Apple's 'Apology' to Samsung

As per ruling by a U.K court, Apple has 'apologised' to Samsung on their website. It is as follows:

Samsung / Apple UK judgment

On 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic(UK) Limited’s Galaxy Tablet Computer, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do notinfringe Apple’s registered design No. 0000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of the Highcourt is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html.

In the ruling, the judge made several important points comparing the designs of the Apple and Samsung products:

"The extreme simplicity of the Apple design is striking. Overall it has undecorated flat surfaces with a plate of glass on the front all the way out to a very thin rim and a blank back. There is a crisp edge around the rim and a combination of curves, both at the corners and the sides. The design looks like an object the informed user would want to pick up and hold. It is an understated, smooth and simple product. It is a cool design."

"The informed user's overall impression of each of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets is the following. From the front they belong to the family which includes the Apple design; but the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back. They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool."

That Judgment has effect throughout the European Union and was upheld by the Court of Appeal on 18 October 2012. A copy of the Court of Appeal’s judgment is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html. There is no injunction in respect of the registered design in force anywhere in Europe.

However, in a case tried in Germany regarding the same patent, the court found that Samsung engaged in unfair competition by copying the iPad design. A U.S. jury also found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple's design and utility patents, awarding over one billion U.S. dollars in damages to Apple Inc. So while the U.K. court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple's far more popular iPad.

Read it on: http://www.apple.com/uk/legal-judgement/

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Apple's Keynote Event (September 12th 2012) - Video

Apple's iPhone 5 launch held a great store of surprises right from the details of the iPhone 5 to the launch of the new iPod lineup. You can watch the actual keynote event here: http://www.apple.com/apple-events/september-2012/

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Possibility of an iMac Touch ?

Recently, I discovered that patentlyapple.com had acquired what seems to be a patent filed by Apple for an iMac Touch ( Actual name unknown ). Needless to say, if Apple has actually developed it, they are still a long long way from releasing it. However I'll elaborate on what I seem to understand from this design.
Apparently, the key to it all is the base, or as the header of the image says "Flex base". Essentially when the screen is in the upright position as shown in the main center image, it will function as a normal iMac - on Mac OS X ( Or whatever the latest version of Mac is by then ). But when its screen is facing up such as in the figure on the top-left corner of the image, it will function as an iOS Device. Needless to say, this seems like an extremely convenient idea but for the obvious disadvantages such as which keyboard will be used and if its a touch keyboard won't it be extremely inconvenient.

Another appealing possibility, perhaps most likely too, is that Apple will develop an entirely new Operating System meant for such devices.
Of course, there's still a lot of thought that needs to be put into this, but I'm hoping that Apple's already doing that.

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iPad vs iPhone: What to Choose and Why ?

Aside from "iPad or Macbook ?" and "Which Mac should I buy ?" ( I posted this quite a while back so its a little outdated, but the overall suggestion remains the same )", I'd say this is definitely the most common question I've been asked - "iPad or iPhone ?". Of course, its always a matter of personal opinion and generally also tends to be based on need and desire. I myself faced this same dilemma a year ago. ( Back then, it was the iPad and the iPhone 4 ) In fact, chances of me getting an iPhone were fairly slim but of course, that just made me want it more.

But then I started to look up the iPad. What started out as an unwilling act of sheet boredom turned into a burning desire for the device. Suddenly, the iPhone seemed like a distant second choice. Of course, it goes without saying, that if you look up any device on Apple's website for even a short period of time, you'll eventually fall in love with it. Getting back on topic though, 

The iPad - its more like a portable, beautifully designed, high quality Computer.  A computer that you can simply touch and use for everything possibly. Of course, if you're in the market for a phone, then you probably shouldn't even be reading this article. But in my humble opinion, the main additional feature you'll be getting in an iPhone is the ability to make calls. let me just state some advantages and disadvantages of both over each other to illuminate my point, which I stated quite clearly in the title.

