Displaying items by tag: Samsung

We wondered when this would start happening, but Microsoft’s decision to compete against their own partners has had its first casualty. It seems that after the Surface was announced last night LG has decided to stop working on new tablets for the foreseeable future. Is this decision in response to having to compete with Microsoft or a decision that is based on LG’s poor sales in the market?

The tablet and smartphone market is exploding there is no doubt about that. Although Apple was the first to market with a widely accepted consumer product in the iPad they were not the first and are certainly not going to the be last with a device. The same goes for the smart phone where other companies had the idea of a smart phone long before Apple brought the iPhone out on stage. Still we will not argue that Apple did help pave the way for the boom that is coming.

Yesterday we talked about a finding posted by the US Federal Trade Commission and sent to the US International Trade Commission on how product bans hurt consumers. Although the finding by the FTC was geared toward standards essential patents it also could be argued that any product ban is harmful to consumers unless the product in question was an outright copy. The comment was aimed at Apple and their pattern of filing for broad patents to ensure they have ammunition against competition.

We have heard through numerous sources that the when the Samsung S III Galaxy hits the US it will be hobbled. This move by Samsung to offer a smart phone to the US with a reduced set of specification is something that will hurt them in the long run. Although many claim that there is no need for a quad core SoC inside the product and that it can get along perfectly well with the dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon that will eventually reside in the US based version of the phone it will set a tone with consumers.

In other Google news, the advertising giant is now the proud owner of a maker of smart (and dumb) phones. The buyout of Motorola Mobility finished today with the replacement of the former CEO with Google Americas President Dennis Woodside (Dennis there’s some lovely filth over here). The former Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha is stepping down and will leave the company after a short transition period. This is not an unusual situation and it is very common for the purchasing company to replace the top person at the very least.

Although Samsung has officially mocked the lack of choice that you get with Apple and has made statement and insinuations that Apple is a closed company it sure seems that they are not above the same behavior themselves when it comes to their own phones and services. Lately the internet has been buzzing with talk about their new Galaxy S III phone.

Two more pieces of the puzzle are falling into place with the move away from silicon in microprocessors. Silicon has been the mainstay for creating processors for… well for a very long time. However, it has its limitations as the need to make the transistors smaller continues to increase. Even if you are not a believer in More’s Law you still cannot get around the fact that processors (GPU CPU and “other”) are all growing more complex. This means that the number of components continues to grow and we are faced with a couple of choices; either die in the vacuum of space or… no wait that is someone else. The choices are actually very clear; make the processor dies larger and larger or shrink the manufacturing process.

Now one thing I do love is irony. Call it a little dark pleasure of mine. I do enjoy it when a larger company (one that might be a tab abusive) finds themselves following when they claim to be leading. I also enjoy it when these same companies (no matter who they are) find themselves caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Unfortunately I am talking about Apple again. This time from a purely speculative point though.

There are some things that just should not be allowed. One of them is a judge should never, ever have the power to remove a person or company’s right to defend themselves. Unfortunately that is what has happened one of the lawsuits between Apple and Samsung. You see Samsung has not produced code requested by Apple. This was a request that the judge allowed and ordered Samsung to produce. As we mentioned before, Samsung refused, but we have a feeling they did not expect to receive the consequences that came with it.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the patent waters Samsung and Apple are back at it again. This is only days after the two company’s CEOs have agreed to sit down to try and work things out. We would love to be present for that meeting though. Still it does not look like these two mobile giants will be getting along anytime soon. What makes the situation even more interesting is that Samsung is a major supplier of parts for many of Apple’s products (and helped to make the SoC that is inside Apple’s iDevices).