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iPhone News


Tuesday Recap: March 7 Rumors, iWallet, Android Market Becomes Google Play

Google Play cloud sync’Twas the night before Apple’s March 7 media event and not a creature was stirring — but the same cannot be said for our daily recap! Yes, we’ve got those last-minute iPad 3/iPad HD rumors everyone wants to read, but also a few patent-related updates and some news on how Google is reworking its Android Market to be more like iTunes. Okay, you can at least feign surprise, can’t you? Without further ado, here’s what’s making news for this Tuesday, March 6, 2012.

Report: No A6 Chip for iPad 3, But 4G LTE and Apple TV A-OK?

Our Tuesday recap wouldn’t be complete without a few final rumors leading up to tomorrow’s Apple media event, right? Sources are telling The Verge that a new iPad 3/HD is a lock with 4G LTE for both Verizon and AT&T, but the third tablet will not come sporting a quad-core A6 processor as previously rumored. Instead, we’ll apparently be getting the “A5X, a dual-core SoC said to have a more powerful GPU.” According to their sources, the A6 is being held back for this year’s launch of the iPhone 5, but the next iPad will beef up the RAM to make up for it. Verizon and AT&T will have separate models available — sorry, no dual-mode iPad 3, folks — and “a third international model” will also tackle only CDMA and GSM 3G data, similar to what the iPhone 4S already does. Last but not least, that new Apple TV we reported about this morning appears to be a lock, but still no word on what the device might bring to the table beyond 1080p.

Apple Awarded Patent for iWallet

For Apple fans who think the folks in Cupertino are just sitting on the near-field communication sidelines letting Google have all the fun, read on! Patently Apple is reporting “Apple has received a major Granted Patent that generally relates to establishing financial transaction rules for controlling a subsidiary financial account and, more particularly, to various systems, methods, and electronic devices configured to provide for the establishment of such rules.” That would be a major iWallet patent which “reviews credit card transaction rules and show us that the credit card companies will be sending statements directly to your iTunes account.” Sound exciting? It is, but remember: iWallet patents have been floating around since May, 2010 and Apple has yet to unleash anything which could even remotely fit the bill. Given the company’s annual refresh of the iPhone, we’d say 2012 has a good chance of being the year we’ll see an NFC chip inside the handset, but no need to go stuffing your iTunes account with cold, hard cash quite yet.

Court Orders Google, Motorola to Pony Up Android Data to Apple

Bloomberg is reporting that Apple may soon be granted a peek into the development of Google’s Android operating system. According to U.S. Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner, “the Android/Motorola acquisition discovery is highly relevant to Apple’s claims and defenses,” despite the objections of Google attorneys. The discovery information from Google and Motorola outlines the pending .5 billion acquisition of the hardware maker, which is a more recent development in Apple’s patent lawsuit against Motorola Mobility filed in 2010. Judge Posner has “scheduled back-to-back trials before separate juries starting June 11,” with the first of these addressing “six Apple patents, and the second will cover three Motorola patents.” For their part, Google’s lawyers claim “Google’s employees and documents are not within the ‘possession, custody, or control’ of Motorola, and Motorola cannot force Google to produce documents or witnesses over Google’s objections.” Of course, it could just be a matter of time before Apple goes after Google directly…

Android Market Converted Into iTunes-Style Google Play

The Google Official Blog announced today that the Android Market you know and love is getting a bit of a facelift — not to mention a whole new name. Google Play is being rolled out this week in an effort to streamline the search giant’s mobile marketplace as “a digital entertainment destination where you can find, enjoy and share your favorite music, movies, books and apps on the web and on your Android phone or tablet.” Translation: Android Market is a bit more like iTunes now. But hey, that’s okay — Google Play continues to offer free storage for up to 20,000 songs, the ability to download more than 450,000 Android apps, what’s touted as “the world’s largest selection” of ebooks and thousands of movies. To celebrate the rollout, Google Play is offering a “Seven Days to Play” sale with 25-cent music, 49-cent apps and 99-cent movies. Google Play will ultimately replace Android Market on devices in the coming weeks as well.

Apple May Be Willing to Settle Over Android Patents for -15 Per Device

MacRumors is reporting that Apple may be seeking settlements in its long-running patent battles with Samsung, Motorola and others. According to Dow Jones Newswires, Apple “has put forth proposals to Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (MMI) and Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.SE, SSNHY) to settle some pending litigation in exchange for royalty payments to license its patents, among other terms.” Statements made in court in at least one of these suits indicate “Apple had some discussions with companies such as Samsung before initiating litigation” — which means the move by Cupertino is nothing new. So how much is Apple willing to settle for? “Between and per handsets for some of its patents,” which amounts to anywhere between one and 2.5 percent of net sales — ironically, the same amount Motorola attempted to bilk out of Apple for the use of its own patents.

