Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Reuters: Technology News: China share market fall partly due to panic: regulator

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China share market fall partly due to panic: regulator
Aug 1st 2012, 01:34

SHANGHAI | Tue Jul 31, 2012 9:34pm EDT

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The fall in China's stock markets, which saw the Shanghai index slumping to a 3-1/2-year low, is partly driven by panic, the country's securities regulator said, adding that pessimism over a slowdown in the domestic economy may have been overdone.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said Chinese stocks still have very good investment value, with the average dividend rate rising in recent years to be nearly on par with those in developed markets, state-run Xinhua reported late on Tuesday, citing an unidentified official from the commission.

The comments mark Beijing's latest efforts to boost investor confidence as worries about economic slowdown have roiled share markets.

The large-cap focused CSI300 index of companies in Shanghai and Shenzen as well as the Shanghai Composite fell more than 5 percent in July, bringing their losses to more than 11 percent since the beginning of June despite two interest rate cuts and steps from Beijing to boost investor confidence.

The CSRC official also encouraged listed companies with strong capital to buy back their shares.

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Reuters: Technology News: Apple designer: iPhone crafters are "maniacal"

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Apple designer: iPhone crafters are "maniacal"
Aug 1st 2012, 00:57

Apple attorney Harold McElhinny (L) questions Apple designer Christopher Stringer in this court sketch during a high profile trial between Samsung and Apple in San Jose, California July 31, 2012. REUTERS/Vicki Behringer

Apple attorney Harold McElhinny (L) questions Apple designer Christopher Stringer in this court sketch during a high profile trial between Samsung and Apple in San Jose, California July 31, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Vicki Behringer

By Poornima Gupta and Dan Levine

SAN JOSE, California | Tue Jul 31, 2012 8:57pm EDT

SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - Apple Inc's celebrated industrial design team is a group of around 16 "maniacal" individuals from all over the world who spend a lot of time brainstorming around a kitchen table.

The world's most valuable technology corporation on Tuesday allowed a rare glimpse into a zealously guarded internal hardware design process that has produced some of the world's most celebrated consumer electronics.

In a high-profile U.S. patent infringement trial against Samsung Electronics Co Ltd that began this week, it called 17-year Apple design veteran Christopher Stringer as its first witness.

Stringer looked every inch the designer with his shoulder-length hair, salt-and-pepper beard, wearing an off-white suit with a narrow black tie.

"Our role is to imagine products that don't exist and guide them to life," he told the jury.

Apple's products -- particularly the seminal iPhone -- are held in high regard throughout the industry. The gadget that revolutionized the smartphone industry is prominently displayed in the avant-garde San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

The company, which is accusing its South Korean arch-foe of stealing iPhone and iPad design and features, owes a debt to creative guru Jonathan Ive and his cadre of designers assembled from Britain, Australia, the United States, Japan, Germany over more than a decade.

Stringer said Apple's group of 15 to 16 industrial designers -- headed by the British-born and recently knighted Ive -- work on all of the company's products and dedicate time every week to discuss them, mostly at the kitchen table.

That's where the group is "most comfortable," he said.

Ive's team leads works out of a large, open studio on Apple's campus in Cupertino, California, with music blaring through a giant sound system and access strictly limited to a small portion of employees, according to a 2006 profile of Ive in Business Week.

BRAINSTORMING

Most of the team have worked side-by-side for 15 to 20 years, said Stringer, who has "hundreds" of design patents to his name.

"We have been together for an awfully long time," Stringer said. "We are a pretty maniacal group of people. We obsess over details."

Over the years, the team earned a reputation for blending the aesthetically appealing with the functional. Stringer worked on the original iPhone -- internally codenamed M-68 -- and almost all of Apple's mobile products.

Once a product design idea is solidified through a brainstorming session, the design team sketches those ideas and models it through a Computer Aided Design process.

The design team doesn't follow a linear creative process from idea to sketch, model and then to engineered demo, Stringer said. Developed concepts will be scrapped if a better idea comes along, he said.

"We are always doubting. We are always questioning."

Stringer listed some of the manufacturing problems for the original iPhone, from putting glass in close proximity to hardened steel to cutting holes in the glass.

"People thought we were crazy," he said.

