TechStew

Samsung infringed a key portion of an  Apple   patent by including a text-selection feature in its smartphones and tablets, an International Trade Commission judge said in a preliminary decision. South Korean-based Samsung did not infringe portions of a second Apple patent that allows a device to detect if a microphone or other device is plugged into its microphone jack, the judge said in a decision that was issued on March 26 but kept confidential until late Thursday to allow the companies to redact sensitive  busin ess  information.   The full commission must now decide if they will uphold it or overturn the judge's decision. A final decision is expected in August. If it is upheld, the  ITC  can order any infringing device to be barred from importation into the United States. Apple has alleged that Samsung's Galaxy, Transform and Nexus devices, among others, were among those made with the infringing technology. Apple had fi...

So Apple reports its record sales figures for the last quarter and its stocks tumble while all the tech junkies and analysts shift their attention to the next king on the consumer electronics block - Samsung. This is even more interesting in the light of the fact that Samsung does not release its quarterly sales figures, only the number of shipped items. So, on what merit can Samsung be put on the tech throne? Lets challenge the usual data collectors such as IDC whose recently published data suggest that Apple's tablet market share had fallen to only 43%, behind that of Google's Android. However, an surge in mobile web usage by iOS devices, matched by an even greater decline in Android web traffic since November, is calling into question figures from IDC that reported an apparent, significant slippage by Apple in global tablet market share. As noted in a report by Fortune , web statistics by Net Applications indicate that iOS users have actually increased their ...

With Apple's stock down 25% since its peak, industry watchers and stock market analysts are beginning to pose this almost unimaginable question. Of course, Apple is still a fabulously successful company. They remain the most valuable and profitable corporation in the world. Apple's design, manufacturing and distribution capabilities are the envy of consumer product companies. Their innovation, marketing and merchandising prowess is legendary. Any ripple in Apple's skyrocketing success can be a catalyst for Apple watchers to question Apple's future. Analyst predicts Apple's 2013 product lineup, includes new iPad mini, iPhone 5S

Given the speed of technological advancements and a slew of new mobile phones hitting the market every week it is no wonder the virtual wars of 'who is the best' among blogger and commentators are raging more then ever.   Some light on which brand customers like the best can be found in  a report from last week by Toni Sacconaghi, a Bernstein Research analyst : 95% of current iPhone users in Europe and North America plan on repurchasing an iPhone now, and 85% of iPad customers plan on repurchasing another iPad some time down the line as well. Bernstein Research also surveyed other smartphone users and found that 75% of Android users plan to repurchase another   Android device, 58% of BlackBerry users plan on doing similarly, while just 37% of Windows phone owners intend on sticking with the platform. At the bottom of the list is now almost obsolete Symbian.  Popularity of mobile platforms Mobile OS comparison: Windows Phone ...

Metro UI - live tiles in 'action' Live tiles? Not so lively So the as whole array of various new iterations of MS Windows hit your screens, be it your desktop, cell phone, or laptop you may be wondering what live tiles are. Essentially, live tiles are just graphically simplified widgets. There sn nothing ‘live’ about them; the fact that different tiles display a number of newly arrived text messages, emails, and missed calls is nothing new, better looking widgets on iOS or Android do the same thing. The so-called ‘People’ tile keeps flipping pictures of your contacts incessantly without a single purpose; no relevant information is being displayed. Microsoft wants you to think that picture flipping is somehow ‘live’ whatever that may mean. The weather hub on HTC Windows phones does not update the weather information so the ‘live’ status here is a mute one. In Windows phone 8 you can resize the tiles and move them around anyway you wish which results in your screen beco...

Today Microsoft introduced Windows Phone 8, its umpteenth attempt at conquering the mobile world arena. All the buzz (or FUD, since no release and pricing information was given) that has been created lately in order to promote this new iteration of MS mobile platform as the something utterly new, something that will ride like a tsunami through iPhone and Android ruled ocean fails to acknowledge that there is in fact not much new here - it is NOT a new operating system. Its first iteration saw the light of day, 2 years ago as a Windows Phone 7 , a successor to clumsy Windows Mobile, which has, in one form or another been on the market since April 2000. Yes, folks, Microsoft has been in the mobile game for over a decade now, way before the onslaught of Apple and Android powered devices.