Apple is seeking to ban sales of some Samsung Electronics gadgets in Japan, accusing its rival of violating patents relating to the iPhone and iPad, the latest salvo in a series of patent battles between the two companies.Apple has filed a suit with the Tokyo District Court seeking the suspension of sales of Galaxy S and its sequel S II smartphones and the Galaxy Tab 7 in Japan, according to sources close to the matter. The first hearing was held on Wednesday, the source said.Samsung has been locked in a battle with Apple over smartphone and tablet patents since April. The Galaxy gadgets are seen as among the biggest challengers to Apple's mobile devices, which have achieved runaway success.In a global intellectual property battle, Apple has said the Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablets "slavishly" copied the iPhone and iPad, and it has sued the Korean firm in the United States, Australia and Korea as well as Europe.Samsung, whose tablets are based on Google Inc's Android software, has countersued Apple.Samsung filed a suit against Apple in Japan in April and Apple countersued on August 23, Samsung said. Apple is seeking 100 million yen ($1.3 million) in damages, as well as the sales ban, according to Kyodo news agency, which reported the news earlier.Samsung's Galaxy S outsold Apple's iPhone in Japan in January-March, according to data from research firm Strategy Analytics.A spokesman for the Tokyo District Court said he could not comment on pending cases.Last month, Samsung said it would delay the launch of its latest Galaxy tablet computers in Australia until after a court ruling in late September. Last week, a German court banned sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 7.7Earlier on Thursday, Japan's top mobile carrier NTT Docomo launched Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 on its high-speed LTE network."We have heard from Samsung that it's all right," NTT Docomo President Ryuji Yamada told reporters at the launch when asked about the patent battles. "At this point we don't think it will harm our sales."(Reuters)
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I've never been a YouTube addict. People with new devices head straight for the YouTube app and see how it's working, but that's' not me. Based on pure necessity I will search for something specific via Google, and once I've seen it I'm done with it and out of there.But an app for the iPad called Showyou changed all that.Showyou (free) is all about serendipitous discovery of content — in this case via videos on YouTube, Vimeo, and TED and other places around the net. But it isn't just the lot of the millions of videos out there, including all the trash you'd rather avoid. On YouTube alone, over 48 hours of video is uploaded every minute and you certainly wouldn't want to dive in there head first. What Showyou does is to let you choose from videos shared by your friends and contacts on Facebook and Twitter. If your networks are crafted to your liking, you will get to see a beautifully relevant bunch of videos. In fact it was because I find myself wanting to watch so many from my collections each time I look that I realised my networks do comprise like-minded people, and experts from whom I want to learn something.Relevance isn't the only value you get from this app. The primary thrill is the format in which you get the video content. It's a feast. Your screen is filled with video squares. You can use a light touch to move across the panorama of videos and touch a video to watch. From within the app you can comment, thank, share and select for a view- later playlist.You can invite people to share videos within the ShowYou network if people you follow are members — or invite people. You can also search for people or topics or choose from a set of channels.The ShowYou app isn't just remarkable because of the videos. It's fascinating because it demonstrates how the tablet is an ideal consumption device and how there are fresh innovative ways of consuming content. These new formats are making it difficult to resist watching, reading and listening.Mala Bhargava is a personal technology writer and media professional. Contact her at mala at pobox dot com and @malabhargava on Twitter
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Brand new clothes? Check. New accessories to go with the clothes? Check. Party evenings planned for the upcoming festive season? Check. Circa 2011 gadgets? Come now, don't tell me you're still toting that 3-year old phone or a laptop from a couple of years ago? The world has, quite literally, moved on and pretty much every product category has made great strides over the past year. This year, put those hard earned savings to good use and pick up one of these 2011-spec babies – you can't go wrong with these!Phones: Who'd have thought just a year ago that dual-core, 4-inch-plus screens would become commonplace on smartphones in 2011. And while there have been many contenders this year, the Samsung Galaxy SII comes out on top for its spectacular Super AMOLED Plus screen, oodles of memory and expansion and even