Apple & Samsung told to talk out their problems

The judge hearing the intellectual property case between Apple and Samsung has pleaded with the two firms to make one last attempt at reaching a settlement. Lucy Koh (pictured) warned both sides that letting a jury decide was effectively a crapshoot.

As we’ve previously covered, this is one of the rare cases where one of the numerous patent disputes in the smartphone and tablet industry has got as far as a full jury trial. It took on added significance with the recent publication of figures showing not only that Android and iOS now utterly dominate the smartphone market (with a combined share of 85 percent of all new sales), but that Samsung is a strong number one when it comes to individual manufacturers.

Having previously urged the two sides to settle before the case even began, Koh’s mood wasn’t improved by the start of the hearing. She ruled that Samsung should not be allowed to submit what it called key evidence because it had left it too late for Apple lawyers to get a fair shot at looking through it.

Samsung then mentioned this in a press statement and answered journalist questions by explaining exactly what evidence had been barred. Koh was reportedly “livid” about this as she believed jurors might read the press reports and make the barring of the evidence pointless, though Samsung argued that the documents involved had already been covered in the media.

The trial itself has seen the two sides stick to their stories as expected. Apple has mainly argued that devices such as the iPad and Galaxy Tab are so similar as to constitute a design violation. Samsung has countered with arguments that it started some of the design work before ever seeing the iPad and, for example, chose a 10.1″ screen because it offered the best balance of cost, portability and usability.

Koh has now told lawyers for both sides that she wants them to talk on the phone at least once to try to reach a deal before the jury begins deliberation. She warned that although each side had made its case, it could still be a gamble to let ordinary members of the public decide on intellectual property issues: “I see risks here for both sides.”

Her suggestion may not just be a well-meaning hope for both sides to get justice. Koh may instead have concluded that even if a jury renders a verdict, there’s a good shot the loser will simply take it to appeal and draw the often tedious process out even further.



OMG – Tardis Car [Pic]

It’s…it’s a Tardis Car. Someone please do this for real.

[by Pacta on worth1000 | Via NerdApproved]



Apple Does Fall Far in Mississippi

Mississippi residents are most likely to break an iPhone or iPad according to newly published figures.

The figures come from Square Trade, a company that offers extended warranty policies for electronic devices. They take population into account and represent the expected proportion of policyholders making an accidental damage claim over a two year period. The figures come from actual claims made by customers who have had the warrant for at least six months.

Though the company hasn’t published precise figures, Mississippi is the only state where the expected iPhone butterfinger rate exceeds 30 percent. The next five highest rates come in New Mexico, Rhode Island, North Dakota, South Carolina and Georgia, all falling between 25 and 30 percent.

On the iPad, Mississippi again leads from somewhere in the 30 to 35 percent range, followed by Nebraska (somewhere from 25 to 30 percent), DC (figure not given), New Hampshire and Alaska (20 to 25 percent).

Meanwhile Iowa appears to be home to the most careful owners: it’s the only state with a damage rate below 10 percent for iPhone, while Iowa and Montana are the only states in that range for iPads.

Perhaps inevitably there’s been online discussion (muchof it self-deprecating humor) trying to come up with personal reasons for the variations, the most offensive involving links to obesity rates and suggestions that greasy food leads to slippery fingers.

It is worth remembering though that these aren’t the actual damage rates among all owners, but rather the rate of claims made by policy holders. That could, for example, mean that Mississippi folk are simply more naturally cautious and likely to take out a policy. Another suggestion is that it’s a lower income state where Apple owners feel less able to take the risk of writing off a gadget, particularly given that the cost of repair means owners will often need to buy a replacement.

As with several similar previous SquareTrade surveys, it should be noted that these figures are useful as comparatives but not absolutes. The damage rate may well be higher among warranty holders than the entire population simply because clumsy folk are more likely to consider an insurance policy worthwhile.

We’re NASA and We Know It [Video]

This needs little explanation, beyond that it’s made by comedy group Satire. (And if their channel is evidence for it, this seems to be their first video! One to keep an eye on folks.)

[Via Neatorama]

Pretty Seaslug!

I’m struggling to figure out what fictional creature this very real seaslug looks like. Some sort of Pokemon perhaps? A robot creature from some game somewhere? My brain is failing me. Someone help me!

If you’re wondering, it’s actually a real creature: it goes by the name of “Glaucus atlanticus” (I’m loving the atlanticus part) and grows to a maximum size of 35mm. They generally float on the water in groups, staying at the surface by means of an air bubble they store in their gastric cavity. They’re pretty much ‘go with the flow’ creatures, though they can move towards their prey using their cerata (which are those wing-like things on the side).

These things are tiny little predators that hunt down jellyfish-like sea creatures like Portugese Man-o-wars (or “Physalia physalis”):

They actually store the nematocysts from their prey in the tips of their cerata as protection. You wouldn’t wanna go petting one of these babies – human can feel their sting so if ya see one, make sure it’s dead first!

[More information | Via I fucking love science]

 

Wireless Charging Laptops by Intel

Wireless charging was something that was often mentioned in my Electrodynamics lectures, but something that was far from practical yet.

Well Intel is ready to step up and push wireless charging into the future. While wireless charging has been used previously for charging smartphones (to what degree of success, perhaps some of our readers who have used the tech can comment?) but Intel is developing a system that will allow their new Ultrabooks to wirelessly charge on a platform that might even charge both your computer and smartphone at the same time.

Apparently the major selling point is that it will use low power consumption and it’s not too expensive. The engineers at Intel have apparently figured out how to integrate the transmitter and receiver into a single unit (not being an engineer myself, I’m not quite sure how significant this is, but it sounds rather compact).

These Ultrabooks are due to launch in the second half of 2013, so it’s some way off yet but that’s not really too far away.

What possibilities could you imagine for this tech? Being a recent student, I’m picturing lecture halls with built-in charging pads on the little desks, so that you can charge your computer as you take notes. Or making it so that under my desk you don’t see a big knot of the millions of cords that stream down towards my power board…I would definitely like to see this tech take off!

What was a cool suggestion from one of my lecturers when discussing wireless charging a few years ago, was to have an electric car that could wirelessly charge and then have your garage as a giant charging coil that charged your car while you slept at night. That would be cool, if the power required at the moment wasn’t so large that it wouldn’t be worth it. But a cool possibility if we perfect the technology, right? (A quick google search just turned up that the “Infinit Concept” cars are doing wireless charging via a pad!)

[Via Geek.com | Photo Credit]

Glued: Mothering a Video Game Addict [Video]

This tragic little story created by 3rd year animation students at Bezalel Academy of Arts is sorta heartbreaking really. It follows the tale of a mother who is going just a little bit insane as she tries to save her son from video game enslavement.

Pretty neat stuff for a first CG film, isn’t it? Want more? Check out their blog for behind-the-scenes content.

[via Vimeo]