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With all the hype about electronic health bands and the iWatch, especially an iWatch with a round interface, you'd think that it's a done deal. But who are you going to believe on this matter? Do you believe a fairly unknown analyst at Rosenblatt Securities shooting darts at the wall or what Apple's CEO stated on the topic of a smartwatch? At last year's D11 conference (between the 19-21 minute marks of the Walt Mossberg interview) Cook grumbled at the idea of a watch of any kind, though later admitted that "other wearables" could be interesting down the road. Does anyone believe that Apple is really going to be just another copycat designer? I guess they do considering the frenzy of reports out there on the topic that now extends the iWatch to having wireless charging coils. Next we'll be seeing reports with fuzzy photos like the Lock Ness monster appearing any day now – yes it's real, look at this crazy photo we found in a back alley in Taiwan. Really: are you buying into the iWatch being real for Q4?
Continue reading "Have the Recent iWatch Rumors made you a Believer yet?" »

In late February 2014, Chitika Insights observed that iOS 7 users generating the vast majority of Web traffic from U.S. and Canadian iPhones (84.3%) and iPads (78.5%). These high rates of adoption for the company's latest OS versions have been a frequently touted selling point for Apple in its efforts to maintain its strong developer community. With iOS 8 expected to be at least partially unveiled during Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) Keynote on Monday, Chitika revisited overall iOS version distribution on each respective device type. Expectedly, the latest data indicate indicates that share growth for iOS 7 across both iPhones and iPads in North America is at a high going into the conference.
Continue reading "Going into Apple's WWDC, iOS 7 Web Traffic Reigns Supreme" »

Back in March Bloomberg reported that China Mobile faced a triple whammy of apps, iPhone subsidies and regulations that would likely cost them as much as $1.8 billion in profit this year. The state-run phone company is contending with falling income as customers flock to free messaging applications such as Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s WeChat and buy Apple Inc. devices at a subsidized price. The report noted that the government would impose a new telecommunications tax as part of an effort to lower prices and improve customer service. The reduction of smartphone subsidies and talk of it isn't new and is certainly not in concrete yet despite a new UBS report.
Continue reading "Smartphone Subsidies in China Still Under Review" »

Last March we reported that Samsung introduced their version of Apple's online iTunes store that's simply called Samsung Content & Services. The Korean report stated that the newly-launched portal would provide one-stop contents and service that could be enjoyed through Samsung's Smartphone, Smart Pad and Smart TV. Today it's being reported that their iTunes copycat service is shutting its doors.
Continue reading "Samsung's iTunes Store Equivalent is set to Shut Down in July" »

According to a new Kantar Worldpanel study, 88% of iPhone owners in the US who plan to change/upgrade devices over the next 12 months say that they'll stick with Apple. In Apple's other largest market, China, 41% of iPhone owners who intend to change devices in the next 12 months say they will stick with Apple. In other statistics, the study shows that Apple is wining the "switchers" battle with Samsung in the US and China and shows us which iPhone models are being sold in China. Kantar also states that the iPhone 6 is expected to sell well and that an iPhone with a larger display will sell better in China than it will in the US.
Continue reading "Apple Winning the Smartphone "Switchers" Battle with Samsung" »

On May 29, 2014, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple titled "Biometric Sensor for Human Presence Detection and Associated Methods." The object of this present invention is to provide human presence verification with increased speed and accuracy, and with reduced user interaction using biometrics.
Continue reading "Apple Patent Reveals Biometric Sensor for Human Presence Detection" »

On May 29, 2014, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple titled "Earphones with Cable Orientation Sensors." The earphones incorporate multi-user sensor structures that determine whether or not the earphones are being shared by multiple users and will allow each EarPod to play different the same or different content simultaneously. I'm sure that dating and married love birds will love this.
Continue reading "Apple Invents Multimode Sensor to allow two users to Share One Set of EarPods Playing Different Content Simultaneously" »

