Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Larry Page have been talking by phone about a “range of intellectual property matters,” according to Reuters, including the Android-spawned dispute that has seen Apple take Google’s biggest Android peddlers to court here there and everywhere as a proxy for Google, a move that culminated last Friday with a California jury awarding Apple a $1.04 billion decision against Samsung for patent infringement. The verdict may result in a product ban. It is unclear from the Reuters exclusive how long these conversations have been going on and if there’s any chance of a broad détente. The companies reportedly have low-level personnel talking too.
Samsung is unveiling a bevy of electronics, including, the Note 2, a Windows Phone 8 (Ativ S), a touchscreen Windows 8 laptop, and more – the Galaxy Note 2 looks pretty amazing, but while I like the device and size as a secondary device, I could never use it to make phone calls. With the Ativ line, Samsung is replicating their Galaxy SX success from Android, creating a strong line of WP8 devices that offer value to any user. Samsung has one version that includes a keyboard dock, touchscreen tablet and Note style stylus. Samsung is also releasing a Galaxy S camera, a 16MP point and shoot with a 4.8″ touchscreen and Android.
A nice compact way of getting familiar with OS X Mountain Lion. It is an overview of everything included with OS X Mountain Lion. The easiest way to show you the high level topics covered is to list the table of contents. I have listed the chapters below along with the topics included in each. It is the perfect size to take it along on trips where I can put it in my pocket. Like shopping trips with my wife. It gives me something to read while waiting outside the dressing room. I really like that this book has an index. A very nice index. I have purchased other pocket version books and even some short full size books lately that don't have one. It is very annoying to not have an index.
Parallels has launched Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac, the newest version of the No. 1-selling* software for running Windows and Mac applications simultaneously on a Mac without rebooting. People love Macs but many still need to be able to use Windows applications for work, school or hobbies. Now they can enjoy the latest Mountain Lion features in Windows apps with Parallels Desktop 8. Starting August 30, current Parallels Desktop users can upgrade to Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac at www.parallels.com/desktop. For new customers, Parallels Desktop 8 will be available for purchase at retail stores and via the Parallels website on September 4.
It is common knowledge in Business that Mobile is the New Enterprise and that Mobile is Now! Meaning that you should have a strategy to build Mobile Apps that mobilize your core systems and free your Information Workers to work anytime and anywhere. The Power behind Enterprise Mobility is nowadays is Consumerization and the Prosumer! Check out these two topics in the short video clips from the SAP Innovation Show below...
News of its loss to Apple in California Friday sheared more than $12 billion off Samsung’s market cap Monday. The Wall Street Journal said investors are worried about the next Apple suit facing Samsung in the same district court. Apple is targeting Samsung’s flagship smartphone, the four-month-old Galaxy S III. Apple asked for an injunction against the widget in June. The judge hasn’t ruled yet. Apple is wielding different patents but the dingus could violate two patents the jury said last week Samsung’s older models infringed. Samsung claims it doesn’t.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, a year in the job, sent the following e-mail out to Apple folk after the jury returned a verdict in Apple’s favor Friday. He doesn’t gloat: Team: Today was an important day for Apple and for innovators everywhere. Many of you have been closely following the trial against Samsung in San Jose for the past few weeks. We chose legal action very reluctantly and only after repeatedly asking Samsung to stop copying our work. For us, this lawsuit has always been about something much more important than patents or money. It’s about values. We value originality and innovation and pour our lives into making the best products on earth. And we do this to delight our customers, not for competitors to flagrantly copy.
Google decided it should say something about the largest seller of Android widgets getting its head handed to it by an American jury Friday. It said: “The court of appeals will review both infringement and the validity of the patent claims. Most of these don’t relate to the core Android operating system, and several are being re-examined by the US Patent Office. The mobile industry is moving fast and all players – including newcomers – are building upon ideas that have been around for decades. We work with our partners to give consumers innovative and affordable products, and we don’t want anything to limit that.”
Apple has filed the one-page list of Samsung products it wants enjoined after a California jury found the Korean company guilty of infringement last Friday. Trial Judge Lucy Koh ordered it so she would know what she’s in for. Here’s Apple’s list and why they’re there. It’s being discriminating; 28 products were actually found to infringe. FOSS Patents expects Apple to ask for an open-ended injunction so any new Samsung products that use the outlawed technology can be included otherwise the ban is expected to have a negligible impact on Samsung’s business.