(Editing by Paul Tait)

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Reuters: Technology News: Apple, Samsung launch salvos as smartphone trial heats up

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Apple, Samsung launch salvos as smartphone trial heats up
Aug 1st 2012, 00:54

An employee of South Korean mobile carrier KT holds an Apple Inc's iPhone 4 (L) smartphone and a Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S II smartphone as he poses for photographs at a registration desk at KT's headquarters in Seoul, August 25, 2011. REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak

1 of 3. An employee of South Korean mobile carrier KT holds an Apple Inc's iPhone 4 (L) smartphone and a Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S II smartphone as he poses for photographs at a registration desk at KT's headquarters in Seoul, August 25, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Jo Yong-Hak

By Dan Levine and Poornima Gupta

SAN JOSE, California | Tue Jul 31, 2012 8:46pm EDT

SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd told jurors that its products are not copycats of Apple Inc's iPhone but rather an example of legitimate American-style competition from the South Korean company.

Lawyers for both tech giants faced off on Tuesday for opening statements in the highly anticipated U.S. patent trial, where Apple has accused Samsung of stealing iPhone features like scrolling and multi-touch.

The stakes are high: Apple is being tested on its worldwide patent strategy against Google's Android operating system, while Samsung faces the threat of sales bans on its Galaxy line of phones and tablets.

Apple attorney Harold McElhinny said Samsung's own internal product analyses show it deliberately chose to rip off the iPhone, but Samsung lawyer Charles Verhoeven said all companies produce such documents.

"It's called competition," Verhoeven said. "That's what we do in America."

The world's largest consumer electronics corporations have been waging legal war around the world, accusing each other of patent violations as they vie for supremacy in a fast-growing market for mobile devices. They sell over half of the world's smartphones.

The legal fight began last year when Apple sued Samsung in a San Jose, California, federal court, accusing the South Korean company of slavishly copying the iPhone and iPad. Samsung countersued.

The federal courtroom in San Jose, California was jammed on Tuesday with lawyers and reporters, with more spilling into an overflow room next door equipped with a video feed. Both companies relied on slides featuring various phone models, internal emails and news reports to make their points.

Apple attorney Harold McElhinny showed slides that featured old Samsung phones from 2006 and compared it to the Korean company's newer smartphones from 2010.

The key question, McElhinny said, would be how Samsung moved from the old phones to "these phones." And even though Apple is a successful company, he said, it must defend its rights when someone steals their property.

"Artists don't laugh that often when people steal their designs," McElhinny said.

Samsung has sold 22.7 million smartphones and tablets in the U.S., reaping $8.16 billion in revenue, he said. Apple is seeking damages of over $2.5 billion.

Samsung's Verhoeven countered that many iPhone features, like its popular minimalist design, had already been thought up by others before its release.

"Samsung is not some copyist, some Johnny-come-lately doing knockoffs," he told the jurors.

Verhoeven added: "There's a distinction between commercial success and inventing something."

McElhinny showed jurors an internal Samsung product analysis which said the iPhone's hardware was "easy to copy." Verhoeven said Samsung's analyses were what all companies do in the smartphone industry, including Apple.

Before opening statements began on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh dismissed one of the jurors, a woman who works as an insurance agent. The woman said her employer would not pay her salary during jury service.

The nine member jury is now made up of seven men and two women.

The South Korean company has also leveled claims against Apple on five of Samsung's own patents. Another Apple attorney, Bill Lee, said those only came up after Apple began demanding that Samsung stop copying Apple's products.

Verhoeven noted that Apple is one of Samsung's biggest customers for smartphone components.

"Samsung isn't in the habit of suing its business partners, even if it could," he said.

Overall, Apple's McElhinny said Apple has a unique vision that technology should be about much more than just functionality.

"The evidence will be that Apple has made that vision a reality," he said, "so much that it really is hard to remember what phones looked like before."

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, is Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, No. 11-1846.

