Apple preparing to wage war once again with Samsung, adds Samsung Galaxy S 4 to list of patent infringements

by Harrison Kaminsky on May 14th 2013, 2:14pm
tagged Android, apple, galaxy s 4, iphone, lawsuit, Samsung

Apple is currently preparing for its second patent infringement trial against Samsung scheduled for spring 2014, and plans to present 22 products that it believes infringe iOS user interface patents. Unsurprisingly, yesterday Apple announced that it has analyzed the Samsung Galaxy S 4 after its release and has since “concluded that it is an infringing device and accordingly intends to move for leave to add the Galaxy S 4 as an infringing product.”

In order to add the Galaxy S 4 to this list, Apple will be forced to eliminate another Samsung product from the list, as Judge Lucy Koh has ordered the company to limit the number of patent claims and infringing devices ahead of the trial.

There really isn’t any specific information pertaining to why exactly Apple believes the Galaxy S 4 infringes upon their own UI patents, but we’re sure some more information will be released as we come closer to the beginning of the trial.

Source: SB Nation

TalkAndroid Weekly Recap for May 6 – May 12, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on May 12th 2013, 5:19pm
tagged Weekly Recaps

We had another busy week at TalkAndroid so here’s a recap of all the top stories. Google I/O is next week and we have the full scoop on the new and improved Nexus 7. Rumors say the Motorola X phone is scrapped for the time being, but a recent FCC filing seems to indicate it might actually be sooner rather than later. We weren’t expecting to see it announced next week, but could we get a surprise? Google Babel is expected to be unveiled under the “Hangouts” name, and recent developments support that Google will unveil an updated Nexus 4 with LTE. Lastly, Google will unveil cloud sync gaming with Play Games. There were a lot of new apps, including a couple of reviews as well. It’s time to get caught up and get ready for another exciting week.

Guides

How to remove apps from the Google Play Store ‘My Apps’ list

How to make a Drama Shot or Sequence Shot on the HTC One

Reviews

Boulder Dash XL [Brain & Puzzle]

» Read the rest

Recent Samsung patent filings reveal how flexible displays will work

by Robert Nazarian on May 9th 2013, 11:42am
tagged flexible displays, patents, Samsung

We were hopeful that we would see Samsung’s flexible display by the end of the year, but 2014 seems more likely. In the meantime, we can get a little taste of what is coming from a couple of patent filings. The first one is based on the overall design and interaction from the controller that detects how much the display is bent. The above image shows a controller that controls the image displayed based on bending information received by the sensor. The display can be bent concavely or convexly and the display will zoom in or zoom out accordingly. You can even roll the display. The touch screen is capacitive and includes a top film, a first layer, and second layer. The bottom includes the ”bending detection part”.

» Read the rest

TalkAndroid Daily Dose for May 6, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on May 6th 2013, 11:01pm
tagged Daily Doses

With hectic schedules, it can be hard to keep track of everything in your news feed. That’s why we created the TalkAndroid Daily Dose. This is where we recap the day’s hottest stories so you can get yourself up to speed in quick fashion. Happy reading!!

Guides

How to remove apps from the Google Play Store ‘My Apps’ list

Apps

Google Babel to be called Hangouts and might not have SMS/MMS support

Hardware

Intel announces new Silvermont architecture for low-power, high-performance applications

Phones

Red HTC One shows up on UK retail website

Benchmark for mysterious “Obake” smartphone for Verizon surfaces, does its best to remind us of the XT1055 smartphone in the process

» Read the rest

European Commission looking at Motorola Mobility’s potential abuse of patents against Apple

by Roy Alugbue on May 6th 2013, 2:34pm
tagged apple, Google, motorola, patents

It looks like Google’s Motorola unit may be in some potentially hot water because of Motorola abusing some of its advantages and power over Apple. According to some objections made the European Commission, Motorola may be abusing some of its extensive patent portfolio, not allowing Apple to have a fair opportunity or chance to at least agree on some sort of licensing terms. Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia highlights:

“I think that companies should spend their time innovating and competing on the merits of the products they offer – not misusing their intellectual property rights to hold up competitors to the detriment of innovation and consumer choice.”

