Apple fires closing shots at Samsung in patents battle

(Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd abused its "monopoly power" and demanded an unreasonable royalty from Apple Inc for the use of wireless patents in the iPhone, hurting the device's commercial prospects, Apple experts testified.
Richard Donaldson, a former lead patents attorney for Texas Instruments Inc, told the court on Friday a 2.4 percent royalty Samsung wanted on the price of the iPhone was discriminatory because the patents in question enabled just a fraction of the smartphone' s features.
Later, New York University professor Janusz Ordover likened that rate - equivalent to $14 per $600 iPhone - to a "holdup."
"Samsung's conduct distorted the decision making process" in setting standards, said Ordover, a former deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's antitrust division. "It enabled Samsung's technology to be introduced, to become part of the standard. They have acquired holdup power."
Samsung accuses Apple of infringing those patents, which are related to wireless communications for smartphones and are broadly licensed to Intel Corp and other technology corporations. Apple, meanwhile, accuses Samsung of copying the design and some features of its iPad and iPhone.
The former Texas Instruments executive joined a string of rebuttal expert witnesses that Apple presented in court in the closing hours of the U.S. legal battle with its South Korean rival.
Closing arguments and jury deliberations are set to begin next week.
The court battle is a facet of a bigger war for supremacy in the mobile market between the two corporations, which sell more than half the world's smartphones. The mobile market is one of fastest growing and most lucrative in technology sector.
"If other companies were to determine that this is a reasonable royalty, then the total royalty on the iPhone would be something like 50 percent," Donaldson testified. "It's neither fair nor reasonable because you could not be successful in the market."
Other expert witnesses included Michael Walker, a former senior Vodafone Group Plc research executive, who from 2008 to 2011 chaired the European telecoms standards authority. He said Samsung failed to disclose in a timely fashion the patents referred to by Donaldson.
During cross examination, Samsung lawyer Charles Verhoeven probed the idea that trade secrets and confidential information were exempt from a requirement for full and timely disclosure. In any case, the South Korean company had never come under scrutiny from the standards-setting agency on that issue, he said.
The courtroom battle has transfixed insiders since July. Apple is demanding more than $2.5 billion in damages and a sales ban, while its rival is demanding licensing fees. Samsung also says Apple's damages should be calculated not on gross margins, but after all other costs - such as marketing - are factored in.
The trial in San Jose in the heart of Silicon Valley has offered glimpses into the two huge corporate machines - from their design and marketing processes to the profits they make on devices.
MONOPOLY POWER?
Standing on the sidelines is Google Inc, whose Android software powers most of Samsung's phones and is said by analysts to be an indirect target of Apple's legal assault against the South Korean company in a multiple of countries.
Tensions have run high with so much at stake, but the trial has offered some levity.
Judge Lucy Koh asked whether Apple lawyer Bill Lee was "smoking crack" after he presented a 75-page list of witnesses, a quip that came up again to much good-natured chuckling - including from Lee himself - on Friday.
Friday's testimony centered on the concept of standards or essential patents - intellectual property built into a commonly agreed set of specifications - and in this case, the UMTS wireless communications standard used worldwide by mobile devices.
Professor Ordover testified that standards essential patents - a point of contention in a global market where corporations constantly seek an edge - have enormous benefits to consumers and manufacturers. But they also have "potential risk" and can be abused. Ordover argued that Samsung unfairly wielded its two patents against Apple.
Apple's lawyers argue that Samsung - a member of the body that crafted UMTS standards in 2005 - is charging an unfairly high licensing fee for those patents, in effect trying to stymie market advances. Samsung says the patents are intellectual property for which it rightly requires compensation.
On Friday, Samsung's lawyers did not cross-examine many of the Apple witnesses at length and in many cases simply chose not to do so. The South Korean company has used up almost all of its allotted trial time.
The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, is Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, No. 11-1846.
(Editing by Carol Bishopric and Andre Grenon)

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Smartphones Are Starting to Replace Compact Cameras

It has taken many years, but a consumer electronics trend is finally coming to fruition. Even I have succumbed.

I have spent the last few weeks, as I do each year, on the Mediterranean coast, mostly in places which are not globally looked on as the most attractive of summer destinations, including the Croatian island of Vis. Every year this relatively undiscovered Adriatic jewel is more and more beset by foreign tourists, but fortunately (for me, not for the Vis folk), this is a far cry from the onset of hordes of holiday goers 'enjoyed' by the famous tourist spots on the Mediterranean, like Cannes, Dubrovnik, Ibiza or Palma de Mallorca.

