Apple agrees to drop patent claims against new Samsung phone after Samsung said it was not for sale in U.S.

“Apple Inc has agreed to withdraw patent claims against a new Samsung phone with a high-end display after Samsung said it was not offering to sell the product in the crucial U.S. market,” Dan Levine reports for Reuters. “Apple disclosed the agreement in a filing on Friday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California.”

“Last month Apple asked to add the Galaxy S III Mini and other Samsung products, including several tablet models, to its wide-ranging patent litigation against Samsung,” Levine reports. “In response, Samsung said the Galaxy S III Mini was not available for sale in the United States and should not be included in the case.”

Read more in the full article here.

Analyst reiterates $1,111 price target on Apple shares; says iPad mini is major catalyst

“On Friday, Brian White of Topeka Capital reiterated his buy rating on Apple and has maintained his price target of $1,111,” Richard Saintvilus reports for Forbes.

“In his research note, White pointed to the iPad mini as a major catalyst in international markets such as Hong Kong, where the smaller tablet was launched just a couple of weeks ago,” Saintvilus reports. “White says there has in an ‘insatiable appetite in both Hong Kong and China for the iPad mini, leading to further supply constraints in recent days.’”

Saintvilus reports, “He also noted that there have been shortages at both Apple stores in mainland as well as complete sell-outs at the location in Honk Kong.”

Read more in the full article here.

Gracenote bringing personalized TV ads to your living room in 2013

We've grown used to targeted ads across the internet, but personalized marketing has yet to reach its full potential on the TV screen. Gracenote is hoping it can buck that trend with a new ad replacement platform that's set to debut at CES in January. Recent acquisitions have helped Gracenote, best known for its music-related endeavors, make big strides with a system that promises to replace ads run by broadcasters with those picked by Smart TV and set-top box makers. More importantly, it will tailor the advertisements you see based on factors like gender, age, personal income, and credit history. Further, it could provide sponsors with more accurate data about who's actually watching their ads as opposed to immediately skipping over...

Landsat 5, the oldest satellite watching Earth, is shutting down after almost 30 years

The US Geological Survey will soon shut down Landsat 5, an observational satellite that has been running since 1984. Landsat 5 was designed for a three-year run, but it's now orbited the Earth over 150,000 times and transmitted 2.5 million images in nearly three decades, making it the longest-running Earth-observing satellite, though not the oldest satellite still in orbit. "Any major event since 1984 that left a mark on this Earth larger than a football field was likely recorded by Landsat 5, whether it was a hurricane, a tsunami, a wildfire, deforestation, or an oil spill," says USGS Director Marcia McNutt.

It's also malfunctioned several times in the past, sometimes temporarily going out of commission while being stabilized. On...

Nest Thermostat Now Available in Apple Retail Stores [Mac Blog]

Apple is now carrying the Nest Thermostat in its retail stores through the United States and Canada. The development comes as Apple has been carrying it online for several months.

The Nest thermostat is priced at $249.95 in the U.S. online store and is just one of a number of products featured in Apple's App-Enabled Accessories section. The thermostat can be controlled via a free universal iOS app [App Store], with access to controls also available through web browsers.

The Nest Learning Thermostat helps you stop wasting energy, while providing control using your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac. Consider that your thermostat controls about half your energy bill-more than TV, appliances, and lighting combined. But it's wasting energy every time it turns on the heating or cooling system in an empty house. The Nest Learning Thermostat solves this problem by programming itself, turning itself down when you're away, and keeping track of your energy use.

Apple features a number of such app-enabled products in its stores, including the iGrill cooking thermometer and Withings blood pressure monitor and body scale.

Apple Fined Another $260,000 By Italian Regulators Over AppleCare Practices

Italy fined Apple $1.2 million in late 2011, after its Competition and Market Authority found that Apple was not providing customers with sufficient information about the two years of free product warranty that is required under Italian law.

Instead, Apple was pushing the sale of AppleCare, which overlaps with the inherent Italian product warranty. After being fined and losing an appeal, Apple added disclosures to its Italian online store, but authorities were not satisfied and considered additional fines and even a potential ban on Apple products in the country.

Apple today was fined another $264,000 by Italian regulators (via setteB.IT) after not fully complying with the Consumer Code set place in 2012, from March 28 to November 10.

Authorities have released a statement detailing Apple's exact violations.

From March 2012 onward, the above measures continued to trigger additional requests for intervention that reported the repetition of the unfair commercial practices. In specific, consumers complained that they were meeting with difficulties when seeking to apply the legal guarantee and were encountering incorrect procedures in the promotion of the App.

Though Italy levied another fine against Apple, regulators have since determined that after sufficient modification, Apple's website is no longer confusing for Italian customers. The changes went into full effect on November 10, and Apple also ceased selling its AppleCare products in Italian stores.

Apple may have settled its differences with Italian regulators, but it is still facing potential fines from other European countries, which also have a two-year warranty rule. In October, European Union officials called on member states to scrutinize Apple's warranty advertising practices, stating that the Cupertino-based company may not be adequately informing EU customers of the extra warranty.

Wall Street Journal Joins Newsstand, Now Selling In-App Subscriptions [iOS Blog]

The Wall Street Journal is now offering in-app subscriptions on the App Store, and has added its newspaper to Apple's Newsstand automatic subscription delivery service, reports All Things D.

The move is worth noting because up until now the Journal was one of the highest-profile print publishers that wasn't selling app access via Apple. Earlier this year, Time Inc., which had been the most prominent holdout, also signed on.

