Samsung v Apple, The Game Continues

The game of ping-pong continues. Did you miss the Samsung case against Apple Samsung miss? Your daily dose for today is the scheduling of cases and a possible conflict of interest in Apple's legal team.

Samsung and Apple filed a few days ago their proposals for the timing of the events. While Apple's interest to expedite the process, Samsung has instead play for time: the two calendars differ by more than a month.

The judge in charge of the case has decided not to accede to the request of Apple, "the court agrees with Samsung to say that Apple has not shown evidence of harm sufficient to justify a procedure accelerated.” Although it has simplified its prosecution, Apple will not benefit from a tighter timetable.

Samsung does not stop in so good way: the Korean company has requested the withdrawal of all or part of the legal team to defend Apple on this issue because of potential conflict of interest. At least five lawyers from the firm's Apple & Bridges Mavrakakis, were indeed in the past Samsung lawyers in the firm Kirkland & Ellis.

The lawyers involved refute any conflict of interest: the records they would have had to deal on behalf of Samsung were not related to the proceedings. The Korean firm is not of that opinion, and fears that the increased involvement of lawyers cannot get with it to Apple: Samsung has asked the court to verify that the other two firms representing the Cupertino, Morrison & Foerester and Wilmer Hale, have not received "confidential information" on the part of Samsung lawyers Mavrakakis & Bridges.

Samsung Chromebook Series 5 Part.V

All Chrome OS applications, you will understand, are actually web applications, mix of HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript and whatnot, which can be a bit of Flash. The Chrome Web Store catalog of applications for Chrome and Chrome OS, leaves a bit of his hunger: most "applications" listed are actually nothing but bookmarks.

As in any database application, there's good and bad. Angry Birds, but knocked free of advertising, is playable, but choppy - it's actually the case with most "games", and in general for all applications requiring a bit of graphics power (watch a video on YouTube 720p is an obstacle course). Applications such as the New York Times, Tweetdeck, or after Aviary are in contrast to successes. Leave the area covered by your WiFi network and you will have surprises: Angry Birds should work, unlike most applications. Even after Google's applications cannot be used on Chrome OS without connection! It's a real weak point: we are still far from having a persistent connection. Chrome started on OS, the writing of this test has finally been completed and iPad Mac: Cannot start any word processing application without connection.

Why the devil to become entangled in this mess? Good question. It is hard to imagine a hacker Chromebook afford to activate its developer mode and have fun with the terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T, very few commands available): it goes fast, very fast in circles. The public enthusiasm traditional netbook certainly good finish, excellent autonomy, or ease of use, but will block facing the limitation of off-line mode. The eternal optimists will point the finger at the potential of this platform, but the naysayers will remind them to reason and with dismay, read the terms of using a Google account and the permissions left in some applications.

In many ways, Chrome OS is a good system for Google.... She controls all layers (unlike Android, privatized by the different partners) and their application is in the center: what the sustainability of the Google advertising model. For now, however, the account is not there: what makes Google the user in exchange for his constant profiling is not enough that we can look if only one eye this platform - not to mention the "professional", Chrome OS is still too immature for the general public. We assume, however, that Chrome OS is a bet on the future, a time when the Facebook generation will be in charge, and where Web applications are more robust.

Samsung Chromebook Series 5 Part.IV

One could of course long dissertation of the benefits (transparency for the user, client continuously, etc.) and disadvantages (questions about privacy, persistent connection, etc.). This approach, but must first decide on Chrome OS room. The OS is reduced to its simplest expression, do not expect to go very far with your devices, you can connect a (small) screen without difficulty, a USB stick, SD card and some cameras, camcorders and phones will be recognized as storage volume, and ... that's about all.

Print? It will go through Google Print Cloud ... or not. Chrome OS is indeed unable to bind himself to a printer Cloud Print: The options available in Chrome are not in Chrome OS. You will have to either have one of the few Cloud Print compatible printers (the HP ePrint to simple) or have a Windows computer and connect your printer to Cloud Print, and not fail to draw a page.
Obviously do not hope to use a scanner, a key 3G, a headphone / mic USB, or other device evolved drivers just are not there. Absolutely everything must go through the Web, which is not simple.

