Jury awards Apple $1.05 billion in Samsung patent dispute ruling

Jury awards Apple $1.05 billion in Samsung patent dispute ruling

Live: Apple vs. Samsung: jury decision

Buffer becomes the first app in Apple’s iOS App Store to support App.net

Buffer becomes the first app in Apple’s iOS App Store to support App.net:
The social update scheduling service Buffer became the first company to release an app onto Apple’s iOS App Store supporting the new real-time communication platform App.net. The notice was posted on the service by App.net founder Dalton Caldwell.
Buffer recently announced that it was supporting App.net on the service, which we covered last week. The addition of it to the iOS app in an update that’s live now marks the first appearance of App.net in Apple’s official store. Since there are easily a dozen iOS apps that are in beta or Alpha stages right now, many of which I’m playing with, I don’t doubt that it’s just the first of many.

Yesterday, Buffer’s Leo Widrich posted about the integration, and why Buffer chose to support App.net from ‘day one’ of its Alpha launch.

For us, the answer is very clear. Our goal with Buffer is to build tools that make it easier and smarter to use any social platform. We have done this with Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. And now, we do the same with App.net. Dalton and his team have an incredible focus and truly embraced and actively supported us as app developers right from the start. That is something we wanted to be part of and they continue to iterate incredibly fast.

We are extremely friendly with Twitter, App.net, and any other social platforms we support. All we want is to help expand the usability of these platforms with innovation built on top of them.

He also notes that, since IFTTT also has a Buffer channel, this makes the social glue service compatible with App.net also.

Buffer for iOS

New MacBook Airs Are Like iPads With Keyboards [PICS]

Today Apple ended weeks of speculation surrounding updates to the MacBook Air. The lineup will be expanded to feature an 11.6-inch entry model and a more substantial 13.3-inch model. Pricing for the 13.3-inch model will start at $1,299, compared to just $999 for the 11.6-inch MacBook Air.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs was quick to point out that the new MacBook Air is a logical step beyond the iPad. Gone is the clunky button found at the base of previous MacBook Air models. The new versions now feature the same smooth, clickable trackpads available on every other MacBook and MacBook Pro.

The trackpads are capable of enhanced multitouch functionality similar to that found on the iPad. That said, the MacBook Air is substantially more powerful than any iOS device.

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MacBook Air Standard Features

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Both models will include:

• Intel Core 2 Duo CPU
• Nvidia GeForce 320m GPU
• Solid state storage
• 2GB DDR3 memory (expandable to 4GB)
• Instant-on capabilities
• FaceTime Camera (formerly iSight)
• 802.11n Wi-Fi
• Up to 30 days of standby battery life

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11.6-inch MacBook Air

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Its display is capable of a 1336 x 768 resolution and it has a battery that will last for five hours. This model comes with either a 64GB hard drive for $999 or a 128GB hard drive for $1,199. Both models feature a 1.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, but the 128GB model is upgradeable to 1.6Ghz for another $100.

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13.2-inch MacBook Air

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The 13.2-inch models featuring a 1440 x 900 resolution display, with larger batteries capable of running for seven hours. They come with 1.86Ghz processors and start at 128GB for $1,299, but it’s expandable to 256GB for $1,599. The 256GB 13.2-inch MacBook Air can also be upgraded to a 2.13Ghz processor.

Both of the new MacBook Airs are available today.

MacBook Airs Back-to-Back

MacBook Airs Side-by-Side

MacBook Air Keyboard

MacBook Air Right

MacBook Air Left

MacBook Air Top

Source: http://on.mash.to/cCRrbO

Apple Launches “Try Before You Buy” Apps

Apple’s just opened up a new section of the App Store. Called “Try Before You Buy,” it lets users test drive a limited selection of apps before purchasing them.

Unfortunately, this trial period doesn’t apply to all the paid apps in the store — not yet, at least. For now, the section only contains the freemium, “lite” or ad-supported versions of apps whose full versions are in the pay-to-play section of the store. If the app doesn’t have a free version already in the App Store, it won’t appear in Try Before You Buy.

You’ll still have to download and pay for the full versions of these apps if you want to test or try the real thing; most of the free or lite apps are pared-down versions with less extensive feature sets.

You can find this new section under the “Free on the App Store” heading. The section currently holds 98 apps, including the “lite” renditions games such as Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown, Metal Gear Solid Touch and Labyrinth 2 and free adaptations of apps such as Moodagent and AccuTerra.

We’re not sure yet whether other paid apps will be added to this section for limited-time trials. But we’re fairly certain that a “try before you buy” policy might be an effective deterrent for would-be app pirates, the actions of whom have apparently cost the App Store around half a billion dollars. Many of the cracked or illegally shared apps were reportedly downloaded because the user didn’t have the option of making a truly informed purchase decision. They couldn’t use the apps, even for a brief test drive.

In addition to taking a bite out of piracy, we’re thinking the section was added to allow Apple’s smartphones to remain competitive (or at least to present the appearance of competition) with Android OS devices. The Android Market has a liberal returns policy; apps can be purchased and returned for a full and automatic refund for up to a day following purchase. And as we know, that competition is much needed as Apple moves into Q3 and Q4 this year.

What do you think of Try It Before You Buy It? Shameless ploy, or interesting opportunity? We welcome your opinions and thoughts in the comments section.

