Apple Sues Samsung Over Tablets, Smart Phones

Apple is suing Samsung, alleging the Galaxy line of phones and tablets infringe on a number of the company’s patents and trademarks.

The suit, filed on Friday in U.S. District Court in Northern California, alleges patent and trademark infringement, as well as unfair competition. Apple is seeking injunctions, actual damages and punitive damages, as well as a finding that the alleged infringement was willful

The smartphone industry is filled with patent actions, including an ongoing battle between Apple and Nokia, suits between Microsoft and Motorola, as well as a suit by Oracle against Google. See this, for example.

Apple Sues Samsung, Saying Galaxy Phones and Tablets Too Close To iPad and iPhone Design | Ina Fried | Mobilized | AllThingsD

RIM Trying to Get Nortel LTE Patents Google Wants?

Research in Motion is weighing a bid of its own for a patent portfolio covering Long Term Evolution, among other wireless technology patents owned by Nortel, that Google already has bid $900 million for, Bloomberg reports.

RIM apparently wants to keep the intellectual property out Google's control. The 6,000 Nortel patents and patent applications appear to cover the important LTE platform and wireless video.

A group of technology companies, including mobile-phone makers, may also bid on the patents to stop Google, Bloomberg reports.

There apparently is concern Google could gain too much influence, and possibly revenue streams, over other handset manufacturers using any of the protected property. Also, ownership of patent portfolios often is used as a defense from the endemic patent fights technology firms seem to launch at rivals these days.

RIM Said Weighing Bid to Top Google Offer for Nortel Patents - Bloomberg

Twitter in Talks to Buy TweetDeck

Twitter is in advanced talks to buy TweetDeck Inc. for around $50 million, the Wall Street Journal reports.

TweetDeck is a popular third-party application programs that help Twitter users view and manage their tweets. TweetDeck has emerged as a favorite of heavy users of Twitter, letting people track tweets about multiple topics at the same time. The program, which many people download and use on their desktop computers, also lets people write tweets longer than 140 characters, among other features.

Twitter has encountered some static recently because developers fear Twitter now wants to clamp down on third-party apps that compete with features Twitter believes should be a core part of Twitter itself.

Google has encountered somewhat similar issues recently over new releases of Android, which some developers say Google develops in "too closed" a manner.

Twitter in Talks to Buy TweetDeck - WSJ.com

HP TouchPad to Feature Music and Video Streaming

HP's new "TouchPad" tablet will come with a music syncing solution, using cloud servers to sync and remotely store music. The music app also will ensure that the music the user is most likely to listen to is cached locally on the device.

The service reportedly also will allow TouchPad owners to stream music that they don’t yet own, and might also support streaming of music to HP smart phones.

None of that is too surprising, given the heavy content consumption use tablets get. 

TouchPad to include smart-caching cloud-based music syncing, video store

Verizon to Announce Additional 4G LTE Cities This Week

Verizon Wireless earlier this year identified 59 markets that will 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network service by the end of 2011.

These newly named areas, added to the 39 initial markets launched in December 2010 and 49 markets announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2011, mean that consumers and businesses in at least 147 U.S. cities will have access to the fastest, most advanced 4G mobile network in America.

We are told to watch for the latest set of cities with service on April 21, 2011. http://twitter.com/VerizonWireless/status/59968063570837504

Verizon Announces Additional 4G LTE Cities for 2011, 145 Markets by the End of the Year

Verizon Simplifies DSL-Based Broadband Pricing, Eliminates Contracts

New Verizon broadband access customers now can buy copper-based service without a contract, and the packaging is a standard offer, not a promotion. The simplified new approach features just two double-play pricing tiers. Note that the offers require buying Verizon's voice service as well.

The first tier offers speeds between 500 kbps to 1 Mbps.  The second tier features the highest optimized speeds that customers qualify for. Those speeds will range between 1.1 Mbps and 15 Mbps, depending on distance from a DSL access multiplexer and the condition of the access wire.

Verizon’s "Enhanced High Speed Internet" bundle costs $59.99 per month.

The "basic HSI bundle" costs $34.99 per month. Verizon offers triple play offers with both access options. The DirecTV portion of the triple play does require a two-year contract, but comes with discounted service for the first year.

Consumers who order a bundle online will save $5 per month and receive a free wireless router.  Consumers who order stand-alone HSI service online can also save $5 per month, lowering the basic HSI offer to $14.99 per month with a qualifying voice package, Verizon says.

All bundles feature up to four gigabytes of online storage, nine email accounts per household, 10 megabytes of personal Web space to accommodate a blog or a web page.

Additionally, customers who order an Enhanced HSI bundle have access to Verizon Wi-Fi at no additional charge, allowing them to connect to Wi-Fi hot spots offering access in airports, hotels, bookstores, coffee shops and more.

read more here

Business Use of Email, Desk Phones Dropping

Business use of email and desktop phones seems to be declining, a new survey suggests. Only 35 percent of workers expect to use email more in the future compared to last year, while  use of office landline phones is also likely to decline by about eight percent, a new study by GigaOm Pro suggests. 


The survey also suggests that alternative workplace forms of communication, including texting, mobile phones, social networks, video communications and instant messaging are growing. 

Those are a few of the important conclusions one might draw from a recent online study of 1,000 technology-empowered workers in the United States,  exploring the rise of new communication tools in the workplace, conducted by GigaOm, and sponsored by Skype. 

See more here: study.