Samsung Will Have to Pay Apple $120 Million

A US jury has recently ordered Samsung to pay almost $120 million to Apple for smartphone patent violations, though it is much less than iPhone-maker initially wanted and marked a big loss for Apple in the latest round of the two companies’ litigation.

Apple have accusing Samsung of violating patents on smartphone features for a while now, trying to claim it was Steve Jobs who invented everything. In response, Samsung denied warongdoing. In result of one of the trials, which took place in the United States, the jury found Samsung infringed two Apple patents.

The two companies have been fighting in courts across the globe for several years now. Jurors awarded Apple about $930 million after a trial in the US two years ago, but the company failed to persuade American district judge to issue a permanent injunction against the sale of Samsung phones in the United States.

Industry experts think that Apple is just trying to curtail the rapid growth of phones based on Google’s rival Android software. It is known that Samsung was by far the largest adopter of this mobile OS. Despite the fact that this verdict is large compared to others, it can’t be regarded as a victory for Apple. The matter is that this award is less than 10% of the amount Apple requested, and may even not surpass the amount of money the company spent litigating this case.

The latest lawsuit involves 5 Apple patents that weren’t at issue at that trial two years ago and cover such iPhone features as slide-to-unlock and search technology. The iPhone-maker had sought to ban sales of a number of Samsung phones, including the Galaxy S3, and demanded over $2 billion in damages.

Apple claimed that the recent ruling reinforced its stance that Samsung stole its ideas and copied its products. This situation led some experts to question if patent litigation was a viable strategy, as it can be abused and hinder innovation. The supporters of this point of view believe that litigation can help innovators protect their IP and benefit from it.

Samsung argued that Apple had exaggerated the importance of its iPhone features, while Apple argued that the Korean company couldn’t have competed in the smartphone market without copying iPhone.
In the trial two years ago, by the way, it was also found that Apple had infringed one of Samsung’s patents, and the Galaxy-maker was awarded $158,400
EnjOy.. :)
Bugs 0f Techn0l0gy

Microsoft’s OneDrive goes online, offers 100GB of free storage

Microsoft’s rebranding of SkyDrive has gone into effect worldwide, along with new features and extra storage options for both existing and new users.

The Redmond giant announced OneDrive as the new title for its cloud storage service last month and has now made it the default for users worldwide.

The rebranding will go into effect across Microsoft’s Windows 8, Windows Vista and Mac apps today, and also on the mobile and Xbox versions. Existing and new users will be able to access OneDrive at its redesigned website, and will also be able to gather an additional 5GB of storage by referring up to ten friends that sign up for the service, for a total of 12GB of free storage.

Additionally, Microsoft is launching monthly plans for those that want extra storage and more flexibility over how they use that storage. If that wasn’t enough, 100,000 people selected randomly will be given 100 GB of free storage that’s valid for one year, which is considerably more than the temporary storage boosts offered by competing services like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Box (though a full year less in duration.)

For Android users, the company has upgraded its official client to include a camera backup feature for automatically backing up both photos and videos, which was recently introduced in the iOS version of the app. Enabling the camera backup option will grant users an additional 3GB of storage, which will be permanent even if one turns off the auto upload feature after enabling it, and is applicable to the iOS and Windows Phone apps as well.

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

iPhone 5C Sets on Fire in School Girl’s Pocket

The girl is treated for second-degree burns at a Biddeford hospital.

A middle school student in Kennebunk suffered second-degree burns Friday when her iPhone caught fire in her pants pocket just before a class, said her family and school officials. The eighth-grader sustained burns on one thigh and her back, and was taken to Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford for treatment. Her mother, Judy Milligan, said, “I was a little bit in shock” when the school notified her about the fire. She said she preferred not to release her daughter’s name.

The 14-year-old girl had sat down just before her first-period French class Friday morning when she and her friends sitting nearby heard a pop from the Apple iPhone 5C she had been given by her mother two months earlier.

“Immediately, smoke starts billowing from around the student,” said Jeff Rodman, principal of the Middle School of the Kennebunks. “She knew right away something was wrong and, in a panic, knew her pants were on fire caused by the cellphone.”

The girl had to take off the pants, so girls in the class helped her into a corner of the room while others herded the boys from the room and summoned a teacher, who was standing just outside the door, Rodman said.

“It was sensitive. She knew she was kind of in a tough situation,” he said.

Teachers came to help, and someone in the main office called 911.

The girl had the presence of mind to “stop, drop and roll,” Rodman said, which reduced the flames and the injuries she suffered. “The phone fell out of her pocket ... and it was still smoldering. Her pants were still on fire,” he said.

Once the pants were off, one teacher wrapped the girl in a blanket while they waited for rescue workers and firefighters to arrive.

School officials declared a “hold in place,” so students could not leave their classrooms and emergency workers could get in and out of the building quickly, Rodman said.

The girl was taken to the hospital in Biddeford, where she was treated for what her mother said were second-degree burns. She was released after about 45 minutes.

She asked to return to class, her mother said, but school officials and health care workers encouraged her to go home.

“She’s very calm – just a calm person,” Milligan said.