Source: http://bit.ly/9GWO3R

Apple’s iOS 4: Here’s What’s New

One of the most exciting announcements from WWDC today was iOS 4, the iPhone’s new operating system.

The OS, which contains around 100 new and upgraded features, will be rolled out with the new iPhone 4 next month, and it will also be available as a free software update on earlier devices, including the iPad, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and second and third generation iPod touch with 32GB or 64GB storage.

In his keynote address, Steve Jobs chose to highlight a select few of the iOS’s new features, including multitasking, iBooks, advertising and file management. But there wasn’t enough time to cover all the upgrades and improvements. Some of iOS 4’s features that slipped under the radar include app gifting, wireless keyboard support and many others.

We first learned about iOS 4 back in April. At that point, we knew multitasking would be coming to the iPhone “in a way that doesn’t hinder performance or battery life.” Today, Jobs confirmed and demonstrated services such as Pandora and navigation running in the background while other apps were also running in the foreground.

Two other hotly anticipated upgrades for iOS 4 are the Mail app’s major facelift and the all-new app organization functionality.

Now, users can organize their iPhone apps into separate folders for better organization and easy access. iOS 4 will be able to manage up to 2160 applications on a device. Folders will feature the familiar drag-and-drop functionality that Apple device users know and love.

Email on the iPhone is also getting a major overhaul in iOS 4. You’ll be able to view messages from all your accounts in a single, integrated inbox. Messages will be threaded, and you’ll be able to open attachments using third-party apps, as well.

Apple made some significant announcements for multimedia functionality, too. iOS 4 will support custom playlist creation for iTunes, tap-to-focus video, 5x zoom for camera functions, and a Photos feature called “Faces and Places,” which allows users to sort and view photos based on where they were taken and who appears in them.

Finally, applications can now be gifted to friends and family, the background wallpaper on your home screen can be easily changed, a spell-checker has been built into Mail and other apps, and Bluetooth-enabled wireless keyboards will now play nicely with the operating system.

refer to : http://mashable.com/2010/06/07/ios4-iphone/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Mashable+(Mashable)

Apple to Microsoft: "Eat My Dust!"

Yesterday Apple passed Microsoft to become, for the first time, the 'world's most valuable technology company,' according to the New York Times. Apple gained a stock-based valuation of $222.12 billion while Microsoft's was $219.18 billion.

Does this make Steve Jobs the Bill Gates of technology?

Although Microsoft is still a powerful and important company, it has been skating on its Windows operating system and Office productivity suite for a long time. In an op-ed, a former Microsoft vice president called it 'a clumsy, uncompetitive innovator' with a monolithic culture, characterized more by politics than technology.

Apple, on the other hand, has made its way back in the last decade from the brink of a final fall to become a much-celebrated innovator, focusing on user experience and design. The resurgence began with the introduction of 1998's candy-colored iMacthat was followed in turn by the iPod, the iPhone and most recently the iPad.

Carl Howe, an analyst at the Yankee Group, pointed out early this month that the iPad looks to be 'the fastest consumer product growth to the $1 billion revenue mark in history,' taking under 80 days.

It didn't hurt that, as Gartner pointed out, worldwide mobile phone sales for Q1 this year have been tremendous, favoring Apple.

'Worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totaled 314.7 million units in the first quarter of 2010, a 17 per cent increase from the same period in 2009... Smarpthone sales to end users reached 54.3 million units, an increase of 48.7 per cent from the first quarter of 2009. Among the most successful vendors were those that controlled an integrated set of operating system (OS), hardware and services.'

It's been a long time since Microsoft created that type of market-influencing drama.

As of Wednesday, Wall Street valued Apple at $222.12 billion and Microsoft at $219.18 billion. The only American company valued higher is Exxon Mobil, with a market capitalization of $278.64 billion.

At $58.4 billion, Microsoft's revenue still exceeds Apple's, $42.9 billion, according to the Times.

'But Microsoft is sitting on far more cash, $35.7 billion to Apple's $23 billion, which makes the value assigned by the market to Apple -- essentially a bet on its future prospects -- all the more remarkable.'

Now, who's that coming up from behind, trying to pass Apple on the outside? Oh, probably nobody.

Source: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/apple_to_microsoft_eat_my_dust.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+readwriteweb+(ReadWriteWeb)

Windows 7 already bigger than Snow Leopard and Linux combined

Windows 7 already bigger than Snow Leopard and Linux combined: "It's only been a couple of weeks since Windows 7 was released, but Microsoft's new OS has already captured a larger percentage of the market than Apple's OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and Linux (yes, all of Linux). This doesn't come as a huge surprise, considering how many Windows users were clamoring for Win7 after the flop that is Vista. Microsoft says Windows 7's launch outdid Vista's by 234%. Those brisk sales have already netted Windows a 2% share of the world's OS business, compared to just over 1% for Snow Leopard, and just under 1% for Linux.

Despite the strong sales of Win7, Windows as a whole dropped a quarter of a percentage point in October, with Mac and Linux both making small gains. That quarter of a point hardly matters when you've got 90% of the OS market and your new operating system is being adopted quickly, though.

I expect to see Windows swing back up after Windows 7's been available for a while. I mean, we're talking about an operating system that outsold Harry Potter in the UK. Right now, it's only got a 2% share, compared to 19% for Vista and 70% for XP, but that's after only two weeks. Expect that number to zoom upward by the end of November.

[via Ars Technica]

Windows 7 already bigger than Snow Leopard and Linux combined originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.