the ability to access a regular USB thumb drive with its USB On The Go capabilities. Budget shoppers should take a long hard look at the new Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro and the Motorola FIRE XT – both phones pack in the latest Android 2.3 version for phones and pretty solid internals for the price!Tablets: Hitherto a category that was off our shopping lists, tablets went supernova this year! Every manufacturer worth its salt raced to launch tablets that would wrest market share away from the iPad. Yet, it should come as no surprise that the iPad 2 is still our pick for THE premium tablet to buy this year. There are, of course, a slew of sub-15K tablets that are taking the low-price route to the consumer's wallet, and while I wouldn't recommend most, the Reliance 3G Tab is one to seriously consider – a capacitive 7-inch screen, Android 2.3 and bundled with excellent 3G data plans, all for a shade under Rs. 13,000!Netbooks: With the onslaught of tablets, many industry observers all but wrote off the humble netbook. Going by your emails and tweets though, the netbook is very much alive and kicking, and if you're considering one this season, pick up the Asus Eee PC X101.At Rs 12,499, it hits the sweet spot for your wallet and packs in the MeeGo mobile operating system and a 0.69-inch slim profile. Slim, inexpensive and powerful? Getting two out of three spot on isn't half bad, right? Nikon D5100 Notebooks: Notebooks sales have slumped the world over, except for the slim, svelte and powerful MacBook Air, my pick of the lot for a laptop that more than capably handles your everyday stuff without weighing you down. But if you're disinclined towards a Mac purchase, there's hope…but you will have to wait till Diwali. The first of a new range of ultrabooks – slim and light laptops that don't compromise on performance (a la the Air) – should hit Indian shores by then.Cameras: Pick one – either one – you simply can't go wrong with either. Both the Nikon D5100 and the Canon EOS 600D pack a mean punch in the specs and performance departments, and deliver excellent image and full HD video quality. Gun to my head, I'd pick the Nikon D5100 for its slightly better low-light performance and image quality, not to mention a larger sensor than the 600D's. If a digital SLR is not for you, pick up the excellent and affordable travel zoom cameras from Canon (SX 230 HS) or Nikon (S9100). Don't be enticed by the booming mirrorless camera segment - I'd wait for the big guns to launch before committing serious cash here. Gears of War 3 Gaming: Some of the best games in the past couple of years have launched in the past couple of weeks, so it's an excellent time for gamers to go shopping for the latest titles. If you've played through Deus Ex: Human Revolution already, pick up the latest Gears of War 3, possibly the most spectacular conclusion to one of the most memorable and celebrated sagas in video games.technocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
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Samsung Electronics Co said on Monday it would delay the launch of its latest Galaxy tablet computer in Australia until after a court ruling in late September on its ongoing global patent dispute with Apple.Samsung and Apple have been locked in acrimonious battle over smartphones and tablets patents since April as Apple seeks to rein in the growth of Google's Android phones by taking directly aim at the biggest Android vendor, Samsung.The sales delay in Australia is the latest setback for Samsung after Apple won an injunction in a Dutch court last week to ban sales of three of Samsung's smartphone models in some European countries.A Germany court also said last week that Apple's injunction request to stop sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the country will remain in place until Sept 9 when it delivers its ruling.Samsung said on Monday it has agreed to delay the launch of Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia pending the court's decision in the week of Sept 26 and said it will lodge the cross claim through the Australian court in the coming days."Today, Samsung informed the Federal Court of Australia it intends to file a cross claim against Apple Australia and Apple Inc regarding the invalidity of the patents previously asserted by Apple and also a cross claim against Apple regarding violation of patents held by Samsung by selling its iPhones and iPads," Samsung said in a statement.Samsung first delayed the launch of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 earlier this month following an agreement with Apple at an earlier court hearing.Apple, which has conquered the high end of the phone market with its iPhone, has argued that Samsung had infringed on its patents and the Galaxy line of products "slavishly" copied its design, look and feel. It is fighting legal battles in the United States as well as Europe, South Korea and Australia.Samsung has counter-sued, arguing Apple infringed its wireless patents.The launch of the new Galaxy tablet is crucial for Samsung, a distant No.2 player in the global tablet market, to close the gap with Apple and achieve its target of raising tablet sales by more than five folds this year.(Reuters)