The move means that Apple will retain 30 percent of all subscription revenue the Journal receives from "in-app" sales, and it will retain control of customer billing information like credit card numbers and billing addresses.

WSJ's biggest competitor, the Financial Times, dropped its iOS app last year because it didn't want to give Apple 30% of subscriptions purchased through the App Store. Instead, it developed a well-received HTML5 web app that replicated much of the functionality of the iOS app, including offline reading.

Newsstand support means readers can have their papers update automatically in the background.

Facebook Launches its Own Version of Snapchat, Called Poke [iOS Blog]

When Snapchat launched a video update last week, AllThingsD reported that Facebook was planning on releasing its own photo and video sharing app to compete with Snapchat. Facebook's new standalone app, Facebook Poke, was released today, expanding on Facebook's original "poke" concept.

After connecting to Facebook Poke with a Facebook account, users can take a video or photo, write a message, or send a standard poke notification to friends who are also Facebook users. Each message lasts only a few seconds before expiring, after which time it is no longer visible.

If a screenshot is taken, users are notified with a bright orange icon on the feed, which is the same functionality found in Snapchat. Users can browse through sent messages in Poke by tapping and holding on a message.

Media sent via Facebook Poke is not visible in the standard Facebook app, but people will get a Facebook notification to download Facebook Poke to see Poke messages. Like the rest of Facebook's apps, Poke has a menu for reporting inappropriate content.

Facebook Poke is a free download on Apple's App Store. [Direct Link]

Apple’s improved Siri uses Google half as much in iOS 6 as it did previously

“When investment firm Piper Jaffray initially tested Siri in June, its list of common queries found that Google was responsible for about 60 percent of the data returned,” Neil Hughes reports for AppleInsider. “Now, with iOS 6, Google is responsible for only 30 percent of the data.”

“The latest tests also found evidence of behind-the-scenes improvements to Siri, though the changes have been slight,” Hughes reports. “In iOS 5, Siri understood 89 percent of queries spoke in a quiet environment, while that improved to 91 percent in iOS 6, while 76 percent of queries were answered correctly in iOS 5 and that improved to 77 percent with iOS 6.”

Hughes reports, “Since Piper Jaffray’s first Siri test, Google has launched its own voice-driven assistant service, dubbed Google Now. For the latest test, Google Now was included to offer a head-to-head comparison with Siri, and found that Apple’s service has a very slight advantage... Munster wrote, ‘In our test, Siri correctly understood our queries 91% of the time in a quiet environment compared to Google Now at 88%. In terms of accuracy, we determined that Siri accurately answered understood queries 77% of the time compared to 75% for Google Now.’”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Google’s going to rue the day they got greedy by deciding to try to work against Apple instead of with them. – MacDailyNews, March 09, 2010

Apple stock in 2013: Hang on for another wild ride

“Following the dizzying ups and downs of 2012, investors may be hoping for a little less drama from Apple stock in 2013,” David Zeiler writes for Money Morning. “While 2013 figures to be a very different year for Apple Inc. (AAPL), don’t plan on the ride getting much smoother.”

“With 2012 annual revenue at $156.5 billion and annual profit at almost $42 billion, Apple’s biggest challenge heading into 2013 is figuring out how to add meaningful growth,” Zeiler writes. “For example, when Apple reports earnings on Jan. 24, you won’t see a repeat of last year’s incredible December quarter year-over-year revenue growth of 73% and profit growth of 118%.”

Zeiler writes, “Indeed, Apple stock throughout 2013 will face difficult year-over-year comparisons as each quarter goes up against 2012′s record numbers. AAPL is now officially a victim of its own success.”

Read more in the full article (subscription required) here.

Revamped iPad Mini Likely to Have Retina Display

This isn’t the first time we have heard the rumor that the next version of the iPad Mini will include a Retina display. Most analysts and consumers alike are a little confused as to why the smaller-form-factor iPad didn’t include Retina to begin with– it’s certainly becoming an Apple standard issue feature, seen in the last few generations of the regular-sized iPad and the iPhone (not to mention the recent upgrades to the display options from the MacBook Pro lineup).

Reasons for the omission are not known (and likely never will be), but it could be related to supply, cost or even technological considerations like battery life or overheating. Regardless of the answer, the lack of Retina display has been a real negative aspect of the otherwise well-reviewed addition to the iPad lineup. (I do have a personal side-bet that this was Apple’s way of ensuring that people still wanted to also have the larger iPad instead of opting into the smaller device based on price-point alone.)

If Apple sticks with the technology they are used to for Retina displays, the new iPad mini would sport a resolution of 2058 x 1536 resolution measuring at 326ppi. Some speculation suggests that Apple may have changes in the pipeline for their high-definition technology with the biggest change likely to be a move from the current two LED light bars down to one (which should noticeably decrease the overall weight of the 9.7″ tablet).

[via Digitimes]

Toontastic Jr. Lets You Make Cartoons With Friends in Real Time- iPad App Review

About a month ago, we reviewed Toontastic, which is a cartoon app that lets you make your own animated short films. The entertaining children's app is a great way to make mini movies using your own voice and direction. Toontastic Jr. Pirates for iPad is a taste of the full-featured app, but it comes with something that Toontastic doesn't- real time collaborative cartoon making.

That's right, users can connect with each other from within the app and actually create a comic together. You know those cards where you can record a greeting and send it to Grandma? Well, it's like that, but way more awesome. It goes both ways and you don't have to wait for the mail to come.

The app is slightly different than Toontastic. Users choose a pre-designed beginning, middle and end instead of creating one from scratch. For each section of the short, there is an animation clip that will play and then you can add your own extra parts.