Say you have a USB stick with a few documents, few pictures and some music videos. It will be recognized by OS Chrome and we can access its contents with the file browser (Ctrl + M). Edit a Word document? We must send it to Google Docs, and then change it there. If you want to save it to your key, it will download it, a round trip, in fact. Edit an image? Same thing: you must send it to Picasa, do the changes up there, and bring down the image. Watch a video or play a song? Yes, provided they are in standard formats supported by Chrome: MP3, H.264 and M4V ... that's about all. Do not expect to read a file MP4 QuickTime or DivX. Offline so there is no salvation: no Internet, Chrome OS is an empty shell. Let us be very clear: if you have a WiFi or 3G, the proposal made by the Google OS is interesting. The following online applications of Mountain View company has nothing to envy to native applications, Gmail, Docs, Maps, and the others are real pearls, each in their kind.

Samsung Chromebook Series 5 Part.III

This excellent battery life allows forgetting the charger at home, and this is fortunate: it is not the most compact in its class. You end up using this as using a Chromebook iPad: he can spend several days away from a wall outlet and use a few hours a day, always ready with its wake very fast. We return again to the lightness of Chrome OS and it raises the question what does this processor double heart, would he not had to sacrifice a little raw power (for even longer battery life), and example the graphics muscle (useful for acceleration and video decompression)?

The lightness comes from its Chrome OS architecture: it is based on a Linux (Debian) stripped of all its dross. The sequence of starting a traditional OS is here reduced to its simplest terms: in 8 seconds, the kernel is loaded, the material started (no need for profiling, while side firmware is loaded), and the user can then identify. He is faced with a browser, Chrome.

The first start Chrome OS takes a few minutes and cannot be done without internet connection. On leaving the board, it is likely that your Chromebook will need an update: Some system components are user side, but more importantly, the browser and applications are in the cloud.

The key is your Google account: it allows you to connect, and also serves as a keychain. Passwords, history, bookmarks, applications, and even state of the machine, everything is linked to your Google account, so you can find your session by logging on to a new machine or the machine ... at another. The Chromebook indeed have a guest mode (off) allowing a friend or colleague to connect to the session without disturbing the administrator - we find here the logic of the old couple client / mainframe. We like ... or not.

Samsung Chromebook Series 5 Part.II

If the finish is good and the input devices pleasant to use, the screen, it is a real nuisance. Have 12 "with a resolution of 1280x800 on a computer of 29.4 x 21.95 x 1.99 cm and 1.48 kg is significant, it had already made the observation for the MacBook Air 11". The choice of a matte panel and a backlight LEDs promise a good experience. Alas, it is not: the contrast is absent, the brightness too high, the colors washed out completely. Nothing, not even the price as other netbooks have much better screens, justifies this failure in order.

Finally, behind Samsung traps most of the ports. On the left side, there is the outlet, a vent fan (hopefully discreet), a trap door concealing a video port rare, mini-VGA (VGA adapter is included) and a USB port, and finally a jack input audio in / out. Right side, there is a second USB port and a trap door concealing a SIM slot and a switch to activate the OS developer Chrome. Before finally, there is an SD slot (HD / XC). Outside so, despite missing this screen, this Samsung Series 5 is more pleasant: it's a nice netbook, well designed without protrusions and vents diverse as sometimes found in this segment. Inside, the Samsung Series 5 is a netbook everything from classic to 2011, the Intel Atom "Pine Trail" double-heart N570 clocked at 1.66 GHz with 2GB of DDR3 RAM through its 16 GB SSD storage format MSAT.


The real star of this Chromebook however his 6-cell battery: it is simply unstoppable. The explanation is simple: Chrome OS is a very lightweight OS, which can be summed up in a big web browser, it is very applicant resources. Is achieved easily and 8-9 hours of battery life (Samsung announces 8:30), 8:00, passing a little time on YouTube, 9 hours, passing a little more time reading and a little less to watch videos.

Samsung Chromebook Series 5 Part.I

With Chrome OS, Google intends to revolutionize personal computing: the management of files over, no more updates, viruses and security vulnerabilities, welcome to instant start, synchronization continues, but also in all Google and while line. Chrome OS is actually a fully offset in the cloud - Google's servers - not turning as Web applications, because all PCs are primarily used for surfing. With the Samsung Series 5, the first computer OS Chrome, Google manage to impress, or is it ahead of its time?

