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A new lawsuit filed yesterday in Texas claims that a majority of Apple's products infringe on four patents held by EON Corporation IP Holdings.

The suit, filed by EON in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Tyler Division, targets both Apple's software services like iTunes and the App Store, as well as devices that connect to those services. That list includes the Apple TV, the iPod Touch, all iPhones since the iPhone 3G, and all generations of the iPad.

In its complaint, the Texas-based company says these devices infringe on one key patent … Read more

Foxconn International Holdings, another manufacturing division at Hon Hai that hasn't reached the same success as Foxconn Technology Group, is getting a new chairman.

The company's board of directors announced (PDF) today that Samuel Chin, its current executive director and chairman, will retire on January 1 to spend more time with his family. Tong Wen-hsin, another company director, will replace Chin as chairman. However, Chin will stay on an adviser to the chairman for 12 months.

"The company would like to take this opportunity to express its gratitude to Mr. Chin for his valuable contribution to the … Read more

This is one of the quick and easy tips that makes iOS so remarkable. Yes, it's simple, but that small attention to detail makes all the difference in terms of user experiences.

Due to the iPhone's small screen real estate, compromises in how some information is displayed had to be made. A specific amount of characters are viewable when scrolling through the track listings on albums (in both landscape and portrait mode). When song titles are longer than the space available, an ellipses appears, indicating there is more to the title.

In a world where nearly every song … Read more

Apple's next iPhone may tap into new touch panel technology, allowing for a lighter device, according to an Asia-based report.

An improvement in production "yield rates" of "in-cell touch panels" has induced Apple to begin working with two Japanese companies, DigiTimes said, citing sources.

Those panels are being made by Japan-based Sharp and a division of Toshiba.

In-cell multitouch technology integrates touch into the thin-film transistor (TFT) LCD manufacturing process, obviating the need for additional sensors and glass. This reduces the weight of the device, among other benefits.

Upcoming display conferences in Taiwan will highlight … Read more

In the wake of a solid earnings report, ARM's CEO Warren East said Microsoft may have some potential advantages over Android in the tablet market.

ARM processors power the vast majority of tablets and smartphones sold globally.  And for the first time with Windows 8, a mainstream Windows operating system will run on both ARM and Intel chips.

Responding to an analyst's question about why consumers would buy Windows 8 tablets when Android tablet sales have been "disappointing," East cited Microsoft's brand recognition among consumers.

Microsoft's brand advantage: "Consumers are familiar with … Read more

Apple has quietly killed off Texas Hold'em, the first and only iOS game the company ever offered.

As spotted by MacRumors this morning, the game is no longer available on the App Store, giving users an error message if they try to click through to its product page.

An Apple spokesman confirmed that the company is no longer selling the app, but declined to elaborate.

The $4.99 card game, which continued the card-playing franchise from the clickwheel iPod era, went on sale just weeks after the launch of the original App Store. Apple pitched it as an example … Read more

Coda Holdings has begun production of its all-electric sedan, which will sell for $39,900 before subsidies and can go up to 150 miles on a charge, the company said today.

The Coda sedan will be available in California as a 2012 year model. Buyers can receive a $7,500 federal tax credit and a California rebate for $2,500. Together, the subsides bring the price down to $29,900.

The car itself looks like a typical five-seat sedan, but Coda is trying to distinguish itself from other electric vehicles with its battery system. The company had originally planned to … Read more

Apple's iOS 5 added a handful of multi-finger gestures for iPad users, and a new patent filing suggests more could be on the way to it and other iOS devices as part of a future software update.

A newly published patent application from Apple, pulled up by PatentlyApple today, details just such an addition. The application cited the difficulties in seeing what's on screen with small-screened devices when moving through content using swiping finger gestures. Called "systems and methods for displaying visual information on a device," it proposes a solution in the form of two possible … Read more

Researchers say they have uncovered vulnerabilities in a "popular" component of Android that is used by antivirus and other apps that could be exploited to do things like disable the apps.

A malicious app could be created to turn off the antivirus so an attacker could infect the phone with malware and in some cases the same weakness could be used to compromise the antivirus app itself, said Riley Hassell, founder of Privateer Labs, in a recent briefing.

Privateer co-founder Shane Macaulay uncovered the vulnerabilities but had not found any attacks exploiting them in the wild. Hassell declined … Read more