(Reporting by Dan Levine and Poornima Gupta; Editing by Tim Dobbyn, Richard Chang and Phil Berlowitz)

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Reuters: Technology News: Zynga hit by twin lawsuits after stock carnage

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Zynga hit by twin lawsuits after stock carnage
Aug 1st 2012, 00:33

Kostadis Roussos, chief engineer of Zynga, speaks during the Zynga Unleashed event at the company's headquarters in San Francisco, California June 26, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Stephen Lam

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Reuters: Technology News: Google delays widely-panned "Nexus Q" orb gadget

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Google delays widely-panned "Nexus Q" orb gadget
Jul 31st 2012, 22:59

Executive Chairman of Google Eric Schmidt talks about the Nexus Q at the Allen & Co Media Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho July 12, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Jim Urquhart

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Reuters: Technology News: Google acquires social ad start-up Wildfire

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Google acquires social ad start-up Wildfire
Jul 31st 2012, 19:25

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A woman walks past the Google Chicago headquarters logo in Chicago, March 20, 2012. REUTERS/Jim Young

A woman walks past the Google Chicago headquarters logo in Chicago, March 20, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Jim Young

By Alistair Barr

Tue Jul 31, 2012 2:57pm EDT

(Reuters) - Google Inc said on Tuesday it acquired marketing start-up Wildfire to help the world's largest Internet search company expand further into social media.

Wildfire provides software that links to Facebook Inc, Twitter, LinkedIn Corp and other social networks, allowing customers to manage their online brand and presence. Clients include Sony Corp and Amazon.com Inc.

Google and Wildfire did not disclose a purchase price. All Things D reported that Google paid about $250 million for the business.

(Reporting By Alistair Barr; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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Reuters: Technology News: Twitter reinstates British journalist after outcry

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Twitter reinstates British journalist after outcry
Jul 31st 2012, 19:42

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A Twitter page is displayed on a laptop computer in Los Angeles October 13, 2009. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

A Twitter page is displayed on a laptop computer in Los Angeles October 13, 2009.

Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

By Gerry Shih and Matthew Keys

SAN FRANCISCO | Tue Jul 31, 2012 3:42pm EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Twitter Inc reinstated a British journalist's account on Tuesday after an outcry over his suspension for posting an NBC-Universal executive's email address on the service threatened to tarnish the company's reputation.

Twitter banned Guy Adams, a Los Angeles correspondent for The Independent newspaper, on Monday after he tweeted the work email address of NBC's Olympics division president Gary Zenkel.

Adams violated Twitter's privacy policy, which prohibits users from revealing other users' private information, according to an email that Adams said he received from Twitter. The suspension provoked scorn from journalists and other Twitter users, who accused the service of being heavy handed.

Twitter has tried to use the Olympics to present itself as a "second screen" that offers interesting chatter to complement television broadcasts. It recently signed a non-financial partnership deal with NBC, which is owned by Comcast Corp , to curate Olympics-related tweets.

NBC Sports said on Tuesday that it had rescinded its complaint about Adams's tweet.

"Our interest was in protecting our executive, not suspending the user from Twitter," said an email provided by NBC Sports spokesman Chris McCloskey. "We didn't initially understand the repercussions of our complaint, but now that we do, we have rescinded it."

Earlier on Tuesday, the Daily Telegraph reported that McCloskey said Twitter told the network about Adams's tweets, which were consistently critical of the network.

NBC declined to comment on McCloskey's remarks to the Telegraph.

Twitter did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

(Editing by Robert MacMillan; Editing by Andrew Hay)

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Reuters: Technology News: FTC votes to penalize Google $22.5 million for Safari cookies

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FTC votes to penalize Google $22.5 million for Safari cookies
Jul 31st 2012, 19:46

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A woman walks past the Google Chicago headquarters logo in Chicago, March 20, 2012. REUTERS/Jim Young

A woman walks past the Google Chicago headquarters logo in Chicago, March 20, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Jim Young

WASHINGTON | Tue Jul 31, 2012 3:46pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Regulators will require Google Inc to pay a civil penalty of $22.5 million to settle charges that it bypassed the privacy settings of customers using Apple Inc's Safari browser, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Members of the Federal Trade Commission voted to approve a consent decree that will allow Google to settle the agency's investigation but admit no liability, said one of the sources, who was not authorized to speak on the record.

An official announcement is expected within days, the second source said.