On May 29, 2014, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals their plans to add presence sensors to both future versions of their current EarPods and Beats Headphones. The timing of this patent coming to light is perfect in light of Apple's acquisition of Beats yesterday. Our cover graphic illustrates that Apple was thinking of applying their new technology to over-the-ear headphones. The presence sensors will be able to stop streaming media from Apple's iTunes Radio and/or Beats Music along with iTunes services such as watching TV programming or Movies the second that the user removes their earphones from their head and instantly resume play of the media whenever they're worn again.
Continue reading "Apple to Add Presence Sensors to EarPods & Future Beats Headsets " »

On Monday we posted a report titled "Apple may Surprise the Market with a New Smart Home Platform." The report was about a news leak to the Financial Times. They stated at the time that "Apple is preparing to announce a new software platform that would turn the iPhone into a remote control for lights, security systems and other household appliances, as part of a move into the "internet of things." Today, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals their ongoing work regarding networking residential consumer electronics devices. In particular, the invention provides integrated establishment and control of communication sessions between these consumer electronics devices. One scenario is to conduct a phone call or possible FaceTime call on your television. The timing of this patent couldn't have been better.
Continue reading "Apple shines more light on their Home Controller " »

What began as a leak to the Financial Times in early May that "Apple Could be on the Verge of Acquiring Beats Electronics," is now official. This afternoon Apple put out a press release titled "Apple to Acquire Beats Music & Beats Electronics." Jimmy Iovine, a recording engineer that worked with John Lennon and helped to produce the great "Born to Run" Album by Bruce Springsteen stated that "I've always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple. The idea when we started the company was inspired by Apple's unmatched ability to marry culture and technology. Apple's deep commitment to music fans, artists, songwriters and the music industry is something special." Apple is acquiring the two companies for a total of $3 billion, consisting of a purchase price of approximately $2.6 billion and approximately $400 million that will vest over time. The acquistion will now be etched into Apple's history book as the largest to date.
Continue reading "Apple Officially Announces the Acquisition of Beats Music & Electronics Prior to their World Wide Developer Conference" »

According to a new report published by the Sydney Morning Herald, multiple users on Apple Inc's online support forum and Twitter have reported an unusual smartphone and tablet hack in which cyber attackers were said to have locked Australian users' smartphones and demanded payment in return for unlocking them.
Continue reading "Apple Fans in Australia under "Lost Phone" Cyberattack" »

According to a press release issued by Apple today, NTT DoCoMo and Apple announced that the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display will be available on the DoCoMo network beginning on Tuesday, June 10. Japan is one of Apple's strongest foreign markets for iDevices. In the first quarter, the numbers for Japanese carriers were strong. Apple secured 81% of Softbank sales, 59% at KDDI AU and 42% of smartphone sales on NTT DoCoMo. DoCoMo now supporting Apple's iPad is big news.
Continue reading "Japan's NTT DOCOMO to Begin Selling Apple's iPads in June" »

Today LG introduced their new G3 smartphone at an event held in London, England. Just as we reported earlier this month, LG did in fact deliver their promised QHD 5.5 inch display that provides a 2560 x 1440 resolution. In February we first revealed Samsung's plan to deliver a similar type of display in a new "F-Series" Galaxy Model. That model has recently become the new rumored Galaxy S5-Prime smartphone. The race to deliver QHD displays on smartphones is now on and LG clearly beat Samsung to market. In fact, if anything was impressive about LG's new G3, it was definitely their new display. LG took the pains to carefully demonstrate the reinvention of their display in meaningful ways that dispelled the myth that the human eye could only see up to 300ppi. Their case was compelling which made the rumored 5.5 inch iPhone all that more exciting should it come to pass as we reported on earlier today. Our report presents you with a great number of photos from today's LG event and few other interesting factoids along the way.
Continue reading "LG Delivers their new G3 Smartphone with a QHD 5.5" Display" »