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Apple Seeks Injunction Against Samsung Galaxy Nexus (and Android 4.0)

iPhone 4S vs. Galaxy NexusIf you’re trying to keep score at home with all of the smartphone patent battles flying back and forth, it’s time to add another one to the heap: Apple is looking to get the Samsung Galaxy Nexus banned here in the U.S., but it may have more to do with the software than the actual hardware.

The Verge is reporting that Apple has filed a preliminary injunction here in the United States in an effort to block sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the third and latest Google-branded handset which is currently only available from Verizon Wireless — although grey market GSM unlocked handsets are also plentiful if you know where to look.

While Apple going after Samsung is nothing new, it’s not the Galaxy Nexus hardware that’s at issue with this latest motion. Instead, it appears to be Android 4.0 (also known as “Ice Cream Sandwich”) that’s the real target, judging from the four software patents listed in the preliminary injunction.

One of them — #5,946,647 — already comes with an Apple victory from last December, when the U.S. International Trade Commission banned the sale of several Android-based HTC devices here (mostly older models such as the Sprint Evo 4G and Verizon Droid Incredible). However, the remaining three patents were all issued in late 2011.

#8,086,604 dates back to 2000 and “covers searching multiple sources of information (on device and elsewhere) through a single search interface, such as Siri,” which appears to target Android’s own voice-activated search. #8,046,721 covers the familiar “slide to unlock” feature introduced with the iPhone in 2007, although the patent filing dates back to 2005. Finally, #8,074,172 was filed in 2007 and “covers providing word suggestions while the user types on a touchscreen keyboard.”

Collectively, the four patents appear to be a pretty massive assault against the latest and greatest version of Android, which has only begun to roll out to other devices including tablets — so this is definitely not the last we’ll be hearing about this case.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

 

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Tuesday Recap: Path Privacy Flaw, Chrome for Android, Corel Hearts Roxio

Path app in handAnother day, another iOS developer in hot water for playing fast and loose with user data. This time it’s Path, a favorite of the MacLife.com team — but fear not, the sky isn’t falling, as you’ll discover from reading onward. It’s otherwise been a moderately quiet day on the Apple home front, so we’ve collected a few related tidbits from competitors like Google Android and Research in Motion to keep you entertained for this Tuesday, February 7, 2012.

Privacy Gaffe Exposed in Path for iOS App

We’re big fans of Path here at MacLife.com, which is why it’s disheartening to find out that the iOS app quietly uploads your address book to its servers — including names, emails and phone numbers. The privacy gaffe was first discovered by Arun Thampi and detailed on his Mclov.in blog, which explains how the Path app pushes your address book data as a plist file, without your express permission to do so. “I don’t remember having given permission to Path to access my address book and send its contents to its servers, so I created a completely new ‘Path’ and repeated the experiment and I got the same result — my address book was in Path’s hands,” Thampi explains. Now, before you rush to delete the otherwise excellent Path app from your iOS device, the developer isn’t using this information for anything nefarious — in fact, Path co-founder and CEO Dave Morin rushed to explain the company’s decision “in order to help the user find and connect to their friends and family on Path quickly and efficiently as well as to notify them when friends and family join Path. Nothing more.” That said, Path is changing the behavior with a forthcoming 2.0.6 update pending App Store approval, which allows users to opt-in (the Android client has already been updated for this).

Google Introduces Chrome for Android

Rocking an Android device with Ice Cream Sandwich (otherwise known as 4.0)? If so, the Google mothership has a bonus treat for you today: Chrome for Android, the search giant’s latest effort to beef up the web browser on its mobile platform. According to the Google Chrome Blog, a beta of Chrome for Android brings a number of desktop browser features to the palm of your hand, with lightning fast speed, a slick new user interface for tabs and the ability to easily sign into your Google account for syncing open tabs, autocomplete suggestions and bookmarks from the desktop version. The only bad news — aside from the absence of Adobe Flash Player — is that you’ll need an Android 4.0 device in order to grab it from the Android Market, which narrows it down to maybe one percent of the folks running the mobile OS (such as owners of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus). But hey, that will change in time… right?

