Hasta La Gadget!

It has been a while since we last heard about the patent war between Apple and Samsung, but that doesn’t mean the two companies haven’t been busy going at each other. Earlier today, it was ruled that both companies can introduce new gadgets into their ongoing lawsuit, including the iPhone 5 and Galaxy Note II. Both sides claim the other’s gadgets infringe on its patents.

Back on November 16, Judge Paul Grewal had ruled that both companies could add products to the lawsuit, citing concerns that not allowing them to do so would prompt new lawsuits. Earlier today, Judge Grewal once again approved the adding of products to the lawsuit for both Apple and Samsung, with the former adding five.

Apple has tacked the Galaxy S III running Android 4.1, as well as the Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Tab 8.9 with wifi, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, and the Rugby Pro to its filings. Samsung, meanwhile, was a tad more conservative, simply adding the iPhone 5. The trial isn’t set to take place until March of 2014, so we’ll likely see more products added before it’s all said and done.

Neither Samsung nor Apple have made any public comments on the update yet. This is part of an ongoing lawsuit between the two companies, with both claiming harm due to the actions of the other. If you feel like picking your way through the legalese, you can check out the lawsuit Apple v. Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) Ltd., 12-cv-00630, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).

[via CNET]

Apple and Samsung add array of devices to patent lawsuit is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has released a projected roadmap of Apple products spanning the next 12 months, this map including no less than an iPhone 5S and a new iteration of the iPhone 5, complete with plastic casing. While an actual “official” leaked roadmap as such leaked from Apple would be a first sign of the apocalypse, we’re ready and willing to have a peek at this possible vision for the future, especially given the relatively good future foretelling we’ve seen come from Kuo specifically in the past.

What this map shows is an iPhone 5S coming in Q3, followed within weeks by a new design and release for the iPhone 5, complete with a set of case modifications we’ve been hearing rumors and suggestions about over the past week – how odd! These predictions include a device which has largely the same specifications as the iPhone 5 as it exists on the market today, but with a 1600 mAh battery instead of 1420, 8.2mm of thickness instead of 7.6, and a weight of 130g instead of 112.

Perhaps most interesting of all is the suggestion that the refreshed iPhone 5 will be coming with multiple different colors, not unlike the most recent push with the iPod touch. This release will also have plastic casing rather than aluminum, this keeping the cost of the device down considerably – and remind yourself here that these are all predictions from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, not assurances.

The price for this newly refreshed iPhone 5 will be between $350 and $450 unlocked (compared to the current $600-700 on the market today) and it’ll be completely free when purchased with a 2-year contract. This contradicts the pattern Apple worked with when the iPhone 4S was revealed, the “free” model being at that time the iPhone 3GS, aka the least powerful of the three models on the market. With this release there’d only be two.

This roadmap also predicts that there’ll be an iPad 5 released between the iPhone 5S and the modified iPhone 5, with a newly designed Retina MacBook Pro released at the same time. Also released with the iPhone 5S will be a modified iPod touch 5th gen and an iPod nano refresh. Predicted for Q1 is an Apple TV refresh of some kind, near the end of Q2 a new MacBook Air, and last in Q3 an iPad mini 2nd gen.

Lastly Kuo suggests that at the start of the fourth quarter of 2013 we’ll be seeing a new iMac and a new Mac mini – exciting times! Have a peek at our Apple hub for more Apple action through the year, and get ready for the multi-colored plastic of the iPhone 5 refresh – if that’s what you believe will be coming, of course.

[via MacRumors]

iPhone 5 in multi-colored plastic predicted in Apple 2013 roadmap is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week the folks at ChangeWave have shown off their quarterly consumer smartphone report, showing none other than Samsung as the big winner as far as market growth goes in the USA. This North American report covers the quarter leading up to the beginning of 2013, with the last quarter reported being December of 2012. This report asks several key questions, the main one being if those polled plan on purchasing a smart phone in the next 90 days, and if so, which one they’ll get.

This survey showed two things for Apple – the first of them being that after the iPhone 5 was released in 2012, the first analysis ChangeWave did showed that consumer demand was up to a staggering 71%. This percentage is, again, the amount of people polled who said they planned on purchasing a smartphone (and iPhone in this case) in the 90 days after they’d been polled. The second thing this chart reveals is that in the most recent study, that being December of 2012, the percentage for those looking to buy an iPhone in the next 90 days had fallen to 50%.