(Reporting By Diane Bartz; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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Reuters: Technology News: Microsoft relaunches Hotmail as social-friendly Outlook

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Microsoft relaunches Hotmail as social-friendly Outlook
Jul 31st 2012, 16:09

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A screengrab shows the new version of Hotmail that Microsoft unveiled on July 31, 2012. REUTERS/Handout

A screengrab shows the new version of Hotmail that Microsoft unveiled on July 31, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Handout

SEATTLE | Tue Jul 31, 2012 12:09pm EDT

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp unveiled a revamped, Facebook-friendly version of its free, online email service on Tuesday in an attempt to reverse market share losses to Google Inc's fast-growing Gmail.

From Tuesday, Microsoft is renaming its Hotmail service Outlook, giving it a sharp new look, social network links, and new features for handling the tide of junk and mass mail that swamps many users.

Microsoft's Hotmail was still the world's largest online mail service as of June, according to the latest comScore figures available, with 324 million users, or about 36 percent of the global market.

But it is losing customers to Google's Gmail, the fastest-growing rival, which now has about 31 percent of the market. Yahoo Mail is static with about 32 percent.

In a bid to recapture growth, Microsoft is renaming the service Outlook, a name familiar to most corporate workers who use Microsoft's Office email application, and sprucing up the whole experience.

The new look is clean and uncluttered, foregrounding white space, reminiscent of Google's recent makeover of Gmail. Relatively unobtrusive advertisements appear in a column to the right of the screen when looking at folders. They do not appear when looking at a message.

Users can link up with their Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ accounts, to see the latest updates from friends and contacts. Online chat is available via Facebook.

Newsletters, offers, daily deals and social updates make up over 80 percent of a typical inbox, according to Microsoft's own research. To help combat that overflow, the new service automatically detects mass messages and puts them in separate folders. A user can customize the process to sort mail any way they want to.

The new mail service also allows easy use of Microsoft's Internet-based products, such as SkyDrive for storing documents, Office Web Apps for working away from a PC, and will eventually have Skype video chat built in. Users can access the service at www.outlook.com.

(Reporting By Bill Rigby; editing by M.D. Golan)

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Reuters: Technology News: Law firm accuses Zynga of failing to disclose key data

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Law firm accuses Zynga of failing to disclose key data
Jul 31st 2012, 15:58

SAN FRANCISCO | Tue Jul 31, 2012 11:58am EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A California law firm sued Zynga Inc, accusing the game publisher of failing to disclose a rapid decline in users and revenue.

The social gaming giant behind "Farmville" and a plethora of other Facebook games last week stunned Wall Street by reporting quarterly results well below expectations and slashing its 2012 revenue forecast. Its stock plummeted 42 percent to a record low and analysts cut their recommendations on the stock.

Zynga's results also cast a pall over Facebook Inc because the No. 1 social network relies on Zynga for roughly 15 percent of its revenue.

In its lawsuit, the law firm Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP accused Zynga of concealing declines in users and the sale of virtual goods, the company's prime revenue source.

In its filing, submitted late on Monday, the San Francisco law firm sought class-action status for its lawsuit.

Zynga could not be immediately reached for comment on Tuesday.

Its shares fell 3 percent to $2.91 in morning trading.

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Reuters: Technology News: Apple may be considering stock split: Bernstein

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Apple may be considering stock split: Bernstein
Jul 31st 2012, 14:17

Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook takes the stage during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2012 in San Francisco, California June 11, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Stephen Lam

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Reuters: Technology News: Japan's Toshiba first-quarter profit jumps 178 percent

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Japan's Toshiba first-quarter profit jumps 178 percent
Jul 31st 2012, 06:23

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The logo of Toshiba Corp is seen at the company's news conference venue in Tokyo May 17, 2012. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao

The logo of Toshiba Corp is seen at the company's news conference venue in Tokyo May 17, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Yuriko Nakao

By Mari Saito

TOKYO | Tue Jul 31, 2012 2:23am EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese electronics conglomerate Toshiba Corp posted a better-than-expected 178 percent rise in quarterly operating profit on Tuesday, boosted by strong overseas earnings in its social infrastructure division despite sluggish chip sales.

Toshiba, Japan's leading chipmaker and the world's No.2 maker of NAND flash memory chips, logged an operating profit of 11.47 billion yen ($147 million) in the April-June quarter, bouncing back from 4.12 billion yen in the same period last year, when Japanese corporate earnings were hit by the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami.

