Samsung ordered to pay Apple $1.05B in patent case

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — After a year of scorched-earth litigation, a jury decided Friday that Samsung ripped off the innovative technology used by Apple to create its revolutionary iPhone and iPad. The jury ordered Samsung to pay Apple $1.05 billion in the latest skirmish of a global legal battle between the two tech giants. An appeal is expected. Apple Inc. filed its patent infringement lawsuit in April 2011 and engaged legions of the country's highest-paid patent lawyers to demand $2.5 billion from its top smartphone competitor. Samsung Electronics Co. fired back with its own lawsuit seeking $399 million.

The verdict, however, belonged to Apple, as the jury rejected all Samsung's claims against Apple. Jurors also decided against some of Apple's claims involving the two dozen Samsung devices at issue, declining to award the full $2.5 billion Apple demanded. However, the jury found that several Samsung products illegally used such Apple creations as the "bounce-back" feature when a user scrolls to an end image, and the ability to zoom text with a tap of a finger.

As part of its lawsuit, Apple also demanded that Samsung pull its most popular cellphones and computer tablets from the U.S. market. A judge was expected to make that ruling at a later time.

The outcome of the case is likely to have ripple effects in the smartphone market. After seeing Samsung's legal defeat, other device makers relying on Android may become more reluctant to use the software and risk getting dragged into court.

Solar Charger Sticks to Window to Power Gadgets

Solar chargers for gadgets are becoming more common, and convenient. There's the mPowerpad that charges multiple devices, for example. But for those that want a little style, there's the XDModo Solar Window Charger.

It's sleek and sticks unobtrusively to a window using silicone pads (basically suction cups). It's a good way to free up that cigarette lighter for plugging in other devices. (Does anyone actually light cigarettes with those anymore?) The charger has USB and mini-USB outputs. Odds are most people will use the USB since that's the charger end of most smartphone cables – be they for Android, iPhone or others. The battery inside has a 1300 mAh capacity – most smartphone batteries average around 1500 mAh, so it's pretty close to the full charge. That said, after it charges up during the day, it can keep your phone going through the night, or supplement the battery when it runs low. The output is five volts at 500 milliamps, plenty for charging anything but an iPad.

The maker, Xindao, is in Europe. You can purchase it online for about $65 but you'll have to shell out for shipping to the U.S. – about $65 as well. Technews Daily 

What is NFC?

Also known as Near Field Communications, this technology allows a smartphone to communicate with other devices or smart tags via radio waves. Used as a tap-and-go payment system through Google Wallet and for exchanging information between phones. NFC is integrated into such devices as the Samsung Nexus S and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Unfortunately, users can’t do much with the feature yet. But they will be using it soon. Baked into Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Google’s Beam feature uses NFC to let users do some nifty tricks, such as transferring videos, pictures, contacts, and websites by touching two Android phones together. For example, a YouTube video shared via Beam will pick up on another device exactly where it was last played. The technology does pose some security concerns, but those are being addressed. For instance, to prevent others from using your Android phone as a wallet, Google Wallet uses a PIN number that you must enter at timed intervals. Under Settings you can set the PIN timer to 1 minute, 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or 30 minutes. Technews Daily

Your Smartphone Is Spying on You

An Android developer recently discovered a clandestine application called Carrier IQ built into most smartphones that doesn't just track your location; it secretly records your keystrokes, and there's nothing you can do about it. Is it time to put on a tinfoil hat? That depends on how you feel about privacy. The reason for this invasive Android app seems reasonable enough at face value. Even though it's on most Android, BlackBerry and Nokia devices, most users would never know that Carrier IQ is running in the background, and that's sort of the point. Described on the company's website as software to gain "unprecedented insight into their customers' mobile experience," Carrier IQ is ostensibly supposed to help mobile carriers and device manufacturers gather data in order to improve their products. 

Security-conscious Android developer Trevor Eckhart realized, however, Carrier IQ does not give you this option, and unless you were code-savvy and looking for it, you'd never know it was there. And based on how aggressive the company has been in trying to keep Eckhart quiet about his discovery, it seems like Carrier IQ doesn't want you to know it's there either. This week, Eckhart fired back with a 17-minute long video showing in painstaking detail how much data CarrierIQ collects, effectively undercutting the company's denial. It was even logging contents of text messages! Wired posted the video on Tuesday night and cemented its status "as one of nine reasons to wear a tinfoil hat." The magazine explains how CarrierIQ even undercuts other companies' security measures. CarrierIQ and the carriers have yet to respond to the latest claims -- we're doing our best to chase them down -- but if past smartphone tracking scandals are any precedent, they could end up answering to Congress. Atlantic Wire

FCC Test to Measure Cellphone Radiation Flawed

A government test used to measure the radiation people absorb from their cellphones might underestimate the levels to which most adults and children are exposed, according to a group of doctors and researchers whose stated mission is to promote awareness of environmental health risks they believe may be linked to cancer. 

