Sometimes Even Apple Loses

Patent war is not something new. Motorola vs. Apple is not new as well. As for now, patent war continues and it continues between Apple and Motorola again.

Three Apple patent infringements were set aside this week by the International Trade Commission, claiming against rival smart phone maker Motorola Mobility. The company which owns a vast mobile industry patent portfolio was accused by Apple of infringing three patents, including two that cover touch screen technology.

Though, Apple lost a ruling in its efforts to block imports of Motorola Mobility. A Motorola press release notes that the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") in the US International Trade Commission ruled in favor of Motorola Mobility, finding no violation for any of the three Apple patents listed in Apple's suit. The ALJ found no violation for any of the three Apple patents listed in Apple's suit.

Motorola's senior vice president and general counsel said: "We are pleased with today's favorable outcome for Motorola Mobility. Motorola Mobility has worked hard over the years to develop technology and build an industry-leading intellectual property portfolio. We are proud to leverage this broad and deep portfolio to create differentiated innovations that enhance the user experience." 

Apple’s defeat at the hands of an International Trade Commission (ITC) this past week now stands on the record. Generally ITC rulings are important because it may impact the import/export of products into various countries. Although, they are so long-drawn-out, offending companies manage to modify their products to escape a sales ban.

Motorola against Apple, still patent war

On Dec-9, a German court issued an injunction against sales of the Apple products in Germany. The court announced its ruling on one of the patent infringement lawsuits Motorola Mobility brought in Germany against Apple in Apr-2011. The Mannheim Regional Court also ruled that Motorola is entitled to a damage reward. Battle between the companies shouldn't be something new for our readers.

Apple is going to appeal this ruling, its spokesperson affirmed: “We’re going to appeal the court’s ruling right away, holiday shoppers in Germany should have no problem finding the iPad or iPhone they want.”

As Motorola has confirmed they have had negotiations with Apple since 2007 over a license to the technology. As for now they seem enemies to each other, the company says: “We will continue our efforts to resolve our patent dispute as soon as practicable.”

Patent War Continues

via Reuters News Report

Apple is one of the richest companies and some people cannot even imagine that it can make any mistake, but it happens.

Motorola has brought a lawsuit against Apple. The reason is a patent infringement. The final judgment is not made yet, but the thing to note is that Motorola’s position was not regarded by the court on the very first hearing.

One more case about patent issues is that Apple licensed out the iOS scrolling patent to Nokia and IBM. It offered the same patent license to Samsung in Nov-2010 as well, but the negotiation has failed due to unidentified reasons. Whether these two parties are still holding settlement negotiations or not, is unknown too.

Another misfortune for Apple was the fact that court denied its request to block Samsung Galaxy from selling in the U.S. Apple sued against Samsung in April, it said that South Korean company’s Galaxy line of mobile phones copies the iPhone and iPad. But it’s a fact that after this resonant case the Samsung share price has increased significantly.

As for now, Apple gives some suggestions to Samsung on how to design phones so they don’t look similar to “iProductoin.” The company indicates that Samsung smartphones should not have overall rectangular shapes and rounded corners, they should make items with front surfaces that are not completely flat and should also clutter the appearance of their devices. Samsung has not officially responded to these suggestions by Apple yet.

These can be understood as destroying Steve Jobs’s ideals because once he said:

”I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.”

In a word, Apple has some nuisances but probably it will manage to solve the problems, as it always did.

Still battery problems

The fact, that iPhone 4S has problems with battery life, is not news for its users. But after releasing iOS 5.0.1 update , the users hoped that problems would be eliminated.

However, the problem has still occurred and some users are complaining about the issue. Apple continues working on the problem, its spokesperson Trudy Muller reported:
“The recent iOS software update addressed many of the battery issues that some customers experienced on their iOS 5 devices, we continue to investigate a few remaining issues.”

via macworld

IPhone 4S voice problems

Since iPhone4S has been released, the user opinion has divided into two - some of them are extremely happy but others have endless problems. The new trouble linked to the phone is about SIRI. People are complaining of being unable to access service at a time.

