iPhone News Desk

Apple Sends FLA Inspectors into Its Chinese Suppliers

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:51:00 EST

Apple sent the Fair Labor Association (FLA) in Monday to start inspecting the conditions under which its widgets are made including Foxconn’s factories in China, the recent subject of an Upton Sinclair-like exposé by the New York Times. Apple said the FLA and its labor rights experts are supposed to interview thousands of workers about their living and working conditions including health and safety, wages, hours and communication with management, checking the plant floor, dorms and other facilities and reviewing documents relating to all stages of employment. Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement that “The inspections now underway are unprecedented in the electronics industry, both in scale and scope, and we appreciate the FLA agreeing to take the unusual step of identifying the factories in their reports.”

Apple Starts Unleashing Mountain Lion

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:26:00 EST

Sooner than expected, Apple Thursday started previewing a developer-directed beta of Mountain Lion, its next-generation Mac OS X 10.8, due out late this summer. It’s borrowed some more features from iOS like the popular and unlimited iChat-replacing iMessages IM as well as Notes, Games Center and Reminders and changed the names of Mac’s Address Book to Contacts and iCalc to Calendar, making the two operating systems more alike – you can see where this is going, right? Mountain Lion also integrates with Twitter and Apple’s own iCloud. Documents created on Macs will be available and synced with iPhone and iPad. There’s a Gatekeeper system to vet software, a way to use Apple TV as a screen, and it adds features for the Chinese market in support of Chinese web sites like Baidu. All told there are reportedly 100 new features.

Apple Gets Injunction Against MMI in Germany

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 07:00:00 EST

A Munich court Thursday found Motorola Mobility guilty of infringing an Apple patent and handed Apple a permanent injunction against two Android smartphones. Apple can enforce the injunction after posting a bond lest MMI succeed in invalidating the slide-to-unlock patent (EP1964022) that opens a device with a gesture on an unlock image. Patent watcher Florian Mueller, who was in court for the trial in December and again on Thursday when the decision came down, apparently expected the court to stay its hand pending a decision on the patent’s validity but evidently Apple’s post-trial pleadings persuaded Judge Peter Guntz that the patent would ultimately stand. Guntz only upheld Apple’s complaints against MMI’s phones, not its complaint against MMI’s Xoom tablet.

Chinese Company Wants China’s iPad Exports Halted

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:00:00 EST

The Chinese company that claims it owns the iPad trademark says it plans to seek a ban on iPad exports out of China, threatening global supplies. According to what a lawyer for Proview Technology (Shenzhen) Co Ltd told Reuters, the firm is petitioning Chinese customs to stop shipments of the tablet in and out of China. Customs has reportedly not responded to the request. A Chinese court last year found Proview owned the trademark. Apple, which claims it bought global rights to the name from Proview a few years ago, appealed and a final hearing is now set for February 29, Reuters said. Apple says a Hong Kong court supported its position, but that apparently doesn’t mean much.

Apple Testing Smaller iPad: WSJ

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:45:00 EST

Contrary to Steve Jobs’ dictum that the 9.7-inch iPad is as small as a tablet can get, Apple is testing a widget that’s around eight inches and has gotten as far as qualifying suppliers for it, according to the Wall Street Journal. It’s supposed to be working with screen makers AU Optronics of Taiwan and LG Display of South Korea. The device would reportedly have the same resolution as the current iPad. Apple is expected to unveil an iPad 3 next month with heightened resolution that can also run on Verizon and AT&T’s faster 4G LTE networks. A smaller iPad suggests that Apple may try to broaden its worldwide market share, which stood at 60% in Q3, particularly in developing markets like China and India, and take on competition from the Android mob, which is selling smaller tablets like the seven-inch Amazon Kindle Fire, the 5.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Note and the seven- and 8.9-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab.

More Mobile Devices than People Soon: Cisco

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:45:00 EST

The Internet highway may start looking like a proverbial New York traffic jam at rush hour soon. Feel free to substitute any town you like because Cisco says there’s going to be a faster-than-expected 18x surge in worldwide mobile data traffic between 2011 and 2016. That’s when mobile cloud traffic should account for 71% of total data traffic, or 10.3 exabytes a month, up from a mere 269 petabytes a month now, outgrowing global fixed data traffic by 3x. That’s like 33 billion DVDs or 4.3 quadrillion MP3 files. There are supposed to be an estimated 10 billion mobile connections by 2016 – more than the 7.3 billion people on earth by then – or more than eight billion handheld or personal mobile-ready devices and nearly two billion machine-to-machine connections, such as GPS systems in cars, asset tracking systems in shipping and manufacturing and medical applications for making patient records more available.

