This whole battle of tech intellectual property is getting, or has gotten, out of hand. It seems that every company that you know the name of is suing or is being sued for something that they have done. Most notably for readers of this site though, is the attack on Android from all sides. Visual.ly has massed together some of the numbers and has put their infographic spin on it, and the whole thing looks just as confusing as you would expect.

The HTC EVO 4G LTE will ship to those that pre-ordered on May 24, according to Sprint. After being held up at customs by the ITC for patent reasons that involve Apple (of course), the device must have passed their tests and has been cleared for take off. Sprint is still not willing to give us an official launch date for the device in stores, but if pre-orders are shipping this Thursday, it shouldn’t be too far off from that.

If you haven’t kept up with this saga, be sure to read our EVO 4G LTE review.

Via:  Sprint

Cheers Sal!

When you look through your message inbox and come across a phone number, your smartphone automatically turns those digits into a shortcut to the dialer. It’s a feature that we know is there, yet we most likely take it for granted since it has become the norm for our devices. Well, maybe not anymore. Yesterday, shipments into the United States of HTC’s One X and EVO 4G LTE have been indefinitely held up by the International Trade Commission to undergo inspection. Last December, the ITC ruled that HTC was violating the aforementioned patent which is owned by Apple and issued a “limited exclusion order” which went in effect April 19, making the import of devices using the patent prohibited.

Due to this investigation, HTC has issued a delay in the US release of these devices on both Sprint and AT&T, who currently list the device as “Out of Stock.” Sprint is still taking pre-orders for a launch that was intended for this Friday. According to new reports from the WSJ, HTC has said to have worked around the patent, but the ITC will still need to carry out their inspections. Unfortunately, as far as the public knows, there is no time frame set for when that will be concluded.

Via: The Verge | WSJ

The battle to dominate the mobile market has never been about smartphones. Android, iOS, and Windows Phone are attempts to use the most personal computers ever made to lock users into one ecosystem. Google is using Android, an open ecosystem, to lock users into Google apps and services.

Even though the court-recommended talks between Samsung and Apple were supposed to start later this month, it seems the two companies have started pulling back a bit from their thermonuclear patent war. Monday, Apple filed to narrow their patent claims against Samsung to nearly half of what they originally were. Samsung responded hours later by shaving five claims off of their suit against Apple as well.

While this is a far cry from things being resolved, this might make it easier for the two to come to a complete settlement. If something is not agreed upon, the trial is set to go to court in July.

Via: BGR

According to new research presented by NPD Group, Apple’s record setting last two quarters were not enough to help it fight off Android in the battle for top smartphone OS. Their numbers show that after Q1, Android has grabbed a hold of 61% of the U.S. smartphone market share, with Apple dropping from 41% to 29% in the same time period.

I’m not sure anyone would have predicted numbers like these, but then again, this is OS market share we are talking about and not phone sales by one manufacturer, a category that Apple still clearly dominates.

Together, Android and iOS make up for 90% of the U.S. smartphone market. That’s, nuts.

Via:  CNET

Cheers Pops and duke69111!

Okay, so unless one of these companies actually comes out and says, “Yes, it was us,” then we will not write about this event anymore. It’s becoming a conspiracy theorist’s wet dream. Anyways, newly gathered evidence is pointing to RIM as being the culprit behind the staged protests outside of an Australian Apple store last week. After most people were honestly concerned with the marketing(?) attempt, it seems that no company is willing to raise their hands and accept responsibility. Samsung even went as far as to publicly deny involvement, which most people could believe due to the fact that Samsung has no fear of publicly poking fun at Apple.