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Apple may help achieve hat-trick of import bans

On the heels of an appeals court win that suggested that Samsung should have been barred from selling its copycat Galaxy 10.1 from the get-go, Apple has now filed a motion for a new injunction against the tablet asking it to be pulled from US shelves. The two companies are scheduled to begin high-level settlement talks on Monday, but should they fail the new injunction request could be ruled on as early as June 7.

Apple won a similar ban in Germany on the original Galaxy Tab 10.1, forcing Samsung to make design changes that were judged sufficiently different to be able to avoid the injunction. That resulting product, the Galaxy Tab 10.1N, is not sold in the US and most other countries. There are already ITC US import bans in place against two of HTC’s phones and some of Motorola’s Android devices.

Apple won the reversal on Tuesday, which vacated Judge Lucy Koh’s original ruling that there was no merit to Apple’s copyright complaint regarding the iPad (the ruling on the iPhone portion of the case was left intact). Indeed, one of the three judges in the appeal, Circuit Judge Kathleen O’Malley, went so far as to issue a dissenting opinion from the other judges, saying that Apple should be granted an immediate injunction, and that Apple has been harmed by Samsung being allowed to sell the Galaxy Tab 10.1, according to patent court observer Florian Mueller.

The other two judges said simply that the matter should go back to the original court for review, since Judge Koh had never ruled on the iPad design patent (since it had previously been deemed invalid). Judge Koh is currently overseeing the settlement talks between Apple and Samsung, and will not take action on the matter until those talks are completed. Should those talks fail to produce a settlement, Samsung has until May 25th to produce a response to the injunction request, and Judge Koh may schedule it for June 7, the same date a separate injunction request against the Galaxy Nexus is scheduled to be heard.

The rulings are not expected to have much impact on either Apple’s or Samsung’s overall sales, but do clarify Apple’s design rights — and so far, the iPad maker has been largely successful in putting pressure on Android firms to redesign their products to be distinct from Apple’s. Regardless of how the rest of the case goes, a redesign of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to avoid Apple patents is likely. [via Florian Mueller]

By Electronista Staff

iOS warning messages hint at service

Apple may be preparing to enable its FaceTime video-chat service to be used over 3G networks. The company has yet to confirm such plans, however Romanian Apple website iDevice has reportedly observed new warnings in iOS 5.1.1 that appear to be geared for FaceTime calls placed over 3G networks rather than Wi-Fi.

As noted by Gizmodo and confirmed by AppleInsider, users running iOS 5.1.1 on an iPhone will be notified that “Disabling 3G may end FaceTime” if they attempt to disable 3G connectivity while participating in a FaceTime call over a Wi-Fi connection.

iPhones are said to maintain FaceTime calls even if the 3G connection is enabled or disabled, fueling speculation that the warnings may be an inadvertent confirmation that Apple finally may be willing to lift existing restrictions that prevent users from placing video calls over 3G cellular networks.

Even if Apple is willing to provide additional flexibility, it remains unclear if carriers will embrace the capabilities. FaceTime essentially works in the same manner as VoIP services such as Skype, bypassing voice-minute caps by transferring the communication onto a data plan.

By Electronista Staff

Company to open 40 new stores in 2012

On the heels of last week’s opening of the Murcia, Spain Apple Store, various sources have reported stores underway or near opening around the world. The next most likely international store is thought to be in Paris, France in the La Defense district, which is scheduled to open on May 26. Also coming later in the year is a new story in Salt Lake City, Utah; one near Bakersfield, California; a planned expansion of the existing store in Calgary, Alberta in Canada, and Apple has allegedly taken over a lease on a store in Plymouth, England.

The Apple Store Quatre Temps in Paris will be the 11th for the country and take the place of a Go Sport store in the shopping center, according to Defense92.net, which also provided a picture (seen below). The Calgary store in Market Mall is going to move from its present location to another spot in the same facility, near the south entrance. The move should allow the store’s size to expand by about one-third to 7,287 square feet, reports ifoAppleStore.

An ABC affiliate station in Salt Lake uncovered a commitment from Apple to open a new store in the new City Creek Center mall, allegedly with a sweetheart deal of five years rent-free. The nearby Gateway Apple store could end up closing in favor of the new store, which would be substantially larger. Though Apple has been known to occasionally keep two stores that are near each other open, the Gateway and City Creek stores would be just 3,000 feet apart from one another. Apple does, however, have two stores in Glendale CA that are just 600 feet away from each other.

Expected later in the year is a new store in or near Bakersfield, California, possibly in the upscale Valley Plaza mall. Little is known about plans for this store, but it is expected to open by the end of the year.

Finally, The Plymouth Herald is reporting that the Zara fashion store at the Drake Circus shopping center in Plymouth along with another clothing store next door will be abruptly closed at the end of the month to make room for a future Apple store. The closures will result in the loss of around 36 jobs but the incoming Apple store hires will more than replace that number. There’s no set timeline for the store’s opening but given the swiftness of the deal to bring Apple to the center, it’s likely the store will be open before year’s end.

by MacNN Staff

Android leads, talks underway for new carrier for iPhone

The burgeoning Chinese smartphone market stands to earn companies billions of dollars in coming years. Though this has not been independently confirmed, Microsoft now claims that Windows Phone has edged out the iPhone with a seven percent share compared to Apple’s six percent, despite Apple’s emphasis on the emerging market.