Once the premade animation finishes, you'll hear the narrator say, "And then what happened?" This is your cue to begin another section of the story. Touch the characters and start talking for them. They will swing their arms and legs and switch direction, depending on where you move them. The app is recording the entire time, so be sure to add dialogue to the movement.

Once you've added your own scenes to all three sections, your movie is complete and you can save it in the movie library. Unlike Toontastic, you can't share these shorts with the rest of the community.

What makes this app so special is the collaborative creation aspect. It's like coloring with your nephew that is 500 miles away, or playing with your grandkids before they go to bed when you live in another state. This app is great for bringing families together to share in creativity and imagination.

What I liked: I especially like the StoryShare feature. It makes this app unique and not just a partial version of Toontastic

What I didn't like: Just like Toontastic, the characters don't switch direction properly. You also can't exit out of the movie editing mode unless you are in the music editing section.

To buy or not to buy: If you have little ones and family that doesn't live nearby, you should buy this app for your household, plus send it as a gift to family members so that they can play together no matter how far apart they are.

• Name: Toontastic Jr. Pirates for iPad
• Version Reviewed: 1.0.
• Category: Education
• Developer: Launchpad toys
• Price: $1.99
• Score:

Apple execs reportedly ‘seething’ over Google Maps for iPhone

“Apple's plan was for their own mapping service to be, if not as good as Google's, at least good enough that it didn't make us miss Google's map data,” John Gruber writes for Daring Fireball.

“I think Apple - where by ‘Apple,’ I mean the company's collective executive leadership - is seething regarding the way this has played out,” Gruber writes. “Everything from Apple Maps being the butt of jokes to the accolades and joy that have accompanied the release of the new Google Maps iOS app. Seething.”

“Google has lost something valuable, too: its place as the default mapping data provider for iOS,” Gruber writes. “What's interesting is that this is a case where it's us, the users, who've won. We've got two apps with turn-by-turn-navigation and vector map tiles where before we had none. Ideally, yes, Apple Maps would have best-of-breed data and search, but the situation was even further from ideal prior to iOS 6.”

Much more in the full article, including how to use the app without giving Google your data – recommended – here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Tom R." for the heads up.]

Wall St. holiday ‘on standby’ as clock ticks on fiscal cliff; ‘quadruple witching’ looms

“The last two weeks of December are traditionally quiet for stocks, but traders accustomed to a bit of time off are staying close to their mobile devices, thanks to the ‘fiscal cliff,’” Angela Moon reports for Reuters.

“Last-minute negotiations in Washington on the so-called fiscal cliff – nearly $600 billion of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect in January that could cause a sharp slowdown in growth or even a recession – are keeping some traders and analysts from taking Christmas holidays because any deal could have a big impact on markets,” Moon reports. “‘A lot of firms are saying to their trading desks, ‘You can take days off for Christmas, but you are on standby to come in if anything happens.’ This is certainly different from previous years, especially around this time of the year when things are supposed to be slowing down,’ said J.J. Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist at TD Ameritrade in Chicago. ‘Next week is going to be a Capitol Hill-driven market.’”

“With talks between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner at an apparent standstill, it was increasingly likely that Washington will not come up with a deal before Jan. 1,” Moon reports. “This coming Friday will mark the last so-called ‘quadruple witching’ day of the year, when contracts for stock options, single stock futures, stock index options and stock index futures all expire. This could make trading more volatile. ‘We could see some heavy selling as there is going to be a lot of re-establishing of positions, reallocation of assets before the year-end,’ Kinahan said.”

Moon reports, “Some market participants said tax-related selling may be behind the weaker trend in the stock price of market leader Apple. Apple’s stock has lost a quarter of its value since it hit a lifetime high of $705.07 on Sept. 21.”

Read more in the full article here.

Push notification for iOS devices by Windows Azure mobile service- A sign of openness

Windows Azure mobile services have added push notification so to fire off the updates about badges, sounds, and SMS.
The corporate vice president of Microsoft tools and Servers group, Mr. Scott Guthrie has written that new push notification is established by employing Apple Push Notification Services APNS. Microsoft has used APNS to accommodate developers for creating applications for iOS devices. APNS is the popular feature which facilitates the developers of iOS platform.Recently, Microsoft has shown open approached for the third party platform. Guthrie has noted that he has written about numbers of updates about iOS, as he feels that it highlights the open philosophy of Microsoft.

OS support enables users to establish connection between mobile services and iPad and iPhone apps

It allows Twitter, Google authentication and Facebook to support with the mobile services

Users will be able to do blob, queue, table and service bus with mobile services

Partnership with the SendGrid permits users to send emails from their mobile services

Partnership with the Twillio permits users to send messages or SMS from their mobile services

It has ability to deploy the mobile services in West US region

In Guthrie post, he further added the role of Objective-C client SDK that permits the iOS developers to easily employ mobile services for authentication and data. He felt that this push notification feature addition is raising positive hope for the continuous development cycle for putting more iOS features in to the Window mobile services.

Related posts:

1. 5 things that Apple should learn from Windows 8
2. Now Windows Live Messenger accounts can be merged with Skype accounts as Skype has updated its iOS App.
3. Sesame, an App launched by Sincerely for sending themed gift boxes using your mobile.