Apple Wants Samsung Galaxy Nexus Banned in America

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:15:00 EST

Apple wants the Ice Cream-bearing Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone that Samsung worked on with Google banned from the United States because it allegedly infringes four strong Apple technical patents – none of this squishy design stuff like before. Apple quietly asked a district court in California for the preliminary injunction last Thursday as part of a new lawsuit. Patent watcher Florian Mueller calls the patents the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” In Florian’s metaphor, they might to unleash pestilence, war, famine and death on Android 4.0 as it comes from Google – no Samsung features have been added to the so-called stock Android – giving the suit a potentially more crippling arc that implicates all Ice Cream Sandwich widgets. It’s the closest Apple has gotten to taking on Google directly and if Google removes any of the challenged features it’s as good as an admission of an infringement taint, Florian observes.

Apple Hits $500

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 09:44:00 EST

Within seconds of Wall Street opening Monday morning Apple tore through the $500-a-share barrier for the first time, a little over six months after hitting $400. The talking heads on CNBC say the company has added the value of a Facebook since its legendary founder Steve Jobs died in October. Up $9.44 to $502.86, its market cap was $460 billion.

iPad 3 Next Month: AllThingsDigital

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:00:00 EST

Apple is going to launch the iPad 3, or whatever they call it, the first week of March at a special event in San Francisco according to AllThingsD, a prophecy the punters regarded as being as good as a statement from the company. As a result Apple Thursday hit an all-time high, teasing the magic $500 number, with a closing price of $493.17, up from $315 last June, after seeing $496.75 during the day. The blog figures street availability a week or so later. The dingus, the same size as the iPad 2, will reportedly be built on a way faster chip with improved graphics and a 2048×1536 Retina Display – “or something close to it,” the blog said.

Google Cultivates a Rep as Patent Gouger

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:00:00 EST

Apple quietly wrote a letter to ETSI, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, in November asking it to set basic rules for the licensing of standards-essential patents and to make its patent-wielding members commit to the principles. Apple clearly had Google and its Android acolytes in mind in writing the letter. Motorola Mobility and Samsung are asking ludicrously high sums to license IP that’s supposed to be available on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms (FRAND). They have also sued alleged infringers like Apple and Microsoft demanding product-stopping injunctions. Apple wants all this to stop. It wants ETSI to insist on appropriate royalties, a common royalty base and no injunctions. Apple’s lead IP lawyer Bruce Watrous told ETSI that the industry lacks consistent adherence to FRAND principles in licensing all the patents necessary to make mobile devices.

FBI’s File on Jobs Released

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:45:00 EST

The FBI Thursday released a 20-year-old file it had on Steve Jobs. The background check was done on the then-NeXT CEO reportedly because President Bush 41 was considering appointing him to his Export Council. The FBI confirmed in interviews with friends and associates that Jobs was difficult, temperamental, wanted his own way and had used pot, hashish and LSD. The agency wrote in its findings that “Several individuals questioned Mr. Jobs’ honesty stating that Mr. Jobs will twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals.”

MMI Said to Want 2.25% of Apple Sales for Patents

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:30:00 EST

Mobile phone inventor and proposed Google acquisition Motorola Mobility apparently wants Apple to pay a royalty of 2.25% of sales to cover a FRAND license to its fundamental standards-essential patents according to an October 17 letter between the companies’ outside German lawyers unearthed over the weekend by patent sleuth Florian Mueller. That price, depending on MMI’s other terms, like how far back it’s talking and exactly what devices it means, could easily translate into a billion-dollar payment and give other essential patents owners similar delusions of grandeur imperiling Apple’s cost structure.

