Today’s mobile news roundup: Motorola acquires Viewdle; Apple Geniuses to fix Maps kerfuffle; and Samsung Galaxy SIII sales not affected by court ruling or iPhone 5.

Motorola acquires Viewdle

Motorola Mobility announced that they have acquired the imaging & gesture recognition company Viewdle.  The announcement comes after weeks of rumors that Google was acquiring the company.  Turns out, it was Google-owned Motorola who bought it.

“Motorola Mobility today announced that it has acquired Viewdle, a leading imaging & gesture recognition company,” said.  “Motorola and Viewdle have an existing commercial agreement and have been collaborating for some time. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.”

Details of the acquisition haven’t been disclosed, but the price tag is estimated at around $30-45 million.  Viewdle’s technology may be used by Motorola in their future devices, or Google may use it on Google+ to help users tag photos.

Apple Geniuses to fix Maps kerfuffle

When Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted the flaw in their Maps app and apologized for giving people an awful maps application, he mentioned that they’re doing their best to iron things out and it would be great if iPhone 5 and iOS 6 users would report Maps problems so they can all work together to make it better.  Who would have thought that the blue-shirted Geniuses at Apple retail stores would be the ones doing the Maps correcting?

Apple Store watcher Gary Allen tweeted, “So far it’s voluntary: Apple retail store managers are asking store employees to report iOS 6 Maps app errors to help improve the database.”

So if you’re at an Apple Store and you think these Geniuses are ignoring you, they might just be busy reporting corrections Maps.

Samsung Galaxy SIII sales not affected by court ruling or iPhone 5

When a US court sided with Apple in a patent lawsuit against Samsung, many expected sales for the South Korean manufacturer’s flagship devices would plummet.  It also didn’t help that soon after they lost in court, Apple launched the iPhone 5.  But Samsung’s proven otherwise.

According to mobile-app analytics firm Localytics, sales of the Galaxy SIII have seen an average weekly growth rate of 9 percent, even after the verdict and the launch of the iPhone 5.

The increase in sales after the verdict may be attributed to the following reasons: consumers thought that the devices would be banned from being sold in the US so they rushed to get it; since the device was perceived similar to the iPhone, consumers settled for the SIII; people didn’t agree with courts that Samsung copied Apple and that the Galaxy SIII is better than the iPhone; people were disappointed with the iPhone 5 and opted for the Galaxy SIII.