Researchers from the Environmental Health Trust released a report this morning noting that the Federal Communications Commission test to determine radiation exposure is flawed. The reason for the discrepancy, the group says, is that the process to determine radiation exposure from cellphones involves the use of a mannequin model that they say approximates a 6-foot-2, 220-pound person. Because the model represents only about 3 percent of the population, the authors report, the test will not accurately predict the radiation exposure of the other 97 percent of the population, including children. The group is pushing for a new testing system to measure radiation exposure in a wider range of consumers. 

"The standard for cellphones has been developed based on old science and old models and old assumptions about how we use cellphones, and that's why they need to change," said Dr. Devra Davis, former senior adviser in the Department of Health and Human Services under the Clinton administration and one of the report's authors.

In May, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer placed cellphones in the same category as lead and engine exhaust, citing the possibility that exposure to cellphone radiation could have long-term health effects. But roughly 30 studies conducted thus far have failed to draw a conclusive link. MadOne

Text, Photo, Video can be sent to 911

Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski has announced plans to update the nationwide 911 emergency service, which will make it possible for people in emergencies to send photos, video and even texts to early responders. The ubiquity of cellphones with cameras and users who text have made it clear that emergency responders can gain valuable information in new ways. However, Genachowski said that this will require a complete overhaul of the 911 phone system because it uses an older technology that is incompatible with new forms of communication. The benefits are worth the effort, though. Pictures and video can greatly improve response to emergencies, and the system will provide more options for people with disabilities. There is even the potential to add location-based services that could make it easier to send responders to the emergency. Technews Daily

Flying spy drone that cracks Wi-Fi and cell data

Built by Mike Tassey and Richard Perkins, the Wireless Aerial Surveillance Platform (otherwise known as the WASP) is a flying drone that has a 6-foot wingspan, a 6-foot length and weighs in at 14 pounds. The small form factor of the unmanned aerial vehicle allows it to drop under radar and is often mistaken for a large bird. It was built from an Army target drone and converted to run on electric batteries rather than gasoline. It can also be loaded with GPS information and fly a predetermined course without need for an operator. Taking off and landing have to be done manually with the help of a mounted HD camera. However, the most interesting aspect of the drone is that it can crack Wi-Fi networks and GSM networks as well as collect the data from them.

It can accomplish this feat with a Linux computer on-board that’s no bigger than a deck of cards. The computer accesses 32GB of storage to house all that stolen data. It uses a variety of networking hacking tools including the BackTrack toolset as well as a 340 million word dictionary to guess passwords. In order to access cell phone data, the WASP impersonates AT&T and T-Mobile cell phone towers and fools phones into connecting to one of the eleven antenna on-board. The drone can then record conversations to the storage card and avoids dropping the call due to the 4G T-mobile card routing communications through VOIP.

Amazingly, this was accomplished with breaking a single FCC regulation. The drone relies on the frequency band used for Ham radios to operate. Not wanting to get into legal trouble with AT&T and T-Mobile, they tested the technology in isolated areas to avoid recording phone conversations other than their own. The duo play to discuss how to build the WASP at the DEFCON 19 hacking conference.

Apple has more cash than the federal government

Steve Jobs

Who's ready for iAmerica? As the BBC has reported, the software company Apple has more cash on hand than the United States federal government, according to the company's financial records.


Apple's quarterly financial report shows that the company responsible for the iPad, iPod and the iPhone now has $76.4 billion in reserve cash, while the Treasury Department is sitting on just $73.7 billion. The feds could probably learn a thing or two from Apple's success. Congress remains embroiled in a debate over spending and whether the federal government, which currently owes trillions in debt, should be allowed to borrow even more. International credit rating agencies have threatened to downgrade the national debt for the first time in the nation's history if Washington doesn't come up with a solution to lift the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling while implementing a concrete plan to get the nation's financial house in order.


Meanwhile, Apple's financial report shows that the company's profits, even through the last recession, are booming.

