Business, Financial & Legal - Page 148

All three next-gen consoles: Nintendo's Wii U, Microsoft's Xbox Next/720 (or whatever they end up calling it) and Sony's PlayStation 4 will all sport AMD GPUs, CPUs or APUs, or a mixture. This is thanks to Bob Feldstein, who up until just recently worked for AMD.

Feldstein has just changed his flag colors, from red, to green. He's joined the ranks of NVIDIA as their vice president of technology licensing at NVIDIA. His position at AMD was as their corporate vice president of business development, as well as leading the company's Botson Design Center, which focused on design engineering for various AMD chips.

Feldstein's work has been said to be instrumental in helping AMD grow into new markets, especially with their tech being in the three next-gen consoles. This means that Feldstein and his work has been a big reason as to how AMD won big contracts away from NVIDIA. NVIDIA spokesman Bob Sherbin said in a statement that Feldstein is "an experienced technology licensing person" and that NVIDIA hired him "to help us think through current and possible future technology licensing projects".

US District Judge Lucy Koh of the Northern District of California ordered Apple CEO Tim Cook, as well as the top-ranking Samsung executives Choi Gee-sung and Shin Jong-kyun on July 16, where they met in the US to discuss putting an end to the on-going patent lawsuits that are being fought across the world.

The US jury trial was scheduled for July 30, but The Korea Times reports that the two technology leaders met early. This is the second time in two months that they've met, with Samsung Electronics' COO Lee Jay-yong also reported to have scheduled talks with Cook while the Apple CEO was attending the Sun Valley Media Conference between July 10 to July 14.

Where it gets more interesting, is that an 'unnamed Samsung official' told the Korean news website that Samsung placed an added importance on the meeting as they were "very important business partners", in which they very much are. This is thanks to large orders for processors, LCDs and memory components that are using in Apple's iDevices. Samsung provided a whopping $7.8 billion in parts for Apple devices in 2012, meaning that Apple is Samsung's largest customer.

We all know the on-going patent war between Samsung and Apple is keeping the entire industry talking, but this latest news is just icing on the cake for Samsung. Apple has been ordered by a judge to publish a notice on its U.K.-based website, as well as British newspapers notifying people that the ruling stated that Samsung didn't copy iPad designs.

This notice is said to outline the July 9 London court decision that Samsung's Galaxy tablets didn't infringe on Apple's registered iPad designs, Just Colin Birss said yesterday. Birss added that this notice should be posted on Apple's U.K. homepage for six months, as well as having it published in several newspapers and magazines to correct any impression that Samsung copied Apple's iPad. Richard Hacon, a lawyer for Apple told the court that this order means Apple will have to publish "an advertisement" for Samsung, and that "no company likes to refer to a rival on its website".

If anyone sees an advertisement or notice in a British newspaper, please do drop us an e-mail!

Yahoo announced their second quarter financial performance yesterday, with the search giant enjoying revenues of $1.22 billion in the quarter, with diluted earnings of $0.27 per share. After all factors considered, revenue sat at $1.1 billion.

GAAP diluted earnings per share were $0.18 for the quarter, not moving from the previous year. Yahoo saw revenues of $461 million from search, with this number being 1-percent down year-over-year. GAAP display ad revenue was up 2-percent year-over-year. Yahoo made a splash across headlines earlier this week, announcing Google exec Marissa Mayer would be taking over as CEO. Yahoo listed Mayers move as its first 'business highlight'.

Even though the news of Mayer joining the company, it had little effect on Yahoo stock, which rose around 2-percent in after hours trading following the announcement. The following is Yahoo's overview of their quarter:

LG Display Co., the world's second-largest flat-panel maker has had six naughty employees charged over the theft of technology from Samsung Mobile Display Co. The six employees of LG leaked, or stole Samsung Mobile's OLED technology and business secrets.

This is all according to an indictment filed with Suwon District Court in South Korea. Two of the six accused include two former Samsung Mobile employees. Samsung Mobile have requested that LG Display formally apologize, as well as take the necessary steps to prevent reoccurrence. LG Display also merged with Samsung Display Co. this month.

