Apple Talk

Apple filed a new lawsuit against Motorola Mobility today, targeting the company's patent licensing agreement with Qualcomm.

The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of California and first reported by Reuters, takes aim at Motorola for being in breach of a licensing agreement both companies have with Qualcomm for the use of the company's wireless patents.

One of the patents mentioned in the suit (PDF) is the same one used by Motorola in its lawsuit against Apple in Germany last month. In this new filing, Apple asks the court to prohibit Motorola from making that claim in its … Read more

Apple is once again said to be working on larger models of its MacBook Air line, with a new report making a rather bold suggestion that two new Air models would replace the company's popular MacBook Pro line.

Citing people familiar with Apple's computing roadmap, Apple Insider says Apple is cooking up an overhaul to its MacBook Pro line that involves stripping out components like the optical disc tray and hard drive, and replacing the latter with flash memory like it did on the MacBook Air.

The report suggests Apple is focusing its efforts on making those changes … Read more

Apple's Apple TV, iPhone, and remote-control app for iOS are the targets of a new lawsuit alleging that when used together, the three products infringe on a patent held by another company.

Switzerland-based technology firm SmartData filed suit against Apple earlier this week in the Northern District of California, claiming that the trio of products infringe on a patent it holds covering "wireless computing technology."

The suit asks for damages, a permanent injunction against Apple's products, and a trial by jury.

SmartData describes itself as a "wireless solution provider." Its patent (U.S. Patent … Read more

Apple set new records on Wall Street today, reaching an all-time high in intraday trading and closing at a record high.

Apple's stock closed at $493.17, up $16.49 or a gain of 3.46 percent from its opening price, according to Google Finance. In the early afternoon it ticked off a new intraday high at $496.75.

With the gains, Apple's market capitalization, or the value of shares times the number of shares outstanding, topped off at $459.82 billion, putting it $58 billion ahead of Exxon Mobil. The two companies traded spots to be the company with the largest market cap … Read more

Apple may be synonymous with Cupertino, Calif., but it's making more moves in its neighbor to the north.

As noted by the Silicon Valley Business Journal, Apple has leased 156,000 square feet of office space in Sunnyvale, Calif.'s Town Center Office building. The space can fit some 400 employees, the City of Sunnyvale said in a press release announcing the deal (PDF).

This is Apple's latest expansion in the neighboring city, which is where Yahoo, AMD, Juniper Networks, and a handful of other technology companies are headquartered. Last month Apple signed a deal to lease space … Read more

iPhones that have been password-protected and have voice dialing deactivated can still make FaceTime video calls, as well as disclose basic information about a person's list of contacts.

The security loophole, which is present in the latest version of Apple's iOS 5.0.1 software, was discovered earlier this week by Canadian tech writer Ade Barkah, who posted details about it on his blog. CNET confirmed it working on three different iPhones, including the iPhone 4 and 4S.

In short, it works like this: If you've got your iPhone set to what are basically the highest security … Read more

The two online petitions asking Apple to improve conditions in overseas manufacturing plants ahead of the next iPhone will be hand delivered to a number of Apple's retail stores tomorrow, its creators say.

In a statement today, watchdog group SumOfUs said that it plans to deliver its own petition, along with one from Change.org, to a number of Apple's retail stores around the world. That includes New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, London, Sydney, and Bangalore.

Combined, the two petitions have amassed more than 250,000 signatures, the group said.

The petition from SumOfUs garnered 55,… Read more

The screen resolution shared by the first three iPhones and iPod Touches is expected to be phased out eventually, but in a new note to developers, the company appears to want to move that process along--at least on its digital storefront.

In an e-mail to developers today, republished by The Next Web, Apple notes that it now requires developers to include high-resolution screenshots of their applications when submitting them for approval, something that was previously optional:

When you create or update your apps in iTunes Connect, you must upload screenshots that are high-resolution. We require your screenshots as high-resolution images … Read more

Despite making a clean break with wholesale retailer Costco in late 2010, Apple could be looking to expand its footprint with one of its rivals, a new report suggests.

Citing anonymous sources, 9to5mac says Apple is in talks with Sam's Club, a membership-only chain operated by Wal-Mart Stores, to expand a current partnership. That could take the form of a store within a store at the wholesale retailer, similar to the deal announced last month between Apple and Target, according to the blog report.

Those store-within-stores would end up at 47 Sam's Club locations in the U.S., … Read more