On November 6, we reported that Apple and Samsung, in their seemingly never-ending patent war, sought to have additional items added to the existing lawsuit between the two companies. Judge Grewal was reported to have expressed concern that not allowing the companies to add products would trigger a new series of lawsuits. Now, ten days later, he has ruled in favor of the requests.
For its part in this, Apple will be adding the Samsung Galaxy Note, the Jelly Bean operating system, and the U.S.-version Galaxy S III smartphone to the lawsuit. Samsung, in exchange, will be adding the iPhone 5 in its complaint against Apple. In this case, the addition of Android Jelly Bean is only in relation to the Galaxy Nexus device.
Both companies have been caught up in a long battle over patents, with each accusing the other of infringement. Both sides have experienced victories and losses in various courts. The present lawsuit is set for trial in 2014, and concerns 19 Samsung devices, as well as Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Recently, a jury ruled that Samsung had infringed on six out of seven of Apple’s patents.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal had this to say. “Apple should think twice before opposing similar amendments reflecting other newly released products, e.g. the iPad 4 and the iPad mini, that Samsung may propose in the future.” For those of you up for some legal reading, this is the lawsuit Apple v. Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) Ltd., 12-cv-00630, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).
[via Bloomberg]
Apple and Samsung can add products to lawsuit, judge rules is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
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The pinch-to-zoom feature was a pretty amazing feature when first introduced. Now when interacting with touch-based devices, it has almost become second nature to pinch-to-zoom when trying to enlarge or zoom out of a webpage or image. That being said, is it possible that there could be a more efficient way of enlarging or zooming out of objects? While it remains to be seen if Apple’s method could prove to be a more efficient solution, the Cupertino company has recently filed a patent for a new method of zooming in to objects that could one day replace pinch-to-zoom. 
The point behind the silent mode on phones is to prevent it from ringing in situations where keeping silent is necessary. This could be during meetings, during the movies, while attending a lecture, on a date and etc. Unfortunately due to the vibration built into our phones and depending on the surface on which you place your phone, sometimes having the phone vibrate against the table loudly is as good as your phone not being on silent, and this is apparently an issue that Apple could be looking into. In a recently discovered patent, it seems that Apple is investigating a means to suppress the noise created by the iPhone when it vibrates.
Whether you love or hate the skeumorphic design employed in the iBooks app on Apple’s iOS devices, you have to admit that the somewhat realistic effect of the turning pages is quite a pretty one. Well it seems that if you were hoping to see what effect employed on other non-iOS devices in the future, you might not be able to as Apple has been granted a patent for the curling pages turning animation. Of course Apple could always license that patent out, but given that it is somewhat unique, we doubt that they will. For those wondering, the curling effect can also be found in iOS 6 with other apps as well, such as Maps in which the curl will reveal more options, and Calendar. In any case what do you guys think of the page curling animation anyway? Would you rather your pages flip instantly or did you like that touch of realism?
The smartphone has more or less become the indispensable tool for most folks these days, especially when you consider the fact that our smartphone more or less does everything we need – from handling calls and text messages to keeping us entertained with games, videos and music while we are on the go, not to mention ensuring we do not get lost in unfamiliar territory, leaving the home without a smartphone, or one that has no battery left, is definitely a no-no.