In an e-mail sent out yesterday, Samsung Display Co. said that LG Display systematically took Samsung's OLED technology, and core staff to overcome its own shortcomings. LG said in a separate e-mail that the information obtained is widely known in the industry and isn't considered a trade secret. LG Display are also taking legal action against Samsung Display, a unit of Samsung Electronics Co. for defamation.

Nielsen, an analyst firm, have their latest numbers for the U.S. smartphone market in Q2 2012, with numbers showing that for Q2, smartphone adoption continues to increase with 2 in 3 new customers grabbing a smartphone.

But, the Windows Phone 7 numbers are the most interesting bit of this new data, where the mobile OS holds just 1.3-percent of the market. Nokia itself has only 1.2-percent of smartphone owners, and that's considering the amount of marketing that Nokia have pushed with their Lumia series of devices.

We have RIM's BlackBerry handsets having a nice 9-percent of the US smartphone market, with Motorola, HTC and Samsung enjoying 11-, 14- and 17-percent, respectively. Apple takes the crown by enjoying a nice 34-percent of the US smartphone market pie. If we look at operating systems, Android takes the crown, with a hefty 51.8-percent of the market, and 54.6-percent of new customers taking an Android-based handset.

Apple's sharp exit, but swift return to EPEAT has been a whirlwind of random behavior for the usually straight-shooter company. But, it seems that the pullout, and return to EPEAT could've been from a dispute over the status that had been given to the Retina MacBook Pro.

The two 15-inch models may have been threatened with a lower-than-top ranking, which would've been a first for Apple. The Retina-powered models now appear on the EPEAT website, this time with Gold rankings. Considering that critics have complained that the Retina models are less "repairable" than other notebooks, and that the fusion of the display to the casing itself, as well as the gluing of the battery make both components more difficult to recycle than models that don't sport those features.

The scoring is now identical for non-Retina and Retina models of the 15-inch MacBook Pro. Within this scoring, Apple loses points for "materials selection" as well as "energy conservation", without EPEAT explaining what these could mean, or how Apple could improve them. But, there is some light at the end of this Apple and EPEAT tunnel, in the way that the Retina MBP gets full points for "product longevity/life cycle extension", an acknowledgement that Apple's use of custom batteries, and the rMBP's new fused display is likely to decrease the chances of a defect, which could offset the new machines' lack of easy interior repair.

Apple is staring down the barrel of a record-breaking sales for their iPad, with sales of 20 million in the June quarter, according to one analyst. Charlie Wolf with Needham & Company issued a note to investors on Thursday, where he has increased his June iPad shipment forecast.

His previous forecast was 13.5 million units, and he's increased this to a significant 20 million. Wolf does admit that his initial estimate in April was "hastily formulated", which is why his latest prediction is so much bigger. Wolf says:

If Wolf is correct, or even close, with his 20 million iPads sold prediction, it would be quite the achievement for Apple. Considering the same quarter last year they sold just 9.25 million, it would be a new record for iPad sales of any quarter, even beating the 15 million iPads Apple sold in the holiday shopping season of 2011.

MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom seems to be positioning himself on the chess board that is his legal troubles right now, in a move that is right out of the left field. Dotcom has agreed to voluntarily travel to the United States where he'll face piracy charges, but has only agreed to do so if the Justice Department unfreezes his assets to help him cover living expenses and pay for legal representation.

Dotcom gave the proposal over Twitter, of all places. Dotcom's statement was delivered just a day after a New Zealand court postponed his extradition hearing due to the raid on his mansion being ruled illegal. The evidence collected was therefore obtained illegally, and the case has been postponed until 2013.

Kim Dotcom appears to be totally calm with his proposal to the DoJ, one would imagine he has a trick or two up his sleeve? What are your thoughts on this?

Microsoft talked of retail stores earlier this year, and those plans are now coming to fruition. The Redmond-based company behind Windows and Office plans to open up a Microsoft Store in Toronto, Canada later this year, as well as another store in Puerto Rico, according to Microsoft's Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner, where he spoke at the Worldwide Partner Conference.