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For many years now, BlackBerry users have been what I'd call a rather patient lot. They've been used to devices that sport a spec list of ‘have-nots' – they didn't have latest cameras, the thinnest specs or the fastest processors, and a lot of the latest specs made their way to ‘berries much after they became standard fare on the competition. With the Bold 9900 though, RIM seems to have righted the ship, with forward-looking specs and a brand new OS7 platform to boot!At 130grams, it isn't exactly light, but then with a ‘berry I have to know it means business and it can take the rigor of everyday use. The 10mm slim profile certainly helps sliding it into a pocket, and it wears the "slimmest BlackBerry yet" crown well. The metal band which surrounds the 9900 gives it a premium feel, and makes the rest of the Bold family look very plastic by comparison!The display on the 9900 is excellent – with a 640 x 480-pixel panel, it isn't a iPhone Retina display by any measure, but the 2.8 inch touch screen looks downright beautiful, with vivid and crisp reproduction and a touch panel that is accurate and responsive. But no two ways about it, the keyboard is still excellent, probably the best physical keyboard on any smartphone around. Proper sized, tactile, and very usable – just the way BlackBerry users will like it as will anyone switching over as well.It has got to be said that the touch and QWERTY implementation seen in the 9900 makes a lot of sense, and feels very efficient by design. Imagine a QWERTY keyboard Android device of this size – you'd almost feel cramped, and the OS would feel much more difficult to navigate. OS7 on the 9900 feels like it was made for this device – one second you're hammering away at the keyboard, and the next, you could instantly take your thumb up to the screen to touch a button or dismiss an alert. It feels very natural to use.And for once, RIM has shown some hardware leadership by including a near field communication chip – a fairly new technology that's been talked about for years but only made its way into very few phones. In the future, this may allow you to use the phone for contactless payments. For now though, there's little use for NFC technology, so this feature is nice to have but there's not much more you can do with it.It's under the hood that the real statements are made – the 9900 breaks through the 1GHz barrier and packs in a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Add to that 768 MB of memory with 8GB of storage going upto 32 GB via microSD cards, and you have more than enough storage for most people. It also fits in hardware accelerated graphics, which RIM has dubbed "liquid graphics", which allows for smooth 3D graphics support, HD video recording and an overall smoother experience. You certainly can't criticize this unit for not being powerful enough, can you?The flipside is the impact on battery life, and if you've been used to eking out 2 days out of your ‘berry, this one will need to be charged at the end of the day or you'll have the phone dying on your by the middle of the next day.This then is a device that exudes quality, but can it command the price premium? For the average consumer, all things considered, they may just find the same money can get them a lot more smartphone elsewhere.OS7 The 9900 is the first BlackBerry to sport OS7, a platform that takes a lot of visual cues from the PlayBook's user interface. As before, you have numerous app drawers you can swipe through (favourites, recent, downloaded etc), although you can now manage which ones you want to see via the menu. But beyond a few visual tweaks here and there, OS7 doesn't look that different from OS6, and really ought to have been a OS 6.1 or 6.5 rather than bumping it up to a version 7. Don't get me wrong though – with the faster hardware and the under the hood tweaks, the phone is much faster to use, and quite literally flies when you compare it even to a one-generation old ‘berry.The app story on the BlackBerrys is an oft repeated tale, and the competition is much further along the road in this department. Maybe a concerted effort to move developer attention to the QNX-based OS (used first in the PlayBook) meant for upcoming devices next year will help?Rating: 7/10Price: Rs 32,490URL: http://bit.ly/pSI0Y7 A Perfect Case There are regular everyday cases for your iPad, and then there is the Utility Series Latch from Otterbox. Designed for heavy on-the-go users, folks who are looking to use the iPad in the field or for entertaining the kids in the car, this accessory offers it all. It comes with elastic straps that wrap around the corners of the iPad. From there on in, you can either use the padded hand strap to quickly secure the iPad to one hand, eliminating the likelihood of dropping it while you're on the field. Or you can use the included adjustable elastic strap (with velcro) that lets you fasten the device to the back of a car