German Ban on Galaxy Tab Stays in Place

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:15:00 EST

The temporary injunction that Apple got forbidding Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 to be sold in Germany survived a Düsseldorf appeals court, which found Tuesday that “Samsung unfairly imitates the iPad with its tablet.” The court said the ban includes the smaller Galaxy Tab 8.9. However, the grounds have changed. Originally Apple charged the Galaxy Tab with infringing its European Community Design IP, a claim the lower court bought. The appeals court said Samsung violated the German unfair competition law so the ban sticks but Samsung’s still selling the slightly modified Galaxy Tab 10.1N, and that widget, which Apple also wants banned, may survive a court decision due February 9 because – according to the appeals court decision – Samsung has effectively shot down Apple’s Community Design IP. FOSS Patents says, “If Samsung is allowed to continue to sell the 10.1N, the commercial relevance of today’s appellate decision is next to nil.” See, “Apple can’t replicate the German decision in other countries since German unfair competition law is pretty unique. A win based on an EU-wide design right would have been strategically more valuable to Apple. Even though Samsung formally lost its appeal because the preliminary injunction remains in force, it succeeded in defeating Apple’s design right.” Apple is going to have to come up with unassailable patent IP. A Dutch court last week found Samsung didn’t infringe Apple’s Community Design after the court narrowed Apple’s claims. Apple’s technical patent claims and infringement charges should hit a German court in the next few months.

Apple Quietly Appeals ITC’s HTC Decision

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 EST

Apple has taken the International Trade Commission’s month-old decision finding HTC’s Android gismos infringe only one of the patents it asserted and letting it ship the products while it fixes the problem to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). The patent-watching Foss Patents blog says Apple quietly lodged the appeal on December 29. The blog learned from an Apple filing with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in a case against Motorola Mobility that the ITC’s administrative law judge had sided with Apple and found HTC guilty of infringing Apple’s US 6,343,263 real-time API patent but that that decision had been overturned by the ITC’s panel of six commissioners.

Google & MMI Seek US Ban of iPhone 4S & iCloud

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:00:00 EST

Motorola Mobility and its puppet master Google are going to try to get the iPhone 4S and iCloud enjoined in the United States. The pair moved on the very day that Apple hit the ball so far out of the park they’re still looking for it after it announced it sold a record 37 million iPhones last quarter, described iCloud as the “strategy for the next decade, not a product,” and was lauded as the most valuable property on earth.

To AppStore, or Not to AppStore, That is the Question!

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:00:00 EST

Nearly every web application that interacts with a user is faced with the dilemma of how to best support tablets and mobile devices. As entrepreneurs we can no longer put off supporting these platforms as a nice to have. The demand that is created by iPad users and the influx of Android tablets in the marketplace is significant especially for early stage companies. Zoomstra is no different and we are currently facing our biggest technology decision yet. What is our best option for supporting tablets?

Apple Loses Samsung Tablet Appeal

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:00:00 EST

A Dutch appeals court Tuesday rejected an injunction-seeking Apple bid to overturn a lower court’s decision last August that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 isn’t a copy of the Apple iPad and doesn’t infringe Apple’s design rights. Apple was also denied a preliminary injunction in the United States on a design-related patent equivalent to its European Community Design IP and is appealing the decision. FOSS Patents says the Dutch appeals court, like the US district court, narrowed the scope of the Apple IP based on prior art and so came to its conclusion. Apple got a preliminary injunction in Germany using the design IP last summer, a decision a German appeals court could lift for the same reason next week. Last Tuesday Apple filed two more design-related suits against Samsung phones and tablets in Germany but didn’t ask for injunctions.

Apple's a WOW!