Yesterday I had to record a 2-hour long webinar. The resulting .mov file was about 1Gb in size. Then I needed to cut out a 40-minute fragment from this movie and save it as a separate file. Doesn’t look like an overly complicated task, does it? Started iMac on my MacBook Pro, which is not [...]
The Apple-Samsung jury didn’t leave after it decided the closely watched case Friday. It was asked to reconsider a couple of the hundreds of decisions it made filling out the 20-page verdict form. After Judge Lucy Koh and Samsung’s lawyers looked the form over they found the jury found the Galaxy Tab 10.1 4G LTE didn’t infringe, but awarded damages. On one claim the jury also found Apple’s three utility patents weren’t infringed but that parent company Samsung had induced its subsidiaries to infringe, a verdict that wasn’t possible according to the judge’s jury instructions. Elsewhere Samsung was held to infringe the patents. The jury returned to the jury room and a while later came back with a revised verdict that threw out the inducement and changed total damages from $1,051,855,000 to $1,049,343,540. Apple is going to want a trebling.
History buffs will note that Apple scored one of the most lopsided victories since Agincourt on Tim Cook’s one-year anniversary as the company’s CEO. Late Friday, a jury in a San Jose, Calif., courtroom decided overwhelmingly in favor of Apple’s patent claims against Samsung, awarding the company $1.05 billion in damages. The verdict is likely [...]
The Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) recently conducted a survey of U.S. mobile users to learn more about what consumers are doing with their mobile devices, and how and where they are using them. The key results of the survey were covered well in a recent article by Matt Hamblen in Computerworld entitled Mobile Users Prefer Wi-Fi Over Cellular for Lower Cost, Speed, Reliability.
There were many interesting findings from the study, which I will cover in more depth in subsequent blogs. One of the most surprising findings, however, was just how much people are using Wi-Fi to connect their mobile devices to the Internet.
As the following figure shows, most mobile users are connecting their devices via Wi-Fi at some point, including 70 percent of smartphone owners. Approximately 50 percent of tablets, laptops, and eReaders are connecting exclusively through Wi-Fi. Although 30 percent of smartphone owners are connected only via the mobile network, the remaining 70 percent are supplementing mobile connectivity with Wi-Fi. In fact, on average, smartphone users use Wi-Fi one-third of the time to connect their devices to the Internet. Even more astounding is that, with the exception of smartphones, users would prefer to connect all of their devices via Wi-Fi. Given a choice, more than 80 percent of tablet, laptop, and eReader owners would either prefer Wi-Fi to mobile access, or have no preference. And, just over half of smartphone owners would prefer to use Wi-Fi, or are ambivalent about the two access networks.
When asked which network they preferred, respondents chose Wi-Fi across all network attributes with the exception of coverage. Also worth noting is that across most attributes, one-quarter of respondents saw no difference between the two networks. While Wi-Fi cannot compete with the now nearly ubiquitous coverage of cellular networks, what is remarkable is that people consider Wi-Fi easier to use and more reliable than mobile. And, despite the technical superiority of cellular mobility in the area of security, respondents clearly did not make this distinction. These data seem to indicate a huge gap between the technical reality and user perception across the key distinguishing attributes of the two access networks.
Mobile users are drawn to the speed and lower cost of Wi-Fi networks, but sometimes are challenged by the difficulty of locating access points and by variability in performance. Consumers are choosing Wi-Fi over mobile connectivity based on cost advantages and because it doesn’t impose data-usage caps or reduce their mobile data plan quotas. However, the top reason for choosing Wi-Fi, however, is that respondents find it much faster than mobile networks.
Cisco IBSG conducted its online survey of 1,079 U.S mobile users in March 2012. The study was also undertaken in Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Full results of the survey can be downloaded here.
Future articles will highlight further key studies from the Cisco IBSG mobile user study.
About the Author
Stuart Taylor's further industry research, insights and perspectives can be found at his blog The Connected Life
Follow Stuart Taylor on Twitter: @STaylorCisco
Apple is expected to introduce the iPhone 5 Sept. 12 — after which it’s going to be no easy feat for its competitors to grab a headline or pull attention away from the smartphone that Apple fans have been waiting for since essentially last October. Because of this, you can expect a whole lot of news to be crammed into the week before.