Microsoft currently have 20 stores open across the United States, with 9 more coming this year. Microsoft is opening an Orlando-based store on August 18, and its Boston Prudential Center on August 23. The Canadian and Puerto Rican stores will be the first time Microsoft have stepped outside of the U.S. with a Microsoft-branded store.

The company also has plans to extend across the pond to the U.K. with a store in London in 2013. Microsoft hopes to have a tally of 44 retail stores open by June 2013. Comparing them to Apple, they are small fries for now, with Apple having 364 stores in 13 countries, with a whopping 246 of those in the U.S..

Just a few days ago, Apple pulled 39 of their products (old, and new) from the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) and it looks like this move is already starting to haunt them. San Francisco will shortly cease purchasing Macs for the city's 50 agencies, and this could just be the tip of the iceberg for Apple.

This is all according to Department of Environment officials who spoke to the Wall Street Journal, with the officials saying that within the next two weeks it will send out letters to agencies explaining that Macs "no longer qualify" for city money. This is all because Apple pulled 39 of their products from EPEAT, and while workers will still be able to buy Macs, they'll have to go through a process described as "long" and "onerous".

While this isn't the death bell ringing for Apple, it could be a sign of things to come. Only 1- to 2-percent of the city's computers are Macs, which amounts to around 500-700 systems. For Apple though, the loss of orders, and the press it receives, as well as the multitudes of other government agencies who pick up on the news could exclude Macs from purchasing departments. Legally, 95-percent of all U.S. federal government purchases must be EPEAT-certified.

Apple have asked the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) to remove 39 of their products from its group's list. EPEAT are one of the largest eco-friendly certifying agencies in the U.S., who are funded by the EPA and a coalition of manufacturers, including Apple.

Why are Apple making this move now, considering they've supported EPEAT up until now? Well, in order to gain EPEAT certification, "recyclers need to be able to easily disassemble products, with common tools, to separate toxic components, like batteries", reports John Schectman from the Wall Street Journal.

That is a pretty big restriction for the closed-garden company that is Apple and their products. Considering the new Retina MacBook Pro (rMBP) is virtually impossible to take apart, with the battery glued in, and is pretty much non-serviceable by users. The LCD on the rMBP is glued into the notebook, making it quite difficult to remove. But, Apple are removing all of its products from EPEAT's registry, even their older desktops that were once certified.

One of the things that sucks about digital media is the fact that until now, once it was downloaded, that was it. No trade-ins, no selling them to friends or someone over the Internet. But, the Court of Justice of the European Union thinks you should be able to resell those games.

The court thinks consumers should be able to resell any software they buy, no matter if it was physical media, or in a downloadable form. Where did this judgment pop up from? A case involving UsedSoft, who is a company that resells Oracle licenses acquired from previous owners. Oracle tried to stop UsedSoft from selling licenses, but it didn't fare well for Oracle. You can check out the full ruling here, as well as the official press release, a snippet can be seen below:

Last year, HTC launched a London-based lawsuit as part of an effort to invalidate European patents that Apple had referred to in a German court case. Apple countersued, and here we are today. A judge has ruled that HTC has not infringed on four technologies that Apple claim as their own.

The judge has said that Apple's slide-to-unlock feature was an "obvious" development in the light of a similar function on an earlier Swedish handset. Apple has used this patent in disputes against other companies using Google's mobile operating system, Android. The four patents discussed were:

The judge ruled that the first three patents were invalid in this case, where the fourth didn't apply to HTC's devices. HTC were lucky, though, as the judge stated that if it weren't for a device HTC released back in 2004, they would've infringed on Apple's patent. HTC's Neonode N1 had a padlock on its screen with the words "right sweep to unlock" when it sat in protected mode. If it weren't for this, this entire case may have had a completely different outcome.

According to analyst Horace Dediu of Asymco, who has used a chart to show the ratio of PCs to Macs sold each year since the early 1980s. The chart shows Apple's temporary victory, as well as teh meteoric rise Microsoft took in the mid-2000s. But, we're seeing Apple's resurgence over the last 8 years or so.

