Apple Ordered To Give Samsung Copy Of HTC Deal
In today’s mobile news roundup: Court orders Apple to reveal details of HTC deal to Samsung; B&N NOOK tablets arrive in the UK; and AT&T offers FaceTime over cellular to more subscribers.
Court orders Apple to reveal details of HTC deal to Samsung
A US judge has ordered Apple to produce “a full copy of the settlement agreement ‘without delay’, subject to an Attorneys-Eyes-Only designation,” after Samsung filed a motion to compel Apple to produce details of their HTC agreement. Samsung stated that if U.S. Patent no. 7,844,915, which refers to application programming interfaces for scrolling operations, and patent no. 7,469,381, which refers to “List scrolling and document translation, scaling, and rotation on a touchscreen display,” were included in the deal, it would void Apple’s previous claims that they do not license those patents to competitors.
When Apple and HTC agreed to drop their cases against each other and opted for a patent licensing deal, the spotlight quickly turned to Samsung. It was immediately assumed that Apple and Samsung would soon agree on a patent licensing deal too. But the South Korean giant was quick to refute this possibility, stating that they had no intention of entering a patent licensing agreement with the Cupertino giant.
Apple has yet to comment on the issue.
B&N NOOK tablets arrive in the UK
Barnes & Noble’s tablets, the NOOK HD and NOOK HD+, have officially arrived in the UK to rival the iPad. The tablets feature fully laminated screens with no air gaps that reduces glare and provides extra-wide viewing angles so using the tablets even in bright light is not an issue.
The NOOKs beats the iPad mini with 1440 x 900 pixel resolution, 243 PPI (pixels per inch), while the iPad mini is missing the Retina Display that Apple has been so proud of. Plus, the NOOK costs less than Apple’s offerings. The NOOK HD starts at £159 for the 8GB version and £189 for the 16GB version while the HD+ comes at 16GB for £229 and a 32GB for £269.
To learn more about the NOOK HD and HD+ features, click here.
AT&T offers FaceTime over cellular to more subscribers
In early November, AT&T finally gave in to consumer demands and said that it would include FaceTime use over cellular to consumers’ tiered plans. Aside from that, they offered FaceTime over cellular to deaf and hard of hearing customers who qualify for special text and data-only packages. But the offer was not for AT&T customers with unlimited data plans, or those with older versions of the Apple smartphone that are not on AT&T’s Mobile Share plan.
Now, AT&T customers who are using older iPhone versions, not on AT&T’s shared plans, and have unlimited data plans, are able to enjoy FaceTime via cellular.
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