SIRI used to have trouble in accessing the network but it only lasted for minutes. Now the only answer it can give is: “I am sorry, I am having trouble connecting to the network.”  However, the problem has not occurred for every user, but it still is timely.

Beside SIRI trouble, the users cannot hear the person “on the other end of the wire” during some calls. But it can be fixed by plugging in a headset or pressing the mute button twice or by disabling SIRI.

Is it software bug or a hardware problem, is still obscure.

Apple Complains For Its Porn Domain Names

If you want to annoy some company, it is very easy. All you have to do is put some porn up on domain names, including its brand names. But actually, most of the reputable, or even disreputable, but relevant companies try to avoid such facts by registering all the related-to-product domain names in advance.

However, that’s not always funny.  Apple filed a complaint with World Intellectual Property Forum over seven domain names. These site domains include the term “iPhone.” E.g.:

iphonecamforce.com

iphonecam4s.com

iphoneporn4s.com

iphonesex4s.com

iphonexxxforce.com

iphone4s.com

porn4iphones.com

The product was registered in August 2008, but why Apple did not proactively get that domain name before the official introduction, still stays inexplicable.

iOS 5 Battery Problems

Not long since iPhone4S has been released, and some users already complain about the battery performance, asking for some assistance by installing a monitoring program. Fortunately the problem concerned only some users, not for all. The trouble is not affecting just the iPhone 4S, but any other IOS5 devices as well.

According to the specs , the iPhone 4S is supposed to get 200 hours of standby mode but now it actually gets 8 hours only.

Apple has confirmed that battery performance actually have  a few problems after upgrading to IOS5.

Statement released by Apple on Wednesday says: “We have found a few bugs that are affecting battery life and we will release a software update to address those in a few weeks.”

Apple has not offered any advice on what customers should do until the software update is released. The fact is that having too many GPS-based location services turned on may cause the phone to lose battery life fast. Another possible culprit is the new Notification system in IOS5. Forums contain various potential fixes, there may be hope, that my help.

Here are some examples:

The calendar bug - disable the calendar app within the Notifications center;

The Time Zone bug - go into Settings > Location Services > System Services > Setting Time Zone, and toggle off the location services;

Location services - Head into Settings > Location Services and browse through the various apps. The option to turn it off which is there for no reason.

SIRI – it uses up a lot of processing power

Then of course: you should turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, turn down screen brightness, etc.

The truth is that it’s not magical solution to this problem; you should wait until software update is released.

How to Care for Your iPhone

For most of us, our iPhone is a very essential part of our life. It keeps us linked to our business, our family and our friends. It isn’t just a phone. If something happens to our phone to render it unreachable, we go into panic mode. Here are ten ways to care for your iPhone to retain it safe and functioning properly.

1. Don’t leave it in your car. Cars are not a good place to leave your iPhone, even for short periods of time. Temperature limits of hot and cold can damage your device. Hot temperatures can particularly be magnified inside of a vehicle.

2. Avoid high moisture areas. Bathrooms, enclosed swimming pools and other high damp areas can cause water damage to cellphones much faster than you might recognize. Leave your cellphone behind when you enter these kinds of areas where the air is thick with moisture.

3. Drying it out. If your iPhone should get unprotected to moisture, take the back off and remove the battery as soon as possible. To captivate the moisture, place the phone in a container of uncooked rice. Immerse the phone totally in the rice and seal the container. If no rice is available, let the phone air dry for a day before trying to operate it again.

4. Use display protectors. The surface of your iPhone can easily become scratched and marred- you should already have learned it from one of our posts. Guard it with transparent film protection sheets. Change the sheet every few months. You can even bring your phone into your local cellphone carrier and have it renewed for you.

5. Keep it in a hard case. Purchasing a hard case to snap your iPhone into is a wise investment. The case will take the punishment of abuse instead of the phone itself.

6. Car chargers. Car chargers are a great convenience, but they shouldn’t be your primary charger. You should also disconnect your iPhone from the car charger when you are starting or shutting off the car to avoid injuring it with power surges.