seat headrest for worry-free kid-use. Otterbox also packs in a non-waterproof cover for your iPad – it isn't waterproof but it will help protect your device a bit if you encounter bad weather, and will keep the dust and dirt out as well. There's a lot of thought and detail placed into the making of this accessory, and is something I'd strongly recommend if you're on the road a lot. Rating: 8/10Price: $49.95URL: http://bit.ly/pIds8V Securing Your iPhone After launching an Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, and Windows Mobile version of their popular WaveSecure cellphone protection software, McAfee has launched a version for iPhones as well. Not only does it maintain an online backup of contacts and photos, ready to restore onto another device (in case of theft), it can even let the owner monitor a lost phone's location or remotely wipe the phone's data. Never let the data on your phone get into the wrong hands, even if the phone does. URL: http://bit.ly/oOHFYdPrice: $19.99 technocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
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Finally, Google has done what it should have and could have all these years; years during which social networks like Facebook and Twitter became juggernauts, acquiring millions of users, re- configuring the very DNA of the web.Google could have been a social giant, not just a search giant. Instead, it went about botching up all its social properties: Orkut, Wave, and some others it acquired. Most famously, it started Buzz, which even now only a handful use, on the wrong foot, and without a compelling reason for users to adopt it in addition or instead of other options. With YouTube, Google had -- and still has -- a fantastic thing going, but it never leveraged it, social-wise. Apart from a firestorm over privacy, these properties just sat there, left to fend for themselves. Facebook, on the other hand, came up with something new at least every month, keeping itself vibrant and active, if a little annoying.All this led people to say Google just can't get social right and that it's all about algorithms and technology. We won't know until Google proves them wrong and connects people, not just pages, this time with its Google+ (also called Google Plus). Here's how they sum up what they aim to offer: "Today, the connections between people increasingly happen online. Yet the subtlety and substance of real-world interactions are lost in the rigidness of our online tools. In this basic, human way, online sharing is awkward. Even broken. And we aim to fix it. We'd like to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software."But strictly speaking, Google hasn't yet launched a new social network. Google+ is a project, not competing with Facebook, they say, and not even open to all right now. They allowed some people to be part of the early group who will use it and give feedback, but within two days, closed it again as the number of users went overboard. I can see I have 500 invites to give out, but they don't actually work. Watch out for those you see being actually sold on eBay - those may well end up as dummy invites for now because the system itself has been closed to new users. Google did the same thing way back when they launched Gmail, and I hear they will be periodically letting more users in. So, what makes us think Google will succeed this time, where it's flopped with many opportunities all this time? No one can predict how it will pan out. But Google does have three big pluses with which to work on its Google+.Closer To The Real WorldThey figured out, a few months ago, that the current big fat social networks don't really mirror interaction in the real world. You don't have your boss peeking in o your chatter with your old college mates. You don't show off your new bar set to your company's customers. And you certainly don't share your ex boyfriend's pictures with your children. Or even the current one, for that matter.You need to keep your social circles separate rather than make "fast food" of friendship, as Google says on its blog, taking an obvious dig at Facebook, though Facebook does have its closed groups and it has lists (which are too cumbersome to use). Google has addressed this whole issue with "Circles", which you can drag and drop people into, posting only to them when you want, seeing streams or news feeds from them, and chatting with them. One person can be part of multiple groups There are a few default groups to choose from but you can make your own. I'm going to try an Aunts I Mostly Avoid group and see how that works out. They've tried to take the hassle out of it by using a simple interface which has received a lot of praise, but I did feel a bit disoriented. That may be because my screens are not optimized to tackle this sort of page. In fact, it'll look best on a really large screen, in my opinion. break-page-breakYou can have large or little circles, even a circle of one, if you like. You don't have to bombard everyone with your posts, but target them carefully. Potentially, this could be great for business groups because