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:00:00 EST

Apple crushed all expectations for its December quarter when it reported its results Tuesday. It earned $13.06 billion, or $13.87 a share, on revenues of $46.3 billion. That’s up from up from a mere $6 billion, or $6.43 a share, on $26.74 billion last year. The best Wall Street thought it would do was $10.10 on $38.9 billion. Not only that but it guided higher than Wall Street estimates. The usually hyper-conservative Apple said it figures it’ll do about $32.5 billion this quarter and realize earnings per share of about $8.50. Expectations were for $32.1 billion, returning $8.04. Its stock tore through a record $450 after-hours, up ~8%. During the December quarter Apple sold 37.04 million iPhones, up 128% year-over-year, 15.43 million iPads, up 111%, 5.2 million Macs, up 26% while PCs linger in the doldrums, and even 15.4 million iPods, down 21%. Wall Street figured it would sell 30.2 million iPhones, 13.8 million iPads, 13.6 million iPods and 5.16 million Macs. Needless to say Apple is “thrilled.” Its gross margin was 44.7% compared to 38.5% a year ago, international sales accounted for 58% of revenue, Apple retail stores posted sales of $17.1 million, up 37%, and there are now 315 million iOS devices floating around out there. The revenue Apple saw from that little sleeper, the iPhone 4S, originally written off as not different enough from the iPhone 4, more than double to $24.4 billion. At the end of the quarter there were less than six million iPhones left in channel inventory, Apple said during its conference call. Seems the phone’s better camera, faster microprocessor and Siri virtual assistant that answers voice commands worked. The widget, which is now compatible with the networks of most of the Fortune 500, didn’t start shipping in China, where demands is “staggering,” according to CEO Tim Cook, until this month. Globally the thing’s got 130,000 points of sale. Besides the $199 4S Apple also cut the older iPhone 4 to $99 and made the iPhone 3GS free with contracts through wireless carriers. Whatever Apple’s doing Android’s lead has narrowed. Revenue from the iPad doubled to $9.1 billion, leaving four-six weeks worth of inventory unsold. Cook said most of the Fortune 500 are “actively using” the thing. After looking at the data Cook figures Apple was unaffected by Amazon’s introduction of the cheap $199 Kindle Fire. Apple’s got 170,000 apps; at the most, he said, the competition’s got a few hundred and what it takes to stave off any competition. He’s tickled that Apple has sold 55 million iPads in 21 months. But Cook claims the tablet will eventually be bigger than the PC and that there are already indications in US that will happen. The usually slow-to-react K-12 education sector bought two times more iPads than Macs last quarter. Cook said the component environment, other than hard drives, is favorable. The HDD shortages in the December quarter didn’t materially affect Apple and won’t this quarter either although it expects to pay higher prices. Cook said iCloud, which he described as a “strategy for the next decade, not a product,” has 85 million accounts. Naturally Wall Street was hot to know what Apple is going to do about the $100 billion cash pile it’s run up. Cook would only say that the company is in “active discussions” about what to do with it and aside from declaring a dividend –unfashionable with so-called growth stocks – or doing a stock buy-back, it was thinking about acquisitions and investments in the supply chain. He would not give a date for a decision. He said the money’s “not burning a hole in our pocket.” It is with stockholders. Despite Apple’s optimism about this quarter the numbers still suggest a steeper sequential decline than usual. Among other things this quarter is only 13 weeks. The blow-out quarter was 14 weeks. As usual Apple claims it’s got “some amazing new products in the pipeline.”

Apple Loses Case Against Motorola Mobility

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:15:00 EST

The US International Trade Commission decided on Friday the 13th that Motorola Mobility’s Android-bearing smartphones don’t infringe the three Apple patents Apple claims they infringe. The decision by one of the agency’s administrative law judges is called preliminary because Apple is likely to insist that it be reviewed by ITC’s panel of six commissioners by May 14. FOSS Patents blogger Florian Mueller says one of the patents is “essential to Apple’s litigation strategy” and that’s US Patent No 7,663,607, the broadest touchscreen hardware patent Apple has. It used it to get Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 briefly outlawed in Australia. Mueller says the MMI decision might “adversely affect Apple’s lawsuits against Samsung in which the multipoint touchscreen patent is being asserted.” An initial decision on MMI’s ITC complaint charging Apple with infringing 18 of its patents is due April 23.

Apple Sues Samsung Again

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:30:00 EST

Apple has filed two new lawsuits in Germany citing 10 Samsung smartphones and five Samsung tablets with infringing its design IP, the kind of peculiarly European intellectual property it used to get the Galaxy Tab 10.1 outlawed in Germany last year. Apparently the Düsseldorf Regional Court will hear the phone case in August and tablet case in September. The FOSS Patents blog figures Apple’s design rights assertions may make it impossible for the two companies to structure a mutually acceptable settlement and that they “may just need the courts to clarify the boundaries of Apple’s exclusive design-related rights.”