Deal description among new version of Apple-HTC

Samsung included the redacted version of Apple HTC license and settle agreement in the hearing of the federal court. Samsung call upon the document so to see that if there is any overlapping in the patent added in case against Apple and HTC agreement.
Samsung is having $1.05 billion is at stake on this patent judgment against the Korean company. Samsung wants this company to be thrown out from the market or at least reduced. Meanwhile, Apple is trying to seek additional of $535 million in the damages.Two weeks ago the redacted version of the Apple-HTC agreement was released. The newest version of the agreement is less blacked out and is still not shown. In accordance with the available information, Apple and HTC will have non-exclusive access to the patent of each other. Apple has decided not to sue certain products and its design patents will appear excluded. The scope of the agreement is posted in the PDF format at the blog of Foss patents.

The patent '381 about rubber banding cannot be worked without losing its major benefits; however it won't be covering the other inferiors like scrolling on multi touch device. The '163 patent that is for tap to zoom can be avoided without affecting on the usability. The tricky part is '915 patent for pinch to zoom API. As Apple is disputing that Samsung's purported workaround steers clear of infringement.

US court has ordered Apple to provide a detail copy of the agreement with HTC to the Samsung. The Taiwan based mobile manufacturer and Apple has stalled their lawsuits on November 10. It took almost two and a half years after legal accusations and wrangling and each company has infringed their patents.

Related posts:

1. Court ruled ban on some of the Samsung Galaxy products for sales in Netherlands.
2. Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, Galaxy SIII Mini, Galaxy Note II added to the California Lawsuit by Apple.
3. A smart to do list for using the contextual information from iPhone- A new Apple Patent

2012: Apple’s annus horribilis?

“It should have been another great year as Apple [AAPL] emerged from mourning the loss of its great leader, Steve Jobs, equipped with a raft of exciting new product ideas — but sadly 2012 became Apple’s annus horribilis,” Jonny Evans writes for Computerworld.

“Apple’s new CEO, Tim Cook, is an operations man who ‘gets’ the importance of good product design, but don’t hold that against him: he’s absolutely committed to the company he now leads, but even he must be feeling the weight of 12-months of negative publicity thrown at the firm,” Evans writes. “Even this morning the company’s mapping service is under fire as Australian police warn that its inaccuracies can place lives at risk. That’s after months of criticism for the service’s problems, criticism which led to the ouster of iOS chief, Scott Forstall and a series of public apologies by Cook.”

Evans writes, “As the company status changes from that of media darling to media whipping boy, its public profile is under attack, giving its many competitors a little breathing room. And slashing its stock values.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Much ado about nothing.

Apple’s “horrible year”saw it become the world’s most valuable company as it obliterated all-time company records revenue and profits and launched new versions and models of all of it’s most popular products. More, please.

If 2012 was Apple’s “annus horribilis,” the Cupertino Colossus’ would-be competitors are doomed.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Fred Mertz" for the heads up.]

Analyst: Full television set ‘more in tune with Apple’s strategy’ than an enhanced Apple TV set-top box

“With Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook admitting that television is an area of ‘intense interest’ for his company, pundits have debated whether Apple would build a full television set or simply enhance upon the existing Apple TV accessory,” Neil Hughes reports for AppleInsider.

“Maynard Um of Wells Fargo Securities said on Friday in a research note provided to AppleInsider that he believes a full television set would be ‘more in tune with Apple’s strategy’ than an enhanced set-top box,” Hughes reports. “He said he believes Apple would ‘relish’ the opportunity to place the company’s logo as ‘the centerpiece of the living room.’”

Hughes reports, “He believes that a key part of the Apple television will be Siri, the company’s voice-driven personal assistant software currently found on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.”

Read more in the full article here.

Russia, China, and other nations draft proposal to give ITU greater influence over the internet

A proposal introduced Friday at the World Conference on International Telecommunications would lend the ITU and its member states greater control over the internet. Changes outlined in the document would transfer many duties related to the web's backend — IP address and domain name allocation, for example — away from ICANN. Instead, that power would be placed in the hands of individual governments. A leaked copy posted on WCITLeaks reveals that Russia, a longtime proponent of such ideas, has also rallied the support of the United Arab Emirates, China, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Sudan, and Egypt in drafting the document.

"Member states have the right to manage all naming, numbering, addressing and identification resources used for...

Watch this: 'Decay,' a zombie movie made by physicists and filmed at the Large Hadron Collider

Zombie movies are a dime a dozen, but Decay, a full-length film released for free online today, offers an unusual setting for the rise of the living dead. Decay was shot on location at CERN by Luke Thompson, a University of Manchester physics Ph.D. student and first-time filmmaker, and its plot injects zombies into the search for the Higgs Boson, which was likely discovered earlier this year. Other physics students and at least one professor round out the small cast and crew.

In many ways, Decay is standard B-horror, but the dark tunnels around the Large Hadron Collider make for some fantastically creepy scenes. Thompson also hopes that it will satirize popular perceptions of science — the LHC, particularly, has been the epicenter for...

Philip Greenspun: Microsoft’s Windows 8 is a Christmas gift for someone you hate

As Daring Fireball‘s John Gruber states, the following is “from a guy who's so anti-Apple that he gives credit for the desktop interface to the Xerox Alto, not the Mac.”

Philip Greenspun blogs, “Suppose that you are an expert user of Windows NT/XP/Vista/7, an expert user of an iPad, and an expert user of an Android phone.... you will have no idea how to use Windows 8.”

“Microsoft has had since October 2008 to study Android. It has had since June 2007 to study iPhone,” Greenspun writes. “It seems as though they did not figure out what is good about the standard tablet operating systems... The only device that I can remember being as confused by is the BlackBerry PlayBook.”