7. Battery indicator. At times cellphones will appear to be losing their charge more rapidly than normal, when, in reality, it is the battery life pointer just giving a false alarm. To spot on this situation, let your phone battery to go thorough dead before recharging. After doing this a couple of times, the indicator should be reset and start action correctly again.

8. Don’t overload. Your iPhone is a mini-storage device and has a restricted amount of memory. If you find your browser or apps freezing, you may be reaching your memory limits. If there are apps that you don’t use, removing them from your iPhone on a regular basis can free up more memory.

9. Don’t overcharge. It is suggested that you remove your phone from the charger once it reaches a full charge, or else shut the phone down when charging the phone. Leaving a fully charged phone plugged into the charger and turned on can lead to overheating.

10. Be aware of placement. Many iPhones are injured because of being set down on a hood or roof of an automobile, and then forgetting it there when the owner drives away. An iPhone moving loosely in a handbag is also subject to ‘battering’ by other items in the bag. Keeping your device in a separate pocket of a handbag is much favored.

Maybe you’ve already experienced any of the situations listed above. We all agree that it is simply a common sense, but most of us find it hard to learn from others’ mistakes, unless they suffer all on their own...

via PhoneService

White One Is Thicker

Before its 10 month late launch, white iPhone4 was intensively rumored all over the world. Widely believed to be unreal, the white smartphone finally arrived in App store yesterday, April 28th. The Apple lovers are all happy, rushing to get one, but… there is one big BUT!

The white iPhone 4 appears to be significantly thicker than its black counterpart. The pictures obviously prove it- the black one is 0.2mm thinner than the new white iPhone4. 

The reason for thickness is said to be the extra UV protection and other tweaks added to reduce the "unexpected interactions" between the cover's whiteness and the internal components. It seems that apple sacrificed a bit of slimness for the iPhone to function smoothly. 

White iPhone4 0.2mm thicker than its black counterpart

The difference is so small that its actually below the JND (Just Noticeable Difference) edge for consumers with disarmed eye. But the implications caused by this 0.2mm are much greater than we can imagine- the problem is the cases! Unfortunately, Apple's own spec page doesn't highlight the change in thickness (measured at 9.5mm by TiPb). Instead it still shows a 9.3mm depth with a tiny disclaimer stating, "Actual size and weight vary by configuration and manufacturing process." This fact misleads case producers while creating tight fitted cases for iPhones, forcing to start manufacturing a new line of their product specially for white iPhone4.

via AOL Inc.

Apple Answers Questions!

Apple decided to respond to the hubbub aroused about the gathering and use of location information by heir devices. To be objective and consider the arguments of both parties, we decided to publish Q&A session without any change, as we did in case of two American citizens accusing Apple, in our previous post. So it's up to you to decide who's right and who's not.

So here is the whole story, without any change. In case of further questions, do not hesitate to ask.

1. Why is Apple tracking the location of my iPhone? 

Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.

2. Then why is everyone so concerned about this? 

Providing mobile users with fast and accurate location information while preserving their security and privacy has raised some very complex technical issues which are hard to communicate in a soundbite. Users are confused, partly because the creators of this new technology (including Apple) have not provided enough education about these issues to date.

3. Why is my iPhone logging my location? 

The iPhone is not logging your location. Rather, it’s maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location, some of which may be located more than one hundred miles away from your iPhone, to help your iPhone rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested. Calculating a phone’s location using just GPS satellite data can take up to several minutes. iPhone can reduce this time to just a few seconds by using Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data to quickly find GPS satellites, and even triangulate its location using just Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data when GPS is not available (such as indoors or in basements). These calculations are performed live on the iPhone using a crowd-sourced database of Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data that is generated by tens of millions of iPhones sending the geo-tagged locations of nearby Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers in an anonymous and encrypted form to Apple.