A Police Scanner App For Android

Remember your buddy who had the police scanner at home? Now you can recapture the feeling of listening in, and do so on an Android phone with the Scanner Radio app.

Similar apps exist for iPhones as well. In the case of Scanner radio, you get feeds from police scanners all over the world, uploaded to the Internet. Some of the iPhone apps are even free. And it isn’t just for cop beat reporters: at least one reviewer on the iTunes store said they were able to hear how bad the damage was in areas hit by tornadoes this summer. Technews Daily

Use Wi-Fi to Make Calls

Most people know their phones have Wi-Fi connections. But many still don't know the Wi-Fi connection can be used to make calls, even if the sound quality isn't always good.

But who's to argue with the fact that the calls are free? This can be pretty useful in areas where your carrier has little or no coverage. For example T-Mobile's UMA -- for Unlicensed Mobile Access -- works pretty well in South Korea, where the company has less coverage.

The catch is that you need a Wi-Fi connection that is pretty robust, and possibly an “unlocked” phone, though that is easier these days now that Apple sells them. At a minimum, it's handy for texting and avoiding those data roaming charges.

Google+ Challenges Facebook With Social Network

Google Buzz and Google Wave were strikes one and two, so Google has to get it right with Google+, the search giant’s ambitious new social network.  The Google+ Project goes right after Facebook by offering multiple ways of connecting with your friends and family, including a Circles feature that lets users be more choosy about what they decide to share with specific friends. The project is currently invite-only, but we snagged a few invites and will have our first impressions soon. So what exactly is Google+? It’s comprised of four different components, Circles, Sparks, Hangouts, and Mobile. Technews Daily/ MadOne
 

 Circles


Sparks


Hangouts


Mobile

Hitachi to join Toshiba-Sony LCD panel merger

(Reuters) - Hitachi Ltd wants to join the ongoing talks between Toshiba Corp and Sony Corp to combine their units that make small and mid-size LCD panels, the Nikkei business daily reported. Toshiba, Sony and Hitachi aim to reach an agreement in July and the newly created LCD unit could be launched as early as this year, the paper said. 

On June 7, Reuters reported citing sources that Toshiba Corp and Sony Corp are in talks to combine their units that make small and mid-size LCD panels for smartphones and tablet computers and may sell a stake in the new entity to the Japanese government for about $1.2 billion. The public-private partnership Innovation Network Corp of Japan, or INCJ, is likely to invest about 200 billion yen ($2.47 billion)for about a 70 percent stake consisting of preferred and common shares, Nikkei said, adding that the three companies would then split the remaining interest.

Trojan Hits Verizon Wireless Billing

If you are a Verizon Wireless customer, and you paid your bill online between May 7 and May 13, you may be at risk of identity theft. For that six-day stint, customers going to Verizon Wireless' website may have fallen prey to a clever and virtually undetectable scam. Anyone whose PC had already been infected by a specific "banking Trojan" would have been silently redirected to a fake Verizon Wireless page hosted on another website, which would have asked them to fill in essential personal information.

The Verizon Wireless site itself was not infected. The malware would simply have waited until the victim went to that site and tried to pay a bill. The data that each victim was "required" to provide included full name, phone number, country of citizenship, date of birth, Social Security number, mother's maiden name, credit card number, credit card expiration date and credit card security code. Among online criminals who specialize in credit-card and identity theft, that set of information is the "keys to the kingdom." The scam was discovered by the Israeli online-banking security firm Trusteer, which found it in a variant of the SpyEye banking Trojan. 


SpyEye uses what expert call a "man-in-the-middle" attack.  It silently plants itself in your browser, waiting until you go to a website that involves financial transactions, such as a banking site. It then redirects you to a Web page that looks identical to the page you expect to see, except that any info entered on the spoofed page goes straight into a cybercriminal's hands.  Technews Daily

"While this attack is not technically new, it continues a financial malware trend we have been tracking in recent weeks: a shift away from stealing usernames and passwords to stealing payment and credit card data,"

Officials Exploit Indy 500 to Roll Out New Alert System

Indiana, the state now infamous for trashing the Fourth Amendment, has rolled out its own version of the Department of Homeland Security’s cell phone alert system. “The Division of Homeland Security unveiled a new alert system Wednesday that sends text messages to users. The system will be used at this year’s Indianapolis 500 and other major events that take place in the city,” reports WISHTV 8 in Indianapolis.

