Category Archives: Tech News

Apple Settlement Bad News for Samsung

Tech News
Apple vs Samsung

Apple was awarded a $1 billion settlement when a jury in San Jose, California, the location of the famed high-tech paradise known as “Silicon Valley” found Samsung guilty of copyright infringement of several Apple designs and features.

Observers and analysts are now asking what the ramifications of this decision will be for Apple and Samsung in particular and the technology industry in general. Will the jury’s verdict lead to a cornering of the smartphone market by Apple over Android-based phones and gadgets? Or is this just the beginning of a long legal battle over the technology of smartphones? Will this decision place other Apple competitors that use Android technology besides Samsung in jeopardy? Android is the operating system developed by Google which is most compatible with gmail and other Google products.

“I am sure this is going to put a damper on Android’s growth,” New York-based Isi Group analyst Brian Marshall said, “It hurts the franchise.”

The jury found that a few of Samsung’s products copied some features and designs which were exclusive to the Apple iPad and iPhone. The verdict also only indicated Samsung, which sold over 22 million tablets and smartphones that Apple says used their own technologies.

“The other makers are now scrambling” to find alternatives, said Rob Enderle, a leading technology analyst based in San Jose.

Apple is now poised to request that about 24 Samsung devices which violated Apple’s patents  be excluded from sales in the United States. The majority of those products are “legacy” devices which have virtually no market now in the US. Lawyers for Apple will also ask the judge to increase the damage award by a factor of 3, asking for $3 billion because the jury found that Samsung “willfully” copied Apple’s patents.

The $1 billion award represents only about 1.5% of Samsung’s annual earnings. According to Jerome Schaufield, a professor of technology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the settlement should not do too much harm to the multi-billion dollar global industry.

“Samsung is powerful,” Schaufield said. “The company will regroup and go on.”

Phone Therapy Helps Depressed Patients

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A Smartphone that Detects Moods

Scientists at Northwestern University, led by psychologist David Mohr, are developing a smartphone which can detect depression in phone users and offer help to improve the user’s mood.

David Mohr thinks of his phones as virtual therapists:

“We’re trying to develop individual algorithms for each user that can determine specific states, so their location where they are, their activity, their social context, who they’re with, what they’re engaged in, and their mood,” Mohr said.

For example, if someone has not left his house for several days, the phone will know.

“It can provide them an automated text message, or an automated phone call to make a suggestion to give somebody a call or get out of the house,” Mohr said.

A preliminary phone has already been tested on eight patients, and the results seem to indicate that a phone ‘therapist’ can be a very useful thing, helping to uplift the patients down moods.

“They all had a major depressive disorder when they started, and they were all both clinically and statistically better at the end of the treatment,” he said.

Mohr suggested that this type of technology can be a highly cost-effective method for treating depression. More widespread tests are scheduled for this coming summer.

LG to Introduce 55-inch OLED TV at the Las Vegas CES

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Flat-screen TV’s are accepting a newcomer into their circle of high-tech viewing devices. The new technology is based on organic light-emitting diodes, called OLEDs.

See It in Las Vegas

For a number of years there were only two members of this club, LCDs and plasma TVs. OLEDs are being introduced by the Korean-based LG Company. They are ready to show their latest addition to the world of entertainment gadgetry at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, scheduled to open on January 10th.

Samsung Has One, Too

OLED TV from LG

Not only LG is in on the fun. Samsung Electronics, a long-time competitor with LG, is planning on unveiling an “almost market-ready” version of the OLED TV at the Las Vegas venue, according to three different persons privy to the information. They spoke only anonymously because Samsung has not yet announced to the world this intention. According to Samsung’s website the CES announcements will be made the day before the show’s opening, on January 9th.

Tim Alessi, LG’s director of home electronics development in the USA said that the new-fangled TV will be available to consumers during the fourth quarter of 2012. No price has yet to be mentioned.

One price estimate, made by Paul Gagnon, an analyst for DisplaySearch, is putting the sticker price at about the $5K plus range.

OLED Used in Smartphones

OLED technology is already in use in higher-end smartphones. OLED produces deeply saturated colors and great contrast. One problem with expanding to the larger format of a large television has been that it is much more difficult to make larger screens that give consistent results. Sony released an 11-inch OLED TV in 2007 that sold for $2,500, but a larger model never materialized.

Since that time both Samsung and LG have shown prototype OLED TVs at the yearly CES, but have never released any plans for marketing the product.

Ultra-thin and Light

In addition to the improved quality of the picture on an OLED TV, they are also quite thin. LG’s 55-inch TV will be only 4 millimeters thick (3/16th of an inch) and weigh only 16.5 pounds.

Qualcomm Sells Communication Licenses To AT&T

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Qualcomm Inc. (Qcom) has received permission from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to sell its Lower 700 MHz D and E Block (Channels 55 and 56) unpaired spectrum licenses to AT&T. In return, Qualcomm will receive $1.925 billion. This deal will effectively enable AT&T to reach another 28 million customers. It will also help AT&T to develop their long term 4G network plans.

Qualcomm Inc. designs, develops, produces, and sells digital communications services and products. The company has four major divisions. Among many other services the Qualcom provides communication services to the United States Government. It also provides 2-way terrestrial based and satellite based location reporting services for logistics and transportation companies. The company holds many licenses for technology. It often rents the technology under these licenses. It is some of these licenses that AT&T purchased for the 1.925 billion dollars.

Some of the Qualcomm managers are Dr. Craig H. Barratt, Rob Chandhok, Matt Grob, Rich Sulpizio, Norm Fjeldheim, Kimberly M. Koro, William F. Davidson Jr., and Margaret L. “Peggy” Johnson

Disclaimer: The information in this article is insufficient to base investment decisions on. All decisions should be based on a thorough analysis of the investment.

Top Searches on Google for 2011

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An Apple Everyday

At the end of each year Google releases a list of which search terms garnered the most numbers in

Steve Jobs and iPad

a variety of different categories during the previous twelve months. In the top ten list of terms with the fastest growth in technology, the top six were all related to Apple, including “iCloud,” “Osx Lion” and “iPad 2.” In the eighth position was the term “Steve Jobs.”

Rebecca Black Most Searched Term Overall

Rebecca Black

On the overall top 10 list, “Google+” came in second place. Amazingly, the only search term growing faster than “Google +” was the search for “Rebecca Black” nabbing first place, proving that ‘most’ is not always ‘best.’  Apple took control here as well; with three of the top ten spots, including “iPhone 5” taking sixth place, and “Steve Jobs” in ninth place. “iPad 2” made it into the top ten at tenth place.

Kindle Fire Most Searched for Gadget

The list of top ten fastest growing searches in the gadget category was a better representation of what really happened this past year: Getting the gold was “Kindle Fire,” while “iPhone 4S” was the second place finisher. Also placing in the top ten list for gadgets were, “Sidekick 4g,” “HP Touchpad,” “HTC Inspire,” “Palm Pre 3,” and the “HTC Thunderbolt.” These are the electronic toys that fueled the minds of consumers and filled the pockets of the electronics industry this past year.