apple

NEW YORK -- Amazon acted like a bully and threatened the publishers when discussing a new e-book sales structure, according to two publishing CEOs who testified during the Apple e-book price-fixing trial over the last two days.

David Shanks, CEO of Penguin Group USA, and Carolyn Reidy, CEO of Simon & Schuster, said Amazon's e-book pricing, in which the publishers had little power, was the main factor that drove them to pursue deals with Apple that allowed them to set their own prices. But when the publishers attempt to change their agreements with Amazon to fall more in line … Read more

NEW YORK -- Two publishers testified this week that their e-book deals with Apple played a key role in their decisions to change digital book terms with Amazon and other retailers, giving weight to the government's antitrust case against Apple.

David Shanks, CEO of Penguin Group USA, and Carolyn Reidy, CEO of Simon & Schuster, said the price-matching clause in their contracts with Apple would have hurt them financially had they not also moved all other e-book retailers to a model where publishers set prices. The publishers had previously sold books at a heavily discounted rate on a wholesale … Read more

With violent street thefts of smartphones and other mobile gear continuing to be a problem, top law enforcement officials from New York and San Francisco will meet with Apple, Google, and other manufacturers next week to discuss possible tech solutions, such as a "kill switch" that would render stolen devices worthless.

"With 1.6 million Americans falling victim to smartphone theft in 2012, this has become a national epidemic," San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon said in a press release Wednesday. "Unlike other types of crimes, smartphone theft can be eradicated with a simple technological … Read more

Apple and the George Lucas-founded audio-and-visual tech firm THX are attempting to settle a patent spat between the two companies, recently filed court documents revealed.

A legal filing late Tuesday noted that the two companies were "currently attempting to resolve this matter outside of this ligitation," Bloomberg reports.

THX filed its suit against Apple in March, accusing Apple of infringing on a patent covering sound direction from small speakers. In its complaint, THX said Apple's iPhone 4, along with iPads and iMac computers, were using that technology without a license, and were causing the company "monetary … Read more

Apple has filed for a trademark on the "iWatch" brand in Russia, a new report out of that country claims.

Russian newspaper Izvestia reported on Wednesday that Apple filed for the trademark with the country's patent and trademark office, Rospatent. Not surprisingly, the news has sparked more speculation on when Apple's long-rumored iWatch might finally launch.

For its part, Apple has not confirmed that it'll launch a wearable watch. However, a slew of reports over the last several months have suggested that the company is indeed working on such a device, and it will be … Read more

A 16-year-old programmer named Ash Bhat is attending Apple's WWDC next week for free. How? He created an iOS app that earned him one of 150 scholarships.

Tickets to Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference sold out within two minutes after going on sale in April. But the company held out hope for student developers, promising scholarships for 150 of those able to create an app that would knock Apple's socks off.

The scholarship awarded one free ticket to join the conference, which runs from June 10 to June 14 in San Francisco.

Those qualified to enter the competition … Read more

I remember the very first Bang & Olufsen product I ever saw, a Beogram 4000 turntable. It was lightyears ahead of the competition's look and feel in the early 1970s. The design hasn't dated one bit -- no wonder it's on permanent display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

It's been ages since I checked out a B&O, so I decided to start small with their brand new BeoPlay H3 in-ear headphone ($249). It's a handsome enough design, but nowhere as striking as B&O's ultrasleek speaker … Read more

Samsung's share of the U.S. smartphone market topped Apple's last month for the first time since the iPhone 5 launched, analysts at investment bank Canaccord Genuity say, thanks to greater supply of Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphones and sales stoked by lower pricing for Galaxy S III and Note 2.

With prices on Apple's iPhone 4/4S reined in as well, overall smartphone sales improved in May compared to the prior month, according to the firm's monthly wireless store surveys.

Samsung takes the mantle a little later than Canaccord had estimated, as the S4 rolled out … Read more

Research firm ComScore has released its latest U.S. smartphone industry report, estimating that Apple remains top of the pile in the smartphone industry with a market share of 39.2 percent. 

Based on data gathered through the company's MobiLens service -- which harvests user information based on subscribers 13 years and older -- ComScore says that in the three month period ended April 2013, Apple and South Korean rival Samsung were the only manufacturers that enjoyed a positive increase in market share values. 

Tech giant Apple managed to snag 39.2 percent of U.S. smartphone … Read more