Kodak Sues Apple and HTC

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 10:00:00 EST

Eastman Kodak, the erstwhile American icon that’s been threatening to turn into road kill if it can’t sell off a chunk of its patent portfolio, sued Apple and HTC Tuesday in a New York district court for patent infringement. It also complained to the International Trade Commission claiming the device makers’ camera-enabled iOS and Android smartphones and tablets (iPods too) tread on its digital imaging technology, specifically in the way they transmit images. Kodak is already suing Apple for infringing a patent that covers technology related to a method for previewing images. Now it’s saying the same thing about HTC’s widgetry. Otherwise, the two are charged with infringing the same four patents. Kodak president and COO Laura Quatela said in a statement, “We’ve had numerous discussions with both companies in an attempt to resolve this issue, and we have not been able to reach a satisfactory agreement.” Although Kodak is asking for an exclusion order, Quatela said Kodak wasn’t interested in disrupting the availability of any product. It just wants to be fairly compensated. “We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars creating our pioneering patent portfolio,” she said. Motorola, Samsung and Nokia pay Kodak royalties. So do 30 other companies. The FOSS Patents blog figures the lawsuits are supposed to demonstrate to a strategic buyer that there’s enough value in the Kodak portfolio that it can be used to sue major wireless device makers. The patents-in-suit include US Patent No. 7,210,161 – “Automatically Transmitting Images from an Electronic Camera to a Service Provider Using a Network Configuration File;” US Patent No. 7,742,084 – “Network Configuration File for Automatically Transmitting Images from an Electronic Still Camera;” US Patent No. 7,453,605 – “Capturing Digital Images to be Transferred to an E-Mail Address;” and US Patent No. 7,936,391 – “Digital Camera with Communications Interface for Selectively Transmitting Images over a Cellular Phone Network and a Wireless LAN Network to a Destination.” Kodak added US Patent No. 6,292,218 (“Electronic Camera for Initiating Capture of Still Images While Previewing Motion Images”) to the HTC charges. It’s the same patent at issue in the pending ITC action initiated by Kodak in January 2010 against Apple and Research In Motion. Kodak estimates the Apple-RIM case could be worth a billion dollars. A decision isn’t expected before September. Meanwhile, Kodak said it has reorganized to cut costs, accelerate its transformation into a digital company and create shareholder value. The Wall Street Journal said last week that if it can’t raise cash by selling off upwards of 1,100 patents to fund a turnaround, it was going to have to seek bankruptcy protection. It’s also been looking for new financing to keep operating. Its new structure cuts its operating units from three to two: commercial and consumer. It may get kicked off the New York Stock Exchange if it can’t raise its share price. It closed at 60 cents Tuesday.

2012 the Year of the Tablet and Mobile Developer

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 07:45:00 EST

Today I noticed two very separate articles, though to me they are both interrelated and on a subject that I feel very strongly about, Tablet Devices and Mobile App Development. It is no secret that I am a total iOS convert in my personal life, living with my iPhone and iPad, but as a businessman and technologist I am just as much of a convert to Enterprise Mobility and Development, so much so that I have predicted that 2012 will be the year of the Mobile Developer, Enterprise Business App and Tablet Device… more than 2011.

Samsung Denied iPhone 4S Ban in Italy

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:15:00 EST

Samsung’s bid to get a preliminary injunction outlawing the sale of Apple’s iPhone 4S in Italy has failed, according to ANSA, the Italian wire service. The decision is Samsung’s third failure in Europe. Last month a similar attempt was shot down by a French court and before that Holland said no. Apple, on the other hand, is appealing the rejection of its bid to get four Samsung widgets outlawed in the United States to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals and the temporary injunctions it managed to get against Samsung in Germany, the Netherlands and Australia are being reviewed. If the courts find they shouldn’t have been granted Apple could wind up owing its nemesis money.

HTC’s German Resellers Sued for Selling Its Phones

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 13:00:00 EST

Reuters says IP firm IPCom has sued maybe 30 German retailers so far for patent infringement for selling HTC phones. HTC last month dropped an appeal of an injunction IPCom got from a German court in 2009. That made the injunction enforceable. The phones enjoined are any devices using UMTS technology, which is everything HTC sells. IPCom subsequently sent maybe 100 retailers a notice to stop selling the phones by December 20. They didn’t cooperate so it started suing. The penalty is supposed to be a fine of up to €250,000 ($326,000) for each violation. To head off IPCom HTC rushed into a court in Düsseldorf last week and got a preliminary injunction to stop IPCom from sending retailers the cease and desist letter. IPCom told Bloomberg the amended language doesn’t stop it from threatening legal action.

Apple’s German Galaxy Tab Ban Looking Doomed

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 08:00:00 EST

The Düsseldorf court that blocked Samsung from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in Germany in September said Thursday that the changes Samsung has made in the modified Germany-only Galaxy Tab 10.1N are enough to distinguish it from the iPad and that Apple is unlikely to win a ruling against it on February 9. Apple had complained to the court that the re-worked “N” was still a dead ringer for its widget and wanted it blocked too. Apple objections are based on its European design IP. The “N” tablet has a thicker bezel design and the speakers are now on the front. Samsung’s label is also reportedly bigger.