4. Is this crowd-sourced database stored on the iPhone? 

The entire crowd-sourced database is too big to store on an iPhone, so we download an appropriate subset (cache) onto each iPhone. This cache is protected but not encrypted, and is backed up in iTunes whenever you back up your iPhone. The backup is encrypted or not, depending on the user settings in iTunes. The location data that researchers are seeing on the iPhone is not the past or present location of the iPhone, but rather the locations of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers surrounding the iPhone’s location, which can be more than one hundred miles away from the iPhone. We plan to cease backing up this cache in a software update coming soon (see Software Update section below).

5. Can Apple locate me based on my geo-tagged Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data? 

No. This data is sent to Apple in an anonymous and encrypted form. Apple cannot identify the source of this data.

6. People have identified up to a year’s worth of location data being stored on the iPhone. Why does my iPhone need so much data in order to assist it in finding my location today? 

This data is not the iPhone’s location data—it is a subset (cache) of the crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower database which is downloaded from Apple into the iPhone to assist the iPhone in rapidly and accurately calculating location. The reason the iPhone stores so much data is a bug we uncovered and plan to fix shortly (see Software Update section below). We don’t think the iPhone needs to store more than seven days of this data.

7. When I turn off Location Services, why does my iPhone sometimes continue updating its Wi-Fi and cell tower data from Apple’s crowd-sourced database?  

It shouldn’t. This is a bug, which we plan to fix shortly (see Software Update section below).

8. What other location data is Apple collecting from the iPhone besides crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data? 

Apple is now collecting anonymous traffic data to build a crowd-sourced traffic database with the goal of providing iPhone users an improved traffic service in the next couple of years.

9. Does Apple currently provide any data collected from iPhones to third parties?  

We provide anonymous crash logs from users that have opted in to third-party developers to help them debug their apps. Our iAds advertising system can use location as a factor in targeting ads. Location is not shared with any third party or ad unless the user explicitly approves giving the current location to the current ad (for example, to request the ad locate the Target store nearest them).

10. Does Apple believe that personal information security and privacy are important? 

Yes, we strongly do. For example, iPhone was the first to ask users to give their permission for each and every app that wanted to use location. Apple will continue to be one of the leaders in strengthening personal information security and privacy.

Apple arguments seem to be very honest, doesn't they?.. Have your say! 

Two American citizens against Apple!!

Vikram Ajampur and William Devito- the owners of iPhone-and iPad accuse Apple for illegal gathering of information for their own purposes.

The appeal may be granted as the protest of all the users of Apple devices to protect their interests. According to the accusers, Apple collects data of the users about their location, without warning, and illegally collects personal accounts of life violating the rights of inviolability.

Citizens are particularly concerned by the fact that they have not been informed in advance. The complainers require Apple to remove this offending feature from next product additions and insist on payment of monetary compensation.

 The Appeal was led by the scandalous discovery of British Pete Uorden, former software engineer of Apple, who revealed some strange files in iPhone memory by accident. 29 thousand records have been found by the specialists, who argue that these files track the users’ destinations, and get into the computer automatically while synchronizing. They also claim that the files remain in the memory forever.Experts created a data visualization program to make their discovery available to everyone. Allen said that if Apple does not delete the function, at least it should inform consumers about the functions to shut down the service offer.

Later, the same experts said that the function of the software made a mistake and was not premeditated. "In case of conspiracy the files of the company would be more reliably hidden and we would not be able to find them so easily. Most probably, that this is an error or software engineers are the result of incomplete “. - they say. 

However, the study conducted in the United States and other countries by public authorities and human rights organizations was severely criticized. The governments of France and Germany have already said that such action is unacceptable and the incident may become a pretext for launching the investigation. 

What do you think, is Apple dishonest while integrating this feature in the device, or is it our “fault” that we are being tracked (if so)?  

Steve jobs,  who is currently on a medical leave due to his health worsening, replied to a user who tried to frighten him by switching on Android device, that it’s not an iPhone, but Android, who is keeping track of all the users….

You can even see CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL by the two citizens against the company in details right HERE

Alarms Go Crazy Due To DST

Alarm clock on the iPhone went out of order for many of iPhone users due to Daylight Savings Time this weekend. The woes have been reported after the clocks went forwards over the weekend, mostly in the UK.