A few years ago, it might have felt like the stuff of science fiction, but beacon technology built on BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) communications has the potential to change the way we shop and live. Imagine installing an app on your BLE-enabled mobile device, going to a store, and being able to view information about products by simply tapping your smartphone or tablet on a product. With small beacon devices placed all around the store, you might event receive welcome discounts just because it's the first time you used the iBeacon app in a particular store. Our report provides you with a brief overview of iBeacon in action and beyond.
Continue reading "A Brief Overview of iBeacon Technology that could also be used in Future Home Automation" »

According to a new DigiTimes report published today, Foxconn will become Apple's primary source for manufacturing both the 4.7 and 5.5 inch iPhone models this year. The report adds that Pegatron has landed orders as Apple's secondary supplier for the 4.7-inch iPhone model. Orders for Apple's existing 4-inch iPhones will be outsourced to Wistron.
Continue reading "Foxconn reportedly gets Orders for 4.7 and 5.5 inch iPhones" »

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 59 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we focus on a single patent relating to trapping a glass insert into a metal bezel using liquid metal. The original iPhone wasn't even out a year when one of Apple's engineers began his work on sealing the iPhone's cover glass with liquid metal. The patent describes the use of insertion molding. In 2013, this process was advanced in another patent that included Apple's metal frame that doubles as an antenna and it was at this point where we wondered aloud if Apple's iPhone wasn't already using liquid metal. Today's granted patent illustrates that the research that Apple's engineer did on this project in 2008 predated their first agreement with Liquidmetal Technologies in 2010. Last week Apple Extended their Master Agreement with Liquidmetal Technologies.
Continue reading "Patent Reveals Apple Began Working with Liquid Metal in 2008" »

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 59 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover Apple's Game Center, the iPhone 5S's new Burst Mode, a design Patent for the iPad Air and more. We wrap up this week's granted patent report with our traditional listing of the remaining granted patents that were issued to Apple today.
Continue reading "Apple Granted 59 Patents Today Covering Game Center, The iPhone's New Camera Burst Mode, iPad Air & More" »

According to a new study out by Kantar for Q1 2014, OS shares across Europe have stabilized with Android holding its position as the number one operating system in Europe, with a 72.4% share of the market. It is followed by Apple's iOS with a 17.5% share and Window's Phone OS taking third place with 8.4% market share. The notable break in that trend was found in Britain where Android is holding on to 58.2% market share while iOS is solidly in second with 30.2% and Windows Phone OS in third again with 9.5%.
Continue reading "Windows Phone OS is closing in on Apple's iOS in most of Europe" »

Patently Apple first reported on the basic aspects of Apple's move towards the smart home back in January 2010 in a report titled "Apple Reveals Smart-Home Energy Management Dashboard System." Then in 2011 we reported on a "Siri and Non-Visual Controls," patent that covered home appliances, kitchen counter tops and beyond. Following that in 2012, we posted a report titled "Apple's Wild New Patent Covers TV & Advanced 5D Technology," that covered an in-home entertainment system and beyond. Lastly, in 2013 an Apple patent application came to light that was primarily about in-vehicle controls and yet noted that "The technology could be used to configure in-home climate control settings, television settings and/or lighting preferences," and more. Today, the Financial Times is reporting that "Apple is preparing to announce a new software platform that would turn the iPhone into a remote control for lights, security systems and other household appliances, as part of a move into the "internet of things," which is exactly what Apple's patents have covered over time.
Continue reading "Apple may Surprise the Market with a New Smart Home Platform" »

After the latest Patent Infringement case against Samsung was over we posted a report titled "Apple Wins Patent Infringement Case against Samsung that could be Worth More than $360 Million when this is all Over." Our report made the case that Samsung's infringement was "willful" and that the legal term meant that the Plaintiff-Apple could seek a treble or a tripling of the damages awarded. We made the case that Apple was using very specific language in their statements after the trial that supported that position. Well, Apple has filed a JMOL for Retrial where they are in fact seeking treble damages from Samsung.
Continue reading "Apple Files New Motion Seeking Triple Damages from Samsung" »

