HUA HIN, Thailand - Apple and Samsung
continued to wage their patents war in a US court
this week and it was the South Korean electronics
giant's turn to fire some salvoes at the world's
most valuable tech company in its defense.
The company called witnesses to testify
that the technology used on mobile devices such as
touch screens, zoom, and the ability to drag icons
across a screen, were all in use in the market
well before the Apple iPhone or iPad were
introduced.
Samsung is trying to turn the
tables on Apple and give it some of its own
medicine as it called a Harvard computer scientist
who told the jury that Apple infringed three
Samsung patent phone features: photo attachments
to email, bookmarking digital photos, and
background music during other functions. Another witness
produced a Hewlett
Packard TC1000 tablet, with a very similar design
to the iPad, that was introduced in 2002.
Arguments were put forth that design
patents for features such as flat screens, the
placement of the speakers or rounded corners are
so "functional" and "basic" that Apple has no
patent rights to them. Apple is seeking US$2.5
billion in damages for Samsung's alleged patent
infringement, it claims that Samsung sold 22.7
million smart-phones and tablets that infringe on
Apple patents, which generated $8.1 billion in
revenue.
It all appears to be a case of
sour grapes, or in this case sour Apples;
according to research firm Gartner, Samsung
increased its sales lead over Apple and all other
smartphone makers in the second quarter resulting
in a sales increase of almost 30% for the period.
The judge presiding over the case at the
US District Court for the Northern District of
California in San Jose, Lucy Koh, reportedly told
media, "I'm going to make one more request that
CEO's from both sides speak by phone. I see risks
here for both sides."
It was reportedly
suggested by the judge that the two tech companies
might want to settle the case as the testimony
shows that both might have infringed on each
other's patents.
The multi-million dollar
patent war was instigated by Apple in April 2011,
since then both companies have filed at least 30
lawsuits against each other in at least 12 courts,
nine countries, and four continents involving
smart-phone and tablet patents.
Samsung,
not to be perturbed, launched a new Galaxy Note
10.1 tablet in the US and United Kingdom this
week. The iPad-rivaling device has been renamed
and re-engineered so as not to fall foul of more
Apple litigation. It also boasts a higher
specification such as split screen, quad core
processor, more memory and a digital pen.
Social Facebook, in its efforts
to impress investors and follow Internet
juggernaut Google, has started testing a new
advertising model. It has gradually been
introducing ads to users by displaying them based
on personal preferences and what they "like", but
this model has proven disappointing in terms of
returns for the social network.
The new
system is more aggressive and will offer
businesses the chance to display their content as
news feeds on users' pages regardless of whether
those users have subscribed to them or not, or
clicked the "like" button. Companies will be able
to drop their prime content on to feeds on
smartphones and computers across the entire
network.
Facebook stated "We think this
will make it easier for businesses to reach more
people", which naturally it will. However, there
are hundreds of businesses that have already spent
thousands of dollars building up fan bases on
platform by buying "likes" to reach a targeted
audience.
This could be a dicey game for
the social giant, the digital carrot being the
promise of increased advertising revenue and the
stick being a potential loss of existing
advertisers and an increasingly disgruntled
membership that doesn't want to see their pages
filled with non-relevant and invasive advertising.
Facebook stock has plummeted 46% since its
May 17 initial public offering.
Internet Google swallowed up
another chuck of the online world this week when
it purchased travel brand Frommer's for around
US$25 million. The search giant's targets are
clear; it wants to start creating content in terms
of web-based travel reviews and make revenue from
online bookings. Its competition in this arena is
TripAdvisor.com, which does exactly that.
The Frommer's deal follows last year's
$151 million acquisition of Zagat Survey, whose
reviews and ratings of millions of hotels,
restaurants and businesses have since been
incorporated into Google+ listings. The company
intends to amalgamate the two properties, display
the information on Google Maps, and become the
trusted guide and booking agent for travel,
accommodation, and local business information.
Google already has its own flight booking
service following the $700 million 2010 buyout of
flight-data company ITA Software, which powers the
flight-booking tools of numerous websites.
The escalating concern from competitors
now is that Google will give preference to its own
web properties and enterprises above its rivals in
organic search results, this should also be a
concern for consumers unless they're happy with a
dwindling choice.
Martin J Young
is an Asia Times Online correspondent based in
Thailand.
(Copyright 2012 Asia Times
Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact us about sales, syndication and
republishing.)
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