The View from AbroadThe preserved peace and quiet boils down to the fact that Vis' good reputation is spread by word of mouth from those who visited it, and not by the luxurious campaigns which the wealthier Mediterranean localities provide. However, I'm afraid that things might change -- we live in a time when communicating personal experiences and comments has become the biggest marketing tool of any product, including a tourist one.

Along with Facebook, Twitter, and other online social networks, this is aided by the expansion of camera-equipped smartphones which are, for a number of reasons, far more practical than classic compact and ultra-compact cameras.

What we record with an iPhone, a Samsung Galaxy, or HTC One as 'raw material' can hold its ground against photographs taken by compact Canons, Olympuses, Panasonics or Sony models, while smartphones additionally offer three huge advantages over 'regular' cameras.

First, we can post photographs on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram the instant we take them. Everyone we are connected to in our digital life will immediately see the image, thus its 'reach' is incomparably greater and faster than that of photographs taken by a 'real' camera. Photographs of the local wonders of Vis, taken by a smartphones, reach more friends and acquaintances of those adventurers who tried their luck and decided to visit this place and do this much faster. The same is true of video. Therefore, this summer more than ever, the good reputation of the island of Vis is spreading thanks to phone cameras.

Second, photographs taken by a smartphone can be done up. Instagram enables everyone to fake being a professional photographer, 'artist' and there is a ton of similar software for iOS, Android OS, Windows Phone and other mobile platforms. Red eyes, poor frame arrangement, poor lighting, blurry or grainy photos and other problems which would spoil the pleasure of using a regular camera are now a thing of the past when it comes to using smartphones. With a bit of fumbling, every photograph can be perfect or even better with applications like Snapseed, Pixlromatic or Hipstagram.

Finally, unlike a camera, we never forget to bring our smartphone with us, which means the tool for taking images is always at hand.

Of course, smartphone cameras have many shortcomings compared to classic compact cameras, like poor flash, poor optical zoom options etc., but for everyday tourist and family shots, these are no longer deciding factors. Thus, there is still room for improvement, but the existing imaging limitations are surpassed by practicality.

Never before this summer have I seen people who happened to be on the island of Vis taking so many photographs of everything surrounding them. They shoot the rocks, they shoot sandy beaches, they shoot ships, they shoot the azure sea, they shoot the palm trees, they shoot stone houses, they shoot seagulls, they shoot olives -- all classic Mediterranean's motifs, and solely photographed with smartphones.

Even I have given in before this plague -- although though I took my camera to my vacation, an exquisite and ingenious Lumix of miniature dimensions and vast photographic power, I have not turned it on once in these several weeks. Still, I have more photographs than any summer before, but I took them all with an iPhone and everyone I wanted to see them has already seen them.

I don't believe I will turn my Lumix on in the next two weeks either, which is how long I am planning on staying at the seaside. Remember this summer as the one when smartphones threw the final, lethal blow to compact digital cameras.


For the last fifteen years, Dragan Petric (www.draganpetric.com) has been working as an IT journalist, editor and analyst, with special interests in telecommunication technologies and services. In addition, he authored five books and published over 2,500 articles in many magazines and newspapers in Europe. He has attended about 30 telecommunications and IT congresses around the world and won several journalists awards for his work.

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Samsung expert: Apple overstates its damages at trial

Michael Wagner, an accountant who testified on Thursday for Samsung, said Samsung's U.S. profits from the smartphones and tablets targeted in the case should be calculated at about 12 percent, or about $519 million.

Earlier in the trial, an Apple expert witness testified the U.S. margin was closer to 35.5 percent.

Additionally, two other Samsung financial experts contended that Apple should owe up to $421.8 million for violating a clutch of the South Korean company's patents.

Apple and Samsung are going toe-to-toe in a patents dispute that mirrors a bigger struggle for industry supremacy between the rivals that control more than half of worldwide smartphone sales.

Apple accuses Samsung of copying the design and some features of its iPad and iPhone, and is asking for a sales ban in addition to monetary damages. South Korea's Samsung, which is trying to expand in the United States, says Apple infringed several patents, including some for its key wireless technology.

Earlier this week, Apple expert Terry Musika said Samsung earned 35.5 percent margins from mid-2010 through March 2012, on $8.16 billion in U.S. revenue. Apple is seeking over $2.5 billion in damages.

However, Wagner testified on Thursday that Musika did not take into account many of Samsung's costs, including marketing. "Not a penny," Wagner said.

Wagner said his 12 percent figure assumes a period beginning in April 2011 for most of the mobile products.

The trial, now in its third week, is drawing towards a close.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh had given each side 25 hours to present evidence. Samsung began feeling the crunch on Thursday: its attorneys decided not to cross examine two of Apple's technical experts at all, citing time limitations.

