A Texas company, Bluebonnet Telecommunications, is suing Apple for patent infringement in relation to call forwarding technology. Specifically Bluebonnet says that the iPhone 4S and 5 violate US Patent No. 5,485,511, a patent that previously belonged to Siemens Rolm Communications but was picked up by Bluebonnet in June 1996. The patent describes a phone communicating with a central switch to generate a list of options, which are then displayed for the phone's user.
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Despite slightly late adoption of the 802.11g standard, which had more to do with the hardware refresh product cycle than anything else, Apple has been on the forefront of wireless home networking. From the first failure-prone Airport base station with an Orinoco Gold PCMCIA card to the newest equipment with custom chipsets built for Apple, Cupertino has seen the value of Internet access not tethered by a cord. The latest effort is the Airport Extreme and Time Capsule 802.11ac model, which brings some advances to the line. Join us with this first look at the new networking peripheral from Apple.
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Nokia has effectively confirmed a large number of leaks for the Lumia EOS smartphone with a high-resolution 41-megapixel rear camera. A company blog post states that an event in New York on July 11th will have "41 million reasons" to attend or watch a live stream, matching the number engraved onto a leaked metal camera faceplate.
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LG Display has confirmed it is going to start mass production of flexible displays for mobile devices and industry. Executives from the company spoke about it creating flexible smartphone display panels for its largest clients from the fourth quarter this year, as well as a rapid need to create the bendable screens for display advertisements.
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4 hours ago | Posted in: gadgets
Cinema camera manufacturer Red has started shipping its 4K media player. Users of the Red User forum have started to receive their pre-orders of the Redray Player, which Red bills as a comprehensive media source for owners of Ultra HD televisions that is capable of playing back native 4K video, upscaled HD video, and the company's own 4K .Red file format.
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Apple has issued a v5.3 update for second- and third-generation Apple TVs. The new firmware adds support for several video services, most notably HBO Go, WatchESPN, and Sky News. Also included are Crunchyroll, which concentrates on anime and other Asian content, and Qello, which hosts concerts and music documentaries.
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Dish Network has halted its battle with Japanese carrier Softbank for Sprint, after failing to provide a final offer for a merger. The withdrawal now allows SoftBank to continue in its attempt to acquire Sprint, with a completion of the purchase likely to finish, thanks to Softbank upping its original $20 billion offer to $21.6 billion.
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Leaked schematics -- allegedly drawn by Apple, and now in the hands of a major accessory maker -- show the dimensions of the iPhone 5S and an "iPhone Lite/Light," according to AppleInsider. The 5S appears to maintain roughly the same design as its predecessor, but with a pill-shaped flash on the back that may fit dual LEDs. The iPhone Light plans match recent rumors and case production surrounding a low-cost iPhone. That includes details like a thicker body, and rounded edges.
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7 hours ago | Posted in: iPod, iPhone, iPad
Apple is considering LinkedIn integration for iOS 7, beta code references suggest. In particular the references hint that LinkedIn could be supported in the same manner as Facebook and Twitter, meaning single sign-in support, and the ability to quickly post content via a share sheet or hooks in iOS apps. Some essential code strings are missing though, preventing LinkedIn options from turning on in the current iOS 7 release.
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Siri is a feature that was unveiled with much fanfare during the iOS 5 launch two-years ago, bringing with it more fully featured voice actions to the iPhone. Although Siri has received a mixed reception from critics and users, Apple has continued to pursue the voice-controlled interface, giving it an all-new look and functional tweaks in the iOS 7 beta that help to refine the user experience. Has Apple done enough with the revisions in Siri to warrant a second look?
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8 hours ago | Posted in: industry
Netflix will be rolling out its streaming service to the Netherlands later this year. The new market, the first for the streaming service this year in Europe, joins already-operating versions in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, though it has yet to reveal an exact launch date, potential pricing, nor the contents of its launch catalog.
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Microsoft is working on a version of its Surface RT slate computer that uses a Qualcomm processor, according to a report. The change in chip comes at the same time as Microsoft drops the price of the tablet for educational users, in what appears to be a clear-out of current Surface RT stock ahead of a device refresh.
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Samsung has released another smartphone in the US, this time a budget offering through Virgin Mobile. The Galaxy Ring has a four-inch screen, which is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor clocked at 1.4GHz with 1GB of RAM, and despite being a low-cost device, it ships with Android 4.1 instead of the Android 4.0 that is usually provided.
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16 hours ago | Posted in: gaming
Sony has deployed a new firmware update for the PlayStation 3 console intended to improve system stability. Reports, however, are surfacing of some users who are unable to boot the updated console after the application of the patch, and restoring the console's file system has in those cases failed to fix the problem.
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Samsung Electronics today introduced the industry’s first Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled color laser printer and multi-function printers. The new Xpress C410W series allows users to print high quality photos and documents from their smartphones or from a computer wirelessly. The new printers consist of the C410W color laser printer, the C460W color laser MFPs with print, copy and scan functionality, and the C460FW color laser MFPs with print, copy, scan and fax capabilities.
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Marking a sea change in the company's plan, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang has declared that his company will license new graphics processing technologies to other companies, in addition to manufacturing the chips themselves. The new move is expected to help Nvidia capitalize on the industry shift to smartphones and tablets and achieve wider market penetration of its products.
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