Final day of testimonies complete in Apple vs Samsung trial

The end of the Apple-Samsung trial is drawing near, as the final day of witness testimonies is now complete. Both sides have exhausted their allotted 25 hours of arguments, and the case will soon be turned over to the jury.

In honor of this occasion, we thought we’d take a look back at some of the week’s more interesting moments in the case, from Samsung’s denial of copying Apple’s icons, to Judge Koh’s “smoking crack” comment…

Sick of the arguing – one of the more interesting aspects of this trial has been US District Court Judge Lucy Koh. She’s had no problems telling the attorneys from both sides what’s on her mind, and this week started off with her ordering them to stop arguing and agree on final jury instructions.
We didn’t copy Apple’s icons – last week, Apple’s attorneys show the jury some half a dozen images of Samsung’s icons and how they were similar to those found in iOS. This week, Samsung called on the designer of its Galaxy icons Jeeyuen Wang to testify. Obviously she testified that she didn’t copy.
Apple lifted the iPad’s design – one of Apple’s many claims against Samsung is that it intentionally copied the design of its iPad. Whether it did or didn’t, Samsung’s best line of defense against this in court is to present prior art. And it did, or at least tried to, with this tablet from 1981.
Galaxy Tab 10.1 came first – Samsung brought its industrial designer, Jin Soo Kim, to talk about the timeline of the company’s work on its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet. The word is, Samsung watched Apple unveil its iPad 2, and sent its designers “back to the drawing board.” This one’s interesting.
Are you smoking crack? – this hilarious line from Judge Koh probably made 1000 headlines yesterday. The comment came after Apple’s attorneys submitted a 75-page briefing of witness instructions. Koh, being the outspoken person she is, told Apple’s litigation team to pare it down.
The testimony phase ended on a dull note today. Most of the day’s witnesses were return witnesses, and Samsung’s side was pretty quiet, as it only had 46 minutes of court time left compared to Apple’s four hours.

There will likely be some last-minute filings over the weekend, and lawyers will meet with the Judge on Monday for final instructions. The trial resumes Tuesday with closing arguments, and then it’ll be handed over to the jury.

And the verdict they deliver will be one of the biggest in corporate history. If Apple wins, Samsung could owe as much as $2.5 billion dollars in damages. And if Apple loses, that opens up its designs and patents to a lot more copying.

Stay tuned.



Motorola files its second ITC suit against Apple

Google-owned handset maker Motorola Mobility on Friday filed its second lawsuit against Apple with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that could see Apple’s Mac computers, iPhones and iPads banned from sale in the United States…

Bloomberg relays an e-mail statement by the Illinois-based Droid maker:

We would like to settle these patent matters, but Apple’s unwillingness to work out a license leaves us little choice but to defend ourselves and our engineers’ innovations.

The Wall Street Journal chimed in, writing that Motorola accused Apple in the filing of breaching seven of its patents related to location-based reminders, Siri, push email notifications and media playback on cell phones, amongst others.

Motorola today also issued press invitations for an product launch slated for August 5 (Droid Razr HD, perhaps?), conveniently a week before Apple is rumored to unveil the next iPhone and the same day Microsoft/Nokia have their own Windows Phone 8/Lumia related presser.

It’s gonna be a crowded September.

Motorola and Apple locked horns over patents in 2010, following failed licensing talks. Apple argues that the Droid maker is refusing to license standards-essential patents on fair terms while claiming that Motorola’s Android-driven devices ripped off key patented features of the iPhone.

The ITC is also reviewing a previous ruling from Motorola’s first ITC case against Apple. That ruling, due August 24, could have devastating consequences for California-based Apple because asserted patents cover crucial 3G technology used in both iPhones and iPads.

Apple on its part argued that the tech is standards-essential and should be licensed at a fair and reasonable price under the FRAND act.

Remember, Motorola previously won a case against Apple in Germany over its data synchronization patent. As a result, iCloud users cannot have iCloud email pushed to their iOS devices while located within the borders of Germany.

Now that Google has completed its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola, effectively becoming a handset maker, any settlement gets more complicated.

While Motorola as a standalone entity may be interested to take care of its own needs, Google clearly has broader agenda, especially in light of the ongoing Apple v. Samsung litigation, currently unfolding in its third week in a San Jose court in northern California.

What do you guys make of this?



Pod2g uncovers major SMS security flaw in iOS

Despite the fact that Apple continues to receive praise for the security in iOS, hackers continue to discover vulnerabilities. Just look at all of the exploits that have been used in past jailbreaks.