Apple Gets HTC Android Phones Banned in US

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:30:00 EST

After a couple of delays, the International Trade Commission finally decided Monday that HTC and its Android phones infringe an Apple patent and will be banned from sale in the United States. But the ruling is so narrow that it may not make much of a difference. In fact, HTC is playing the decision as its victory. Apple started with 10 patents but won on only two claims in one patent and, in a concession to carriers, the ban won’t start until April 19, giving HTC more time than usual to come up with a workaround that it claims it already has or at least is working on. Meanwhile, it said it intends to comply with the order “as soon as possible and sell non-infringing products.” Presumably it needs to avoid any slowdown in carrier orders. It’s already pulled in Q4 guidance because of competition.

The Mobile Business Object... Your Mobile Way Forward

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 08:15:00 EST

As you probably know the Mobile Business Object (MBO) is at the heart of Sybase's UnWired Platform, which is a Mobile Enterprise Application Platform used in turn as part of the SAP Mobility Platform. Once defined the MBO can be used in Native (such as iOS) as well as Hybrid Web Container Applications. It can be described in four points. Defines the data you want to use from your backend system and exposes it to be used for your mobile application /workflow. Created using our simple, graphical tooling inside the Eclipse development environment. Re-usable, allowing you to leverage across multiple device types. Future proofing of your application, when new device types are added your same MBO can be used.

ITC Delays Android Import Ban Decision Again

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 08:00:00 EST

The US International Trade Commission, which was supposed to deliver its final decision on whether or not HTC infringes two Apple patents on Wednesday, has pushed back its commissioners’ verdict until next Monday, December 19. It is the second time that the ITC has delayed its decision. It was originally supposed to say whether HTC will be allowed to keep on importing its Android phones into the United States on December 6. The ITC’s reasons are unknown; word of the delay came overnight from HTC, which told Reuters it had gotten a notice of the postponement but that the ITC didn’t say why. Patent watcher Florian Mueller thinks it’s likely due to the ITC’s workload and that it doesn’t suggest anything good or ill for either side.

Apple Reportedly Wants to Buy Flash Memory Maker

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:45:00 EST

Apple is in talks to buy five-year-old fabless Israeli flash storage maker Anobit Technologies for $400 million-$500 million according to a story in the Hebrew-language financial daily Calcalist repeated by Reuters, Bloomberg, TechCrunch et al. That seems like a lot of money for an Apple acquisition, which are generally software-related, but it’s previously bought processor design talent, which is how it comes by its own ARM chip. Of course Apple’s got a ton of money so it could easily peel off a half-billion and not even notice it. Anobit’s widgetry is used in cell phones and tablets including some iPhones, iPads, iPods and the MacBook Air. The start-up’s memory signal processing technology uses proprietary signal processing algorithms combined with advanced error correction and flash management schemes to improve flash performance, endurance and cost. Apparently it could double the memory in iPads and MacBooks.

Court Says Motorola Mobility Can Stop Apple Widgets from Entering Germany

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:00:00 EST

Well, if Motorola Mobility antes up a $134 million bond in case it’s ultimately defeated and if Apple can’t get a stay from an appeals court then Motorola will be able to stop Apple’s iPhones and iPads from entering Germany, Europe’s largest market. A regional German court Friday gave Motorola a preliminary injunction against Apple Sales International in Ireland from whence new Apple products flow. The court said Apple infringed a standard-essential MMI cellular communications patent related to data packet transfer technology (GPRS). Motorola can also hit Apple up for damages going back to 2003. How much remains to be decided after Apple turns over German sales data to MMI.

Apple Loses US Bid to Enjoin Samsung

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 05:45:00 EST

Apple took a hit Friday when a California federal judge said in a 65-page ruling that it couldn’t have a preliminary injunction preventing Samsung from bringing any more of its Android smartphones and tablets into the United States before the case goes to trial next July 30. Although the court allowed that Apple may eventually prevail at trial, the company supposedly didn’t prove it would suffer the kind of irreparable harm that couldn’t be solved by monetary damages. At the same time the court found Samsung’s tablet “virtually indistinguishable” from the iPad so the case’s eventual resolution, which charges Samsung with slavish copying, depends on whether Apple’s patents are valid absent a Samsung redesign.