Apple has triumphed in the first major decision in its sprawling legal fight across four continents against Samsung, which stands as proxy for Google and its Android operating system. In a slam-dunk verdict delivered in record time by a Silicon Valley federal jury Apple was award a mammoth $1.051 billion in damages, a sum that is likely to be trebled because Samsung was found guilty of willfully infringing five Apple patents.
This is a great book for both someone who wants to learn Test Driven Development (TDD), anyone that wants to learn how to do unit testing in Xcode, and anyone who wants to improve their designs using TDD. The author begins the book with a nice overview of the benefits of testing and how to use TDD to achieve those benefits. He then moves right into how to write unit tests and covers the tools available for unit testing. He covers OCUnit test (integrated with Xcode) in detail and introduces Google Toolkit for Mac, GHUnit, CATCH, and OCMock. He then introduces continuous integration with coverage of Hudson / Jenkins and CruiseControl. After introducing the tools, the author spends the next six chapters building an application using TDD. He starts with a specification and ends with a working application. I have listed the chapters below. Their titles explain what they cover and show how the author attacked building the application.
Apple has triumphed in the first major decision in its sprawling legal fight across four continents against Samsung, which stands as proxy for Google and its Android operating system. In a slam-dunk verdict delivered in record time by a Silicon Valley federal jury Apple was award a mammoth $1.051 billion in damages, a sum that is likely to be trebled because Samsung was found guilty of willfully infringing five Apple patents.
Has updating your computer to Mac OS X Mountain Lion completely killed your battery life? Today Apple has released the first major update (10.8.1), and it’s rumored to fix that problem for you. Here’s the full list of what it includes: Resolve an issue that may cause Migration Assistant to unexpectedly quit; Improve compatibility when connecting to a Microsoft Exchange server in Mail; Address an issue playing audio through a Thunderbolt display; Resolve an issue that prevents iMessages from being sent; Resolve an issue when connecting to SMB servers with long names; Address an issue that may cause the system to become unresponsive when using Pinyin input.
The jury began deliberating the so-called case of the century Wednesday after the CEOs of Apple and Samsung failed to resolve their patent dispute in talks Monday. Presiding judge Lucy Koh warned the companies that either or both of them could be at risk if the jury gets the complicated case. She advised Tim Cook and Kwon Oh Hyun to try settling ahead of their deliberations.
A huge uproar has resounded throughout the internet the past few days, Apple is now worth more than $620B, the largest cash value in US history (not accounting for inflation both IBM and Microsoft have been worth more given inflation on given days). However, in an era in which most technology companies are experience minor, or stagnant growth, Apple is showing exploding profits and valuation. So without much ado, here is today’s (21 August 2012) Tech Titan list according to their market cap (all valuations are from 10:00 EST).
AdaptiveMobile, the world leader in mobile security, today dispels some of the myths regarding the recent iPhone SMS vulnerability which could allow scammers to 'spoof' the sender of a text message, allowing them to pose as a known friend or contact. Whilst mobile operators have recently come under fire for this exploit, AdaptiveMobile argues that the source of the problem is the handset, not the network.
"Device manufacturers, like all members of the mobile ecosystem should aim to take security seriously and ensure their devices comply with a wide range of standards and technical recommendations," says Cathal McDaid, Security Consultant, AdaptiveMobile. "For SMS to remain a trusted, clean channel, companies need to be vigilant that their products both properly conform to standards and don't inadvertently expose flaws that can compromise their customers.
The exploit was first revealed by a researcher on the pod2g blog and the exploit misuses an optional 'Reply Address' field within the SMS protocol upper-layers. If misused, the iPhone SMS client displays a different address / phone number as the sending address rather than the actual originating address. This could be used to show recipients that text messages are from someone familiar, when they originate from a hacker or external party.
"We know conclusively that this is not a network problem because the 3GPP specification - which outlines how modern mobile phones and networks operate today - discusses the security implications of this field in all phones and give recommendations on how to avoid malicious use of this," continues McDaid. "We have tested this issue on Android, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and Symbian phones and most of them simply ignore the 'reply address' field or display both the 'real' originating address and the reply address as per the specification recommendations. The iPhone, so far, is the only device which does not comply with these security recommendations."