For € 400, the Samsung Series 5 is a good "big" netbook with a 12 "display, it is on the border with conventional laptops and although it is constructed of plastic, it is quite well done. The party higher fine enough is covered with a shiny white plastic messy and attracts fingerprints, while the rest of the machine is dressed in a black plastic mat the most beautiful effect recalling the example of black MacBook of yesteryear. Other features of this netbook are reminiscent of the Apple notebooks, starting with the keyboard / trackpad. The keyboard is one of these keyboards "chicklet" keys to separate: it is a little more comfortable than the MacBook Air 11 "and has a fast race and a shot dry.

Google has customized some keys to adjust the keyboard to the needs of Chrome OS: the caps lock is replaced by a search key and function key deserve their name (last / next, refresh, switch to full screen, switch windows, brightness and volume). Finally, there is a dedicated key for switching on and off again like the MacBook Air.

Such as the MacBook, the trackpad's 5 Series is quite comfortable: it is a fully clickable trackpad, no buttons, which recognizes a limited number of touch gestures (tap, double tap, tap with two finger scrolling, but nothing more). However, it appears to be less accurate than other models, those of the Mac or HP Envy example. You can of course connect a mouse, but the portability will take a hit, especially since there is no Bluetooth.

Apple Vs. Samsung and S3

Apple has filed with the Court for the Northern District of California request for a preliminary injunction Samsung. If accepted, it would lead to withdrawing from the U.S. market four models: Infuse 4G, 4G Galaxy S, and Droid Charge GalaxyTab 10.1. They violate four patents according to Apple, three of which are related to the design especially with the frame surrounding the screen, the layout of the interactions under the screen, the positioning and shape of the earpiece, etc...

The fourth focuses on the patent system works, i.e. how you scroll, rotate or translate a document with a touch screen. In its application, Apple makes next to descriptions of its patents and their translation to the same in the operation of Smartphone from Samsung.

On his blog, Florian Mueller, an expert in intellectual property, following each episode of this series, explains that this attack is double edged. If successful, Samsung may have to remove its products at relatively short notice, by the re-entry in the best case (for Apple). But if Apple's request is not satisfied with, this will weaken his case. Mueller said that a court will not issue an injunction before a strong case and convincing. Apple's request does in fact only a few pieces of litigation brought against it to Samsung; the goal is probably easier to obtain a quick decision.

Mueller also lists pending and they have accelerated this week alone. Samsung complaint Tuesday with the International Trade commission with the aim to ban the entry of the U.S. iPhone, iPad, iPod and supposedly violating the patents. Wednesday the same complaint was filed with the court of the state of Delaware. Wednesday, Samsung opened a front in England, which was preceded by Italy. Count Florian Mueller: "Samsung has now filed a complaint against Apple with eight courses in six countries on three continents”. Samsung has also increased from 15 to 17 the number of patents used in its complaints in the United States.

On another front, the International Trade commission has determined that Apple had infringed two patents of graphics chip maker S3. For two, it has not been established that there was a violation. S3 had taken action with the ITC in June 2010, arguing that technology to encode, decode, compress, store and decompress graphics had been raped and used in all the materials Apple iPod touch, iPhone, iPad, Mac and also through the SDK to develop applications. This decision, says CNET, is preliminary; it will be confirmed or refuted in November by a committee. S3 for his part reiterated that his method of texture compression was licensed by Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.

Samsung would like to get webOS

On several occasions, HP announced that it was inclined to offer licenses to webOS phone manufacturers and other material business or the public. So recently, his boss, Leo Apotheker, had a call from the foot HTC, it seems that American society is also in talks with Samsung. In any case, what has been said three people at Bloomberg. The Korean company would seem to suggest he phones equipped webOS. If such an agreement materializes, the Korean company would to its catalog of devices on four different platforms: Windows Phone, Android, Bada and webOS.

For Samsung, this would be a way to become less dependent on Google. Asian society is not consistent with the strategy of the Internet giant that is to do everything possible so that manufacturers cannot customize the operating system. This would also be a way to revive the market shelves where it has been very successful so far very limited. From this point of view, the discourse of HP is diametrically opposed to that of Google. The computer manufacturer wants to offer its OS if and only if the licensees are providing to the building webOS and do not just sell "stupid" stamped material webOS.

