HTC rejects Apple's fresh patent claim

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TAIWAN'S leading smartphone maker HTC on Tuesday dismissed fresh patent infringement claims by US giant Apple as the legal battle between the rivals escalated.

Apple on Monday filed a complaint against HTC with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) -which is already reviewing three other disputes between the two -over five cases linked to technology used in the iPad and iPhone. It has also lodged a suit in a US District Court in Delaware.

“HTC is disappointed at Apple's constant attempts at litigations instead of competing fairly in the market,“ said HTC general counsel Grace Lei. “HTC strongly denies all infringement claims raised by Apple in the past and present,“ she said.

HTC touts its own brand of smartphones and also makes handsets for US companies, including the Nexus One unveiled by Apple rival Google. Apple in March 2010 called on the ITC to investigate it over iPhone patents.

Apple-Samsung battle may spur supplier rejig

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An intensifying war between Samsung and Apple is triggering expectations that some of the pairs' $5 billion-plus relationship may be up for grabs.

With the electronics titans squaring off in an acrimonious battle over smartphones and tablets patents, any worsening in their supply relationship could mean more business for Toshiba, Micron, Hynix Semiconductor, Intel and TSMC.

Apple's move to protect its smartphone and tablet business comes as Samsung is set to become the world's top smartphone vendor, ending Nokia's decade-plus reign. Samsung makes parts central to Apple's mobile devices, but Apple in April accused the South Korean company of “slavishly“ copying the iPad and iPhone in its own Galaxy devices.

While it would be a challenge for Apple to sever or water down its long-standing relationship with the Korean company, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is known for abruptly spurning erstwhile partners.
Its relationship with Google cooled rapidly after the Internet giant got into smartphones, for instance.

Longer-term, finding alternative sources for components and reducing its reliance on Samsung for everything from flash memory to processors and displays would make sense for Apple as the two compete head-to-head in an exploding market for mobile devices, analysts say. “They have become more competitors and less partners and so Apple will definitely not be looking to Samsung as its go to partner-of-choice for NAND flash,“ said Brian Marshall, an analyst with Gleacher & Co. He expects Apple to source its future mobile processors from firms other than Samsung.

Supplying major parts for Apple's iPads and iPhones, the industry's gold standards, would be a coup for any company. Making the silicon brains for those gadgets would mean a boost in revenue for TSMC, the world's largest contract chip maker.
And it would be a major victory for PC chipmaker Intel, which is scrambling to find traction in the fast-moving mobile market and has repeatedly expressed a desire for Apple business. “There is a lot of competition, especially for high-profile wins like Apple,“ said Real World Technologies analyst David Kanter. “When you toss Intel into the mix, then it becomes even more interesting.“

Stay online, all the time, from any phone

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A large number of people today use their phones to be online on various chat messengers to stay connected. This not only drains the phone’s battery, but also leads to lots of data usage. With Nimbuzz’s new Ping service, you can save on both these issues. Simply install Nimbuzz — an IM integrator software available across mobile platforms from w w w . n i m b u z z . c o m. You’re required to do a quick sign-up and then configure your various messengers. Once done, activate the Ping service by going to settings and enabling it. The app will then register your phone number for sending out notifications. Once done, simply exit the application and you will still be visible to your friends online. When someone initiates a chat with you, you will get a service message notification with the person’s name with a ‘yes/no’ option to launch Nimbuzz and continue the chat. This way, neither is the application running in the background draining your battery nor is it connected to the Internet consuming data.

Panasonic Lumix P-05C

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If you love camera phones and are always looking for the best results, this Panasonic phone is for you. It’s called the Lumix P-05C (even borrowing its name from Panasonic’s digital camera range) and is styled to resemble a compact camera, complete with wide LCD, camera-style controls, dedicated shutter button and protruding lens. It is the world’s first phone with built in optical image stabilisation. The 27mm wide-angle lens, 13.2MP sensor, xenon flash and 1080p video recording are proof of the phone’s camera-focused intentions. Panasonic’s iAuto mode for automatic scene recognition (also borrowed from Lumix) is present and comes with 11 preset modes. A burst mode clicks 8 successive frames and then lets you select the best one. The phone has a slider form factor with a 3.3-inch display and will be launched in Japan later this month.

Bangalore Start-Up To Take on iPad, Launches Tablet

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EAFT Technologies, a start-up based in Bangalore, has launched a tablet device-—Magic Tile Marathon.
Weighing in at less than a kilogram, the device which runs on Google’s Android operating system is priced at Rs 29,990 and will compete in a market dominated by Apple’s iPad.
A tablet is a computing device, which though smaller than a laptop, offers most of the features of a computer. The Marathon which is 3G enabled has coming with features such as USB and HDMI ports, 3G, 16 GB storage and high definition (HD) video playback
The tablet wars in India are heating up with a slew of international companies such as Apple, HTC, Research in Motion, Dell, Acer and Lenovo launching devices here. Last year Olive Telecom launched its Olive Pad, which also runs on Android and has 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and is priced at a little over Rs 25,000.
Indian mobile handset makers too are set to enter the fray including Lava, Micromax and Zen who expect to capture market share by launching lower priced products.
International Data Corporation (IDC) stated in a report that it expects Apple’s iPad to maintain 70-80% worldwide market share this year. The product engineering company, EAFT, was founded in 2008 by Jitendhar G S and Giri Prathivadi, who were colleagues at Celstream and Hewlett-Packard. The Marathon has been launched with an initial production run of 10,000 tablets. While the product is available in Bangalore, the company is planning to expand distribution to Delhi and Mumbai soon. EAFT is also planning to launch three variants of the Marathon in the next few months.
Nitin Khanapurkar, Executive Director (Advisory Services), KPMG, says price will be the key differentiator. “Samsung’s Galaxy Tab is at a comparable price range to EAFT’s Marathon,” he adds. Industry watchers say big brands will benefit from bigger marketing budgets compared with start-up manufacturers.
Even the lower-end version of the iPad is available at a little over . 29,000. “The tablet is still a lifestyle product. A person willing to pay this price will shell out more for a brand like iPad,” says Khanapurkar.