Samsung moves to banish iPhone 4S from Italy, France

9to5 Staff

Remember how Samsung threatened to ban sales of Apple’s next iPhone the second it becomes official? They are keeping good on that promise by filing two separate motions for preliminary injunctions in Paris and Milan in an attempt to bar sales of the iPhone 4S in France and Italy. From Samsung’s corporate blog:

Samsung Electronics will file separate preliminary injunction motions in Paris, France and Milano, Italy on October 5 local time requesting the courts block the sale of Apple’s iPhone 4S in the respective markets.

Samsung’s preliminary injunction requests in France and Italy will each cite two patent infringements related to wireless telecommunications technology, specifically Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standards for 3G mobile handsets.

The infringed technology is essential to the reliable functioning of telecom networks and devices and Samsung believes that Apple’s violation as being too severe and that the iPhone 4S should be barred from sales.

Apple has continued to flagrantly violate our intellectual property rights and free ride on our technology. We believe it is now necessary to take legal action to protect our innovation.

Samsung plans to file preliminary injunctions in other countries after further review.

Cross-posted on 9to5Mac.com.

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Samsung downplays iPhone 4S, emails customers a convenient comparison chart

9to5 Staff

Talk about speeds and feeds.

Underwhelmed with Apple’s new iPhone 4S, but obviously viewing it as a potential threat, Samsung is luring undecided or perhaps disappointed fans into considering the Galaxy S II smartphone. The company has issued an email to customers, attaching a convenient comparison table that pits the features of the iPhone 4S against its own Galaxy S II device. On closer inspection, however, some of the entries in Samsung’s table raise eyebrows.

For example, Samsung is downplaying the importance of Siri by describing it as the ‘voice activation’ feature and comparing Siri to Vlingo, a free download from Android Market. While Vlingo is billed as the best personal assistant on Android, it isn’t as comprehensive or deeply integrated as Sir, which surprises with its conversational attitude and artificial intelligence features allowing it to learn from past interactions with the user.

Also, the Cameras section in Samsung’s tablet ignores the iPhone 4S’s enhanced camera system, which is based on Sony’s lens and the improved sensor from Omnivision. The iPhone 4S’s back camera has a fifth lens, the larger f/2.4 aperture, the backside illumination sensor, as well as face detection and video stabilization capabilities, none of which Samsung bothered to mention. Instead, they tout their admittedly superb Super AMOLED Plus display which is “preferred 2 to 1 against other leading displays by Strategy Analytics”, a 1.2GHz or 1.5GHz dual-core processor (versus the A5 chip in the iPhone 4S) and, of course, 4G networking supporting WiMax, HSPA+ 42 or HSPA+ 21 MBps.

Apple’s handset sports HSPA 14.4Mbps networking that marketing chief Phil Schiller said could file as 4G, but underscored Apple won’t follow in the footsteps of its rivals by misusing the term “4G”. Perhaps Apple’s decision was influenced by a new bill to force carriers to disclose real 4G speeds?

Samsung’s table also underscores the openness of Android allowing for multiple app stores, music stores and online services. Finally, they are still referring to the Galaxy SII as the thinnest smartphone despite losing out the title to iPhone 4 in the U.K., per last month’s ruling by the UK Advertising Standards Authority.

Go past the fold for the full speeds and feeds chart and Samsung’s email message in its entirety.

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Samsung teases Nexus Prime ahead of Mobile Unpacked event

Jordan Kahn

Samsung has just released the teaser video above showing what most people are assuming is our first official glimpse at the Nexus Prime. While there is no way to confirm for sure if this is the Prime, it’s pretty obvious leading up to the Mobile Unpacked conference where most expect Google and Samsung to unveil the device. The commercial also notes “Another perfect combination is just around the corner”, which is an obvious hint that Sammy and Goog have been working on something together.

For the most part the commercial (above) doesn’t actually show off a device, but we do get a quick glimpse at the end showing what appears to be a smartphone with a curved display. There are also some noticeable pin connectors shown on the side, which could possibly be for a dock of sorts.

