samsung

A U.S. trade agency judge has decided the text-selection feature Samsung has on its mobile devices infringes an Apple patent. If upheld, the ruling could stop Samsung from sending devices to the United States.

The International Trade Commission judge also decided that Samsung did not infringe on the Apple patent that covers how a device detects if a microphone or other device is plugged in to its microphone jack, Reuters reported.

If the commission agrees with the judge on the text-selection issue, the ITC can stop Samsung from importing the several infringing products, including the Galaxy, Transform, and Nexus … Read more

Samsung Electronics expects to record an operating profit of 8.7 trillion won ($7.7 billion) for the first quarter of 2013, a 53 percent increase over the year-ago period.

The guidance, released today by the South Korean electronics giant ahead of full earnings later this month, is better than many analysts had forecast but a slight decline over the fourth quarter of 2012, when the company posted a record $8.3 billion in operating profit. The guidance means the company expects to break its string of five consecutive quarters of record profits.

Though strong sales of the Galaxy S … Read more

In a legal victory for Google and Samsung, a German court has reportedly invalidated all patent claims related to Apple's "slide to unlock" user interface.

Today's ruling by Bundespatentgericht, Germany's federal patent court, is a setback for Apple, which has pressed the patent against Google's Motorola and Samsung in courts across Europe in attempts to secure injunctions preventing the companies' devices from being sold. However, the decision is appealable, according to Foss Patents blogger Florian Mueller, a paid consultant for several tech companies who was first to report on today's ruling.

The ruling, … Read more

Hard-core Facebook devotees may find Home to be the smartphone experience they've been looking for.

For everyone else, Facebook's new Android skin may be little better than bloatware (although, to be fair, it's not forced on people). In particular, Android purists will want to stay clear.

Facebook took a major step today toward staking its claim in the mobile field with Home, which is a family of apps wrapped up in a custom user interface. It's an ambitious step, and likely a smart one, given that the alternative would have been the boneheaded move of building … Read more

Facebook Home will be available for download on April 12, but only on select phones to start with.

Facebook today launched Home, a family of apps and a skin that runs over Android. The company said users will be able to download the user interface from the Google Play store, and that links would be found in its Facebook and messenger apps.

The HTC phones that will initially get access to the app are the upcoming HTC One and the One X and One X+.

On the Samsung side, the Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2, and upcoming Galaxy S4 will … Read more

When it comes to smartphones in the U.S., Apple remains on top, a new study from ComScore says.

During the three months ended in February, Apple held onto its title as the No. 1 smartphone vendor in the U.S. the market tracker said. The Cupertino, Calif., company controlled 39 percent of the market, up 3.9 percentage points from the three months ended in November. Samsung, in the No. 2 spot, held 21 percent of the market, up 1 percent point.

There's some bad news for the other Android rivals, however. HTC, Motorola, and LG all saw … Read more

Nokia has closed its flagship store in China, once touted as its largest worldwide.

Nokia told ZDNet that the Shanghai store, which opened in 2007, shut down at the end of March. CNET also confirmed the closure.

"For a while now, Nokia has been focusing on growing its presence in operator and third-party retail outlets, rather than through our own physical stores," according to a company representative. "We are, of course, also continuously beefing up our online presence."

Nokia is shuttering the store even as it presses further to regain lost ground in China, considered one … Read more

Last year, nearly as many people visited Apple's retail stores as went to Disneyland parks. That's something to marvel considering Disney has been in the amusement park business since 1955, and Apple's gadget stores are barely 12 years old. Apple's stores are also light on the cotton candy, fireworks, and bathrooms.

While there are plenty more differences between the two, one major similarity is that both companies have relied on these institutions as the ideal experience for interacting with their products.

In that same vein comes Samsung's latest foray into the retail business. Today, the company announced plans … Read more

DALLAS -- Samsung has opened a new front in its battle for smartphone supremacy: the storefront.

The Korean electronics giant plans to set up mini Samsung stores inside all U.S. Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile venues within the next couple of months -- just in time for the Galaxy S4 launch. The "Samsung Experience Shops," which start rolling out Monday, will be in 500 big-box Best Buy stores and all 410 Best Buy Mobile locations by early May. Best Buy's remaining 550 large-format Best Buy stores will feature the shops by early June.

A larger … Read more