Australian Injunction Against Samsung Overturned

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:00:00 EST

Samsung has persuaded an Australian appeals court to overturn the temporary injunction Apple got from a lower court on October 13 forbidding the sale of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 on the grounds of patent infringement. The iPad-competitive widget can now be sold ahead of a trial whose date has yet to be set. Apple is expected to appeal. The appeals court Friday said it had doubts about the justice of the injunction that the lower court slapped on the Samsung tablet. It was expected to rule this week on Samsung's bid to lift the restraint. Samsung argued that the lower court failed to consider whether Apple would actually win at trial. The presiding appellate judge reportedly found it difficult to believe Apple couldn't keep track of the damages it might suffer if it successfully pursued its patent accusations. Apple has claimed the impact isn't limited to iPad but also to Samsung's effects on iPhones, Mac computers and applications because they're tied to one another, a claim the appeals court called "speculative."

ITC Throws Out S3 Complaint Against Apple

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 07:00:00 EST

The US International Trade Commission overruled one of its own administrative law judges, who thought the Mac tread on S3’s IP, and threw out an S3 Graphics patent complaint against Apple’s Macs, iPad and iPhone, saying it has no case. HTC of course is buying S3 for $300 million ostensibly for patent protection. Now it looks like that was a dumb idea; its patents may not be valid or the IP may belong to AMD. The ITC, which can bar imports, did not explain its decision. HTC says it may appeal. Bloomberg expects the decision to put pressure on HTC’s shares.

Birst Intros Cloud-Based Mobile BI SDK for iPad

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 05:00:00 EST

Birst figures it’s scored an industry first by making its cloud-based Mobile Business Intelligence (BI) SDK available for the Apple iPad. The new iOS SDK lets developers embed highly interactive and visual Birst-powered business analytics in their native iPad apps. Taking advantage of the iPad’s gesture-based interface, they can build mobile applications that filter information of interest and drill into details on both charts and report tables. The widgetry saves developers from having to concentrate on the plumbing, such as the data warehouse, data integration, data quality and core BI engine, and lets them focus on building business intelligence into their applications. By writing to Birst’s Mobile APIs, the company says they can bypass the complicated data integration, quality and consolidation issues that underpin BI implementations.

Steve Jobs' Two Empires Meet in Apple's Boardroom

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:55:00 EST

After the market closed Tuesday, Apple said that Disney CEO Bob Iger had joined the Apple board and that Genentech chairman and former CEO Arthur Levinson, a long-time Apple director, would replace the late Steve Jobs as chairman. Jobs of course became Disney’s largest shareholder when Iger bought his other company, Pixar, in 2006. Levinson, Apple’s co-lead director since 2005, has been on the board since 2000 and has served on all three of its committees, audit and finance, nominating and corporate governance, and compensation. He will continue to serve on the audit committee. Iger, who’s also on the board of the US-China Business Council and the President’s Export Council, will also serve on the audit committee. In a statement Apple CEO Tim Cook said of Iger’s appointment, “His strategic vision for Disney is based on three fundamentals: generating the best creative content possible, fostering innovation and utilizing the latest technology, and expanding into new markets around the world which makes him a great fit for Apple.” Iger is currently building a theme park in Shanghai and to break ground in April reportedly took 10 years of talks with the Chinese government.

Going Viral: Steve Jobs in Silhouette

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 11:15:00 EST

A student, Jonathan Mak, a student enrolled at Hong Kong Polytechnic University in graphic design, was surprised when his tribute to Steve Jobs went viral. "We are all susceptible to the pull of viral ideas. Like mass hysteria. Or a tune that gets into your head that you keep on humming all day until you spread it to someone else. Jokes. Urban legends. Crackpot religions. No matter how smart we get, there is always this deep irrational part that makes us potential hosts for self-replicating information. (see wikiquote) "Want to stay alive in the new world? You better get tech savy. Things are more complicated these days when it comes to all aspects of life thanks to the amazing technological advances we are all enjoying. Business is one of life's aspects that has been greatly affected by this surge in new technology. Those who familarize themselves, at the very least and submerging themselves even better, in the new technology will be the winners even if unintentional successes as was the case with Hong Kong student, Jonathan Mak who gave tribute to Steve Jobs by incorporating his profile into the existing bite out of apple logo. http://www.researchhistory.org/2011/11/12/apple-icon-with-steve-jobs-pro... This example is a perfect illustration of the power of the web.

Samsung Wants iPhone 4S Source Code

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:00:00 EDT

Samsung wants Apple’s source code for the iPhone 4S firmware so it can see if it trespasses on three Samsung wireless 3G standard-essential patents. The move is part of an attempt to get the iPhone 4S outlawed in Australia. Samsung told the Australian court that banned its own Galaxy Tab 10.1 from the country pending trial that it also wants copies of the subsidy deals Apple signed with Australian carriers Vodafone, Telstra and Optus to see if Samsung is in any way frozen out. Apple has denied any patent infringement and claims to be using the IP under the Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory doctrine via its chip purchases from Qualcomm, which has a license. Patent holders can’t double-dip.