DHS boss Napolitano said the new system would permeate social networks like Facebook and Twitter and allow the government to interrupt cell phone service to announce the next attack by al-Qaeda. Indiana made the news again earlier this week when a county sheriff said the ruling made by the Indiana Supreme Court outlawing challenging search warrants under the Fourth Amendment cleared the way for his officers to conduct random searches without warrants. InfoWars

Federal Spychips To Hijack Your Phone

The announcement that Americans are set to be bombarded with mandatory government propaganda via their cellphones represents a shocking lurch forward in the Obama administration’s bid to launch a total takeover of all communications as part of a wider move towards controlling the Internet, developing an omnipresent wiretap system, and creating a constant environment of suspicion and distrust by enlisting citizens to spy on each other. 

Alex Jones has been warning about the federal government’s total spectrum domination media takeover for 15 years. Watch the video below which was filmed back in February. InfoWars.com

iPhone Secretly Tracks and Reports Where You Go

Two security researchers have discovered that Apple’s iPhone keeps track of a user’s location and saves that information to a file that is stored both on the device and on a user’s computer when they sync or back it up in iTunes.

The researchers, Pete Warden and Alasdair Allan, discovered the hidden file while collaborating on a potential data visualization project. “At first we weren’t sure how much data was there, but after we dug further and visualised the extracted data, it became clear that there was a scary amount of detail on our movements,” Warden told The Guardian. InfoWars.com

Celebrity tracker 'app' for Android smartphones

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Startup Scoopler was inviting owners of Android-powered smartphones to install an application that promises to alert them every time a celebrity is sighted nearby. The free JustSpotted software was available online at the Android Market.

"There is no other application that gives you real-time alerts like this with thousands of spottings on our website every day," Scoopler co-founder AJ Asver told AFP in an email. "If you are in a metropolitan area, you are going to be pleasantly surprised by how close you are to the celebrity world."  JustSpotted.com launched in October with an online map that pinpoints celebrity whereabouts in real time based on public updates from social networking star Facebook and microblogging service Twitter.

Xperia Play (PlayStation Phone)

ORLANDO, Fla. – Gamers are anxiously awaiting the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play smartphone -- also known as the PlayStation phone, the first-ever mobile phone to integrate Playstation games and controls into an Android device. TechNewsDaily tested out the Xperia Play at the CTIA Wireless conference and it was apparent that the device was first and foremost a portable game console and only second, a phone. 


The Xperia Play features a slide-out bottom, but this one is a bit different than others: A game controller is set up underneath the device instead of a QWERTY keyboard. Despite the controls being much more cramped than a standard PlayStation controller, even users with larger hands reported few problems with using the device.
The L and R bumpers appear on the side of the device, so pointer fingers easily rest on them and can still be used to support the device. The other buttons are smaller than usual, but they make a definite click sound so it's easy to tell when they've been pressed.

The Xperia Play is perfect for those who don't want to carry around a portable game console, such as a PSP, and a separate phone. It integrates the two devices well enough and will be a special treat for fans of the original PlayStation games. TechNewsDaily

WTF? FASHION MINUTE! Mar, 8th 2011

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Michelle Rodriguez, 

"Battle: Los Angeles" star Michelle Rodriguez also committed a major crime against fashion when she sported this see-thru lingerie-like ensemble to an Oscars after party. Sheer disaster!

 

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Jennifer Lopez, 

Also showing off her midriff this week was Jennifer Lopez. Unfortunately, while the 41-year-old "American Idol" host has a rockin' bod, the ruffly pirate-like half shirt and checked jacket she donned for the "Idol" finalists party on Thursday night were far from fabulous. 

 

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Lady Gaga, 

Is anyone else getting tired of Lady Gaga’s lame fashion antics? We know we’ll never see her in jeans and a T-shirt, but does she have to wear such ugly ensembles on a daily basis?

 

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Johnny Depp, 

Yes, he finally got rid of his creepy beard, but Johnny Depp still needs to lose the hideous, hipster-farmer look … STAT.

 

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Taylor Momsen, 

Forget discussing her “Look at me, I’m so hardcore” boots … where exactly did Taylor Momsen’s pants go?

 

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Nicki Minaj, 

Speaking of trousers, check out the skin-tight, seizure-inducing pants rapper Nicki Minaj wore to dinner at BOA Steakhouse in West Hollywood, California.

  

Charles Barkley (Cool & Dre Production) - I Maybe Wrong, But I Doubt It (Full Video)