Today, Pod2g adds another one to that list with his newly discovered SMS flaw. It has to do with the way the iPhone handles SMS, and could open the doors for text message spoofing…

From pod2g’s blog post:

“A SMS text is basically a few bytes of data exchanged between two mobile phones,  with the carrier transporting the information. When the user writes a message, it’s converted to PDU (Protocol Description Unit) by the mobile and passed to the baseband for delivery…

…In the text payload, a section called UDH (User Data Header) is optional but defines a lot of advanced features not all mobiles are compatible with. One of these options enables the user to change the reply address of the text. If the destination mobile is compatible with it, and if the receiver tries to answer the text, he will not respond to the original number, but to the specified one.”

He goes on to say that in a safe implementation of this feature, the recipient of a text would see the original phone number and the reply-to one. But on the iPhone, only the reply-to number appears.

As you can imagine, this could cause all kinds of problems. There are a lot of services that use text messages to verify accounts and account info, and then there’s the whole personal aspect.

The security expert says that the flaw first appeared in the original iPhone, and still exists in iOS 6 beta 4. He’s pleading with Apple to correct the problem before the final release.

And they have good reason to. Pod2g also notes in the post that he’s working on a utility that enables you to recreate this problem, without all of the hacking, and plans to release it soon.



Rumor: Apple to use special ITO film coating on iPad mini

As you’ve probably gathered already by the months of chatter, Apple is widely expected to unveil a new tablet next month. It’s said to have a 7.85-inch display, and a profile as thin as the iPod touch.

Of course, since there’s been no official word from Apple regarding the product, all of this is still essentially speculation — rumors if you will. And this morning, we’ve got another one to add to the pile…

DigiTimes is reporting that Apple’s new iPad mini may be the first from the company to sport displays coated with ITO (Indium Tin Oxide), an electrically conductive substance that reduces radio noise.

“Taiwan-based Efun Technology’s profits have doubled in recent years due to ITO film and are expected to continue rising on reports that the technology will be used in Apple’s reported 7.85-inch iPad, said the sources.”

What does this mean to us as users? Well, with the reduction of radio frequency interference, we could see better connectivity from data and cellular services. And that, in turn, could equal better battery life.

It’s worth noting, however, that DigiTimes has a hit and miss record when it comes to Apple intel. As we’ve said before, it seems to use the “let’s throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” approach to journalism.

That being said, this actually sounds like something from Apple’s playbook. A new, likely low-cost tech that could help shave power usage or enhance the user experience. The rumored in-cell panels come to mind.

Anyway the media event, in which Apple is said to be unveiling this tablet alongside a new iPhone and other products, appears to be set for September 12. So hopefully we’ll get a lot of these questions answered then.



Burglar steals $60,000 worth of computers and personal items from Steve Jobs’ home

Late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ Palo Alto home was burglarized last month, according to a newspaper report today. The police included the crime in its weekend report log released to the media. A suspect was apprehended with $60,000 worth of stolen items, including computers and personal items.

Steve’s widow Laurene Powell Jobs and her children were probably not in the house when the crime took place as the Palo Alto house was surrounded with scaffolding last month amid major renovations.

A thief apparently was unaware of the famous home owners. The police wouldn’t release more details because charges had already been filed…

Jason Green, writing for The San Jose Mercury News:

The deceased Apple co-founder’s home on Waverley Street in Palo Alto was burglarized July 17, said Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Tom Flattery, a member of the high-technology crimes unit.

This was allegedly a random crime rather than a targeted burglary:

More than $60,000 worth of “computers and personal items” were allegedly stolen, but Flattery declined to say whether they belonged to Jobs, who died last year at the age of 56, or another family member.

Steve Jobs died in his Palo Alto home on October 5 of last year of respiratory arrest attributed to his years-long battle with cancer.

The suspect in custody has been identified as 35-year-old Kariem McFarlin. He was arraigned five days later on one count of residential burglary and selling stolen property.

He remains in county jail on $500,000 bail and could face a maximum prison sentence of seven years and eight months, including a one-year enhancement for “excessive taking of property”, according to District Attorney Tom Flattery.

Though the crime seem to be a random one, it’s interesting that the bulk of the stolen items is electronics and computers.

It’s entirely possible that McFarlin broke into the Jobs family’s home totally oblivious to who its residents were and just picked up whatever items he deemed valuable.