Apple is reportedly in talks with China Mobile to carry the iPhone on its LTE network in the future. Despite not selling the iPhone yet, up to 15 million iPhone users may be on the network without any official carrier support at 2G speeds. Apple has provided technical assistance to make the network more compatible with these users. Currently, the iPhone is available on China Telecom and China Unicom, with very promising initial order numbers.

Android phones by far have the lead with a 70 percent penetration in the Chinese market, with South Korean manufacturer Samsung holding the manufacturer lead with 20 percent. Unlike Apple, Samsung has been making no focused effort on the Chinese market. The majority of cell phone subscribers are not on smart phones, and are on prepaid plans. Samsung continues to manufacture and sell contract-free feature phones, contributing to its marketshare in China.

By Electronista Staff

Jobs said to have worked on LTE iPhone design

Before his death, Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs allegedly worked on a redesigned, next-generation iPhone that features a larger screen and LTE compatibility, Bloomberg reports. Three sources have confirmed that the company has ordered larger screens for the next iPhone, but did not indicate exactly what size the new device would use. Current rumors have Apple favoring a four-inch (measured diagonally) screen.

Such a screen could even fit into the existing enclosure design by simply making the screen taller, but sources indicate that the next iPhone will offer a different external design. The new design is said to have been worked on since before the current iPhone 4S was introduced last October, just a day before Jobs died. One of the sources said that Jobs played a key role in the redesign.

Modern Android phones can range up to 5.3 inches, though the larger sizes are sometimes criticized for being unwieldy to use with one hand. Apple has stuck with a consistent strategy of offering very few model choices, all of which offer a similar customer experience — and a stock 3.5-inch screen, from the first iPhone to the most recent model.

The iPhone now accounts for 58 percent of Apple’s sales all by itself, despite being just less than five years since its debut. Despite taking the vast majority of the profit in the smartphone industry, Apple would certainly like to also take more sales away from its rival Samsung and other Android-based vendors. Screen size has become a selling point on some Android phones, all the way up to “phablets” like the Samsung Galaxy Note that blur the lines between over-sized phone and smaller tablet.

The Wall Street Journal has quoted sources familiar with Apple’s plans as saying the new screen would be four inches, only a modest improvement over the existing 3.5-inch screen, but would retain the “Retina Display” quality that has helped keep the iPhone at the top in individual-model sales. Along with the certainty that the next iPhone model will add LTE compatibility as well as the prospect of a major new version of iOS and improvements made to Siri, a redesigned iPhone is likely to continue being a popular choice with consumers.

by MacNN Staff

Movie will not a be a full biography

Aaron Sorkin, the screenwriter behind 2010’s The Social Network and the TV series The West Wing told reporters earlier today that he has little idea about what he’s going to write so far in Sony’s planned biographical film on the life of Apple co-creator and former CEO Steve Jobs. He did reveal that the movie won’t be a “straight ahead biography” and that Steve Wozniak has been hired as an advisor.

The movie, which is not to be confused with the in-production independent project starring Ashton Kutcher, will be written later this summer for shooting at some future date. Sorkin met with reporters to talk about his new HBO drama The Newsroom. He said he was looking for a pivotal incident on which to hang the movie.

“I know so little about what I am going to write. I know what I am not going to write,” Sorkin told reporters. “It can’t be a straight-ahead biography because it’s very difficult to shake the cradle-to-grave structure of a biography.” Sony licensed the rights to Walter Isaacson’s official biography of Jobs, who died shortly before the book debuted in October of last year at the age of 56.

Wozniak’s role will be to “tutor” Sorkin and others on the history of Apple and Woz’s firsthand knowledge of Jobs from the early years right up to his death. While Wozniak has not worked for the company in decades, he remained friends with Jobs throughout his life and played a pivotal role in the founding of Apple and most of its early products.

Sorkin indicated that he wants to focus his screenplay on Jobs’ struggles to achieve his vision, saying that “drama is tension versus obstacle. Someone wants something, something is standing in their way of getting it. They want the money, they want the girl, they want to get to Philadelphia — doesn’t matter. He added that he just needed “to find that event and I will. I just don’t know what it is” yet.

Rumors on casting for the multi-million dollar Sony movie have mentioned a wide variety of names to play Jobs, including the actor who played him in the 1999 TV-movie Pirates of Silicon Valley, Noah Wyle.

by MacNN Staff

New display may add between $60 and $90 to assembly cost

Rumors of a new line of Apple Macintosh MacBook Pros with an enhanced Retina Display are making the rounds this week. According to CNet, NPD DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim said that super-high resolution 13.3 and 15.4 inch panels suitable for Retina Display usage are available now from component manufacturers. The increased resolution may come at an higher cost to Apple, and possibly to consumers.