Below is a freeze frame from the video showing the curved display. Of course the blue accent line accompanying the device in the video probably makes the curve seem a little more exaggerated than it actually is.

We’ll be bringing you updates as they happen from Samsung’s Mobile Unpacked 2011 event on October 11th.
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Samsung Nexus Prime images leak ahead of unveiling

Jordan Kahn

GSMArena has just posted an image of what they claim is the first spy shot of the Samsung Nexus Prime, the next-gen pure Google phone expected to be unveiled at Mobile Unpacked on October 11th.

What we learn from the image confirms some of the rumored specs we’ve already told you about. You can see the 720p resolution and 320 ppi of the 4.6-inch Super AMOLED display. Even looking at the text in this blurry spy shot you can get a feel for the quality of the display. As GSMArena puts it, the letters look almost as if they are “printed on paper”.

We can also confirm the front of the device doesn’t appear to have any physical, hardware buttons, rather three onscreen buttons mimicking the look of typical Android hardware buttons. This is of course due to Ice Cream Sandwich, which doesn’t require physical buttons for navigation.

We’ll be bringing you all the official updates on October 11 when Samsung and Google take the stage at the Mobile Unpacked conference.
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Adobe Flash Player 11 for Android hits Market

Jordan Kahn

Flash Player 11 has just landed on the Android Market, bringing with it a potentially “new class of gaming and premium video experiences” thanks to hardware accelerated 3D and 2D graphics. This gives devs the ability to create console-quality games on mobile devices and as you can see in the video above, the early results are pretty impressive.

Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 take these even further by introducing Stage 3D, a new architecture for hardware accelerated graphics rendering that delivers 1000x faster rendering performance over Flash Player 10. It enables new classes of console-quality games and immersive apps, such as Tanki Online and Zombie Tycoon (see videos below). Stage 3D enables content that efficiently animate millions of objects on screen, smoothly rendered at 60 frames per second — the result is fluid, cinematic app and game experiences.

Other features now supported by Flash Player 11 include HD video conferencing, theatre-quality HD video, and native 64-bit optimizations. Adobe’s Flash Platform Blog has the full breakdown.

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Apple rejects Samsung’s offer to remove some Galaxy Tab 10.1 features in Australia

9to5 Staff

Apple today before a Sydney court rejected Samsung’s seemingly practical proposal calling for the removal of certain Galaxy Tab 10.1 capabilities in exchange for a smooth tablet launch in Australia. Samsung reportedly agreed to take out the feature which ignores unintended touches on the home screen to prevent apps from being launched accidentally. Apple, it appears, instead wants a definite ruling on a temporary Galaxy Tab 10.1 injunction, which should be expected later this week.

If the court sides with Samsung, it gets to launch its iPad rival in Australia in time for Christmas. If not, the case drags out into another year, possibly without a clear winner in sight. Remember, Samsung threatened to ban sales of the new iPhone in Korea the instant it launches. Apple is scheduled to unveil their next iPhone at a media event today in the Cupertino headquarters at 1pm ET, 10am PT. The event is headlined under the “Let’s talk iPhone” tagline, suggesting that the rumored Assistant feature will be in the focus, among other things.

Lawyers for the Cupertino, California-based Apple insist the Galaxy Tab 10.1 “is vastly the one that is going to be targeting the iPad 2″. According to Reuters, Apple lawyer Steven Burley made it clear that “the main reason we are here is to prevent the launch and maintain the status quo”. Note: The Wall Street Journal provides a live blog of today’s court hearing. Such a legal maneuvering on the part of the iPhone maker suggests that Apple isn’t interested in settling its dispute with Samsung out of the court unless, of course, unexpected legal setbacks arise.

This is the second blow in two weeks to Samsung’s efforts to make peace with Apple, its largest buyer of components such as NAND flash chips, custom-designed iPhone processors and displays.

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