If HP talking to many players of this possibility, it does not seem particularly eager to implement it is to market both devices with an operating system, and offer it to other companies is a something extremely complicated. To popularize the Macintosh, Apple has adopted this strategy in the 90s with the success that we know ...

FoneSync brings Mac OS X and Android together

The German publisher nova media offers new Mac OS software to synchronize a mobile device Android with his Mac. As doubleTwist before him FoneSync looks like the iTunes Android Smartphone and tablets, at least in terms of synchronization. His presentation is so very close to the Apple software and FoneSync can also sync media (music, videos and photos), but also its data as the address book or calendar.

Mimicry of iTunes goes a long way, there are exactly the same form used for space and can synchronize virtually the same elements, and play lists for music events in iPhoto.

Counterpart of this tight integration, FoneSync does not work with all Smartphone Android, far from it. Currently, the application is only compatible with two Nexus Google phones from Samsung, Sony and Motorola. HTC expected to follow those, but if you are not listed, you cannot use the software. The publisher does not specify whether the tablets Honeycomb are compatible with its software.

Each version costs € 9.99 and if FoneSync is a Mac application, it actually buys the corresponding Android application before installing the utility on Mac by connecting the USB terminal. The operation is complex and involves paying the software again if you change brand of phone. DoubleTwist in turn is free and works with many Android devices...

Samsung versus Apple

In the case between Apple Samsung backdrop of patent infringement, design and trademarks and unfair competition, Apple has applied for and obtained permission to dissect the prototype from Samsung. The Korean company has responded by asking to see the prototypes of the upcoming iPhone and iPad.

There is a fundamental difference between these two queries: Apple wants to see prototypes of products discovered and widely known even then that Samsung wants to see prototypes of products that nobody knows anything. We notice the difference in official documents: while Apple has asked for such and such a model using names, Samsung is sticking to a very cautious "iPhone 5 or 4GS, or whatever his name. Several scholars have thus noted that if the application Apple was fairly common, the Samsung was much less and had little chance of success. It poses the question of permeability between the legal department and other branches of the conglomerate, and potential risks of industrial espionage: whereas Samsung products, although not marketed, were largely revealed by the press or by Samsung itself, those Apple has never been seen.

Justice has not yet ruled on the request of Samsung, but Apple has already responded, calling it "attempt to harass" the worst faith. The Korean firm asked Apple to provide versions of "final and trade" of the next iPhone and iPad before next June 13, which the Cupertino company has denied. Apple now refers to the division of Samsung Mobile as the "copier", claiming that the products of the Galaxy "copying technology, user interface and innovative spirit" of the iPhone and iPad. The study of the prototype from Samsung is expected to confirm that fact.

Richard J. Lutton, chief adviser for intellectual property issues at Apple, justifies the denial of his company to provide prototypes to Samsung: "Apple is recognized as one of the most secretive companies in the world". No doubt his view, the motion from Samsung is an attempt to destabilize. The procedure was reactivated on Friday; we should quickly come to the conclusions of this component.

Samsung: "No, we are not copying Apple"

"We did not copy Apple's designs. We have used many similar designs in recent years. And we think that Apple's claims should not be a legal problem. “This is the line of defense JK Shin, President of Samsung Mobile.


However, this did not stop him from suggesting that the legal battle being waged between the two groups could be extended to new fronts. Remember that last weekend, the Korean company has requested access to prototypes of the iPhone and iPad3 to ipad5 prepare his defense

In addition, as part of the interview given to the Wall Street Journal, Samsung has recognized that he would put the package on Android, especially on the shelves. This does not mean an abandonment of Bada. Finally, to gain market share in the highly competitive market shelves, the Korean company said it would not hesitate to be very aggressive on the pricing plan.

The Battle

These ties benefit to Apple, but did not they play tricks? On the consumer market, Samsung has always been a serious competitor. With 280 million mobile phones sold in 2010, it is the second largest manufacturer of mobile phones. In France, the company is also the first place.

Of these 280 million, we find the Samsung S Galaxy, which alone accounts for 1 / 28 sales of Samsung mobile phones with 10 million units sold in 2010. This is the big bestseller of 2010, with its American cousin the iPhone 4. And there's no need to go ask officials to ask Samsung the reason for success, two simple images are able to explain many things.