More financial details about the famously secretive Apple were revealed on Thursday: The company has paid about $1.4 billion in patent royalties to at least 90 companies, according to testimony from Samsung financial expert Vince O'Brien.

Apple has sold $12.23 billion worth of iPhones in the U.S. since September 2010, and U.S. sales for the iPad are at $2.29 billion since the end of April 2011, Samsung financial expert David Teece said.

Other testimony on Thursday focused on how much Apple should pay if the jury finds that Apple violated Samsung's patents. O'Brien said a reasonable royalty for three of Samsung's feature patents -- including one for seamlessly emailing a photo -- was $22.8 million.

Asked why the amount was so small, O'Brien said: "They're one of many features on the phone."

Yet Teece said Samsung's wireless patents in the case were worth up to $399 million. Under questioning from Apple, Teece acknowledged that he had not seen any evidence that Samsung had ever received money for those patents from another company.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, is Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, No. 11-1846.

(Editing by Andre Grenon and Eric Meijer)

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Microsoft and Nokia To Make Announcement at NY Event on Sept. 5

Didn't get an invite to Finland for Nokia World next month? Not to worry, because Nokia and Microsoft will be holding a joint event in New York on September 5, not coincidentally the first day of the show.

The two companies will hold a press conference starting at 9:30 A.M., and given the timing, it's likely that whatever big news will be coming out of Finland that day will be the topic of discussion in the U.S. as well.

What's on the Docket?

Though both Microsoft and Nokia are remaining tight-lipped with regards to the subject of their announcement, it will most likely pertain to the new Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system.

Given the fact that it was previously rumored that Nokia would reveal its first line of Windows Phone 8 devices on the first day of the Nokia World show, it seems possible that the handsets will be unveiled at the New York event. But we won't find out for sure until September 5, so be sure to tune into Brighthand on the day of the event for up-to-date news on the announcement.

If you want a sneak peak at what might be coming down the pike, take a look at the details on what might be Nokia's first model with Windows Phone 8, and the the successor to the Lumia 800.

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Bigger is Better: the Galaxy Note Has Sold Over 10 Million Units

When the Samsung Galaxy Note -- the quasi tablet handset -- was first released, it was followed by a great deal of skepticism. Many critics believed the device to be simply too large, with the utility of the handset being overshadowed by its large dimensions. Well it appears that the critics were wrong.

Samsung Galaxy Note Sells 10 MillionSamsung revealed during its press event for the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet that the Samsung Galaxy Note has sold more than 10 million units worldwide, something that had been a goal of this company.

More about this Tabletphone

The Galaxy Note features a dual-core 1.4GHz Exynos processor, 32GB of internal storage, an 8-megapixel camera, and an impressive 5.2-inch Super AMOLED display.

Additionally, the device includes a stylus, which may have played a part in the devices popularity, as Samsung is offering a similar stylus with its new Galaxy Note 10.1 Tablet. 

The tablet phone is available from both AT&T and T-Mobile while the Galaxy Note 2 is expected to launch soon.

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Apple iPhone 4S Selling for Amazingly-Low $50 at Sprint

Sprint has once again dropped the price of the iPhone 4S, offering the 16GB version of the device for just $50. Of course, customers will still have to pay $150 in-store and wait 8-10 weeks for a rewards card, but this is still the best deal on the market for Apple's current smartphone.

The nation's third-largest carrier is bundling a free $100 American Express Rewards Card with the purchase of the 16GB iPhone 4S, which sells for $150 with a two-year agreement (including free activation and shipping).

This deal comes a week after Sprint slashed $50 off all iPhone 4S models, marking the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions down to $150, $250 and $350, respectively.

iPhone Bargains Abound

While Sprint began the iPhone discount trend, Best Buy and Target have also hopped on the sale bandwagon, each offering their own price cuts. AT&T, Sprint and Verizon customers can get the iPhone 4S base model for $150 at Target or scoop up an 8GB iPhone 4 for $50 at Best Buy.

Apple is also quietly playing along, offering an in-store price match program where customers must quote where they have seen a mark down in order to get the discount. The store will now give a $100 Apple Store gift card to honor Sprint's latest deal.

Waiting in the Wings...

Despite a lack of an official confirmation from CEO Tim Cook, the next-generation iPhone will likely debut on Sept. 12, with shipments said to begin on the 21st. The recent discounting of current iPhone models is mounting evidence that carriers are making room for the highly-speculated iPhone 5.

Rumored to sport a larger display, a smaller dock connector and 4G LTE, the sixth-generation Apple smartphone has been churning the rumor mill for months. With less than a month until the reported iPhone 5 unveiling, we will find out soon enough if all the whispers have been true.

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