Hasta La Gadget!

Apple and Samsung have both rested their cases in the trial relating to trade dress and patent claims, but the two companies will be discussing the case one more time to try and settle things before the jury is sent away to consider a verdict. Bloomberg reports that the CEOs of both companies, Tim Cook and Kwon Oh Hyun, will hold a telephone conference call to see if any resolution can be agreed upon.

The two CEOs will converse with each other via phone, with lawyers from both companies reporting to the courthouse and Judge Lucy Koh afterwards in order to report the outcome of the call. If the two CEOs fail to reach any sort of agreement, then the jury will be instructed to overlook the case and form a verdict, with the judge indicating that deliberations could begin as soon as tomorrow.

The trial has been a heated one, and not just for the two companies involved. On Friday evening, Judge Koh suggested that one of Apple’s lawyers may be “smoking crack” when he attempted to call a large list of further witnesses in the case. Apple is seeking $2.5 billion worth of damages from Samsung, claiming that the South Korean company copied the iPhone design along with important UI elements such as icons.

Samsung, meanwhile, denies such allegations, arguing that previous cases of prior art suggest that the iPhone design isn’t unique, and that the company arrived at its current icon designs of its own accord. Samsung also asserts that Apple has failed to license certain patents, and has tried to argue that other patents that Cupertino holds are invalid. Samsung is seeking $422 million in damages as a result.

Apple and Samsung CEOs to discuss lawsuit ahead of deliberations is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Disney, pre-teen brainwash buzz mill and Miley Cyrus clone incubator, now seems to be on a new, stranger mission: anti-open source propaganda. Why is its latest sitcom suggesting using open source is a dangerous “rookie mistake”? More »

iFixit is always busy tearing apart the latest devices in order to determine what components lie beneath, but the firm has criticized Apple products (like the Retina MacBook Pro and new iPad) for their low repairability. How about products from other companies? The team have taken their tools to the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, giving a full list of what lurks underneath the chassis and determining that it has a high repairability score.

Samsung has packed quite a lot of tech inside the Note 10.1, including an Exynos 4 Quad processor clocked at 1.4Ghz. In order to accommodate S-Pen input, the touchscreen makes use of a Wacom W8008 digitizer, with an Atmel mXT1664S used as the touchscreen controller. A Wolfson Audio WM1811AE is used for audio duties, and Samsung has included its own NAND chips for storage.

iFixit notes that it’s easy to get inside the device, with lots of connectors used for components, indicating good repairability. While a fair number of cables have to be removed, the battery can be user replaced, with capacity coming in a 7,000mAh. iFixit also praises the EMI shields used in the Note 10.1, saying that they employ regular screws instead of being firmly attached. Better yet, they double as heatsinks for the components.

Finally, the dock connector can be replaced with relative ease, and iFixit says that the front glass and LCD can be removed and replaced individually. The firm gives the Note 10.1 an 8/10 for repairability as a result, a stark contrast to the 2/10 they awarded for the third-generation iPad. Apple’s tablet scored lower due to the difficulty in accessing components, with the battery also glued to the chassis to prevent removal.

[via 9to5Google]

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 gets thumbs up from iFixit is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Hobbyist Erik Kettenburg was concerned that the size and cost of Arduino stifled his ability to craft, so he set about developing Digispark. It’s an Arduino-compatible board, the size of a quarter, that offers a few pins at around a third of the cost of an Uno — so you don’t have to worry about taking projects apart when you’re done. Designed to be fully compatible with the Italian standard, it’s packing six I/O pins, 8k memory and a full USB connection amongst other things. The aim is to retail the gear for $12 a piece, and has been so popular that it’s made nearly $100,000 in Kickstarter pledges, smashing its original goal of $5,000. We’ve got video for you below, and you can still throw some cash Mr. Kettenburg’s way if you fancy getting your hands on one quickly.

Continue reading Digispark, Arduino’s unofficial kid brother, takes Kickstarter by storm (video)

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Digispark, Arduino’s unofficial kid brother, takes Kickstarter by storm (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Aug 2012 09:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Have you watched Real Steel yet? This movie which stars Hugh Jackman who is down and out on his luck, only to have his son’s faith in a battle hardened albeit retro fighting robot help him get his life back on track, is certainly awe inspiring. You too, might want to find your fair share of fighting robots, but such a high tech sport does not yet exist in this part of the century, leaving you to settle for something less imposing like the $99.99 Virtual and Terrestrial Battling Robots.

These are remote controlled robots which are fully well capable of engaging in intergalactic combat – regardless of whether you are at home, or over the Internet. These two-wheeled robots will rely on radio frequency waves in order to “strike” their opponents from up to a range of 49′ away, while the remote controls will enable rapid forward movement and hairpin turning so that enemy fire can be avoided.

Expect explosive sounds to be generated whenever an attack is launched for that added bit of realism, where each direct hit is logged by LEDs located on the remotes. The robots will also be able to hook up to a computer thanks to the included USB cable, while a website is there that creates robot avatars so that users can resume their battle with an online video game. More virtual “weaponry” downloaded to the robot itself are made available for the victors of the battles, and these robots will run on a quartet of AAA batteries each, while the remote controls consume one less battery each.

[ Virtual and Terrestrial Battling Robots copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]