Contrary to his charismatic, mercurial public persona, Jobs lived a quiet and private life in his Palo Alto home. He wasn’t known for relying on security guards and cameras to protect his and his family’s privacy, like rich people mostly do.

What do you guys make of this?

Was this a random crime?



Apple shipped nearly 7 out of every 10 tablets in Q2

Joining Strategy Analytics and IDC, research firm IHS iSuppli today published findings of its second-quarter tablet research. No surprises here, Apple’s iPad remain the tablet to beat as Apple grew its tablet market share from 58.0 percent in the year-ago quarter to 69.9 percent in the second quarter of this year.

It’s the highest number since the first quarter of last year, when Apple had a 70 percent share. Making Apple’s surge even more noteworthy is the fact that a year ago Apple had fewer competitors in the marketplace…

According to IHS iSuppli data, Apple shipped nearly seven out of every ten tablets during the second quarter, enough to up its share to nearly 70 percent. The figure is up a stunning 44.1 percent from 11.8 million the first quarter, IHS iSuppli noted.

Apple is making all the right moves to rebuild its dominant position in the tablet space. The company is pushing visual performance boundaries with the new iPad, while providing value customers with a lower-priced alternative, the iPad 2.

Second-ranked Samsung shipped 2.3 million tablets, enough to grab a 9.2 percent share, down from 10.8 percent sequentially.

Amazon shipped a million Kindle Fire tablets for the #3 slot with a 4.2 percent share.

Asus, the maker of Google’s Nexus 7 tablet and its own Transformer line, shipped 688,000 units, grabbing just 2.8 percent share.

Barnes & Noble rounded up the top five with a 1.9 percent share on sales of 459,000 tablets.

Apple will be tough to beat due to its ecosystem, says the research firm:

A major component of Apple’s success to date is the company’s well-developed ecosystem of content and applications it had in place before entering the tablet market, and its absolute control of the hardware, software and operating system.

The tablet race is no longer about the hardware, it’s about the ecosystem.

When a customer buys a media tablet, what he or she is really doing is purchasing a key to that ecosystem, not just a piece of hardware.

Here’s your table.

As for Google’s Nexus 7 and Microsoft’s upcoming Surface tablet, “it’s possible that each of these vendors is entering the market intending to lead by example, rather than trying to be serious branded tablet competitors”, IHS iSuppli opines.

Another research by Analysys International pegged Apple’s China tablet share during the second quarter of this year at a whopping 72.6 percent share.

It was revealed during the Apple v. Samsung trial that nearly half of the surveyed respondents may mistaken Samsung’s Galaxy tablets for the iPad, per Apple witness Kent Van Liere.

Do you see other vendors giving the iPad a good run for its money in the near-term?



Question of the week: How do you feel about the removal of the stock YouTube app?

Now that the dust has settled from the revelation that Apple has done away with the stock YouTube app, what are your thoughts?

We’ve polled you about your YouTube app usage, but now we want some in-depth insight on your feelings about YouTube’s removal from iOS 6…

Last week, we asked you about the prospect of Apple developing its own gaming controller, so in this week’s video, we share a few of your answers to that question as well.

The most well thought out responses to this week’s question will be featured at the beginning of next week’s Question of the Week video.

What do you think?



Nito Installer released for jailbroken ATVs

The jailbroken Apple TV community has been awfully quiet as of late. There still hasn’t been any news on the ATV3 jailbreak, and there may never be, and innovation on the ATV2 front has sort of stalled.

Until today, that is. Kevin Bradley, better known as nitoTV, has released a new utility for jailbroken Apple TVs called nito Installer. The app makes installing software on hacked ATVs easier than ever before…

Unlike on the iPhone or iPad, there’s never really been an easy way to install jailbreak apps on the ATV. It’s easy to jailbreak the device, sure, but beyond that, the user is generally required to use SSH or Terminal commands to install third-party apps. And that’s where nito Installer comes in.

Using nito Installer, you can now install apps like nitoTV or XBMC to your jailbroken Apple TV with the click of the mouse — literally. You can also use it to easily add XBMC plugins and run custom commands.

If your ATV isn’t currently jailbroken, check out our step-by-step guide on how to do it. If you’re hesitant, we also have a section that covers all of the benefits of jailbreaking the Apple TV, and why we do it.

Otherwise, feel free to go ahead and grab nito Installer from our Downloads page under Other Tools. Using it is pretty straightforward, but if you’re looking for help, we expect Jeff to be along shortly with a tutorial.