In general, smart phones are very similar, but in this case, the resemblance is more striking than usual: middle button, outline rounded square icons arranged in 4x4 grid on a black background with a dock clearer containing four main icons. Everything is there, many people might believe in an iPhone. Samsung and plays on this illusion, by copying the same positions of the iPhone commercials.

Yet, why consumers purchase a Samsung S Galaxy more than an iPhone, while the latter enjoys a fashion show and especially good reliability? Simply because his cousin Korean is much cheaper, whether or not grant operator.

And this does not stop at S Galaxy; Samsung reuses the same business strategy with its Galaxy Tab, a touch pad as the iPad, shipping Android and a 7-inch screen. Presented thus far it seems to stand out from the iPad with its 10-inch screen, but it is clear that design and interface are similar.

White-backed, rounded edges, square icons, wallpaper with an island, the similarities are disturbing ... For the Galaxy Tab, things are more complex. Sold € 599, the tablet Samsung no longer enjoys the cost advantage. The iPad 3G is sold as expensive, but has a bigger screen. She has a better positioning in the operators with a more generous subsidy. But the offers subsidies for these products are struggling to attract consumers. Result, sales of the Samsung Tablet are far below the iPad.

We could still continue the comparison between product lines and Samsung American counterparts, with for example the Samsung Galaxy player and iPod touch, or the brand new ultraportable Samsung technical clone of the MacBook Air.

In the end, which differs from Apple Samsung commercially, it is positioning. Samsung is therefore aimed at "mass market" while Apple is the high end. And it is this "mass market" that is impervious to Apple and allows Android so quickly burst onto the smartphone segment.

The reality is more complex

In fact, the design of the A4 has been provided by Samsung and Intrinsity. The latter was subsequently bought by Apple. This processor is not much different from that found in the Samsung S Galaxy, Galaxy Tab and recently the Google.

But why work with Samsung more than another? At the time of designing the A4, the Hummingbird was one of the most effective flea market, more powerful example than the 1 GHz Qualcomm's Snapdragon found in the HTC Desire among others. In addition, the Korean company is a longtime partner of Apple: it's one of its main suppliers of flash memory. The two companies had even considered in 2005 to build a plant dedicated to the production of memory before being overtaken by the antitrust authorities in Korea.

More broadly, Samsung has the advantage of having a production capacity formidable. Less media attention than the Cupertino company, the Korean company is yet the number one player in the high-tech industry. In 2010, its turnover amounted to 138.7 billion dollars is more than the combined turnover of Apple and Microsoft. The Korean company has indeed a vast field of action: telephones, televisions, printers, tablets, but also an activity in semiconductors and as a manufacturer of LCD panels.

These successful relationships should be Apple's first customer of Samsung in 2011. According to some estimates, Apple should spend its $ 7.8 billion. Last January, the Cupertino evoked a strategic $ 3.9 billion over two years. To say that Apple is positioning itself to get favors from Samsung on its future advances in processors (Hummingbird), Platform (Orion) or to screen AMOLED-Retina-Display ", it does There is only one step.

Apple and Samsung: the enemy brothers

Apple and Samsung are currently two of the largest companies in the field of consumer electronics. They have much in common, often work together, depend on each other on certain points, but are also competing in highly strategic. So, Apple and Samsung partners can they stay long-term goals?

With the success in the first instance of the iPod and the iPhone and iPad, Apple has become one of the biggest buyers of components in the world. Sign a contract with the Cupertino Company is the assurance of almost an order book well stocked for many months. Apple has often used his position elsewhere to rain or shine on the market for flash memory.

If in the 80s at the time of the Macintosh, Apple could afford to live in isolation and develop almost everything she, in a globalizing world, this is simply not possible.

Corporation deemed to be tough in business, Apple has managed to forge some strategic partnerships. Besides Samsung, Intel may be mentioned (for the supply of processors on the Macintosh), NVIDIA (which has created several GPUs for Apple) and Foxconn (one of the largest subcontractors to Apple). Among these companies, it is certainly with Samsung that relationships are more complex. Apple remains true to its culture of secrecy and rarely evokes its relations with its partners.

Proof, if needed, she remained evasive on the processor design A4. On its website, the Apple brand wrote: "Apple engineers designed the chip A4 into a mobile processor both incredibly powerful and energy efficient.”