MacDailyNews Take:

We've tried to use a BlackBerry PlayBook. It was a dismal experience. It's a total POS. – MacDailyNews, January 3, 2012

As anyone who's ever tried to use DCW's playbook can attest, it's a wholly unintuitive piece of overpriced crap. Amateur hour, indeed. – MacDailyNews, February 22, 2012

Greenspun writes, “A reasonable user might respond to this dog's breakfast of a user interface by trying to stick with either the familiar desktop or the new tablet. However, this is not possible. Some functions, such as "start an application" or ‘restart the computer’ are available only from the tablet interface. Conversely, when one is comfortably ensconced in a touch/tablet application, an additional click will fire up a Web browser, thereby causing the tablet to disappear in favor of the desktop... Confused about how the tablet apps work and want to Google for the answer? You go to a Web browser in the desktop interface and can't see the tablet interface that you're getting advice on how to use.”

Read more in the full article here.

Despite frigid temps, Apple’s iPhone 5 launches to enthusiastic reception in South Korea

“Apple’s newest smartphone, the iPhone 5, became available in Korea as of midnight on Thursday, almost three months after it was first released overseas,” The Chosun Ilbo reports.

“Mobile providers such as SK Telecom and KT, which had been taking pre-orders online for the past week, held massive launch events to attract subscribers,” The Chosun Ilbo reports. “‘Online pre-orders ended just two hours after we received reservations on Dec. 1, as we immediately racked up 50,000 requests,’ an SK executive staffer said. KT has attracted more subscribers, with a whopping 250,000 pre-orders.”

The Chosun Ilbo reports, “The number of iPhone 5 subscribers [in South Korea] will reach up to 2 million by the end of this month, industry sources speculate.”

Read more in the full article here.

“Despite the below-zero temperatures and light snow, subscribers eagerly queued for the event, chatting with other iPhone fans while drinking coffee and munching on sandwiches provided by the No. 2 mobile carrier,” Lee Minji and Kim You Jin report for Yonhap.

“KT said earlier that pre-orders for the iPhone 5 in the first two hours topped the record the iPhone 4S logged on its first day of pre-orders in November 2011,” Lee and Kim report. “‘The arrival of the iPhone 5 will give both KT and SKT a distinct advantage over the third major mobile operator in Korea, LG Uplus, whose LTE service has successfully lured customers from KT and SKT,’ Moody’s Investors Service analyst Serena Won wrote in a note.”

Lee and Kim report, “As of October, iPhone users claimed roughly 11 percent of the country’s 31.4 million smartphone population, according to the note.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s having a party right smack dab in Samsungorea’s front yard. Enjoy the view, thieves.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Jake" for the heads up.]

Sydney plans smartphone-powered light show for New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Eve celebrations always kick off with Sydney’s memorable fireworks display where over a million people can gather at Sydney harbour to enjoy the spectacle. But this year, Sydney wants the celebration to be a lot more interactive, and an app has been created to allow anyone with a smartphone to join in and (hopefully) create something quite unique.

The app will be made available for free to both iOS and Android devices. The idea being that the app will fill each phone’s display with changing colors in the lead up to midnight. What Sydney is hoping for is lots of smartphones being held to the sky running the app, which in turn will create a light show to equal that of the fireworks.

Chances are good that many in the crowd that gathers will have a smartphone in their pocket. But getting everyone to download the app and remember to use it at the right time is going to take some memorable advertising and nudges from the event’s ambassador Kylie Minogue on the night.

Sydney has two fireworks shows planned for New Year’s Eve. The first is the family fireworks event at 9pm before the main event at midnight. The event organizers should use that 9pm show as a practice run for the smartphone light show, as many of the crowd will probably return for the midnight celebrations and be more inclined to remember to pull out their phones at the right time.

via Physorg. Image credit: Adam J.W.C

Pokemon 3D aims to make Pokemon a first-person game

Pokemon continues to be a major success for Nintendo, selling millions of copies with every new game released in the series. And as is typically the case with very successful games, the formula isn’t messed with much from game to game.

There’s more than a few gamers who would like to see a 3D Pokemon game released, and one independent developer by the name of Nilllzz has decided to make it a reality by unofficially developing Pokemon 3D.

The game is based on the world of Pokemon Gold and Silver, and has you walking around just like you would in an FPS. Pokemon 3D is in the very early stages of development right now, but you can download and play what’s there already. It’s also listed on IndieDB and is being received very positively showing just how much desire there is for a first-person Pokemon game.

Of course, the use of the Pokemon name and gameplay will surely make Nintendo take notice, and chances are Nilllzz will be receiving a letter from Nintendo’s lawyers before long. But a better fix would be for Nintendo to actually consider making such a game, especially as the 3DS hardware could handle it. There’s also the Wii U to consider, and that second screen on the GamePad. A 3D Pokemon game that used the GamePad display for battles could work very well.

Nilllzz has been working on the game since August, but the first playable version appeared just a couple of days ago. It runs on Windows XP onwards, but requires the installation of both the .NET and XNA Frameworks if you want to give it a try.

More at Nilllzz’s Tumblr and IndieDB

Samsung files redacted copy of ‘very lopsided’ Apple-HTC deal in U.S. court; Distinctive Apple User Experience not for sale

“Lawyers for Samsung Electronics Co Ltd filed a redacted copy of a 10-year patent licensing agreement between Apple Inc and Taiwan’s HTC Corp in a U.S. court late on Wednesday following a judge’s order,” Sakthi Prasad and Poornima Gupta report for Reuters.