So in other words, the EC believes that Motorola is well… “pulling an Apple” and abusing its patent portfolio so that Apple can’t get any bigger in Europe than it is now. What’s unknown at this point is which exact patents are identified as ones where Motorola is exerting its heavy hand and power, but we’re sure we will see more details of this potentially serious case soon. Naturally this is in the early stages now, but it will be interesting to see how the EC will move forward based off of its investigation and findings.

source: Reuters

Patent filed for Google smartwatch with touchpad functions similar to Glass

by James Gray on May 2nd 2013, 1:45pm
tagged glass, Google, smartwatch

As if Google Glass wasn’t enough, Google decided they want to take over your wrist too, filing patents for a new smartwatch with some features similar to Glass. This is definitely not the first Android-powered watch, or even the first watch design from Google, but it does seem to be at least very different from its competitors. Combining what appears to be two touchpads on either side of the watch’s face will allow for gesture-based control such as “pinch, stretch and scroll on a platform with limited space available for user input” not unlike Glass. However, with any luck the watch will not be voice-controlled.

Speculation aside, 2013 is looking to be a good year for Android-powered watches with Samsung also working on a watch of their own. Check back with us for more information on these projects as we get it.

Source: USPTO
Via: Engadget

Samsung and Apple file joint document for upcoming 2014 trial

by Roy Alugbue on Apr 21st 2013, 2:32pm
tagged apple, lawsuit, patents, Samsung

It just seems like the “minor disagreement” between Samsung and Apple will never end. News has surfaced that the two manufacturing giants filed a joint case management document with the Northern District of California court which aims to regulate what is presented and argued against in the upcoming trial, such as the number of patents identified involved in select devices. For now, each company agrees that the case will be limited to 5 patents each, though Apple wants a maximum of 12 claims, while Samsung slightly disagree and wants to limit the claim to 8 instead. Additionally, the upcoming trial currently indicates there are 16 devices involved, with Samsung arguing it should be far fewer, of course.

But regardless of what disagreements Samsung and Apple will make clear in court, we’re sure that Judge Lucy Koh will be eagerly awaiting to hear them.

source: FOSS Patents

TalkAndroid Weekly Recap for April 8 – April 14, 2013

by Robert Nazarian on Apr 14th 2013, 10:15am
tagged Weekly Recaps

We had another busy week at TalkAndroid so here’s a recap of all the top stories. The big news of the week had to be the launch of Facebook Home. Initially it’s only available on select devices, but unofficially it’s available to everyone thanks to patched APKs. Samsung officially announced the mid-level Galaxy Mega that puts big displays into budget-conscious pockets. We reviewed some cool apps too, and is that the DROID Bionic getting Jelly Bean? It’s time to get caught up and get ready for another exciting week.

Reviews

MMGuardian Parental Control [Tools]

Advanced Mobile Care [Tools]

Ice Rage [Sports]

Accessories

Nexus 10 flip covers now available in the Google Play Store

Apps – New

Facebook Home Now Live in Google Play

Facebook Home now available for everyone with patched APK

New redesigned Google Play Store (version 4.0.25) now available to download

» Read the rest

Germany’s Federal Patent Court Rules in Apple’s Favor and Invalidates Samsung Wireless Standard-Essential Patents (SEPs)

by Jason Bracey on Apr 12th 2013, 1:10am
tagged apple, european commission, Germany, lawsuit, patent, Samsung

Germany’s Federal Patent Court (GFPC) ruled in favor of Apple Wednesday when it invalidated the German part of Samsung’s European Patent Specification, “turbo encoding/decoding device and method for precessing frame data according to QoS” (EP1005726, including proposed amendments), which Samsung stated was essential for UMTS, the 3G wireless standard.

As is the case in most of these rulings, Samsung has the opportunity to appeal the decision to the German Federal Court of Justice. Samsung has sought injunctions against Apple over this, as well as other numerous SEPs. » Read the rest