The iPhone

Advantages

1. Of course, it would be the ability to make calls and send messages ( you can do the latter in the iPad too. To an extent, that is )

2. A better camera with flash ( 8 Megapixels )

3. Its always in your pocket ( More portable )

Disadvantages

1. Smaller screen makes using apps, surfing the web, playing games an arduous activity.

2. Contract required. Non-contract iPhone to come out soon but its price is estimated to start at $650 which is more than an iPad.

The iPad

Advantages

1. Larger screen area makes using applications and browsing the web a pleasure.

2. Better resolution ( 1024x768 )

3. Games and other applications are available in HD

4. Full-Size keyboard is easier for typing

5. Better word-processing

6. Native applications are better on iPad ( such as mail, contacts, calendar )

7. Applications designed for iPad generally have more viewing options and often panes on the side which make navigation a breeze.

8. Compatible with all iPhone apps and 140,000+ apps designed specifically for iPad ( total of 500,000+ )

9. Can access most websites in their desktop state flawlessly.

10. Contract-free 3G availability ( pre-paid )

11. More storage space ( Upto 64GB )

12. iBooks on iPad is exponentially superior to the one on iPhone.

13. Better battery life

14. Most of the other points are just extensions and instances of the first so I'll skip to the disadvantages for the anti-iPad people reading this.

Disadvantages

1. Less portable. ( Still fairly portable )

2. Can send messages only to other iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch users.

3. Fingerprint magnet. You'll end up cleaning the screen ten times in the day

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Teardown of the New iPod Nano

Tearing down of the new iPod Nano ( 7th generation ) by iFixit shows that Apple's switched to SanDisk from Toshiba for flash storage apart from the software changes.

This is most likely because SanDisk offered better prices considering the fact that the iPod Nano's prices have been cut to $149 ( for 4GB )

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Apple Knew About Jobs' Condition During iPhone 4S Launch

According to reports from the Palo Alto police station, Apple Executives knew of Jobs' condition and his limited time left during the launch of the iPhone 4S. Apple representatives allegedly told the police department that "there was a possibility that it could happen sometime this week" which probably explains the image above.

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Pre-Order / Buy your iPhone 4S Now

You can now pre-order your iPhone 4S here with a contract from AT&T, Verizon or Sprint  starting at $199.  You can also buy an iPhone 4 ( starting at $99 ) or an iPhone 3GS - Free ( starting at $0 ) from the same page. If you can wait for a month until November, Apple will also be selling unlocked and contract free iPhones.
Pre-ordering started on October 7th 2011 and in the first day itself, 200,000 devices were pre-ordered. It appears I may have thrashed the iPhone 4S in my review quite unnecessarily. The average consumer seems to love it.

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In Memory of Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs

A few days ago, the world lost a genius. A visionary without whom, we would probably never have heard of tablets. Without whom, neither the iPod nor the Incredibles would exist. Without whom, computers and phones would have big clunky buttons and without whom, Apple would be just a fruit.

A creative and visionary genius in Apple's words, a role model in mine, Steven P. Jobs passed away on October 5th supposedly due to pancreatic cancer, leaving behind a world that he changed drastically in the 56 years that he was alive. The man who founded Apple, NeXT and Pixar Animations redefined the way we live our lives with his innovations.

Today, we mourn the loss of a man whose demise is not just Apple's loss. Not just his family's loss. But is a loss for us all. The loss of a man who shall never be forgotten. Perhaps the greatest tribute to his death is the fact that most of us read about it on a device that he invented.

It is said that there are three major Apple's that changed the world -

1. The one that Adam and Eve ate
2. The one that fell on Newton and
3. The one that Steve Jobs created

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Some Statistics about iOS Devices - iPad, iPhone and iPod

iOS Devices Sold

The touchscreen devices ( The iPod, iPad and iPod Touch ) which have managed to find their way into the houses of 200 million customers ( estimated ) are the foundation of all other capacitative touchscreen devices.

- More than 14 Billion applications for these devices have been sold via the iTunes App Store.    - On an average, that's roughly 70 apps per device sold. 