you can share content more easily. You can also message together in a Huddle, which is something maybe RIM can worry about, as the capability moves to Android phones. This should appeal to say, a group of friends wanting to quickly discuss where to go out to eat. You can actually do group video chat in another feature called Hangout, another core element of the network-to-be. Facebook may be incorporating video chat soon as well.So, the first big plus is that the foundational concept makes sense. But now everything depends on being able to implement it well and making it compelling enough for people to try out and adopt. As many in the tech media are saying, if someone's happy enough with their Facebook, they won't have a big reason to get on to Google+ and add another network to the already noisy space we call our online world. I would say, it's early days yet. There's no point thinking about this when it isn't even a network yet, but an experiment. Not that it will remain so for very long. You can see the signs of Plus beginning to appear everywhere. And that brings us to the second big plus.Integration With Everything GoogleGoogle has the advantage of owning places you already use every day You'll find a new black navigation bar on top of all these, and it's from here that you'll be able to get to your + at any time. Always a click away. This time around, Google is obviously giving it everything it's got - and can't afford to get it wrong. Unlike Facebook, which spreads itself over the web with its buttons and invitations to share, Google+ will just be everywhere and in that sense, inescapable. Many standard Google functionalities will feed back into Google+. You can search for content, for example, with a feature called Sparks, because it can spark off conversations. Sparks can be used to set up incoming content according to your interests. A little like Twitter and a little like LnkedIn Today. So you can see that Google+ hits out at many of its rivals with this new project. Google's recently rolled-out +1 will also have a big role to play in this network.Google Can Spread It With AndroidA Google+ app has appeared simultaneously with the opening up of the Google+ project. It splits into two and gives you an addition app for the Huddle messaging you'll do. The app is actually somehow neater than the main site. It's really easy to use: what isn't easy to figure out right now is who's seeing what post or reply. This is the thing that users will have to learn and become comfortable with before the network goes mainstream.The big plus here is not how clean-looking the app is but how it will sprout up on Android phones, of which there are so many now. Android's market share makes it the top OS in the US and although growth has stalled a little lately, it's still nothing to be sneezed at. Undoubtedly, future Android phones will come pre-loaded with Google+ apps. Sheer persistence and spread could help make it another mammoth network on the web and on the go.Google isn't directly positioning Google+ as another social network, competing with Facebook and others. But the main page looks very Facebookesque. I wonder how long it'll be before Facebook objects, though for now, it doesn't look remotely interested. After the amount of Facebook fatigue we've all begun to get, no one wants yet another network. But Facebook has had a long time to build and Google has a long way to go. If the functionality and feel is unique enough and gives enough of a benefit to users, it stands a good chance of becoming part of the online social-sharing-networking fabric that's underpinning the internet today. Mala Bhargava is a personal technology writer and media professional. Contact her at mala@pobox.com and @malabhargava on Twitter
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With the ill-effects of fossil fuels all too evident, and with oil prices threatening to stay above $100 per barrel for some time to come, alternative-fuel cars are the future of personal mobility. More than 40 such ‘green' cars were showcased at this year's Geneva Motor Show. Car makers are tailoring current models and design systems to produce hybrid and even pure electric vehicles, signalling their seriousness of intent in launching alternative-fuel cars in quick time. Here are five green cars from Geneva that are production-ready. Audi Q5 Hybrid QuattroGerman car maker Audi is part of the Volkswagen group that is already the No. 1 premium car maker in China and Europe and aims to be the world No. 1 by 2015. Audi has now fired its first salvo in the alternative-fuel battle by taking the wraps off the Q5 Hybrid Quattro crossover. To be commercially launched in 2012, the Q5 hybrid combines a 2-litre petrol engine with a 44-hp electric motor to generate 245 hp of power, and 480 Nm of torque. According to the company, the crossover consumes 6.0 litres of fuel per 100 km, and emits 159 gm of CO2 per km. On pure electric power, it can travel up to 3 km, with a top speed of 100 kmph. Porsche Panamera S HybridSports car maker Porsche, also part of the Volkswagen family, launched its first four-door