Hasta La Gadget!

Whatever you think of the continual legal tussles between Apple and Samsung, a UK court’s decision to force the former into publicly acknowledging that the latter did not copy its design will have seemed a little egregious even to the most ardent sammy-sympathiser. Well, that post is now live — on Apple’s site at least — and as you might expect, is studiously manicured to almost not feel like an acknowledgement at all. The opening legalese notes that Samsung did not infringe “registered design No. 0000181607-0001,” before going on to point out in perfect lay-terms the positive comments Judge Colin Birss made about its own slates. While Apple does confirm that the UK decision was further upheld by the court of appeal, it is also keen to remind you that other European legal jurisdictions (namely Germany) don’t share this opinion. Head to source to read the statement in full.

Continue reading Apple publishes ‘Samsung did not copy’ statement through gritted teeth

Filed under: Tablets, Apple, Samsung

Apple publishes ‘Samsung did not copy’ statement through gritted teeth originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Oct 2012 04:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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IDC’s third quarter figures are in, complete with a few unexpected shake-ups. The entire cellphone market grew 2.4% over the same time last year, but smartphones drove the majority of that, showing growth of 45.3% and beating the analysts’ expectations. Of the 179.7 million smartphones shipped, Samsung and Apple devices accounted for almost half of them, with the companies retaining their number one and two positions in the market, respectively. IDC notes that iPhone shipments didn’t increase, but this is somewhat expected given the latest iteration was released only a short time before the end of the quarter. What we find particularly interesting is that Nokia was ousted from the top five smartphone players and replaced by RIM. Whether Nokia’s upcoming Windows Phone 8 devices will put it back in contention remains to be seen, as does the effect BB10 and RIM’s new handsets will have on the market. ZTE finished fourth in the list thanks to increased sales in North America, with HTC rounding up the top five vendors with continued uptake of its power devices. With a bunch of new handsets coming to the table and the holiday season fast approaching, look out for even more surprises in the fourth quarter numbers, due early next year.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Samsung, HTC, Nokia, RIM

IDC: Samsung and Apple still kings of the smartphone market, Nokia loses top five spot to RIM originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Oct 2012 03:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic has come up with a prototype of a dry head spa robot, where there might be possible plans down the road that could see this prototype robot attached to a desk or bath. It will rely on robot hand technology which was used previously in their hair washing robot. Panasonic described the prototype this way, “For kneading the scalp while the hair is dry, people use dry head spas. So, we’ve added a robot hand we’d already developed for washing hair, and developed this, as a model for seeing how such therapy might feel.”

Before you begin, you will need to adjust the head fitting, followed by recording your hairline position. Once done, the robot hand will go ahead and apply some slight pressure to recover a 3D scan of your head. There is an integrated 3D tracking mechanism which will allow the two dozen fingers to follow the shape of your head automatically, where the arms will expand and contract in order to reach the center of your scalp. Apart from providing a gentle, kneading motion to your scalp, this robot can also be used when you are seated on a massage chair for a full-body experience.

There are no happy endings with this one, as you cannot talk to a robot. Hey, some of us do prefer just peace and quiet, while others prefer to vent their stress through words.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: HOSPI-Rimo communication assistance robot from Panasonic , Panasonic Introduces New Parallel Link Robot That Can Be Easily Educated,

Now this is a story that you do not hear about every day – it seems that folks living in Malaysia might have to be a wee bit more patient for an official version of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 to arrive at their shores, considering over 1,400 units of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 have performed a Houdini that the master magician himself would have been proud of, disappearing from the cargo depot at under the noses of the authorities at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

According to Mr. Azmi Murad, senior general manager of operations at Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, the airport’s operator, did mention that they have made the relevant police reports over the missing smartphones after a logistics company reported that the precious cargo of Samsung Galaxy Note 2s went missing on October 20th. The launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 in Malaysia was held by Samsung just a day before the reported heist, and I guess the thief(ves) must have figured out that the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is worth stealing, meaning that Samsung has managed to achieve a certain status in the eyes of consumers here, too.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: T-Mobile Galaxy Note 2 has LTE radio built-in, Samsung Galaxy Note 2 from Verizon has carrier logo on its home button,

Presales of Apple’s iPad mini and iPad 4th-gen have begun, with the online Apple store accepting orders for both new tablets ahead of delivery in November. Both the 7.9-inch iPad mini – priced from $329 – and the iPad 4th-gen – priced from $499 – are available in WiFi and WiFi + Cellular versions, though shipping times vary between the cellular/non-cellular models: if you want your new iPad soonest, you’ll have to forgo mobile data.

The WiFi-only models are expected to begin shipping on November 2, for both variants, though that’s likely to rapidly change in the coming hours as more preorders flood in. As for the WiFi + Cellular variant, that’s listed as shipping sometime in “late November” though you can still place an order today.

Both iPads run iOS 6, and have support for all the usual App Store apps as well as Siri, Apple’s digital assistant tool. The iPad 4th-gen has a Retina display, just as its predecessor did, though swaps out the old-style Dock Connector for a Lightning port, and the A6 processor for the new A6X chipset.

The iPad mini, meanwhile, runs at the same resolution as the iPad 2, though is designed to be more pocketable and a rival to Android slates like the Nexus 7. There’s more information in our hands-on.

Update: Looks like there’s another speed compromise to be made depending on color: if you want the white & silver iPad mini, you’ll have to wait two weeks, as opposed to November 2 estimates fro the black & slate version:

iPad mini and iPad 4th Gen on sale: WiFi ships Nov 2nd, 4G “late November” is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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