iTunes Connect Now Requires Retina Display Images from Developers

MacRumors is reporting that Apple has notified iOS developers of a new requirement for submitting iPhone and iPod touch apps. Effective immediately, developers will be required to submit screenshots in Retina Display resolution, which are 960×640. The change also affects existing apps, whose screenshots must be upgraded before updates will be approved. “The requirements for high-resolution images are 960 x 640, 960 x 600, 640 x 960, or 640 x 920 pixels,” Apple’s email to developers notes. “Images must be at least 72 dpi, in the RGB color space, and the file must be .jpeg, .jpg, .tif, .tiff, or .png. You can update your screenshot files at any time in iTunes Connect.” Considering that Retina Display was introduced a year and a half ago with the iPhone 4, the new requirement should come as a surprise to no one — especially considering that the iPad 3 is widely expected to arrive with its own form of Retina Display which effectively doubles the current display resolution.

Roxio Weds Corel, Makes Easy VHS to DVD 3 Plus Baby

Ottawa, Canada-based Corel today announced the completion of its acquisition of Mac and PC software maker Roxio, which includes the popular Toast disc-burning solution. Roxio has been acquired from former owner Rovi Corporation, and the deal includes its entire portfolio of Mac and PC software. Best of all, the newlyweds already have an offspring to call their very own in the form of Roxio VHS to DVD 3 Plus, a new hardware and software product that makes it easy to transfer existing VHS, Hi8 and Video 8 tapes to digital formats, save them to DVD or share via YouTube, Facebook and mobile devices like the iPhone. The new product carries a .99 price tag and upgrades are available for owners of previous versions.

BlackBerry App World Claims 60k Apps, More Profitable Than Android

Research in Motion is having a tough time of it these days, but the BlackBerry maker is fighting back with some facts and figures intended to make their platform more appealing to developers — especially those who currently hone their craft on the Android platform. According to PaidContent.org, RIM is kicking off their developer’s conference in Amsterdam with the bold exclamation that its BlackBerry App World is now home to 60,000 apps — up from only 17,000 this time last year — with six million downloads per day and two billion last month alone. While those numbers pale in comparison to Apple’s own App Store — let alone Google’s Android Market — RIM is also claiming that App World is more profitable than Android, with more paid downloads than Android Market. According to RIM VP of developer relations Alec Saunders, 13 percent of their developers have pocketed 0,000 or more, with carrier billing now active in 34 countries. Wake us when RIM releases that new BlackBerry 10 operating system, won’t you?

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

 

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Valve Announces Mobile Steam App for iOS and Android Devices

Valve just annouced that it’s launching a beta release of the Steam application for your iOS and Android device. The app will enable gamers to chat with their Steam friends, browse communities they’re a part of, peruse user profiles, view screenshots and user-generated content for available on Steam, and check up on the latest game-related news.

Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve, stated in the press release that the idea for the mobile app came after repeated requests from users. “Seeings which of your friends are online and playing a game, sending quick messages, looking at screenshots for an upcoming game, or catching a sale–these are all features customers have requested.” Newell added that mobile gadgets are changing the way that gamers interact with each other and that the move is part of the company’s commitment to be relevant in the mobile sphere.

 

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Wednesday Recap: PaperPort Notes, iPhone 5 Manufacturing, iOS Beats Android

PaperPort NotesStill reeling from yesterday’s blowout fiscal first quarter financial results from Apple? Then you’ll want to keep reading as we detail a few tidbits of other data culled from the company’s conference call with investors, not to mention a handful of other news that’s making the rounds in the middle of this final week of January. Ready to proceed? Then let’s get started with the latest news from Wednesday, January 25, 2012.

Notes from Apple’s Fiscal First Quarter Results

As we reported Tuesday, Apple had another of those “best quarters ever,” with .33 billion in revenue and a net profit of .06 billion. But those numbers were only the headlines, with plenty of details revealed in a conference call with investors after the news broke. Among them: Apple has 85 million iCloud customers currently signed up for the free service. The App Store continues its ascent, with 550,000 apps in total (170k specific to the iPad). The company’s “hobby” product, the Apple TV, sold another 2.8 million units during the last quarter, which puts the total for the second-generation streaming box at around 4.2 million thus far. Most curiously, Apple CEO Tim Cook claims that the iPad saw no positive or negative effect from the release of Amazon’s Kindle Fire back in November, with a record 15.4 million iPads sold during the quarter. Cook was quick to note: “People who want an iPad won’t settle for a limited function tablet.”