At the top of this month we posted a report titled "Apple & Laurene Powel Jobs Dragged into a bizarre $32 Billion Dollar Lawsuit." That was one of the craziest cases that I've ever heard against Apple, until now. Apple is being sued by Michael Samsung. The allegations are so off-the-wall that I'm sure that you'll be choking with laughter over your breakfast or with your friends later tonight over drinks. If I didn't know it was an actual court filing, I'd swear it was a rough copy of a new comedy skit. Laugh or cry, check out the Tennessee lawsuit filing below.
Continue reading "Another Samsung Sues Apple in one of the Craziest Lawsuits Ever " »

Late yesterday the Patent and Trademark Office in Hong Kong China granted Apple a design Patent for the iPhone 5S case under number 1400380. The design patent covered ten jumbo photographs which our report provides you with.
Continue reading "Apple Granted a Design Patent in China for their iPhone 5S Case" »

The news of Apple's work with Sapphire for future products has been in the news for months now. In addition, there has been a series of patent application filed by Apple over the last months, enough to warrant us creating a "Sapphire" related archive. That of course rang emergency bells throughout the ranks at Samsung. The world's fastest copycat developer, or as they prefer to be called "fast-follower," is working overtime to add Sapphire smartphone cover glass to their line-up of premium smartphones later this year.
Continue reading "Emergency Bells go off at Samsung to use Sapphire Cover Glass" »

China Mobile has a total of 770 million mobile service subscribers, accounting for over 60% of China's mobile service market, making the carrier a major force to push 4G services in China. Initially, users looking for 4G are more likely to buy high-end smartphones from international brands. Apple, which began to promote its 4G-enabled iPhones in China in cooperation with China Mobile in mid-January 2014, thus became the biggest winner in the race for 4G smartphone sales in China in the first quarter.
Continue reading "Apple's iPhone won the 4G Race in China in the First Quarter" »

On May 22, 2014, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals a new robotic arm system for testing iPhones. Before devices are sold to customers, extensive wireless tests are performed. Testing allows designers to optimize antenna and wireless transceiver performance. Testing also ensures that regulatory limits on emitted radiation levels are satisfied. As smartphones are now being designed with the capability to operate in a large number of frequency bands and using multiple antennas, conventional testing systems are becoming overburdened leading to potential delays. Apple has designed a new testing system that uses a new robotic arm. And while we're on the topic of multiple antennas, another Apple patent surfacing today reveals a new antenna structure that will combine NFC with Non-NFC communications to the same antenna. With Apple recently signing an e-Wallet deal with China UnionPay requiring NFC, Apple's latest NFC invention may very well be making its way to the iPhone 6.
Continue reading "Apple invents a new Robotic Arm Testing System for the iPhone and introduces a new iPhone Antenna that Adds NFC" »

On May 22, 2014, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals their ongoing work on future flexible OLED displays. Apple's invention covers the implementation of bendable metal traces that won't break or crack under conditions of the display that require bending or curvature. This supports Apple's patent application regarding hollow structures that include a possible future iPhone. Bendable metal traces represent a key attribute to assist the design of durable flexible displays for future devices.
Continue reading "Apple Patent Reveals Future Flexible Displays Incorporating Key Bendable Metal Traces" »

On May 22, 2014, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals more details relating to sapphire cover glass for future iDevices. Today, Apple's Home Button uses laser cut Sapphire. In the future, it may simply be an extension of the cover glass that will also cover any bezel construction. The use of sapphire cover glass may extend to many products including the iPhone, an iMac, a MacBook (Pro or Air), ultraportable computers and monitor display devices.
Continue reading "Apple Reveals More Details of their Future Sapphire Cover Glass " »

