Hasta La Gadget!

The Apple vs Samsung (and vice versa) legal battle continues with Apple being found not guilty in an initial ruling this week in infringing four Samsung patents with the iPhone and iPad. The patents being spoken about here include technology connected with CDMA and UMTS mobile devices as well as a method for dialing a smartphone and a the manipulation of digital documents. Judge Gildea who presides over this case has made it clear that he finds no violation in respect to any of the asserted claims at this time.

It’s been ruled that Samsung has not shown any domestic industry for any of the four patents and that such a finding would be necessary for Apple to have done anything wrong legally. This ruling with the ITC requires that a domestic industry exist in order to rule against a party. Would that Samsung have provided the requirements here, they may have been able to ban the iPad and iPhone from import – but that’s beside the point since there’s no Industry where one does not exist, so to speak.

This determination is still able to be reviewed by the six-member Commission that makes up the decision-making body of the ITC. The claims in this case deal with the following items, thus says Foss Patents this week:

Claims 75-76 and 82-84 of U.S. Patent No. 7,706,348 on an “apparatus and method for encoding/decoding transport format combination indicator in CDMA mobile communication system” (an allegedly UMTS-essential patent)

Claims 9-16 of U.S. Patent No. 7,486,644 on a “method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving data with high reliability in a mobile communication system supporting packet data transmission” (allegedly UMTS-essential)

Claims 5, 9-10 and 13 of U.S. Patent No. 6,771,980 on a “method for dialing in a smart phone”

Claims 1-5 of U.S. Patent No. 7,450,114 on “user interface systems and methods for manipulating and viewing digital documents”

This is part of a grand war between the two giant hardware companies, both of them having massive stakes in the mobile industry and one whole heck of a lot to lose. Apple recently won a giant case vs Samsung in the USA that resulted in $1.5 billion in damages for mobile patents as well. Stay tuned as these companies keep up the boxing for some time to come!

Apple found not guilty vs Samsung in initial ITC ruling is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Verizon has never totally been on the Google Wallet bandwagon. First, Big Red refused to support the mobile payment system, citing its dependance upon proprietary hardware. Months later, some folks managed to gain access through the Play Store, but it looks like that the VZW GNex is, once again, Wallet-free. Word on the web has it that those Nexus owners are now, upon opening the app, greeted by a message saying that their version of Google Wallet is no longer supported, and that they need to update the app. Problem is, the Play Store is telling folks that their devices are no longer supported. We’ve confirmed the issue ourselves, but we don’t know if this a temporary problem, or if it’s a permanent move. We’ve reached out to both Google and Verizon for comment, and we’ll let you know as soon as we hear back.

[Thanks, Tim]

Update: Verizon responded to our requests, but declined to add any new comment on the matter. Instead, VZW reiterated its previous statement that “Verizon doesn’t block applications. Google Wallet is different from other widely-available m-commerce services. Google Wallet does not simply access the operating system and basic hardware of our phones like thousands of other applications. Instead, in order to work as architected by Google, Google Wallet needs to be integrated into a new, secure and proprietary hardware element in our phones.”

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Verizon Galaxy Nexus owners lose Google Wallet access (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Sep 2012 16:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Android Community  | Email this | Comments

Allegations of misleading advertising practices among Canada’s big telecom companies has been a recurring subject for some time, and it’s now been brought to the fore once again in the form of a multi-million dollar lawsuit. The country’s Competition Bureau announced today that, after a five-month investigation, it has decided to sue all three carriers and the industry group that represents them over ads that promote so-called premium texting services. In addition to demanding that such ads stop, the government agency is seeking full customer refunds for any charges incurred and a $10 million penalty from each carrier, plus an additional $1 million from the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association. For its part, the CWTA has unsurprisingly taken issue with the lawsuit, saying in a statement that it reached out to the Bureau last year to discuss the issue, and that its actions today “could disrupt the text message services, such as severe weather alerts, charitable donations, flight status updates or sports scores, on which millions of Canadian consumers depend.” You can find that full statement, and the Competition Bureau’s announcement of the lawsuit, at the links below.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Canada’s Competition Bureau sues Bell, Rogers and Telus over alleged misleading advertising originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Sep 2012 16:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Competition Bureau, CWTA  | Email this | Comments

Given that sand finds its way into every nook and cranny of your person when you go for a swim, the prospect of dining on the beach is even less appealing. So what possessed artist Victor Castanera to create a series of plaster-based dinnerware cast from the natural contours of a sandy beach? More »

If you were miffed at having to pay $29 to adapt your existing iPhone accessories to the iPhone 5‘s newfangled Lightning connector, fear not: Apple will throw in the first adapter, gratis. Extras will still run the aforementioned sum, which Cupertino has justified by saying the units will include chips to enable features like analog and USB audio along with syncing and charging. There’s also a $39 cable version available, but neither format will let you output HDMI or VGA video — there’s more (as yet unpriced) adapters coming for that.

Update: Well, the plot thickens. We’re now hearing reports that the above wording is a mistake, and that the adapter isn’t included after all. The information comes via a reader of The Next Web, who advises Apple sales support informed them it was an error. Of course, we’re reaching out to get the final word on the matter. However, that won’t be much consolation to those who made a purchase based on incorrect info.

Update 2: The above wording is now nowhere to be found on Apple’s site, suggesting that it was indeed an error. We’ll keep you posted if we hear anything more.

Update 3: Well, we’ve just received word from Apple confirming that the iPhone 5 will not ship with a 30-pin to Lightning adapter, which is a bit of a bummer. But, it does come with a Lightning to USB adapter, so if your current accessories have a USB port, all hope is not lost. Sadly, the specific iPod out functionality found in BMWs and Minis is not supported. The full comment is below.

The Lightning to 30-pin adapter does not come in the box with iPhone 5. It is sold separately. However, the Lightning to USB cable does come with iPhone 5 for connection to AC chargers and other devices… The Lightning to 30 Pin adapter supports analog audio output, USB audio, as well as syncing and charging. Lightning to VGA and Lightning to HDMI cables will be available in the coming months.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Apple’s iPhone 5 will arrive with a free Lightning to 30-pin adapter (update: Apple officially says no it won’t) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Sep 2012 16:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TNW  |  Apple Store  | Email this | Comments