“The court last month ordered Apple to disclose to Samsung details of the legal settlement that the iPhone maker reached with HTC, including terms of the 10-year patents licensing agreement,” Prasad and Gupta report. “The redacted copy excludes key specifics such as the royalty payments HTC would have to make to Apple for using some of the U.S. company’s patents. Also excluded are details of some of HTC’s covered products that were part of the licensing deal. The court order had stated that “only the pricing and royalty terms of license agreements may be sealed.”

Prasad and Gupta report, “As per the Apple-HTC agreement, the licenses do not include Apple’s design patents, according to a filing made with the District Court of Northern California. Apple and HTC also agreed to fully paid-up, royalty-free, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable licenses to certain of the other’s patents.”

Read more in the full article here.

“Samsung cannot and presumably will not try to argue that Apple is willing to license its design patents. Those are explicitly excluded from the agreement in a way that leaves no doubt whatsoever,” Florian Mueller writes for FOSS Patents. “Apple and HTC never had a design patent dispute. Apple’s design patent assertions have so far targeted mostly Samsung (in multiple jurisdictions), in one German case Motorola’s XOOM tablet (Apple lost that one but may still be pursuing an appeal), and a few smaller players in Germany, Spain and possibly other jurisdictions. Should HTC suddenly build iPhone and iPad lookalikes, Apple could still sue, but I doubt that this will be necessary.”

“I’ve been saying for a long time that at a minimum Apple needs to defend the distinguishability of its products, or its business would be subjected to totally unfettered, margin-destroying commoditization. The Apple-HTC agreement defines a very important term: Distinctive Apple User Experience,” Muller writes. “That’s what Apple seeks to protect and that’s something that is not for sale. The first time that an anti-cloning provision in an Apple license agreement was mentioned in public was this summer when an Apple executive testified in open court that Microsoft has a license to all Apple patents but that the parties agreed to an anti-cloning provision.”

Muller explains, “HTC can use what Google provides without fear of being sued by Apple. Otherwise HTC would be at a fundamental disadvantage vis- -vis other Android device makers. And while Google now knows these terms and could implement certain features just to help HTC and possibly others who will sign similar license deals in the future, Google also realizes that Apple might at some point enforce its rights against Google directly. Apple is obviously not afraid of Google. Otherwise it would never have sued HTC and other Google partners, and wouldn’t continue to be suing a wholly-owned Google subsidiary, Motorola Mobility.”

“Whatever the court will decide, it’s a very interesting question whether Samsung will agree to a license deal with Apple along the lines of the one accepted by HTC, especially now that Samsung sees how most of the terms of these deals may ultimately have to be shown in public. The Apple-HTC deal is very lopsided,” Mueller writes “There are no two-way payments: it’s all about HTC paying to Apple. The deal is under California law, and any arbitration proceedings would be under the auspices of the international division of the American Arbitration Association. HTC is not allowed to “clone” Apple’s products and features, but the agreement doesn’t limit Apple’s use of HTC’s patents. And various other details also reflect the fact that this was absolutely positively not a deal between equals.”

Much more in the full article – highly recommended – here.

MacDailyNews Take: Have a nice day, Samsung.

Apple-HTC terms are consistent with what Steve Jobs told Eric Schmidt and stated in public

“The public filing of the Apple-HTC license agreement, with the exception of its financial terms and a few details, is the most important smartphone patent news in the build-up to the Apple-Samsung injunction hearing,” Florian Mueller writes for FOSS Patents. “The first license deal ever to have become known between Apple and an Android device maker certainly raises the question of whether Apple’s current leadership has softened its stance compared to what the company’s iconic co-founder and two-term CEO, Steve Jobs, had in mind when he sued HTC in March 2010 (and two other Android device makers, Motorola and Samsung, within 13 months). Time and time again Apple’s adversaries have pointed courts to a passage in the biography authored by Walter Isaacson. Purportedly, Steve Jobs vowed to destroy Android because he considered it a stolen product, and said he was willing, if necessary, to spend all of Apple’s cash reserves on the pursuit of this cause. According to the book, he even declared himself prepared to wage ‘thermonuclear war.’”

“This reporting has led people to believe that Apple’s patent enforcement against Android was an emotional crusade more so than a smart business choice, and has made Apple appear to be a ruthless, anticompetitive aggressor,” Mueller writes. “I never believed any of that. In many interviews over the last 12 months I’ve urged reporters not to attribute to emotion what can be explained with strategic/competitive needs (differentiation vs. commoditization) and, especially, not to attach too much weight to what was, if authentic (which I obviously don’t know but which I’ll presume in the following for the sake of simplicity), merely a private comment and thus can’t be compared to public statements. In particular, comparing a private remark by Steve Jobs to public statements by his successor, Tim Cook, would be completely flawed and unlikely to lead to accurate conclusions.”

Mueller writes, “The different things Steve Jobs said must be weighted according to context. The logical starting point is not his biography but the press release with which Apple announced the HTC lawsuit in March 2010. It contains this Steve Jobs quote: ‘We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,’ said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. ‘”We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.’ There’s no contradiction between that statement and the published terms of the deal.”

Much more in the full article – very highly recommended – here.

MacDailyNews Take: The walls are slowly closing in on the serial patent- and trade dress-infringers; the Apple wannabes who’ll never be.

And none of your derivative Droids are going to be able shut down all the garbage compactors on the detention level, either. This is how the worm turns.

Ever so slowly the screws of justice grind, yet grind, they do. Tick-tock, slavish copiers. Tick-tock.