- More than 225 Million customers have iTunes App Store ID's with credit card information. 

-  ( That's more than the number of Devices Sold ).

- More than 130 Million books have been sold on the iBookstore

- 25 Million iPads have been sold to date.

- Roughly 80 Million iPod Touches and 225 Million iPod ( Difficult to be sure )

- And approximately ( probably more than ) 88 Million iPhones sold till date 

- The iPhone 4 is the 2nd most popular camera device according to Flickr

iPad Models Sold to Date

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Lion - Inverted scrolling or Normal ?

Mac OS X Lion is out ( available on the Mac app store ) as you probably already know. Now one of the many changes in the OS is that scrolling is now inverted or as Apple calls it "Natural" which basially means that like in iOS Devices, to go up on a page you scroll down on your mouse / trackpad and to go down on a page, you scroll up on your mouse / trackpad. Scrolling is now also momentum based which means that it will move based on how you scroll on your mouse.

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Mac OS X Lion is Out

Apple just released their newest, much awaited operating system - Mac OS X Lion along with a New Macbook Air and a New Mac Mini. What's more Lion, with over 250 new features in a single update is available for a mere $29.99 for all your Macs as opposed to previous operating system updates which were priced at $129.99 for a single Mac. 

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Scan on Mac Without any Software

Connect your scanner to your Mac, Open Preview and Click File ---> Import from Scanner

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Left Handed Mouse on Mac ?

Left handed ? Trouble using the mouse with your right ? No problem. Just go to System Preferences --> Mouse and change the "Secondary click" option from right to left. Piece of cake.

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Curved Glass Display on iPhone 5 ( Rumoured, Expected )

One of the strongest rumors about the iPhone 5 is that it will have a curved glass display. This rumour is floating around based on an article in a taiwanese newspaper saying that Apple had recently ordered glass cutting machines with the capability to carve glass. The iPod nano is one of the few devices with a curved screen display. However another possibility is that Apple plans to make the back of it's device with curved screen display. ( Another one of their attempts to make the iPhone thinner )

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The Mac Tip Series 3 - Applications

Mac Switch 4 - IMPORTANT Your Mac now runs on an application system (which, by the way, is not the formal term for it) which means that even when you click the cross button on a window (which is to the top-left corner of your screen), the application will usually stay open which can make your computer slow. To quit an application correctly, click on the name of that application in the menubar and click "quit application name". This is shown in the image below. Or simply press Command-Q

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The Mac Tip Series 2 - Macintosh HD

My Computer --> Macintosh HD

Mac Switch #2 - Your "My Computer" folder is now called "Macintosh Hd and should be on your desktop.

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The iPad Tip Series 3 - Spotlight Search

Search the entire contents of your iPad using Spotlight Search. Place one finger on the screen, touch and drag the home screen towards the right to reveal the spotlight search.

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Mac OS X Lion - Air Drop

In all previous version of Mac, transfering files from one Mac to another was a more complicated process which involved setting up file sharing, connecting to the same network, finding the other Mac, authenticating the transfer and other tedious steps. In Mac OS X Lion, All you have to do is drag and drop it to a "drop spot" and Lion will automatically find all available computers in the network and you simply have to choose one. See the Lion release date.

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Apple Mac OS X Lion Release Date ( Expected, Rumor )

No one knows the Mac OS X Lion release date for sure. However, based on Apple's Software Release history, we can be fairly certain that they will release it alongside their newest hardware ( probably on a friday ), which is likely to be some stunning new laptops, possibly Macbook Air. So we can be fairly certain that Apple Mac OS X Lion will be released on 22nd of July

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Other Blogs

Hello Reader,

If you like this blog please follow us by email ( sidebar ). Also you might these other blogs -

Mac tricks and Tips
Macworld
Mac OS X Tips
Mactips.info
Mac Tips and Tricks
Think Mac
Mac-How
OS X Daily
Mac Hints and Tips

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