The results exceeded an average forecast of a 7.8 billion yen profit estimated by four analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Toshiba's flagship NAND memory chips, the biggest single swing factor in the company's results, are used in Apple Inc's popular iPhones as well as fast-selling tablet devices.

But falling prices of USBs and memory cards, as well as oversupply in the market, have forced the Japanese chipmaker to cut back its NAND memory production by 30 percent.

Fellow flash memory maker SanDisk Corp said this month it expects NAND chip market conditions to improve in the second half of the year.

Toshiba's electronic devices division, home to NAND memory chips, posted sales of 307.7 billion yen, down from 333.1 billion yen in the same period last year.

Toshiba, which manufactures products ranging from light bulbs and escalators to nuclear reactors and is the world's No.2 NAND flash memory chip maker, has scaled back its loss-making television business to focus on large-scale infrastructure projects in emerging economies.

Toshiba, which said in May it aimed to more than double its annual operating profit in three years by expanding its social infrastructure business and boosting sales of electronic devices, held steady its forecast for an operating profit of 300 billion yen for the full year to March 2013.

Shares of Toshiba, which competes with Hynix Semiconductor Inc in semiconductors and with GE and Areva in nuclear reactors, ended up 2.3 percent at 262 yen ahead of the results.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei closed up 0.69 percent.

($1 = 78.1900 Japanese yen)

(Editing by Richard Pullin and Michael Watson)

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Monday, July 30, 2012

Reuters: Technology News: Mitsubishi Electric promises loan to Renesas; chipmaker's shares surge

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Mitsubishi Electric promises loan to Renesas; chipmaker's shares surge
Jul 31st 2012, 05:45

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A receptionist passes by the logo of Renesas Electronics Corp at the company's headquarters in Tokyo July 3, 2012. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao

A receptionist passes by the logo of Renesas Electronics Corp at the company's headquarters in Tokyo July 3, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Yuriko Nakao

TOKYO | Tue Jul 31, 2012 1:45am EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Corp said on Tuesday it would provide 14.5 billion yen ($185.5 million) in loans to help prop up chipmaker Renesas Electronics Corp, which is fighting for survival against aggressive overseas rivals.

Shares in Renesas, the world's No. 1 maker of microncontroller chips used in cars, surged 15 percent to 260 yen following the news.

Renesas has struggled to turn a profit in its system LSI chip business as it struggles to compete against rivals such as South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

Renesas, a product of successive mergers of the chip divisions of its major shareholders Mitsubishi Electric, Hitachi Ltd and NEC Corp, plans to reduce its workforce by 12 percent and halve the number of domestic plants.

"We do not plan to provide any further loans to Renesas (after this)," said Mitsubishi Electric executive officer Hiroki Yoshimatsu at the company's earnings briefing.

"With a responsibility to return these loans, they (Renesas) have to steadily move forward their restructuring plan and return the company to profitability and return the loan," he said.

The loan will be made on October 1, Mitsubishi Electric said.

Mitsubishi Electric, which owns a 25 percent stake in Renesas, declined to comment on the scope and type of support that Hitachi and NEC would provide to Renesas.

NEC is due to report its April-June results at 0600 GMT.

Mitsubishi Electric shares were up 4.1 percent, compared with a 1.1 percent rise in Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei average. ($1 = 78.1900 Japanese yen)

(Reporting by Mari Saito; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

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Reuters: Technology News: Apple gears up for Sept 12 event, stokes iPhone talk

Reuters: Technology News
Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com
Apple gears up for Sept 12 event, stokes iPhone talk
Jul 31st 2012, 01:57

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An Apple retail store is seen in Carlsbad, California April 6, 2012. REUTERS/Mike Blake

An Apple retail store is seen in Carlsbad, California April 6, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Mike Blake

By Poornima Gupta

SAN FRANCISCO | Mon Jul 30, 2012 9:57pm EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc is gearing up to unveil a new product at a major September 12 event, a source familiar with the plan said, presaging the long-awaited launch of the redesigned iPhone.

The world's most valuable technology company typically takes the wraps off its latest smartphones around the fall, allowing the gadget to hit store shelves in time for the peak holiday shopping season.

The fifth iteration of the device that helped revolutionize the mobile industry is expected to sport a thinner, larger screen and a smaller dock connector, among other tweaks, sources and analysts have said.

