Fresh War as Apple Sues Samsung for $2 Billion

The Apple vs. Samsung war doesn’t seem likely to end very soon as the former has again taken the latter to court over copyright infringement.

Apple has alleged in a new $2 billion suit that the South Korean company stole its designs and features for use in its most recent phones.

This latest matter is coming up less than 2 years after Samsung was ordered to pay$900 million in damages to Apple for infringing on its patents.

The Guardian reports:

The most attention grabbing claim in the case is Apple’s demand that market leader Samsung, which sold one in three of all smartphones last year, pay a $40 royalty for each device running software allegedly conceived by Apple.

That is more than five times more than the amount sought in the previous trial and well above other precedents between smartphone companies. If Apple prevails, the costs to Samsung could reach $2 billion. Apple’s costs, if it lost, are expected to be about $6 million.

The other new twist in the case is that Samsung hope to draw Google into the battle by calling the engineers who designed the search giant’s Android system – which is used by Samsung’s phones – to give evidence explaining how they built it independently of Apple .The latest case, which begins on Monday in San Jose with jury selection, will be tried less than two years after a federal jury found the South Korean firm was infringing on Apple patents.

Samsung was ordered to pay about $900m but is appealing and has been allowed to continue selling products using the technology. Apple this time accuses Samsung of infringing on five patents on newer devices, including Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

In a counterclaim, Samsung says Apple stole two of its ideas to use on iPhones and iPads.

“Apple revolutionised the market in personal computing devices,” Apple claims in court filings. “Samsung, in contrast, has systematically copied Apple’s innovative technology and products, features and designs, and has deluged markets with infringing devices.“

Samsung countered that it has broken technological barriers with its own ultra-slim, lightweight phones. “Samsung has been a pioneer in the mobile device business sector since the inception of the mobile device industry,” Samsung said. “Apple has copied many of Samsung’s innovations in its Apple iPhone, iPod, and iPad products.”

The case underscores a much larger concern about what is allowed to be patented with experts questioning whether Apple should be allowed to make its case.

Read More..

Samsung Preparing to Unveil Galaxy Gear 2 and Galaxy Brand at MWC

If a new report from the Korean Herald proves correct, Samsung could be gearing up to release two new wearables at Mobile World Congress (MWC) this year: the Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 and the Galaxy Band.

The Korean publication says that the news of Samsung’s wearables come from reports from several ‘industry watchers’ including IBK Securities analyst Lee Seung-woo. In the analyst’s words, “Samsung is currently working on the Galaxy Gear 2, and the product will be surely released early next year”. Furthermore, an anonymous source that is ‘close to Samsung’ says that the Gear 2 will likely be unveiled at MWC, alongside the Galaxy Band.

So what do we know about the two wearables? First, the Galaxy Gear 2 is said to feature a flexible OLED display. Aside from that, we imagine the Gear will work to address some of the issues that have plagued the first-generation watch since its launch.

As for the Galaxy Band, this is reportedly a health wristband that can monitor your pulse and blood pressure. It would also have fitness purposes in a manner similar to devices like the Nike Fuelband.

So let’s recap: Today’s rumor claims there will be two Samsung wearable devices at MWC. If that sounds familiar, that’s because Korean publications Duam and Korea Herald reported yesterday that LG was gearing up to release a smartwatch and fitness band at MWC under the names G Arch and G Health (respectively).

So could the two Korean rival companies both be preparing very similar devices for unveiling at MWC? Considering the company rivalry and the fact that LG often seems to follow Samsung’s example when it comes to product design, it’s certainly possible.

On the other hand, Samsung generally saves its big news events for special Unpacked events. Two new Samsung wearables certainly sounds like the kind of news the Korean giant would want to reveal at their own event instead of just as “side news” to what is already going on at MWC.

For now, we’d take the entire report with a hefty chunk of salt. Either way, we should know more by Mobile World Congress, which is slated for February 24th through the 27th in Barcelona, Spain.

Read More..

Samsung Working on 20 Megapixel Camera Tablet

Samsung will be the latest manufacturer to get into the megapixel race, according to a report from ET News. The company's Mobile Advanced Development team is already working on 20 megapixel camera modules.

The global market leader is allegedly still facing difficulties with the implementation of Optical Image Stabilization option, so it's looking for other means to differentiating its products.

Samsung's upcoming camera module is expected to debut in the second half of next year.

The South Korean manufacturer expects to ship 90 million smartphone units in 2014 with16 megapixel camera sensors.

Read More..

Samsung releases Android Jellybean 4.3 update for Galaxy S4

The wait is over.

As promised, Samsung has released the Android 4.3 update for the i9505 and i9500 variant of their popular S4 handset. It is gradually rolling out in various countries, with the i9500 only being available in Russia as an OTA update, but the adventurous few that don’t have a problem manually updating their phones can get the links to an update from the Sammobile site (links will be posted down below). The manual update can be done using the ODIN 3.07 program for Windows.