Nuance Wants You To Talk to Its PaperPort Notes App

Siri has introduced voice-activated services to a new audience thanks to the iPhone 4S, but let’s not forget that other companies were pioneering the technology first. One of them, Nuance Communications, today announced the availability of a new free iPad app called PaperPort Notes, which takes advantage of the company’s Dragon voice recognition which allows users to take notes using only their voice. Of course, you’ll still have the option to write notes by hand or with the iPad keyboard, and you can access saved notes from cloud services including Google Docs, Box.net, Dropbox or PaperPort Anywhere. The same software is also capable of annotating and highlighting documents, combining pages from both the web or the cloud and even capturing documents with the iPad 2’s built-in camera. Files are saved in standard PDF format so they can be easily shared with others. PaperPort Notes is a free 3.5MB download available now from the App Store and requires an iPad running iOS 4.2 or later.

Rumor: iPhone 5 Ready to Manufacture, Summer Breeze A-Blowin’?

Despite Apple moving 37.04 million iPhones last quarter — largely made up of that iPhone 4S everyone seemed so disappointed by when it was announced in October — the rumor mill is already churning up word that another new iPhone model which could see a triumphant return for early sunny summer. According to 9to5Mac, “a reliable source at Foxconn” claims that the elusive iPhone 5 will soon head to manufacturing, with a confusing array of sample devices floating around the plant in China. OK, so we’ll bite: What’s new? The source claims the new handset will feature a “four-plus inch display” made by LG and a new design which departs from the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S — but not the “teardrop-shaped” version that was floating around in mockups last year. The source seems confident that Apple may unveil the iPhone 5 in time for an early sunny summer release, but color us skeptical.

Netflix Beats the Street, But Isn’t So Cocky About It

It’s been rather quiet on the Netflix front after a tumultuous 2011 for the company, but judging from their fourth-quarter financials, it seems the choppy waters have calmed, at least for the moment. According to AllThingsD, Netflix reported revenue of 6 million and earnings of 73 cents per share, slightly higher than analysts’ expectations of 7 million and 54 cents per share. Although the company previously warned that it would be losing money in 2012, Netflix clocked in 22 million subscribers for its U.S. streaming service, 11.17 for DVD and 1.86 million internationally — numbers that are upwards of 25 percent more than the previous year, which seems to indicate that all may be forgiven with its customers. However, the report concludes with a New York Post tidbit claiming that Amazon may soon offer “a standalone video service,” separate from its Prime-only offering today. “We expect Amazon to continue to offer their video service as a free extra with Prime domestically but also to brand their video subscription offering as a standalone service at a price less than ours,” the company explained, without going into details of how they might respond to such a threat.

Reuters Says iOS Trounced Android in Q4 2011

Apple and Google will likely be in a cat and mouse game for smartphone market share for the foreseeable future, but new research data revealed today appears to give Cupertino the upper hand — which should be little surprise after yesterday’s financial results. According to Reuters, Apple’s U.S. smartphone market share has doubled to 44.9 percent, narrowly passing Google’s open-source Android which slipped to 44.8 percent, down from 50 percent in the previous quarter. The data comes courtesy of research firm Kantar Worldpanel Comtech, who notes that Apple’s share climb has come at the expense of handset makers Motorola, HTC and Sony Ericsson, all of whom reported lower earnings last quarter. The news also isn’t good for Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform, whose market share is below two percent in nine key markets where such data is tracked, even after the recent launch of Nokia’s much-hyped Lumia 800 in the U.K. Analyst Dominic Sunnebo still expects Windows Phone to nab “around a 10 percent share of European smartphone sales” later this year.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

 

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Wednesday Recap: Google Unveils Android 4.0, Steve Jobs Biographer on 60 Minutes

ReaddleDocs for iPad“Hump Day” is here again, with Apple celebrating the life of Steve Jobs in a private ceremony held earlier today on the company’s Cupertino campus (and simulcast to Apple retail stores worldwide). The Apple co-founder continues to be memorialized ahead of his official biography which hits stores on Monday (more on that in a moment), but here’s what else is happening around the internet for this Wednesday, October 19, 2011.

Google Unwraps Ice Cream Sandwich with Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Google senior vice president Andy Rubin took to The Official Google Blog today to announce Android 4.0, better known by its code name “Ice Cream Sandwich” to many. The announcement came this morning (or rather, late Tuesday night for most of us) in Hong Kong at an event co-hosted by Samsung, who will be releasing the new Galaxy Nexus in November, the first device to feature the latest mobile OS. Ice Cream Sandwich promises to unify smartphones and tablets alike, sporting new features such as Face Unlock, HD display and the elimination of all hardware buttons. The announcement comes on the third anniversary of the first Android phone (T-Mobile’s G1), which launched in October, 2008 and has since spawned more than 550,000 Android device activations per day.