The company on Monday declined to comment.

Apple's iPhone launches are among the biggest affairs on Silicon Valley's calendar, scrutinized by technology investors, enthusiasts and consumers alike.

The September 12 date may shift, the source said on condition of anonymity.

Samsung Electronics launched its latest Galaxy device in recent months, stealing a march on Apple in an intensifying battle for mobile supremacy. The pair now command more than half of global smartphone sales.

Technology blog iMore first reported the debut of the new iPhone at a September 12 event earlier on Monday.

(Reporting By Poornima Gupta; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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Reuters: Technology News: Jury selected in Apple, Samsung patent trial

Reuters: Technology News
Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com
Jury selected in Apple, Samsung patent trial
Jul 31st 2012, 02:39

An employee of South Korean mobile carrier KT holds an Apple Inc's iPhone 4 (L) smartphone and a Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S II smartphone as he poses for photographs at a registration desk at KT's headquarters in Seoul, August 25, 2011. REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak

1 of 3. An employee of South Korean mobile carrier KT holds an Apple Inc's iPhone 4 (L) smartphone and a Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S II smartphone as he poses for photographs at a registration desk at KT's headquarters in Seoul, August 25, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Jo Yong-Hak

By Dan Levine and Poornima Gupta

SAN JOSE, California | Mon Jul 30, 2012 10:39pm EDT

SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - An insurance agent, an unemployed video game enthusiast and a project manager for wireless carrier AT&T were among the 10 jurors selected to decide a high-stakes U.S. patent battle between Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, with billions of dollars in the balance.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh on Monday spent several hours examining jurors about their backgrounds and biases, as the companies began the trial after more than a year of pretrial jousting. Opening statements by the lawyers are expected to begin on Tuesday.

Apple and Samsung, the world's largest consumer electronics corporations, are waging legal war around the world, accusing each other of patent violations as they vie for supremacy in a fast-growing market for mobile devices.

The fight began last year when Apple sued Samsung in a San Jose, California, federal court, accusing the South Korean company of slavishly copying the iPhone and iPad. Samsung countersued.

Long lines outside the federal courthouse in San Jose marked the beginning of the trial as lawyers, media and analysts flooded the building to watch the proceedings.

Seven men and three women were eventually picked for the 10-member jury, which also includes a store operations manager for a cycling retailer, a systems engineer and a benefits and payroll manager who works with startups.

The jury was selected after Koh questioned nearly three dozen members of the jury pool on a host of issues, including their choice of phones, how the economic downturn impacted their lives, experience with the legal system and connections to either Samsung, Apple, Google Inc or its Motorola Mobility unit.

Google is a background actor in the trial as Samsung's smartphones run on Google's Android operating system. Many analysts see Apple's global patent wars as a proxy war against Google.

The questioning of prospective jurors on Monday demonstrated the unique challenge of finding a Silicon Valley jury with no bias toward either Apple or Google, companies that are headquartered just a few miles away from the federal courthouse. Both Apple and Google employ thousands in Northern California.

A Google employee in the pool did not make it onto the jury, and an Apple employee was excused after he said he hoped his employer would win.

Another juror was excused after saying the case reminded him of Apple's legal war against Microsoft over Windows in the 1990s, in which Apple was largely unsuccessful. The potential juror said he couldn't understand how such a similar case could be brought again.

"In my mind this is practically the exact same thing, but now just dealing with slightly different technology," he said.

A few holders of technology patents -- including one man with over 120 patents -- were also excused by lawyers for the companies, who get a handful of peremptory challenges to eliminate individual jurors.

The stakes are high for Samsung, which faces potential U.S. sales bans of its Galaxy smartphones and tablet computers, and for Apple, for which this is a pivotal test of its worldwide patent litigation strategy.

It has been tough going so far for Samsung in the case. Judge Koh halted U.S. sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, giving Apple a significant early win. This was followed by a pretrial ban on the Galaxy Nexus phone. Samsung has appealed both orders.

The trial is expected to last at least four weeks.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, is Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, No. 11-1846.

(Reporting by Dan Levine and Poornima Gupta; Editing by Tim Dobbyn, Lisa Von Ahn and Phil Berlowitz)

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