Changes made to the firmware include: Improved RAM management, Improved Display colour reproduction, New Samsung Keyboard, Improved TouchWiz Launcher (Much less launcher redraws and less lag), New Camera firmware, TRIM Support (which makes the device faster) and a host of other changes. Unfortunately, no Open GL support for the i9500 variant because the PowerVR SGX544 GPU in the S4 doesn’t support OpenGL 3.0 in hardware.

DISCLAIMER: Flashing the wrong firmware for your handset could brick your phone. Techsuplex is not responsible for damage to your handset. Flashers do so at their own risk

Link for i9500 and i9505 can be found here

Source: Sammobile

Read More..

Review of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Samsung unpack event which started on the 4th of September was really great as it shows us what the guys at Samsung have been up to all this time.

 The high point of the event was the unveiling of Samsung's galaxy note 3 and Samsung galaxy Gear smartwatch.

It might be difficult to show you what this two devices or gadgets can do for you, so I have decided to show you an official video detailing how powerful this monstrous Note 3 and even how sweet when combined with the Galaxy Gear smart watch. Check out the video after the jump.

What do you think of this new Samsung, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Samsung Galaxy Gear smart watch? Are we turning to James Bond?

Drop your comments below!!!

Read More..

Samsung Galaxy Gear: a Watch-Like Phone by Samsung to be Introduced this Month

Samsung Electronics Co. will introduce a wristwatch-like device named the Galaxy Gear next month that can make phone calls, surf the Web and handle e-mails, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Galaxy Gear will be powered by Google Inc. (GOOG)'s Android operating system and go on sale this year to beat a potentially competing product from Apple Inc. (AAPL), the people said. The device will be unveiled Sept. 4, two days before the IFA consumer electronics show begins in Berlin, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the plans are private.

Read More..

Samsung to Unveil its New Galaxy Smartphone Today

                                 

It's widely speculated that the new smartphone, which is rumored to be called the Galaxy S4, will feature a slightly larger display than the Galaxy SIII, which has a 4.8-inch display screen. The new smartphone is reported to have a 5 inch screen.

While there was speculation that the Galaxy S4 might take a cue from Apple's iPhone and build a device with an aluminum exterior, it is now widely believed that, like it's predecessor, the new smartphone will be plastic but with aluminum trim. According to a report from SamMobile, the phone will initially come in three storage options;16, 32 or 64GB and will be available in black or white.

It may also have a 13 megapixel camera, according to SamMobile.

The smartphone may also have a feature that allows users to scroll content on their phone with their eyes, according to The New York Times. As for the interior, the Galaxy S4 is expected to get an upgraded processor. Samsung will use Qualcomm 's Snapdragon 600 processor to replace the ARM-based GPU chip, which was in the Galaxy S III, according to SamMobile.

The chip change will power the display and operating system, which is likely to be Android 4.2 Jelly Bean since it is the latest version of Google's OS.

Read More..

How to Get the Mtn Mobile Self-Care App & the Function

Enjoy a greater level of convenience and control of your mobile Account with the new MTN mobile self care application. Although it was launched some months back.

What is the MTN Mobile Self-Care App?
The MTN mobile self-care application is an app that you can download on your phone and use for managing your mobile account transactions from your phone real-time.

What can I do on the MTN Mobile Self-Care App?
You can easily perform the following transactions from your phone when you download the MTN mobile self-care app;
* Check your account profile.
* Check your recent account recharges.
* Subscribe to a blackberry/Fastlink/mobile internet/ simplesurf data plan.
* Subscribe to MTN callertunez, music and games on MTN Play.
* Check available balance and expiry data of your BlackBerry/Fastlink/mobile internet/Simple Surf data plan.
* Perform a SIM Swap on your lost/stolen MTN line.
* Purchase airtime or pay your phone bills using your Interswitch ATM card.
* Retrieve your PUK code to unlock your SIM.
* Request for MTN Data Settings to manually connect to the internet.

How can I download the MTN Self Care App?
To download the app, simply do one of the following:
1. Send an SMS with the keyword CARE to 5018 (SMS is free). A link to download the app will be sent as an SMS to your phone.
2. Visit the MTN Play wap portal (wap.mtnonlineplay.com) to download the application.
3. Call the MTN Customer Care on 180 or visit any MTN N Walk-in center to have the app link sent to your phone.

What devices can I use to download the self-care app?
The MTN Mobile self-care app works on all BlackBerry, iPhone and android devices as well as all low-end phones that supports J2ME.

What is the memory size of the MTN Self Care app?
You need a memory size of 1.5MB to download this app on your iPhone and android operating handsets and a memory size of 285KB to download on BlackBerry and 150KB for J2ME operating handsets.

Enjoy the New MTN Customer Care in your Hands.

Read More..