On Monday Apple and Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc., entered into a second Master Transaction Agreement that extends Apple's exclusive license for creating consumer electronic products based on IP shared with a subsidiary called Crucible Intellectual Property until Q1 2015. On many of Crucible's patent applications or granted patents today you'll either see Apple as one of the assignees or an Apple engineer listed as one of the inventors. One of the more consistent inventors found listed on these patents is none other than Apple's engineer Christopher Prest. Our report shows you a copy of the key part of the agreement between Apple and Liquidmetal Technologies along with a full up-to-date listing of Crucible Intellectual Property patents for your review.
Continue reading "Apple Extends Master Agreement with Liquidmetal Technologies" »

In the first quarter after releasing the revolutionary iPad in April 2010, Apple sold 3.27 million iPads. Now that's what sales of a winning new product should look like out of the gate. In contrast, Samsung's Gear smartwatch that's been out for six months now only shipped 500,000 Gear watches in Q1 2014. Yet that tiny amount was boasted by Strategy Analytics as representing a 250% growth factor for the wearables segment led by Samsung that now holds 71% of the global smartwatch market. That means that 7 out of 10 smartwatches being shipped are those from Samsung. That's a lot of empty hoopla for a product that only shipped 500,000 units.
Continue reading "Samsung Shipping Half a Million Smartwatches in Q1 2014 is a Real Market Yawner" »

Prior to yesterday's unveiling of the new Surface 3 from Microsoft, a new study showed just how bad the Surface table was doing in terms of web traffic in North America. Over time it's been losing ground and in terms of profit, there isn't any to speak of. In fact Surface remains a money loser. That's why Microsoft tried to shift its marketing focus yesterday. They need to change the mindset in the public about Surface so that you can think of it as a notebook replacement. Yet this Frankenstein of notebooks has no soul and doesn't know what it is. It's doomed to stay stuck in its current losing rut.
Continue reading "Microsoft's Surface: Tablets that make no Sense or Dollars" »
Microsoft introduced their new Surface Pro 3 this morning as you can see in the noted video. The key presenter was Panos Panay, Microsoft's Corporate VP for Surface. One of Panay's key points was that 96% of tablet owners also owned a notebook and that the new Surface 3 was the all-in-one solution at the same price of a notebook. The new Surface 3 is sold in three configurations depending on the processor you choose: iCore i3, i5 and i7. While some will like this Frankenstein of a device – I found it to be backward thinking.
Continue reading "Microsoft's New Surface Pro 3 Thinks it's a Notebook" »

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 49 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover the iPhone's Integrated Touch technology, possible future solar assemblies for the iPhone and the integration of various sensors and the Home Button in iDevices. Apple was also granted their third Siri related patent in 2014 and four design patents. We wrap up this week's granted patent report with our traditional listing of the remaining granted patents that were issued to Apple today.
Continue reading "Apple Granted 49 Patents Today Covering the iPhone's Integrated Touch Display, Solar Assemblies, Sensors, Siri & More" »

Last month our site was knocked out for about 5 days due to our blogging service TypePad being hit with a massive DDoS attack. After that episode an emergency back-up plan was drawn-up never thinking that we'd actually have to use it so soon. Yesterday, exactly one month after the first attack, TypePad was hit again knocking out our service. This is a persistent and highly sophisticated attacker and there's a good chance that our service could once again be disrupted this week. Should that occur today during granted patent day, you'll still be able to read our new patent reports over at "Patently Apple Xtra" or patentlyapplextra.com. We'll be posting our reports on Patently Apple as usual and only using our emergency site should our service go down. Reports sent to Patently Apple Xtra may eventually be reposted on our main site at a later time for reference purposes. As always, thanks for supporting Patently Apple. Cheers!
Continue reading "Patently Apple Notice: Our New Emergency Back-up Site " »

