I thought this was one of those Apple spoof commercials…it’s not.

Cheers D.Dot!

Apple and HTC may have gotten together and worked out an agreement to stop patent litigation between them, but we don’t really know what the exact numbers are.  Some analysts did the math after the total deal number and came up with a guess that HTC would be paying $6-8 for each handset, a number that HTC CEO Peter Chou claims is “outrageous.”

“I think that these estimates are baseless and very, very wrong. It is a outrageous number, but I’m not going to comment anything on a specific number. I believe we have a very, very happy settlement and a good ending,” Chou said in a recent interview. Chou would seem to know best since he personally led the negotiations with Apple, but until the official numbers come out the question still lingers of who came out on top of this deal.

Via: TechCrunch

Well, this video takes the cake. It’s epic. It’s awesome. Samsung vs. Apple in the ultimate Star Wars parody battle. Whoever made this video, I hope you become a millionaire.

Via: Kotaku

Cheers Nick S!

Last week, Apple and HTC met for a 10-year licensing deal, which led us to wonder if any other Android OEMs would follow suit. Samsung wants to head that discussion off before it even starts with a short and to the point comment today. Samsung’s Mobile Head JK Shin had this to say on the subject:

Regardless of HTC’s settlement with Apple, we have no intention [to settle].

That was simple. Samsung certainly has the sales numbers to go toe-to-toe with Apple and pay for these court proceedings. If they really think they have a case it’s up to them, but as of now it doesn’t seem that the end of the patent wars are near.

Via: Sammy Hub

As of this weekend, we no longer (well, for 10 years) have to write about Apple and HTC fighting in courts over patents. According to press releases posted by both companies yesterday, the two have reached a global settlement that includes the dismissal of all current lawsuits and a 10-year license agreement. This agreement extends to current and future patents. The terms have been kept confidential.

CEOs from both companies made brief statements, admitting that they are pleased to have resolved their dispute. Both also mentioned “innovation” as something they are looking forward to.

I don’t really have a lot of thoughts to add other than, “It’s about damn time.” HTC is struggling and can’t continue to fight in courts against someone as big and powerful as Apple. With this out of the way, they can get back to building great products and trying to turn down times around. 

The trial between Samsung and Apple that was decided months ago will not go away, but today’s news might have some serious implications on the outcome. We’ve talked about Vel Hogan before, the jury foreman that may or may not have had previous bias against Samsung that could have affected the outcome. Judge Lucy Koh said in a statement today that she would be willing to hear Samsung’s case that Hogan concealed information during jury selection. 

According to research firm Strategy Analytics, the iPhone is no longer the best selling smartphone in the world. During Q3 of this year, the Samsung Galaxy S3 topped the iPhone 4S to take the crown. Having sold 18 million units in Q3, the Galaxy S3 held a 10.7% share of the entire smartphone market, while the iPhone 4S held 9.7%, moving 16.2 million units.

Now, keep in mind that the iPhone 5 didn’t have the entire quarter to tally numbers, so Q4 could be drastically different. Still, this is a pretty big feat for Samsung, since Apple has owned this title for years. There truly are only two major players in the smartphone industry these days.

Thoughts?

Via:  The Next Web | Business Wire

Cheers Nick S!

Remember last week, when we reported that Apple was only willing to pay $1 to Motorola for every iPhone sold over use of the Google-owned company’s patents? The lawsuit involving that report has now been tossed out by a judge in Wisconsin. Apple’s initial complaint that Google and Motorola were unfairly trying to license their patents in question has been shut down “with prejudice” by the judge. That means that the case is done at the trial court level, but can still be appealed, something Apple will likely do.

+1.

Via:  Reuters | FOSS Patents

Cheers Cory and everyone else who sent this in!