ReaddleDocs for iPad Hits 3.0, More Than 300 Changes In Tow

Developer Readdle has really stepped up their game in recent months, and today the company unveiled version 3.0 of their .99 ReaddleDocs for iPad, the tablet version of their flagship PDF viewer and file manager. Calling it a “major update” with “over 300 fixes and improvements,” the iPad edition now sports a stylish new interface, improved speed, the ability to sync FTP/SFTP services with a device and much more. As always, the update is free for current customers.

Steve Jobs Worked on Apple Right Up to The End

Never doubt Steve Jobs’ commitment to Apple — case in point, a PCMag.com story today that quotes Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, who was in a meeting with Tim Cook the day the iPhone 4S was announced in Cupertino. Apparently, Cook excused himself, claiming “My boss is calling me” in reference to “their next product.” Unfortunately, Jobs passed away the very next day, but it’s widely believed the co-founder was intimately involved in next year’s iPhone 5 as well.

iTunes Match Setting Now Available In iOS 5, But Doesn’t Work Yet

MacRumors is reporting that Apple has flipped half of the switch on iTunes Match, which the company has promised in late October. iOS 5 users are now seeing an option to turn the feature on from Settings > Music, although doing so throws up an error: “You are not currently subscribed to iTunes Match. Use iTunes on your computer to subscribe.” Problem is, the only folks with the required iTunes 10.5.1 to do so are developers — at least for now. iTunes Match will cost .99 per year when it launches.

Steve Jobs Biographer Heading for 60 Minutes

According to CNNMoney’s Apple 2.0 blog, the official Twitter account of CBS television staple 60 Minutes announced that Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson will appear on this Sunday’s show in an interview with Steve Kroft. Of course, the timing is fortuitous, with the hardcover and digital versions of the highly anticipated book arriving on store shelves Monday, October 24. We’re definitely excited for Amazon to deliver our Kindle copy… have you preordered yours yet?

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

 

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Instagram Hits 2.0 with Live Filters, Still No Android or iPad Version

Instagram 2.0Camera apps are plentiful on the App Store, but one that consistently rises above the din of the crowd is Instagram, one of many free options for making your pictures look retro (dare we say “hipster”?) with the touch of a button — and now, thanks to a new version pushed out on Tuesday, you can now filter your photos before you even take them.

Burbn, Inc. has released Instagram 2.0, the latest and greatest version yet of the popular (and free!) photo sharing app which makes it even easier to “go retro.” Featuring a completely revamped camera experience for iOS 4.21 and above, users can now instantly apply a filter, even before the photo is taken — with a live preview of exactly what you’ll be getting.

According to a detailed look at the new version on TechCrunch, Instagram 2.0’s filters now “perform over 200 times faster,” which is the magic that allows instant live filters and live tilt-shift in the latest edition.

“To be clear, with Instagram 2.0, you can still filter after a picture is taken as well,” TechCrunch explains. “If you don’t click on the eye icon, you won’t see the filtering option until after you’ve taken the picture — just like the old days. But what’s really cool is that even if you filter an image before you take the picture, you can change your mind after you take it, and switch the filter.”

Those instantly filtered images also get saved in high resolution to your camera roll, as does everything else you do in the app — no more 612×612 images, everything is saved at 1936×1936 to take advantage of the iPhone 4’s higher resolution camera.

The latest version also adds four new filters (Amaro, Rise, Hudson and Valencia) as well as the ability to turn borders on or off and even rotate a photo after taking it. Better support for viewing feeds with many comments and faster load time for feeds are also on deck, with a new icon topping off the pretty substantial update. Sadly, there’s still no Instagram love for the iPad 2 or even Android devices — but we’ll keep holding out hope, maybe for version 3.0.

Instagram 2.0 is available now from the App Store as a free download; the app is compatible with all devices running iOS 3.1.2 or later, with the new instant features requiring iOS 4.2.1 or higher.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

 

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Teddy Tumble Spin Cycles Its Way Onto iOS, Android

Teddy TumbleEver wonder what goes on inside your washing machine when the lid is closed? A new platform puzzle game from D7 Studios is poised to answer this age old question as the heroic stuffed animal Teddy bounces and tumbles his way through more than 90 unique levels of action.

