, Sony), but this is a big moment nonetheless. It's the first time any software manufacturer has attempted to enter the wearables landscape and attempt to lay down some sort of order.
It's also Google's second wearables endeavor after Glass. The differences between Glass and its launch and what we know about Android Wear so far are quite, quite different.
Android Wear seems -- from the few products we've seen, the glitzy promo videos, and the documentation Google's laid out -- to be an initiative. Not unlike Glass, Google's 2013 wearable game plan, but different. It's 2014, and Google has a different game afoot. Android Wear is a new stake in the ground...and a line in the sand.
Android Wear watches are no prototype
As Google itself has been quick to point out, Google Glass as we currently know it isn't a finished product. It's a "project," a living prototype, and a chance for early explorers to try out new tech at a high entry price. Android Wear is all about real products that'll be ready to go by summer.
This also means that Android Wear represents Google's first actual foray into consumer wearables -- not Glass, which is really more of a high-profile experiment.
Defining smartwatches: simplicity, comfort
We don't really have a firm grasp yet on what smart wearables should be, look like, or emphasize. Google is laying down a sort of reference design for watches not unlike what happened with ultrabooks and netbooks. Will future watch-makers start assuming that the features Google is emphasizing will be the ones smartwatches need? Google is the biggest player with the most potential hardware partners, so the answer might be yes.
Google Glass actually feels comfortable to wear, but Glass is a product that by its nature is meant to stand out, and even stand in the way between you and the world around you. Google claims that Glass gets out of the way, but really, anything you're wearing on your face that has a lens and a screen is hardly discreet.
A week from now we’ll be packing our bags and getting ready to head to San Francisco. This is where Microsoft’s 2014 Build conference will take place. The focus is on developers and upcoming product innovation Microsoft is making for them. We’ll see what Microsoft has in store not just for developers, but consumers as well, when they unveil Window Phone 8.1.
Not only will developers be treated to an updated mobile operating system with new APIs and features, but we’ll also see changes on the backend. Changes to the Windows Phone Dev Center are expected to come as well.
The ability to reply to a user review in the Windows Phone Store is one change we’re sure a lot of developers would like. It’s easy for consumers to leave a bad review in the Windows Phone Store if they don’t read the app description. Developers would probably like to engage directly with consumers who prefer to leave feedback in the Windows Phone Store vs. other mediums like email, Twitter or UserVoice.
Our friends over at Windows Phone Daily spotted an interesting change in the Window Phone Store. You’re redirected to Internet Explorer if you try to report a concern over an app in the Window Phone Store to Microsoft. Here you’ll help Microsoft understand what the issue with an app is. You can mark ‘offensive content’ or ‘poor performance’ as the reason you’d like Microsoft to look into a given app. However a new option is the ability to select ‘Inappropriate developer response to my review’.
Last we checked, developers couldn’t respond to review in the Windows Phone Store. This could be an upcoming feature that Microsoft plans to support with Windows Phone 8.1 and updates to Dev Center.
Nokia’s new affordable smartphone, Nokia X, based on the Android open source project, launches on Sunday, March 23, in the UAE, the company announced.
Priced at Dhs439 in the Emirates, the device is part of the new Nokia X family of smartphones, unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February.
Measuring 10.4mm, the phone features a 4-inch scratch-proof display and exchangeable back covers that come in a range of colours including bright green, bright red, cyan, yellow, black and white.
The device runs on the Nokia X Software Platform and is powered by a1Ghz dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The dual-SIM device comes with 512MB RAM and 32GB expandable memory and a 3MP camera.
While users can download Android apps, the Windows interface will also allow access to signature Nokia features such as HERE Maps and MixRadio and Microsoft services such as Skype, Outlook and One Drive. People can access apps from Nokia store and all devices are also pre-loaded with third-party apps and games.
“Nokia X is more about harnessing smartphones at the mid-to low range price-point,” explained Ajey Mehta, vice president, Middle East at Nokia.
“We have a lot of equity, lot of recall and people still trust the brand in that price-point. It’s a loved brand in that segment of $150 or below.
“So we are targeting all those consumers who are moving to smartdevices from feature phones. We hope they will stay with Nokia as part of Nokia X, get familiar with the Nokia and Microsoft services, get familiar with the tile user interface, and when they go to their better and bigger phone, we hope they will choose the Lumia,” he said.
Nokia chose to use Android open source since it was impossible to bring down the Windows OS-based Lumia phones to the same price-range, said Mehta.
“The ultimate objective is to make Microsoft the next ecosystem and make Lumia a big brand under the smartphones segment. So Lumia on Windows phone remains our smartphone strategy; the Nokia X will be never be a flagship,” he added.
Neelesh Bhatnagar, the CEO of Emax, says he expects the phone to perform well in the market especially because of its pricing.
“I was surprised by the pricing of the X-series. After looking at the phone in Barcelona, I thought they will price it at about Dhs999 or something like that, but it’s coming for less than Dhs500. I mean for that phone to come at that price, it’s absolutely phenomenal. That will convert a lot of feature phone customers to smartphones.”
The use of Android open source will help boost sales, he said.
“I think that was one of the drawbacks of Nokia. Although the Nokia X is not an Android based phone, but now that Android apps can also be downloaded, that will make it compete very well with the other brands using the Android OS,” said Bhatnagar.
The Nokia X will be launched across the GCC market in the next 10 days. The Nokia X+ and the Nokia XL, the higher-end versions in the Nokia X family, are expected to be launched in the UAE in the second quarter of the year, confirmed Mehta. The pricing for both the devices will be announced closer to the launch date, he said.
Apple's iTunes Radio could be just the start of the company's streaming music plans. According to Billboard, Apple is mulling an on-demand streaming service that would let people listen to particular tracks without buying them, all as part of a subscription the likes of Spotify. Citing sources, Billboard adds that the company is also considering the creation of an iTunes app for Android phones, something that would mark a dramatic departure to the way Apple's developed its mobile software for the past six years.
As it stands, Apple's iTunes Radio is a free, ad-supported service that lets people create stations based on songs, artists, or genres. Apple's also curated it with celebrity DJs, and around new album releases. Users can remove the ads if they pay for Apple's iTunes Match service, which costs $24.99 a year, though they still have to buy individual songs for full price through iTunes. Billboard describes the talks between Apple and record labels about the prospects of a paid streaming service as "early."
Late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs famously dismissed the idea of bringing iTunes to Windows, and later Android as it gained popularity. Jobs was quoted in Walter Isaacon's biography saying he didn't "see an advantage of putting our own music app on Android, except to make users happy," adding that "I don't want to make Android users happy." Current CEO Tim Cook has treaded a decidedly different line, saying the company had "no religious issues" porting its software over.
Billboard's report follows one from The Los Angeles Times last week, claiming Apple was pursuing a number of exclusive album releases to drum up digital sales, and replicate the success of Beyonce's recent surprise album, which was was the fastest-selling album on iTunes. In the backdrop are declining album and individual track sales, which according to Nielsen SoundScan, were were down 13 and 11 percent respectively in the US for the first eight weeks of the year.
iTunes Radio was a reaction to a growing crop of streaming music startups, which offer a mix of free-to-play stations like Slacker and Pandora, to on-demand services like Spotify, Rdio, and Beats. Apple's used the service to push people to buy full versions of the songs from iTunes, though iTunes Radio has been limited to the US, and only recently Australia.