According to BBC reports, some, though not all, some iPhone alarms have were unsuccessful in going off, while others went off the wrong time. Users have shared their worries about early alarms, or alarms that failed to go off at all. However, others reported no problem with the alarm altogether.

It is said that the fault had an effect on only non-recurring alarms that were set within the iPhone’s calendar application, not on those set within the iPhone’s alarm clock app.

Apple has made no remarks on this event yet, but it seems strange that in subject to the alarm problems in the US due to DST and the concerns with alarms over the New Year last year, when alarms went back surprisingly, the issue is still timely…

However, some users have reported no problems with the iPhone alarm or clock when the UK moved from GMT to BST (British Summer Time) over the weekend. What’s your case? Did DST affect your alarms as well?

“Gay Cure” Removed From App Store

Apple welcomed a wave of criticism from gay rights campaigners since the company approved "gay cure" app that advocates against homosexuality. After more than 146,000 people signed a petition against a “gay cure” app, Apple has removed it from the App Store.

The aim of the app developed by US-based ExodusInternational, is to guide homosexuals on how transfer themselves from homosexuality to heterosexuality. 

Apple has given "4+" rating to the app, which was available through company's online app store iTunes for free. The rating shows that the company does not believe that the app contains anything offensive… The App mission was formed the following way: “provide support for individuals who want to recover from homosexuality.”

While U. S. pressure group Change. Org said, "Apple doesn't allow racist or anti-Semitic apps in its app store, yet it gives the green light to an app targeting vulnerable LGBT youth with the message that their sexual orientation is a sin that will make your heart sick and a counterfeit.", Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out declared that “Apple made a wise and responsible decision to dump an offensive app that demonized gay and lesbian people.” 

In a similar situation last year, Apple removed an anti-gay app after 7,000 people signed a Change.org petition calling for its removal. The software mentioned encouraging users to take a stand against gay marriages. 

Do you agree with Apple’s decision? Was the app actually offensive enough to be shut down? Have your say. Reader comments are always welcome. 

Newspaper publishers warn Apple over iTunes sales

Apple is being warned against trying to squeeze cash out of the newspaper industry by controlling subscriptions for iPads and iPhones. 

The European Newspaper Publishers' Association (ENPA) says it is concerned by the company's plans to direct online sales through iTunes. If that happens, the ENPA warns, a large cut of their profits would go to Apple. However, the technology giant insists it wants to give customers the choice. Several European Newspapers claim that Apple has banned them from offering free electronic editions to their print customers. The move sparked industry speculation that a further clampdown was imminent. Publishers' main concern is that users will not be allowed to subscribe via newspapers' own websites.

In a statement, the ENPA said that as the consumers may only have access to the newspaper of their choice via the iTunes store, where the transaction would be subject to commission. Apple currently receives a 30% share of revenue from apps and eBooks sold this way.

According to the official investigation, the publishers are also worried that if Apple takes control of sales, they could lose access to subscribers' personal information. Details such as age, sex and location are useful when selling advertising. Apple declined to comment on the ENPA's criticism. The company has previously denied that it plans to stop users from buying subscriptions through publishers' own websites. However, it has introduced a rule that newspaper apps must include an option to purchase through iTunes. Critics argue that the ease of "in app" subscription means most users will opt for Apple's preferred method. In a related move, Belgium's economy minister has called for an official investigation into Apple's plans to sell e-newspapers. Vincent Van Quickenborne has suggested that the company may be abusing its dominant position in the market.

Paint Problems of White iPhone 4 Appear to Be True..

Rumours about the white iPhone 4's eventual release date continue till today. Recently we have seen further evidence of the handset in supposed carrier inventories. But still, a solid day when we can go out and pick one up has not been announced yet.

You may remember that Apple cited the release delays as problems with application of the white paint. Many speculated in fact that they were working on fixing the slew of antenna problems that the iPhone 4 had on release. Others acclaimed Apple's paint announcement to be false. Either way it ensured that the white iPhone4 has now become one of the must have but yet to be released gadgets of this year.