D7 Studios, Inc. has announced the release of a new game called Teddy Tumble, available as a free universal app for iOS and also available on the Android Marketplace. A platform puzzle challenge to test gamers’ skill and logic through more than 90 unique levels of washing machine action, Teddy Tumble gets clean and you have fun in the process.

Teddy will embark on a journey into the world’s wackiest washing machine for the spin of a lifetime. On the way to the clean clothesline, Teddy must gather detergent to maximize the cleanliness of his clothes and overall score. But watch out for those dirt balls along the way — they’ll cling to Teddy’s fur, soiling both his clothes and your score in the process.

“We’re extremely satisfied with the amount of creativity that went into the gameplay design of Teddy Tumble,” said Norman Tran, Senior Developer and Project Lead for the new D7 title. “It is the result of months of development and we’re excited to bring something new to mobile platforms that takes advantage of each operating system’s software for the ultimate gaming experience.”

Teddy Tumble is available now as a free download from the App Store, and can be fully unlocked by sharing the app on Facebook or an in-app purchase of only 99 cents. The 77.9MB download is a universal app for all devices running iOS 4.0 or later.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

 

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Google’s Andy Rubin May Have Received Inspiration for Android While at Apple

andyrubinIn this day and age of tech lawsuit mania, it can be hard to remember them all.  However, remember the Apple versus HTC one that is currently in process with the U.S. International Trade Commission?  It took an interesting twist recently, where Apple filed in a brief that essentially claims Android co-founder and current Google exec Andy Rubin may have gotten the idea for the Android framework while still with Apple.

FOSS Patents reported that according to the brief, a key patent for a “real-time signal processing” API that HTC is accused of infringing in its Android devices had been initially developed by a group of Apple engineers, which Rubin had been a part of.

While it doesn’t directly mean anything in regard to Apple’s claims again HTC, it does provide further fodder for Apple, in that HTC hasn’t exactly been forthcoming by omitting any mention of Rubin’s time with Apple.  Apple says that Rubin had been a “low-level engineer” at Apple, reporting directly to the inventors of the patent in question at the time of the invention. 

Here’s the wording from the legal brief:

Android and Mr. Rubin’s relevant background does not start, as HTC would like the Commission to believe, with his work at General Magic or Danger in the mid-1990s.  In reality, as the evidence revealed at the hearing, Mr. Rubin began his career at Apple in the early 1990s and worked as a low-level engineer specifically reporting to the inventors of the ’263 [realtime API] patent at the exact time their invention was being conceived and developed. […]  It is thus no wonder that the infringing Android platform used the claimed subsystem approach of the ’263 patent that allows for flexibility of design and enables the platform to be “highly customizable and expandable” as HTC touts. […]  While Mr. Rubin’s inspiration for the Android framework may not be directly relevant to the pending petitions for review, that HTC felt compelled to distort this history is illustrative of the liberties it takes in attacking the ALJ’s [initial determination] and the substantial evidence supporting the ALJ’s findings.

Again, Apple is not trying to claim that the entire concept of Android happened at Apple, but should it ever come to it, Apple could have a solid case, should they ever decide to go after Google.

via Mac Rumors

Follow this article’s author, Matthew Tilmann on Twitter


(Image courtesy of 2-soft.com)

 

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Android OS Makes Gains, iOS Stays Flat. For Now.

According a new report from Nielsen, detailing a three month period ending this past July, smartphones now make up 40 percent of all mobile phones in the United States. Android has increased its share among smartphone users in the United States by 1 percent, brining its total slice to 40 percent.

iOS continues to hold 28 percent of the smartphone market, while Windows Phone and Windows Mobile combine to grab 8 percent. RIM dropped a point and currently holds 19 percent of the market.

Nielsen

According to the same report, when smartphone users were asked which operating system they want in their next smartphone, iOS still trails Android. Interestingly, though, iOS shows significantly higher results than its current market share, which could suggest significant potential growth in the future.

Nielsen2

Now that the iPhone is available on Verizon as well as AT&T, and with rumors of Sprint on the horizon, more users now have the ability to choose an iPhone with their next contract upgrade than ever before. As wireless contracts expire, and a larger pool of customers get to pick between the latest iPhone and the latest Android phone, it will be interesting to see if the market share changes as well.

Via BGR

 

Adrian covers daily news as well as the weekly Law & Apple column for MacLife.com. You can follow him on Twitter, if you want to.

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