A call to Apple headquarters was not returned by press time.

An investigator with the state Fire Marshal’s Office took pictures of the phone.

Andrew Rosenstein, owner of TechPort in Portland, which repairs Apple products, said customers have brought in batteries that were swollen and at risk of malfunction after extended use, but not from a phone that was almost new.

“There’s basically a lithium-ion type rechargeable battery built in (to an iPhone). The battery, as it charges and discharges, it’s really a chemical reaction that can generate heat,” Rosenstein said. “It’s very rare there can be an issue, but any battery is just a chemical composition that can be flammable in extreme circumstances.”

Rosenstein said his business uses a fireproof box to store batteries from devices that are being repaired, so fire cannot spread if they somehow ignite.

There have been sporadic reports of phone fires, though typically the phones that caught fire were being charged.

The most notable malfunctions of lithium ion batteries were aboard two 787 Boeing Dreamliners, causing fires that led to the grounding of the aircraft.

Rosenstein couldn’t say what would have caused the battery in the eighth-grader’s phone to burn. He said there’s nothing else in the phone that could cause a fire. “These batteries installed in Apple products in particular are extremely safe. It’s an extremely rare incident,” he said.

Milligan said her daughter is an honor student and enjoys school, especially French class. She also is a competitive swimmer with the Biddeford Manta Rays, and had to miss Friday’s practice and Saturday’s meet in Belfast.

Milligan said she almost didn’t get the call from the school telling her that her daughter had been burned.

When she left the house Friday morning with her daughter and son, she realized she had left her cellphone in the house. She contemplated going without it for the day, but instead ran inside to grab it. In the middle of her hour-long drive to work, she got the call.

The iPhone, which was green and is now black, is useless. So are the pants, which Milligan agreed to replace.

“We went to Target and got a pair of yoga pants,” she said.

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

:Phone 5s & iPhone 5c Arrive in Italy, Russia, Spain & More Than 25 Countries on Friday, October 25:

 Phone 5s & iPhone 5c Arrive in Italy, Russia, Spain & More Than 25 Countries on Friday, October 25

Available in India, Mexico & More Than a Dozen Additional Countries on Friday, November 1

 

Apple® today announced iPhone® 5s, the most forward-thinking smartphone in the world, and iPhone 5c, the most colorful iPhone yet, will be available in Italy, Russia, Spain and more than 25 additional countries on Friday, October 25. iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c will also be available in more than a dozen countries on Friday, November 1, including India and Mexico. 

iPhone 5s redefines the best smartphone experience in the world with amazing new features all packed into a remarkable thin and light design, including the Apple-designed A7 64-bit chip, all-new 8 megapixel iSight® camera with True Tone flash and introducing Touch ID™, an innovative way to simply and securely unlock your phone with just the touch of a finger. iPhone 5c features an all-new design, packed with features people know and love like the beautiful 4-inch Retina® display, blazing fast performance of the A6 chip, and the 8 megapixel iSight camera—all while delivering great battery life.¹ iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c both offer more LTE bands² than any other smartphone in the world and include all-new FaceTime® HD cameras.

iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c come with iOS 7, the most significant iOS update since the original iPhone, featuring a stunning new user interface, completely redesigned with an elegant color palette, distinct, functional layers and subtle motion that make it feel more alive. iOS 7 has hundreds of great new features, including Control Center, Notification Center, improved Multitasking, AirDrop®, enhanced Photos, Safari®, Siri® and introduces iTunes Radio℠, a free Internet radio service based on the music you listen to on iTunes®.³

iPhone 5s comes in gold, silver or space gray for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model, $299 (US) for the 32GB model and $399 (US) for the 64GB model.⁴ iPhone 5c comes in blue, green, pink, yellow and white for a suggested retail price of $99 (US) for the 16GB model and $199 (US) for the 32GB model.⁴ iPhone 5s cases come in beige, black, blue, brown, yellow and (RED) for a suggested retail price of $39 (US) and iPhone 5c cases come in blue, green, pink, yellow, black and white for a suggested retail price of $29 (US). iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c and cases for both phones will be available through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. iPhone 4s is available for free with a two-year contract from participating carriers.

Every customer who buys an iPhone 5s or iPhone 5c at an Apple retail store will be offered free Personal Setup service, helping them customize their iPhone by setting up email, showing them new apps from the App Store℠ and more, so they’ll be up and running with their new iPhone before they leave the store. Customers can learn more about iOS 7 and their new device through new free workshops at all Apple retail stores worldwide.

iPhone 5s and 5c will be available on Friday, October 25 in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, French West Indies, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Reunion Island, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and Thailand. iPhone 5s and 5c will also be available on Friday, November 1 in Albania, Armenia, Bahrain, Colombia, El Salvador, Guam, Guatemala, India, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and UAE. Both iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c are currently available in the US, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the UK.

¹ Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.
² LTE is available through select carriers. Network speeds are dependent on carrier networks, check with your carrier for details.
³ iTunes Radio is available with iOS 7 in the US.
⁴ For qualified customers.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

EnjOy..:)
Bugs Of Techn0l0gy