Ever More Android Licensees Paying Microsoft

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 23:58:00 EDT

Microsoft has persuaded yet another Android shifter to pay it patent royalties. This time it’s ODM Compal Electronics, which has agreed to pay Microsoft’s patent tax on its tablets, mobile phones, e- readers and other consumer devices running Android or Chrome. Microsoft said Sunday that it’s now got more than half of the world’s ODM industry making Android and Chrome devices under license. Compal is the tenth company to cut an Android license with Microsoft for its mystery patents. Others include Samsung, HTC, Acer and most recently Quanta, which is making the Android-based Kindle Fires for Amazon and the poorly selling PlayBooks for RIM. Microsoft says it’s getting “reasonable compensation” for its inventions and patent portfolio. It is suing Motorola Mobility and Barnes & Noble for infringement. Google CEO Larry Page recently claimed that Microsoft’s Android patent will eventually backfire apparently because of customer alienation. How that works is unclear. He suggested Motorola Mobility patents will save Android OEMs. He’s paying $12.5 billion to buying MMI. Whether MMI’s patents have any value is unclear.

"Magical Thinking" May Have Killed Steve Jobs

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:03:00 EDT

We wondered when this would come up. Steve Jobs told his biographer Walter Isaacson, whose book is about to come out, that he regretted delaying surgery for his rare form of pancreatic cancer and, over his wife’s objections, for nine months after his diagnosis treated the disease with diet and spiritualists. He didn’t want his body to be “violated,” Issacson told “60 Minutes” according to excerpts released Thursday. He also had unidentified “secret treatments” while telling people he was cured. Whether that means radiation or chemo is unclear but common. Isaacson said, “I think that he kind of felt that if you ignore something, if you don’t want something to exist, you can have magical thinking.” The show will air October 23.

Apple Did Fine, But Wall Street Couldn't Cut It

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 07:00:00 EDT

Maybe while Occupy Wall Street is busy tidying up the world it might want to take on the silliness of “expectations,” those hurdles companies are supposed to leap over because Wall Street guesstimates they should. “Expectations” constantly cost billions of dollars. They cost Apple billions Tuesday when it missed “expectations” and didn’t sell the requisite number of iPhones Wall Street thought it should although Wall Street knew as well as all the iPhone buyers out there that Apple was supposed to put out a new iPhone. The miss, as they say, cost Apple $28 a share adding to doubts about the shift in Apple management since Steve Jobs died two weeks ago even though Apple’s earnings and revenues were up “sharply,” as they also say. Apple earned $7.05 a share in its fiscal fourth quarter, up 54% from $4.64 per share a year a year ago when the company reported net income of $6.62 billion as opposed to $4.31 billion. Revenue jumped 39% to $28.3 billion. It was supposed to earn $7.26 a share on revenue on $29.69 billion, making it the company’s first “miss” since 2004. Apple only sold 17.07 million iPhones during the quarter, up 21% year-over-year, but down 16% sequentially and Wall Street figures it should have sold 18 million-20 million since it sold 20.3 million in its third quarter. Apple said it exceeded internal projections but sales were impacted by rumors of the coming of the new iPhone 4S leading to delayed purchases. The new iPhone did of course wrack up sales of four million in its first three days this passed weekend but that’s a fiscal Q1 record. The facts suggest a displacement Wall Street should have anticipated into its models. Meanwhile, Q4 iPad sales more than doubled to 11.12 million, roughly in line with most “expectations,” Mac sales jumped 26% to 4.89 million – while the overall PC business grew under 4% – and iPod sales fell 27% to 6.62 million. Apple’s gross margin of 40.3% was better than the 39.74% expected. Apple is now getting 63% of its revenue from overseas. Its new masters expect earnings of $9.30 a share for its first quarter against analyst expectations of $9.01 a share on $37 billion in revenue. Everybody says that’s anywhere near as conservative as Apple is known to be and a staid new CEO Tim Cook even predicted that Apple, with its “unbelievable” pipeline, will set “an all-time record” for iPhone sales this quarter. He could not predict when supply might meet demand. Apple has also cut prices on older models to attract the price-conscious. The company now has an amazing $81.6 billion in the bank. It may be time to reinterpret what exactly a growth stock is.