Hasta La Gadget!

During today’s proceedings at the Apple vs. Samsung patent infringement trial in Northern California, an internal Apple email came to light, where Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue suggested that the company manufacture a 7-inch tablet, anticipating a market for a smaller slate. The email reportedly dates back to January of 2011, and was sent to Scott Forstall, Tim Cook and Phil Schiller, according to The Next Web. AllThingsD added that the topic originated with an email from a reporter, who shared that they had switched to a 7-inch Samsung tablet from the iPad, because they found the smaller size of the Tab more appealing. Cue reportedly agreed with the findings, and made his own suggestion. That email hasn’t led to a smaller form-factor iPad to date, but with rumors heating up around an upcoming “iPad Mini,” it’s possible that Apple’s compact tablet could one day arrive. And Cue was right — there’s clearly demand for a 7-inch tablet.

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Apple SVP Eddy Cue wanted 7-inch iPad in 2011, internal email says originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Aug 2012 17:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  All Things D, The Next Web  | Email this | Comments

Mojang has seen the sort of success that most game developers dream of with Minecraft, but it looks like it’s now also found itself thrust into the rarely desirable world of patent lawsuits. As revealed by Minecraft creator Notch himself on Twitter, Mojang is being sued by the Texas-based Uniloc (which has also taken aim at Electronic Arts, Gameloft and others) over some alleged patent infringement in the Android version of Minecraft. That supposed infringement is not related to any of the distinctive gaming elements of Minecraft, but rather the means through which the game verifies users — something Uniloc alleges is a violation of patent #6,857,067, a “system and method for preventing unauthorized access to electronic data.” Not surprisingly, Notch has taken the opportunity to make his thoughts on software patents known (see his blog post below), and also make absolutely clear that he intends to fight the suit, saying that “if needed, I will throw piles of money at making sure they don’t get a cent.” That’s also prompted a response from Uniloc CEO Ric Richardson, who notes that he had no direct involvement in this particular patent or suit, but defends the company’s practices and insists that it is not a patent troll.

Filed under: Gaming

Mojang sued for alleged patent infringement in Android version of Minecraft originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 11:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  BBC News, The Word of Notch, Ric Richardson  | Email this | Comments

RIM has definitely not had that the best year: Its stock has fallen nearly 70% this year and they postponed the launch of BlackBerry 10 until 2013. We even heard the other day that RIM was selling off one of its corporate jets to save money. Today, the verdict at a court in San Francisco has dug RIM into deeper financial difficulty.
(more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: ClassCo sues Apple, HTC, RIM, Samsung and others for patent infringement, Kodak considering selling 1,100 of its patents,

Just like they have been, products like the One X and EVO 4G LTE will continue to pour through US Customs, as the ITC has now denied Apple’s request for an emergency ban against the alleged infringing products. The news follows Apple’s request for an emergency ban itself, in which the Cupertino outfit accused HTC of making false statements in order to bypass the terms of an exclusion order issued last December. In the most recent ruling, the ITC found that, “Apple has not demonstrated the propriety of temporary emergency action,” and went on to state, “the commission will not direct Customs to detain all subject HTC products because the commission does not have the information necessary to determine whether the respondents are currently violating the commission’s limited exclusion order.” Just yesterday, the ITC began an investigation to determine whether HTC’s products continue to violate a patent held by Apple, which would be a violation of December’s exclusion order. Until the ITC issues a more definitive finding, however, it seems that HTC can breathe a sigh of relief.

ITC denies Apple’s request for emergency ban against HTC products originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 22:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink 9to5Mac  |  Bloomberg  | Email this | Comments