Apple has responded to these claims, acknowledging the weakness, but without any stated intention of remedying the situation.
"Historically, the 'reply-address' field was introduced to allow users to reply to texts which were 'broadcast' from information agencies or marketing firms, for example. These broadcast systems may not be capable of receiving messages, so this system allows for more interaction," continues McDaid. "However, whilst most handsets now ignore this quirk, with the remainder treating the field correctly, Apple has left a significant vulnerability in its handsets which could allow consumers to be fooled and hand over personal details to hackers and criminals. This reinforces the importance of handset manufacturers, operators and security providers collaborating and helping to keep SMS as a secure, reliable and trusted channel."
-ends-
About AdaptiveMobile:
AdaptiveMobile is the world leader in mobile security, enabling trusted networks for the world's largest operator groups and protecting one in six subscribers globally. AdaptiveMobile provides Operators with the most comprehensive network-based security solutions enabling them to protect their consumer and enterprise customers against the growing threat of mobile abuse. www.adaptivemobile.com
Press contacts:
Rocket Communications (UK)
Ella Thompson / Sally Brown
Adaptive@rocketcomms.net
+44 8453 707 024
ACSCom PR (USA)
Anne Coyle
anne@acscompr.com
+1 857 222 6363
The jury will hear closing arguments Tuesday after the CEOs of Apple and Samsung failed to resolve their patent dispute in talks Monday. Presiding judge Lucy Koh warned the companies that either or both of them could be at risk if the jury gets the complicated case. She advised the CEOs to try settling again ahead of their deliberations. The jury’s verdict will currently depend on how it answers 700 yes-and-no questions unless Koh simplifies the verdict form ahead of the jury beginning its deliberations. Bloomberg said Monday morning that it heard from “a person familiar with the matter” that Tim Cook and Kwon Oh Hyun would talk. They went through such formalities before the trial started.
The CEOs of Apple and Samsung are reportedly taking trial judge Lucy Koh’s advice and will try to resolve their patent dispute before the jury does, putting one or the other or both companies at risk. Bloomberg said Monday morning that it heard from “a person familiar with the matter” that Tim Cook and Kwon Oh Hyun will talk again before the jury starts deliberating. They went through such formalities before the trial started. In what may be an indication of the futility of any further negotiations, the sides told Kohn over the weekend that they had been unable to narrow their claims as she wanted.
http://www.EasyUnlockiPhone.net reveals that its tool can jailbreak and unlock the iPhone 4S, 4, 3Gs and iPad 2 the latest iOS 5.1.1. Once the jailbreak and unlock for iOS 5.1.1 is complete the iPhone/iPad will have the Cydia application installed. Cydia is a software application for iOS that enables a user to find and install software packages (including apps, interface customizations, and system extensions) on a jailbroken iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Cydia is the main independent third-party digital distribution platform for software on iOS. http://www.EasyUnlockiPhone.net was formed in mid 2008 and has successfully jailbroken over 250,000 iPhones worldwide. This is unparalleled by any other service in the industry. They have achieved this by combining a very simple solution with a fantastic customer service department that is available 24/7 through many forms of contact, including telephone.
As the day dawned and stock markets opened, Apple shares went up by $16 to $647 and made it the most valuable company worth $623 billion. It beat its next rival Exxon Mobile. Towards the end of 1999, Microsoft was worth $616B, but its value now is $257B, less than half of Apple’s value. Who could have imagined this ten years ago? Apple was derided as the company that paints PC’s (multiple color workstations) for a living. I have written before on Apple’s rapid growth and success. After Steve Jobs returned to Apple the second time, he revived the sinking ship and then started new categories that became market leaders. The new MacBook Air started a new trend in light-weight, sleek design with its ultra-fast operating system. No longer one has to wait minutes for the system to boot up. Then came the iPod that turned the music business upside down. Then followed the new leader in smartphone – iPhone which saw huge success year after year, contributing almost half of the revenue. Then Jobs introduced the iPad, the first tablet with touch interface. In spite of critics who doubted its success, it defied gravity in terms of sales and profit.