The two displays in question haven’t been named by manufacturer or part number, though Shim did list specifications of currently available displays that conform to a Retina Display specification. The 13.3-inch display has a 2,560 by 1,600 resolution with a pixels per inch (PPI) of 227. The existing 13.3 has a PPI of 127.

An available 15.4-inch LCD has a 2,880 by 1,800 resolution with 220 PPI. The existing 15.4-inch MacBook Pro display has either a PPI of 110 or 150 PPI, if the optional $100 upgraded display is purchased.

Adding a Retina-quality display would add approximately $92 to the 15.4-inch model cost of assembly, and around $65 to the 13.3-inch Macbook Pro. The Retina Display in the third-generation iPad cost $87, a $30 increase over the $57 display in the iPad 2. The increased cost was not passed on to the customer in that case, nor when the iPhone was supplied with a Retina Display in the shift from the iPhone 3GS to the iPhone 4.

While the term “Retina Display” isn’t scientifically defined with firm specifications, Apple sales materials declares a Retina-quality display to be at the point where individual pixels are no longer visible. The image sharpness on a Retina Display also depends on the quality of the source. Text is resolution independent, but a JPEG displayed on a website often doesn’t conform to Retina Display specifications in pixels per inch. [via CNet]

By Electronista Staff

Part of a series on inventors, innovators

The latest entry in the children’s book series “Who Was” spotlights the life of Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs. The series, which has profiled figures like Walt Disney, Jim Henson and Dr. Seuss, illustrates Jobs’ early life and eventual rise to found, lead, leave and then return to Apple. The story of Apple’s mercurial CEO is obviously sanitized for younger readers, but covers the major events and Jobs’ impact on the technology industry.

Who Was Steve Jobs is aimed at children age eight and older, and charts Jobs’ life, career and accomplishments in 112 pages, featuring a caricature of Jobs on the cover as is traditional with the series. The book sells for $5 and is part of a series of similar books intended to encourage interest in historical figures. The series, which employs different authors for various volumes, also has a series of “Who Is” biographies for persons of interest to young people who are still living, such as Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling.

The book is not without some minor errors (calling the early name of the company “Apple Computers” instead of “Apple Computer” for example), and glosses over many details both for the sake of brevity and to keep the story straightforward and simple, but serves as an introduction to young people of a man who helped shape their future. The book is available now in stores both online and retail, and is also available on the iBookStore, Kindle and Nook online stores for the same $5 price.

by MacNN Staff

Users can share ideas of things to do

Google has finally brought its Schemer service to the iOS platform as a native app (free, App Store). Schemer for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch enables users to participate in the activity-recommendation network, which allows users to post things to do and organize activities with other users.

Examples of schemes posted to the network include “Relive Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in Chicago”, “Surf the sand dunes at White Sands”, and “Use leftover tortillas to make chilaquiles”. The system automatically makes recommendations based on criteria such as the time of day and weather.

The service works independently of Google+, though it does require users to sign in with a basic Google account. Users can build networks of “accomplices” to help organize group activities.

Schemer initially launched last year for desktop browsers and Android devices, however the company waited until this week to offer an iOS app.

by MacNN Staff

Fought for legal ‘hackintosh’ license

In a case that many thought long-settled, the US Supreme Court today closed the final chapter in the winding saga of would-be legal “hackintosh” seller Psystar. The court refused a request to review the lower court decision, which granted a permanent injunction preventing the company from selling any previous or future versions of Mac OS X along with its “Rebel EFI” hack to allow installation on non-Apple PCs.

Psystar had pushed the argument that Apple’s End-User License Agreement (EULA), which specifically barred running OS X on non-Apple hardware, was an “abuse” of Apple’s alleged “monopoly” over its own hardware eco-system. Various courts refused to buy into Psystar’s view and eventually Judge William J. Alsup (currently hearing the Oracle vs. Google plagerism case) issued a permanent injunction in late 2009 that was carefully worded to prevent the company from ever being able to skirt around the restrictions.

Psystar, founded and owned by Miami-based brothers Rudy and Robert Kendall in 2008, appealed the decision, but the circuit court refused to reconsider the decision, and so Psystar and its attorneys petitioned the Supreme Court for relief. The refusal brings a final end to the case, with all available legal options exhausted. The lead attorney, K.A.D. Camara, told CNet “We are sad … I’m sure that the Supreme Court will take a case on this important issue eventually.”

The cost of the years-long ongoing litigation compared to the likely minuscule sales of Psystar for the short time it operated again raises speculation that the firm was secretly bankrolled in its fight by another company that hoped to benefit from Apple’s prohibition from running OS X on non-Apple hardware being repealed. Though the brothers denied it, leading suspects for the legal and company funding included HP and Dell.

In addition to the legal bills, Psystar agreed to pay Apple $2.7 million in settlement fees if it lost the appeal. The company filed for bankruptcy in mid-2009, but a list of its funders and equity partners has never been revealed in full detail. [via CNet]

By Electronista Staff