| 'Apple doesn't own sexy,' Samsung claims as Schiller cries wolf once again Nov 16th 2013, 02:57, by Chris Smith 
Apple's top PR bod Phil Schiller has claimed Samsung's trademark infringement diminished the global view of the company's innovative verve and made it more difficult to sell the iPhone and iPad. During the retrial (as if the world needed one) of the great Apple vs Samsung patent war in the US, Schiller said Samsung's copycat tactics caused the tech buying public to doubt Apple's design skills. Schiller, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide product marketing, told Judge Lucy Koh he was "quite shocked" when Samsung unveiled the first Galaxy S. "They went and copied the iPhone," he said. "It weakens the view that the world has for Apple," Schiller added, saying it caused consumers to "question our innovation and design skills in a way that people never used to." Bringing sexy backSamsung's legal representatives hit back by holding up a Galaxy Tab and asking: "Apple doesn't own a patent on a product being beautiful or sexy. Isn't that correct? Apple doesn't own the right to preclude the design of this hardware?' Upon being shown the 10-inch Galaxy Tab, Schiller replied: "I don't know which Samsung devices are allowed to copy our devices and which ones aren't. It looks like an iPad." The retrial taking place in California doesn't centre on whether Samsung is guilty of patent infringement, but around the damages that Samsung should pay. In August last year, the jury ordered Samsung to pay $1.05 billion in damages, (around $650m, AU$1.12bn) although that was later rescinded to a lower amount. Apple wants $380m (around £235, AU$406m) in damages, but Samsung only reckons it should have to pay $52m (around £32m, AU$55). Regardless of the outcome we're pretty sure they'll be at least 5,627 appeals and counter-appeals from one side or t'other, so strap yourselves in guys.        |  | HTC One 2 upgrading to Snapdragon 800 and 5-inch screen, says source Nov 15th 2013, 22:36, by Michael Rougeau 
The HTC One is one of the finest Android handsets ever produced, so we're expecting great things from its successor the HTC One 2. And according to the Twitter tipster @evleaks, the One 2 will feature two important upgrades over the original HTC One: a Snapdragon 800 processor and a 5-inch 1080p display. Given the current flagship offerings from the likes of Samsung, Sony and LG, those specs aren't surprising, but they're still a welcome upgrade over the HTC One's Snapdragon 600 and a 4.7-inch screen. The HTC One 2 will also ship with Android 4.4: KitKat out of the box, according to this source. HTC One 2 rumorsThe HTC One 2, known currently under the codename "M8," is thought to be scheduled to arrive at some point next year - possibly even by April 2014. We've heard about the HTC One 2's Snapdragon 800 before, when a batch of images allegedly showing the next HTC flagship leaked earlier this month. That leak also brought with it word of a boost to 3GB of RAM, which would be a great improvement. The One 2 is also expected to be the first Sense 6 handset from HTC. We've no idea what Sense 6 will actually look like, but hopefully we'll find out by April.        | | Google Play Music app hits iOS with a free month of All Access Nov 15th 2013, 20:01, by klee 
Google Play Music subscribers should have a hop in their step now that word has come that the All Access Music app is finally available on iOS. The search giant's music service has always been available on iOS through a HTML 5-enabled browser app, but Google just released a full-fledged app for iOS devices. Users can expect the same free, standard Google Play Music service that lets them stream internet radio and upload up to 20,000 tracks to their music collection to the cloud. What else is there to it?Google also offers a free month of All Access streaming service, which normally costs $9.99 (about £9.99 or AU$11.99). But this offer is only being extended to new users that haven't already used up their free trial of the service. All Access grants a pass to over 20 million tracks with custom radio stations to help music lovers discover new songs through "smart recommendations." Google's paid music service lets you download up to 20,000 tunes for listening offline on your devices as well. Chromecast owners will be glad to hear the new iOS app has support to cast music wireless from Apple products to a TV. Oddly enough the only thing that seems to be missing on the app is the ability to buy songs. For now, the app only comes as an iPhone version made for smaller screens, but Google is probably cooking up a higher-resolution version for iPads that won't look quite as blown up. Crowded watersGoogle's all-you-can-eat music app joins the iOS ecosystem where there are already a number of services that do just about the same thing. Spotify offers nearly the same service for $10 (around £6.21, AU$10.68) with unlimited streaming and the ability to download up to 3,333 songs across three registered devices. If streaming only is more your speed, Rdio's $10 (around £6.21, AU$10.68) plan has unlimited web and mobile music streaming. The service however, does not include an option for offline listening. For the cost of nothing at all, Pandora offers unlimited Internet radio offset by a set number of song skips and ads. To help take care of those annoyances, users can also pay $3.99 (around £2.47, AU$4.26) a month for the premium Pandora One service. This grants listeners six skips, higher-quality audio, and the Pandora One Desktop App.        | | Nokia Lumia 2520 tablet glides into AT&T November 22 Nov 15th 2013, 18:08, by JR Bookwalter 
Who's ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with Nokia's first crack at a Windows RT tablet? AT&T has set the date in stone, and there's only one week left before the big unveil. AT&T today announced its launch plans for the Nokia Lumia 2520, the Finnish smartphone giant's debut in the tablet space - at least until their devices division gets absorbed into Microsoft next year. Powered by Windows RT 8.1, the Lumia 2520 will be available in black only at all AT&T channels beginning Friday, November 22, priced at $399.99 with a two-year agreement. AT&T will also be offering the tablet in a bundle with the Nokia Lumia 925, Lumia 1020 or Lumia 1520 smartphone, which knocks the price down to $199.99 with a two-year agreement. Killer designWeighing a mere 22 ounces, the 10.1-inch Lumia 2520 couples what AT&T calls Nokia's "killer design" with Microsoft's latest tablet-centric operating system, which includes Office and Outlook built right in. Nokia has also added a few software enhancements of its own, including the children's game Dragons Adventure, Nokia Storyteller and Video Director apps for turning photos and videos into slick presentations, and HERE Maps for getting around town in style. The Lumia 2520 offers 32GB of internal storage with a micro-SD card slot to add more, and includes 6.7MP rear camera featuring Nokia's famed Carl Zeiss optics. Last but not least, Nokia's Lumia 2520 features a ClearBlack display, which AT&T claims gives the tablet an edge over competitors by allowing content to be viewed in full 1080p HD, even in direct sunlight.   | | BBM delivered to Wi-Fi iPads and iPod touch Nov 15th 2013, 15:27, by Chris Smith 
The roll-out of BlackBerry Messenger across platforms and devices has resumed, with an update for the iOS app adding support for Apple iPads with Wi-Fi and the iPod touch. Since its launch last month, BBM has been restricted to iPhone and Android users, but now users of Apple's other iOS devices can join the super fun instant messaging party. Layout on the iPad has remained the same and there's no unique tablet-optimised user interface. Basically it's just an upscaled version of the app. Meanwhile there's also a tweak for the Android version which promises to ease the drain on battery life, while BBM PINs and PIN barcodes can now be shared to social networks. Going great gunsFollowing a stumbling start, the roll-out of BBM for Android and iOS is proving to be rare ray of sunshine for struggling BlackBerry. Just last week we learned it had already been downloaded 20 million times by Android users, who're spending an average of 40 minutes per week (and rising) texting away. In early September there were rumblings that a launch for Windows Phone 8 devices may also be in the pipeline as the Canadians seek to become the dominant messaging platform on mobile devices        | |
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