Related article:
Samsung files redacted copy of 'very lopsided' Apple-HTC deal in U.S. court; Distinctive Apple User Experience not for sale – December 6, 2012
Boom! Apple sues HTC for infringing on 20 iPhone patents – March 2, 2010

European Union has raised its voice to oppose more internet regulations, prior to the meeting of ITU at Dubai

Few days ago, European Union supported an open internet before the meeting of United Nations in order to update the regulations of telecom and internet. This happened for the first time in the 24 year history of European Union. A UN agency called The International Telecommunication Union will conduct a meeting in Dubai in the month of December to improve the treaty of Telecommunication Regulation. A number of countries and some of the private companies are seeking for the changes that the nations will see regarding the control of using internet in their countries.According to TechCrunch, the crucial thing here is to see that what else will be done other than writing down the things.

The focus of European Union will be on domain and firewall management. A battle is going on regarding the ways to manage the internet. According to European Union, internet works very well and it must stay open as it is a universal asset for everyone out there. The vice president of European Commission, Neelie Kroes said that the ITR treaty is a treaty of high level and therefore it worked.

The European Union has faced opposition from many groups which includes European Parliament, Center for Democracy and Technology, Internet Society etc.

Some countries are on the other side of this dispute and they want a stronger control over internet that is used for spreading the information. These countries are the same who raised the issue of firewall against the content of internet. China and Russia are one of them. Russia has proposed to ITU that the rights of regulating the operating agencies of internet should be given to the Member States.

Russia has recently put into operation its firewall that will block the contents that are harmful for children, but it has raised the question of press freedom since it blocks the full websites.

Both sides are trying their best to put forward their cases. It will be interesting to see that how much time does ITU takes to implement the decision after writing it down.

Related posts:

1. According to the Australian Court, Google is responsible for all the contents on internet
2. iPad 3 Review Was the Launch a Failure or Success
3. Foreign Office’s New App: Plan, Pack, Explore

UN Releases 'Calendar of Observances' App to Keep Track of International Days [iOS Blog]

The United Nations has released an app, created by three volunteers, to keep track of the United Nations observances such as World AIDS Day on December 1, or the International Day of Happiness on March 20th.

UN Calendar of Observances: Making a Difference allows users to import observances into the iPhone calendar and includes sharing options for email and social media.

The app is the electronic version of the print United Nations Making a Difference 2013 Calendar, which highlights areas of UN achievements through high-resolution photos and text bullets. The electronic version was developed - at no cost to the United Nations - by United Nations Online volunteers Christopher Bell (New Zealand), Aveline Sodji (Canada) and Andrew Thornton (United Kingdom), working with the UN Department of Public Information (DPI). DPI staff and interns created app-specific icons and provided development support.

"Working for the United Nations in any capacity is an honour, but doing so on a voluntary basis-even in this small way-seems to be the purest way to give back to an organization committed to world peace, development and human rights", said Mr. Thornton, the coordinator of the volunteers.

UN Calendar of Observances: Making a Difference is a free download on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Instagram CEO feels Twitter card removal is 'the correct thing for our business' but calls changes 'really confusing' to users

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom just took the stage at the LeWeb conference and is speaking directly to this morning's controversial change that removed Twitter card support. Right off the bat, Systrom made it clear that "we will always be integrated with Twitter in a way that you can tweet out from Instagram to Twitter," but he also acknowledged that the change is "really confusing" and offered his apologies to any confused users. Systrom also wanted to make it clear that the change wasn't due to Facebook policy; he said that "this isn't actually a consequence of us getting acquired."

Additionally, Systrom claimed that "we have a really good relationship with Twitter," despite recent evidence to the contrary — he specifically denied the...

Scientists engineer tiny, curved LCD that can be embedded within contact lenses

Scientists have developed a spherical LCD that's suitable for embedding in contact lenses. A prototype of the miniature curved display unveiled today shows a dollar sign; its creators say this a nod to the "many cartoons that feature people or figures with dollars in their eyes." Despite how simple that symbol may seem, it perfectly demonstrates the advantages offered by LCD technology compared to LED-based contact lenses that have come before. Researchers at The Centre of Microsystems Technology in Belgium have engineered the display so that its entire surface area can be pixelated.

As of now the scope is fairly limited — it's only capable of outputting "rudimentary" patterns similar to those you'd see on a pocket calculator. But...

Google Updates YouTube for iOS App, Adds iPad, AirPlay, iPhone 5 Support

Google has updated the YouTube for iOS app, adding native support for the iPad and the iPhone 5, as well as full support for streaming videos via AirPlay, reports The Next Web.

Google's Horia Ciurdar says that more than 25 percent of all YouTube watching happens on mobile. Since the launch of the YouTube app back in September, Ciurdar says Google has "been hard at work to improve the app based on your feedback."

Now the YouTube app will get 'enhanced' AirPlay support, letting you shoot your videos over to your Apple TV. Videos are also said to start faster and play more smoothly. Google has also improved VoiceOver support for those with visual impairments.

During the iOS 6 Beta, Apple removed the native YouTube app that had been included on every iOS device since the platform was introduced. Once iOS 6 was publicly announced, Google released a native YouTube app for the iPhone.

YouTube for iOS is available as a free download from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Qualcomm to invest up to $120 million in Sharp; help with development of IGZO display technology

“Qualcomm Inc will invest as much as $120 million in Sharp Corp, a cash injection likely to make it the struggling Japanese TV maker’s biggest shareholder, and to boost Sharp’s efforts to remain viable,” Reuters reports. “As part of the agreement Qualcomm, through its Pixtronix subsidiary, will work with Sharp – which supplies screens to Apple Inc for its latest iPhone – to develop new power-saving screens based on Sharp’s IGZO technology, Sharp said. The two firms will also consider collaborating in the fabrication of chipsets.”