We posted a report on Friday titled "The First Crack at Peace: Apple & Google Settle Long Standing Lawsuit." A four year battle had ended with both companies wanting to focus their efforts on patent reform to curb patent troll lawsuits. The press release was clear however, that the ongoing litigation with Samsung wasn't part of the deal. Today news out of Korea is that Samsung and Apple have recently agreed to begin talks to settle patent disputes out of court, according to people directly involved with the matter. Report updated May 20, 2014.
Continue reading "Apple and Samsung have Reportedly Resumed Working Level Discussions to End their Patent War" »

On Thursday the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals a new high voltage wall charger for iPhones and other iDevices that will be able to surpass today's limiting 5 Volts and go up to 20 Volts as noted in our cover graphic. While we may not be getting a super battery that will provide us with one week's worth of power anytime soon, we can at least look forward to a new power charger for our iPhone (or other iDevice) that will charge it at much faster speeds so as to get us back online. While patent-pending ideas usually take time to get to market, we can only hope that Apple is thinking of delivering this new charger with the upcoming iPhone 6. Can that be done? Only time will tell.
Continue reading "Apple Invents a High Voltage Charger at 20 Volts for iDevices " »
Last week the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that revealed a new visual dialing method designed for your iPhone that could end audible menu-hell that we now have to deal with when calling a business such as our Cable Company, a bank, a utility company and so forth. Today when calling a business with your iPhone, you have to go through a maze of audio prompts to get you to the right department for assistance or to perform a simple task. This archaic system could one day be replaced with Apple's simple next-generation visual menu system so that businesses will be able to recognize that you're calling from a mobile device and send your iPhone a simple set of visual menu options so that you could determine the speed of the menu prompts that will get you to the right department quickly. The system is designed for businesses to set up via a cloud based service.
Continue reading "Apple Invents a New Visual System to End Phone Menu-Hell" »

Uriel Marcus of San Jose California and Benedict Verceles of Houston Texas, by and through their attorneys, bring a Class Action lawsuit against Apple over faulty MacBook (Pro and Air) logic boards that continue to be sold until this day. According to the complaint, Apple's "cover-up" shows that they "had knowledge of the defect, yet willfully and intentionally decided to hide the defect, resulting in continuing damage to the Class." It was interesting to discover that the law firm that's behind this latest Class Action lawsuit was also the one behind a 2012 Class Action against Apple on the very same subject matter.
Continue reading "A Class Action Lawsuit is launched against Apple over Faulty MacBook Logic Boards " »

Plaintiffs Adam Backhaut and Bouakhay Joy Backhaut of Macomb County, Michigan and Kenneth Morris of Riverside County, California have launched a Class Action against Apple in San Jose. The case is about Apple's iMessage not delivering text messages to Android smartphones. This latest Class Action lawsuit was filed yesterday – just one day after Californian Adrienne Moore filed her Class Action against Apple over the very same issue.
Continue reading "Apple under Fire over iMessage as a Second Class Action Lawsuit is Filed within 24 Hours" »

A Japanese court ruled Friday that Samsung can seek only a maximum of around Y9.95 million (US$98,000) in damages from the Japanese unit of Apple, ruling the amount of damages should not exceed a royalty payment under a license agreement, Kyodo News reported.
Continue reading "Japan's High Court Rules that Apple's iPhone 4 used Samsung Technology but Delivers a Puzzling Judgment" »

Just last week Patently Apple posted a report titled "In Motorola vs. Apple Case, Motorola Hunts for Documents and Source Code from Oracle in Connection to Apple's iCloud." This was a case that Motorola had launched against Apple in both Illinois and Florida. In that report we questioned whether the lawsuit was being funded by Lenovo or Google. This was a classic example of novation. Tonight we got our answer: it was Google. In late breaking news Google's Motorola Mobility Unit and Apple agreed to settle all patent litigation between them over smartphones, ending one of the highest lawsuits in technology.
Continue reading "The First Crack at Peace: Apple & Google Settle Long Standing Lawsuit" »