saloon, Panamera, last year. At Geneva, it went a step ahead and launched its hybrid version, which is available on order, though not in India yet. A 3-litre petrol engine that delivers 333 hp of power combines with a 47-hp electric motor to give the saloon a total power output of nearly 380 hp. But then, you wouldn't expect any less of a Porsche, hybrid or not. In pure electric mode, though, the car can travel just 2 km. Performance improves if you opt for a set of specially-built-for-Panamera tyres from Michelin. Renault Fluence EVThe Fluence sedan, incidently, is the car that Renault will launch first in its re-entry into India later this year. However, it will be the regular fuel version, as opposed to the electric Fluence that the company showcased in Geneva. Sometime this year, Renault will launch four alternative-fuel vehicles (two of which will be hybrid) in the global market. And the car that will lead this quartet is the electric Fluence, which will be available initially in Denmark and Israel. The car can travel 160 km on full charge, and takes 4-8 hours for a full recharge. The electric Fluence also has photovoltaic cells on its roof, dashboard and rear parcel shelf, to complement its lithium-ion battery. ‘Hybrid' of a different kind? Volvo V60 Plug-In HybridAnd now, here is a best-of-two-worlds proposition — a diesel hybrid car from Sweden's Volvo. The company claims that CO2 emissions are amazingly low at less than 50 g/km, making for fuel consumption figures of 1.9 litres per 100 km. The front wheels are driven by a five-cylinder, 2.4-litre diesel motor that generates 215 hp or power and 440 Nm of torque, while the rear wheels are driven by a 70-hp electric motor that is connected to a 12-kWh lithium-ion battery pack. And if the battery is fully charged, it helps the car — when being driven only in electric mode — cover 32 miles (51.5 km) — that is a lot for a big station wagon. Honda Jazz HybridJapanese major Honda's Jazz hatchback may not have been a hit in India (thanks to its high price), but it has been a success in other countries. And now the company has launched a hybrid version in Europe. It has a 1.3-litre, 87-bhp petrol engine and a 13.5-bhp electric motor that's hooked up to a nickel-hydride battery pack that gives it a top speed of 177 kmph. It also comes with a hands-free Bluetooth, and a display system that tells the driver when the electric motor is working. Exactly what you need to jazz up your garage. COMING SOON: (From top left) Renault Fluence electric, Honda Jazz hybrid, Porsche Panamera S hybrid, and Volvo V60 plug-in hybrid (This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 21-03-2011)
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Pie-in-the-sky prototypes, or concepts, are out; reality is in. The Geneva Motor Show's concept cars lived up to this trend, with most of them looking like the real thing, and not like alien craft. Here are a few promising ones.Call it the King Kong of electric cars. Luxury car maker Rolls-Royce showcased an electric concept of the massive Phantom in Geneva, called Phantom 102EX. And to move this beauty, Rolls-Royce claims to have put in it the world's largest passenger car battery — a 71-kwH lithium-nickel-cobalt-manganese-oxide battery pack, a variant of the prevalent lithium-ion batteries. On a single charge, this mega battery can move the car up to a distance of 200 km! The company says the 102EX is only the start of an exploration into alternative technologies, and it will wait for customer feedback before chalking out a plan of action. Another UK luxury car maker, Land Rover (now owned by Tatas), showed off a concept diesel-electric hybrid SUV called Range_e. Based on the Range Rover Sport, the concept uses a 3-litre diesel engine and a 69-kw electric motor. On electric power alone, the Range_e can travel more than 20 miles (32 km). And yes, like a true Land Rover, this one, too, is a 4-wheel-drive with all associated offroading paraphernalia. Range_e will serve as the test car for the first diesel-electric hybrid from the company's stable in 2013. And finally, there's the Active E concept from BMW, which is also electric. The German car maker, which is running a programme to create a megacity vehicle (MCV) based on electric technology, has based this concept on the 1 series coupe. Sporting a lithium-ion battery developed specially for this model, the Active E runs 160 km on a single charge with a top speed of approximately 145 kmph. You might, of course, happen to come across a test model of the Active E on the roads sometime this year in the US, Europe or China as BMW is producing more than 1,000 test units of the Active E concept for use by fleet owners and select private car owners. Their feedback will be incorporated in the production programme of the MCV, which BMW will launch under a new sub-brand in 2013. THE ROYAL FEEL: Phantom 102EX has the largest car battery (left), THE MEGA CONCEPT: The Active E is based on the 1 series coupe (This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 21-03-2011)
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