“Sharp’s capital and business tie-up with the high-profile U.S. chipmaker may help reassure investors worried about the prospects of the debt-laden company that earlier this year averted failure with a $4.4 billion bank bailout,” Reuters reports. “‘With this agreement Sharp will accelerate its strategy for growth in small-to medium-sized LCDs,’ the Japanese company said. Sharp had been expected to make Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd its biggest shareholder, adding to an earlier agreement to sell the Taiwanese company a stake in its advanced television LCD panel plant in Sakai, western Japan. That agreement, however, unravelled as losses mounted at the maker of Aquos TVs.”

Reuters reports, “Talks with Hon Hai to renegotiate its investment have since stalled, but it may buy some of Sharp’s overseas TV assembly plants. The Sankei newspaper reported on Sunday that Hon Hai plans to purchase three factories in China, Malaysia and Mexico for $667 million.”

Read more in the full article here.

Why Is Steve Jobs Giving Me Sexy Eyes?

Ashton, you're making us all uncomfortable in this promo shot for Jobs: The Movie! You look like Steve Jobs, yeah, but I feel violated. No one remembers ol' Steve looking so smoldering in the real image that inspired this shot. Are you Punking us?

We'll know soon enough; Jobs premieres at Sundance in January. Meanwhile, just stare into these eyes without feeling like you need a shower. You can't, it's impossible. [Hollywood Reporter]

Image credit: Sundance

Dear Santa, This Retro Ariete Coffee Maker Please

This is a great Ariete coffee maker with an awesomely retro design. It would look even better under my Christmas tree.

The vintage-looking machine ($250 on Amazon) has a 15-bar pump, toggle switches, indicator lights, temperature controls, and a removable tank. It's flexible, too—you can make your espresso from either pods or grounds. The machine is just so good looking, and it's made by Italians, who have to know at least something about coffee. [Ariete via Appliancist]

Apple’s new iMac: Assembled in USA

“Your next Mac could be assembled in America. Apple is assembling at least some of the new, ultra-thin iMacs in the U.S.,” Matt Burns reports for TechCrunch.

“The backside stamp containing the serial code and FCC logo generally says ‘Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China,’” Burns reports. “But several owners of the new model quickly discovered their machines were made in the good ol' US of A.”

Burns reports, “Apple has long made its products in the U.S. Its Elk Grove, Calif., complex opened in 1992 and retrofitted from a distribution center into a manufacturing plant in 1995. During the iMac's heyday, it employed more than 1,500 people and pumped out computers seven days a week. The plant made its last computer in 2004 when then SVP of Worldwide Operations, Tim Cook, consolidated Apple's manufacturing in what would be a successful move to maximize efficiency and margins. The Sacramento Business Journal noticed in September that Elk Grove's workforce had grown 50 percent on the year. This could be the location of the iMac's secret manufacturing base.”

iMac. Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in USA.

Read more in the full article here.

Atari celebrates Pong’s 40th anniversary with an iOS app

Atari’s Pong “was officially released November 29, 1972, and was available for home gamers to purchase two years later,” Caitlin Mcgarry reports for PC World.

“Pong started the one game per quarter arcade standard that became widespread throughout the 1970s and 80s. Prior to Pong, games were three plays per quarter. At the peak of the games arcade dominance, more than 150,000 coin-operated Pong games were in circulation,” Mcgarry reports. “Pong catapulted Atari to success, and the company released its classic 2600 gaming system five years after Pongs debut. The rest is video game history.”

Mcgarry reports, “To celebrate the games anniversary, Atari on Thursday released a free iOS version of Pong called Pong World for a new generation of gamers [iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, iPad mini]. The app is a little more advanced than the 1972 version, with different settings and paddle upgrades, but the concept is the same. Atari chose indie game designer zGames as the winner in its Pong app contest.”

Read more in the full article here.

Get the free app via Apple’s iTunes App Store here: Pong World

Nokia Hired An Entire Orchestra Just To Put Out a Couple of Measly Ringtones

Nokia was looking at some of its numbers when somebody noticed that the popularity of classical music ringtones was pretty high, second most popular. So did they shrug this inane newes off with amused sighs and feeble "that's neat"s? Not at all. They went out and hired a whole 55-piece orchestra to whip up 25 more. Overkill maybe?

The orchestra was commissioned to perform and record 25 original 'miniatures' composed by Nokia's in-house 'sound designers'. Hopefully for all of us those aren't the same sound designers that were behind Nokia's god-awful dubstep ringtone remix. Some of the recordings are already rolling out to Lumia 820s and 920s, with some being saved for upcoming phones. All things considered, if this is what the people want, you can't fault Nokia for trying to give it to them, but it kind of makes you wonder, right? I mean, what have they got in store for the number one ,ost popular ringtone type? [The Telegraph]

Ferenc Szelepcsenyi / Shutterstock.com

These Pictures of NYC From a Bicycle's Perspective Are Beautiful

There are all kinds of ways to get great, clever pictures. You can strap your DSLR to the frame of your bike and get amazing angles at high speeds, for instance. That's what photographer Tom Olesnevich did with his project NYC By Bike" and the results are fantastic.

The pictures were taken with a Nikon D40 attached to the bike's frame with a GorillaPod and triggered with a remote, Olesnevich told PetaPixel. And it only fell off and almost got crushed by an semi once! Olesnevich is no stranger to angles like this, and man do they look fantastic. You can see more over at Tom's site. [Tom Olesnevich via PetaPixel]

Images by Tom Olesnevich, used with permission