With the help of too many information on the web, we can now find truth in Apple's white paint difficulties. According to the majority of sites, specified printing white color for iPhone 4 brings poor yield and then huge number of defective products. This is what disturbs to start manufacturing.

This is not the first time that Apple has had problems with white products. You may remember the rumors about the 3GS, that they would turn pink if overheated. It seems toasty iPhones were changing colour after extended periods of use and strain on the CPU.

Nokia Sues Apple iPhone For Patent Infringement

Nokia has just announced that it has filed a complaint against Apple with the Federal District Court in Delaware, alleging that Apple's iPhone infringes Nokia patents for cellular-wireless networking and Wi-Fi standards.

Nokia claims that Apple has violated 10 of Nokia's wireless technology patents. The company says the patents "relate to technologies fundamental to making devices," that are compatible with the GSM, UMTS, or 3G WCDMA, and wireless LAN standards. The claims involve cover wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption technologies. Nokia says Apple has been in violation of these patents since the iPhone launched in 2007.

Although the amount of money involved hasn’t been disclosed, CNET News quoted Apple analyst Gene Munster as saying that Nokia would be looking for a royalty payment close to 1-2 per cent ($6-$12) of every iPhone sold. With 34 million iPhones sold to date, that comes to about $204-$408 million in damages.

"The basic principle in the mobile industry is that those companies who contribute in technology development to establish standards create intellectual property, which others then need to compensate for," said Ilkka Rahnasto, Vice President, Legal & Intellectual Property at Nokia. "Apple is also expected to follow this principle. By refusing to agree appropriate terms for Nokia's intellectual property, Apple is attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia's innovation."

During the last two decades, Nokia has invested approximately EUR 40 billion in research and development and built one of the wireless industry's strongest and broadest IPR portfolios, with over 10,000 patent families. Nokia is a world leader in the development of GSM technologies and its evolution to UMTS / 3G WCDMA as well as wireless LAN, which is also demonstrated by Nokia's strong patent position in these technologies.

References:
http://cut.io/fjlv
http://cut.io/fFVY

Skype for iPhone Crashes All the Time

Skype was probably one of the most anticipated and much wanted applications for iPhone. While some of the all-in-one instant messengers like Nimbuzz do provide Skype connectivity, I always prefer an official application.

I installed Skype on my iPhone immediately it became available on the App Store. Unfortunately, the application crashes and shutsdown frequently. No, practically it's useless. I'm not sure whether it is my iPhone to blame or there are some problems with the application. Anyhow, it's really great to see Skype coming to iPhone and hopefully the developers will quickly fix whatever problems or bugs may be in the current release.

Download Skype for iPhone now! It's free of course.

Sorry this Truphone is not for the iPhone

Truphone has been living on my iPhone for a while but to admit I don't use it frequently. A I have a jailbroken iPhone, I use Siphon for all my VoIP needs.

However, recently, Truphone got an update enabling chatting and calling Skype users. This makes Truphone a really useful application.

Yesterday, I tried updating the application and once the process was complete, I ran the application and I got a weird screen saying "Sorry this product is not for the iPhone"

I guess something went wrong and the App Store installed an iPod version. I have not idea.

No Signal Bars on iPhone in UK?

"UK 02 (poor signal strength/reception problems) is a title of one of the threads that has recently appeared on Apple's discussion forum.

It turns out that many customers in UK experience severe problem with poor signal / reception on their iPhones.

The first complain appeared on November 11, 2007. That is two days after the device was officially launched in UK.

A customer nicknamed Darkzoo writes:

Yes, my signal is mostly 'No Service', with the occasional one bar, despite
showing coverage on the O2 site - gutted.
In the past, visiting friends with
O2 have had a poor signal here, but better than I am getting.
Mandy

Yet another user writes:

Same here. Been on Orange for 15 years and bought iPhone on Saturday with O2.
Never been unable to get a signal here with Orange but have only managed one bar
on rare occassons on the iPhone in 48 hrs. Is this a fault with the phone or do
O2 simply not have as good a coverage as Orange?

You can view the forum thread here. By the way, it is very active, which means that there are increasingly more people experiencing the problem.