Miscellaneous

Samsung targets iPhone 4S in France, Italy

Samsung is already moving to block the sale of the new iPhone 4S in Europe barely a day after Apple announced its new flagship phone.

In a blog post today, Samsung said that it is filing requests for preliminary injunctions both in Paris and in Milan, Italy, asking the courts to ban the sale of the new iPhone.

In filing the motions, Samsung plans to accuse Apple of two patent infringements related to wireless technology, specifically the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standard used on 3G phones. The mobile handset maker said it believes that Apple's violation of … Read more

Mango available for half of all Windows Phone users

Half of all Windows Phone users can now take a bite of Mango.

In a blog post published yesterday, Eric Hautala, general manager of customer experience engineering for Microsoft's Windows Phone, said the update to Windows Phone 7.5, aka Mango, has been proceeding smoothly, prompting the company to open the tap so that 50 percent of all users can now grab it over the air.

Microsoft launched the update a week ago across an array of countries and carriers, targeting just about every Windows Phone model on the market. Users apparently have been rushing to move to Mango … Read more

iPhone 5: No clear winner among mobile carriers

The iPhone 5 will benefit three of the top four U.S. mobile carriers, but no clear winner is yet seen among them, according to a report by ComScore.

AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and reportedly Sprint each stand to grab a healthy slice of the market demand for the new iPhone. But each carrier brings something different to the table, making it difficult to predict which one might benefit the most, says ComScore.

Thunderbolt, other HTC phones have big security hole, report claims

HTC Android smartphones including the Evo 3D, the Evo 4G, and the Thunderbolt contain a flaw that gives Internet-connected apps installed on the devices access to personal information such as text message data, location info, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers, according to a trio of security researchers.

Researcher Artem Russakovskii says that he, Justin Case, and Trevor Eckhart have discovered a vulnerability involving logging tools that HTC recently installed on the devices during a software update.

Such tools, Russakovskii writes, might normally be used for remote analysis of problems on a device, among other things. But the problem here is … Read more

SNL's Seth Meyers pours cold water on Kindle Fire

I know that many people are feeling very passionate about Amazon's new Kindle Fire.

It provides a wonderful alternative to the iPad, the Apple store, and the need to show off your latest gadget to your lover over a candlelit dinner.

So I am grateful to AllThingsD for having sat up late last night to watch "Saturday Night Live." There, the collected wits decided to expose one slight chink in the Fire's fanning flames: its potential lack of cachet.

So here we have Seth Meyers bringing us the latest news.

At the 45-second mark of the … Read more

Next week, next iPhone? (Apple Talk Weekly)

Next week the rumors, the speculation, and the curiosity come to an end. Or at least that's the hope.

Apple on Tuesday is holding an event at its campus with the tag line "Let's talk iPhone." It's been more than a year since the last iPhone came out, and the event is expected to bring a full unveiling of its successor.

Along with the iPhone, next week's event should give us full details, if not the formal release, of iOS 5 as well as iCloud, the latter being the company's backup and synchronization … Read more

Google opens first Apple-style store

They will fight them on the beaches. They will fight them online. They will fight them over the phone. They will never surrender.

Now they are going to fight them in the High Street and the Shopping Mall. In offering a little Churchillian allusion there, I'm hoping you'll know that the fighting has already begun in Central London.

Yes, Google has opened its first Apple Store. Well, not exactly an Apple Store, more of a Chromezone.

In taking this generation's version of "Beauty and the Beast" to the high street--or more accurately, London's Tottenham … Read more

Google crowned world's most attractive employer

Google may have to prepare itself for a flood of even more resumes.

The search giant has been dubbed the most attractive employer by more than 160,000 people looking for the right place to work, according to a study released yesterday by employer branding company Universum.

Analyzing the choices from job seekers across the world's 12 largest economies, the study "The World's Most Attractive Employers 2011" (PDF) found Google tops among professionals with a business degree as well as those with an engineering background. This marks the third consecutive year that the search giant has … Read more

Amazon fires on Apple, Netflix (week in review)

Tech enthusiasts were expecting something big from Amazon this week, and they weren't disappointed.

Many had hoped that the Internet retailer would take the wraps off a much-anticipated tablet PC to challenge the iPad (which it did), but the company also unveiled three new e-ink e-readers. The new Kindle Touch with Wi-Fi will sell for $99; its 3G version will sell for $149. A cheaper and smaller non-touch Kindle will sell for $79. Amazon Kindle Touch 3G vs. Kindle Touch vs. Kindle (2011)

But the big news of the day was the Android-based Kindle Fire tablet--Amazon's … Read more

Palm on Amazon's own wish list, report says

Amazon may have Palm on its shopping list.

The retail giant is said to be in "serious negotiations" to acquire what's left of Palm from current parent Hewlett-Packard, according to VentureBeat.

Citing a "well-placed source," VentureBeat says that HP is eager to get rid of Palm, and among the current suitors, Amazon is the closest to cutting a deal. The tech news site also notes a connection between the companies as former Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein, who currently has a role at HP working with WebOS, joined Amazon's board of directors last year.

VentureBeat also pointed to a July interview with Rubinstein at This is My Next in which he discussed Amazon as a potential partner.

"I would say Amazon would certainly make a great partner, because they have a lot of characteristics that would help them expand the WebOS ecosystem," Rubinstein said. "As to whether there's been discussions or not...that's obviously not something I'm going to comment about."

HP's WebOS chief Stephen DeWitt also played up his praise of the retail giant in the interview.… Read more