For Samsung the story is ever-so-slightly different. In that the quarter during their release of their hero phone (the Samsung Galaxy S III) they had higher demand than the quarter afterward, Samsung is quite similar to Apple. The percentages are quite different – 19% market penetration down to 13% rather than 71% down to 50%, but the trend is still there. Samsung’s most recent quarter shows the demand for Samsung smartphones to be back up to 21%, this just one quarter after their fall to 13%.

Also revealed in the report ChangeWave showed off this week is a showing of how satisfied mobile OS users were with their chosen operating system. This set of findings showed Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 to rise over Android in the charts with 54% of users describing themselves as “Very Satisfied.” This compares to Android’s 48% – Apple’s iOS collected 71% of respondents saying they were Very Satisfied, placing them well ahead of the pack.

[via 451 Research (ChangeWave)]

ChangeWave: iPhone demand down but still dominant is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple has made squeezing the supply chain an art-form, but the company must “adapt” to a world where budget handsets are gaining traction, former CEO John Sculley claims, amid whispers of a more affordable plastic-bodied iPhone. “Apple needs to adapt to a very different world” Sculley told Bloomberg Television, The Washington Post reports, arguing that the Cupertino firm he used to helm must “dramatically rethink the supply chain and how you can make these products and do it profitably” in the face of $100 smartphones.

“The differentiation between a Samsung Galaxy and an iPhone 5 is not as great as we used to see” Sculley points out, describing Samsung as “an extraordinarily good competitor.” However, the former chief exec also had some words of praise for Apple’s current CEO, Tim Cook, who he calls “exactly the right leader” because of the expertise in the supply chain he brings to the role.

Questions about Apple’s “budget” phone plans reignited earlier this month, with reports that the company was planning a “cheaper” version of the iPhone to better compete in developing markets such as China. However, the company’s marketing chief was swift to deny chatter of a low-cost model, arguing that such a handset “will never be the future of Apple’s products” and reiterating that Apple’s focus is on premium devices.

Nonetheless, Schiller’s denial still gave room for speculation, with suggestions that – just as the company did with the iPad mini – Apple could pursue a distinctly separate device from the existing iPhone, rather than make a cheaper copy. That could involve a return to the plastic chassis of the iPhone 3G/3GS, notorious rumor-monger DigiTimes suggests; the Taiwanese whisper merchant – which has such a mixed track record that we recommend great fistfuls of salt – claims to have heard from the supply chain that Apple will adopt an unusual mixed plastic and metal casing with some visibility of the internal components possible. That could arrive on store shelves by the second half of 2013, it’s claimed.

The chatter of cheaper iPhones follows reports that Apple slashed display panel orders in recent weeks, indicating lower than expected production of the iPhone 5. However, there are mixed opinions as to whether – if true – that’s down to reduced demand or continuing bottlenecks in manufacturing caused by ongoing production difficulties.

Apple must cut costs says ex-CEO amid plastic iPhone rumors is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’ve been seeing a major push for tablets lately, but if a new study from Arieso is to be believed, then manufacturers might want to rethink their strategies. As it turns out, Arieso has found that smartphones have passed tablets in data usage for the first time in the three years the company has been doing these studies. You’d think that given the larger screens found on most tablets, users would turn to those devices more often for Internet access, but it seems that the tides are changing as far as mobile data goes.

As far as data downloads are concerned, Arieso found that iPhone 5 users download the most. In fact, iPhone 5 users downloaded four times as much stuff as iPhone 3G users, and 50% more than iPhone 4S users, who enjoyed being at the top of the list after last year’s study. Interestingly enough, Galaxy S III took home the top spot for mobile uploads, which suggest that Galaxy S III owners are uploading more pictures and video than those on iPhone 5.

Just as well, those opting for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 are downloading 20% more than those on iPad, so while Apple has the smartphone arena on lockdown for the time being, it’s facing some pretty stiff competition in the tablet space, at least from the perspective of mobile downloads. To top things off, we’re discovering from this study that a very small number of people use a very large percentage of data. Arieso says one percent of users consume 40% of total downlink data, with the top 0.1% is responsible for 20% of that. The top 10% of users account for 80% of total downlink data, so it seems that there are a number of users who don’t download very many things on their mobile devices.

Keep in mind that in years prior, tablets came out on top in Arieso’s studies, so there might be a little bit of back and forth in the years to come as users continue to adopt smartphones and tablets on a broader scale. Still, it’ll be interesting to see what Arieso’s data says next year, especially with the battle between iOS and Android seemingly becoming a closer race with this latest report. Stay tuned.

Smartphones overtake tablets in data usage for first time is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.