This chart shows that the ratio has fallen back to level not seen since the mid-90s. A very important note, is that this chart only shows PCs vs. Macs, actual full-fledged computers that Apple doesn't really sell that much of. Another fact is that if the chart included iPhones and iPads, which given the constantly blurred lines of "what is a PC", the chart would be much more interesting.

We know PCs thrash Mac sales, but this would be more BYO (build your own) versus off-the-shelf systems from Dell, HP, and co. We know that Apple are definitely on their way back, but I think we have a long time before they'll ever see the numbers that Windows-based systems do.

Californian courts have been busy this week, first we had the Samsung vs. Apple patent infringements, and now we have a Californian jury decreed that Toshiba is guilty of conspiracy involving other Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese LCD manufacturers to keep LCD panel prices artificially high between 1999 and 2006.

The jury found that Toshiba is liable for $87 million in damages, $17 million to businesses, and $70 million to consumers. Under antitrust law, defendants can be assessed damages of three times the jury's ruling, so in this case, $261 million. Toshiba was the only defendant in the suit, and have claimed they've done nothing wrong.

Spokesman Julius Christensen said in an e-mail statement: "Toshiba plans to pursue all available legal avenues to correct that finding." He adds that Toshiba has "consistently maintained that there was no illegal activity on its part in the LCD business in the United States."

Once again proving that users of the Internet are capable of influencing politicians, the European Parliament has done their job by listening to the people and voting against ACTA. ACTA, for those who don't remember, was a treaty that would have been extremely dangerous for users of the Internet. It was deceptive and pushed by special interest groups.

The vote ended up having 478 against, 39 in favor and 165 abstentions. Thanks to SOPA showing the world that Internet users wouldn't allow special interest groups to pressure the government into making laws, the unknown ACTA was brought to the forefront of the Internet users' attention and they rallied again, this time against ACTA.

It truly was the activists that made this happen. Members of the European Parliament have been thanking and praising activists across the EU for bring their attention to just how bad of a treaty this was. However, technically the treaty could still come into force between the United States and several other countries.

Google have just filed a very interesting new patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) where it would see the company using the filed patent to use video frames to generate clusters of face representations that are attached to a given person.

The system would then record what a person looks like from various angles, and the company could then attach a name and face whenever that person is shown in a clip, even with bad lighting conditions or angles. This would give YouTube viewers the same abilities as Flickr, where they could tag people in videos, but could also spot people in augmented reality apps and get their details.

Considering Google have Project Glass, this seems like such a natural evolution of the project. Imagine being able to wear the Glasses, and see someone in front of you - the system could eventually be smart enough to pull details of that person from the cloud. You'd never forget their birthday, or important conversation starters - like stats on the person, married, kids, new job, etc. Google are really going to make this work with Glass in my opinion.

With the way the industry is going, a totally-digital approach just doesn't seem as crazy as it did 5, or 10 years ago. EA have been one of the first companies to come out and say it's "inevitable" that they will soon become a 100-percent digital company.

EA already make bundles of cash from the sale of digital content, with the company expecting to make nearly $2 billion from digital content this financial year. EA are already imagining a future where all of their money is made from digital content, and that future is sooner, rather than later. EA Labels boss, Frank Dibeau has told GamesIndustry International:

EA also see some benefits to going digital-only, Gibeau continues:

Google's Nexus smartphone may have been banned from selling in the U.S., but don't think that Google are going to sit around just googling a solution to this problem. Samsung and Google look to have a software patch that they believe avoids infringing on Apple's patent that led them to the injunction in the first place. This update is said to be pushed out 'immediately', according to Google.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh ruled late last week that the GALAXY Nexus had infringed on four Apple patents, but the injunction was issued based specifically on a patent related to universal search. Google and Samsung will most likely challenge the validity of the patent, where they will seek a re-examination by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

If you have a GALAXY Nexus and see the patch - do let us know by commenting on this story, e-mailing us, or posting on our Facebook wall.