Apple manages to fast-track its California lawsuit against Samsung for July 2012

Apple is chasing Samsung across the globe with 12 lawsuits in 9 different countries, but on its home turf in California it is apparently getting some favorable treatment, as it just managed to schedule its lawsuit hearing for July 2012.

While this might not seem as much of a fast-tracking at first glance, bear in mind that the court's median scheduling time is 23 months, what Samsung was asking for, and Apple managed to reverse it to 15.5 months after the initial claim. Apple was asking for an even earlier date, February 2012, so the judges arrived at the wise decision to set July 30, 2012 as the date for the trial.

That still gives Samsung plenty of time to prepare, and it's not like it hasn't already mastered its defense at the hearings in Europe, where its Galaxy Tab 10.1 is banned in Germany until the September 9 hearing, and the Galaxy line of phones is banned in the Netherlands and possibly other EU countries starting October 13, unless Samsung updates its software to steer clear of the alleged infringement.

Samsung can also ask for an expedited hearing of its own counter-claims against Apple in the California court, although Apple is accusing it to have "artificially inflated the scope of this case by interposing 12 more utility patents". The lawyers have probably already renovated their second house in the Hamptons, and are now looking at bigger boats.

By 2016, only 3% of smartphones won't have a touchscreen

According to research firm ABI, by 2016 a mere 3% of smartphones will be without a touchscreen. Of course, that means that if correct, the study expects 97% of all smartphones to have a touchscreen of some type aboard. Part of the credit for the success of touchscreens on smartphones has to go to the Apple iPhone. In 2006, the year before the launch of Apple's iconic device, only 7% of smartphones had a touchscreen and that figure rose to 75% by 2010. ABI says that the touchscreen together with 3G connectivity are both responsible for the huge growth in smartphone users.

Today's touchscreen is a lot different than they were pre-Apple iPhone. Back then, the typical touchscreen display was resistive which meant that they responded to any pointy object that touched the screen. Even after the iPhone launched with its capacitive display, the next year or two saw many of the so-called "iPhone killers" come to market with un-responsive resistive screens like the one on the LG Voyager. Resistive screens are pretty much extinct now, replaced by the capacitive display which responds to electrical impulses on your fingertip and will not work with a stylus or a pen cap (which we recommended Voyager owners use to navigate around its external touchscreen).

Even BlackBerry phones are leaving the non-touchscreen smartphone design behind. The new BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 took one of the most loved BlackBerry form factor, one with perhaps the best physical QWERTY keyboard ever placed on a smartphone, and added  touchscreen functionality to its 2.8 inch display. As we reported, RIM recently added two more touchscreen models to its lineup with the BlackBerry Torch 9810 and the BlackBerry Torch 9850/9860. Even the lower priced BlackBerry Curve line is getting a model with a touch screen display. And the early word from sources says to expect RIM's lineup of QNX powered Superphones, expected to launch during Q1 of 2012, to be touchscreen models without a trackpad in sight.

Samsung USA issues a second teaser video promoting the merits of the Samsung Galaxy S II

Despite that Irene made Samsung reschedule its grand unveiling of the US carrier Samsung Galaxy S II versions, it has been warming us up for a few days with videos showcasing the various groundbreaking features of its finest handset to date.

The first teaser vid was an opening remark, stressing the large Super AMOLED Plus display and the dual-core Exynos chipset, as well as the phone's record for Samsung sales and popularity across the world, promising that it will appear on US shores very soon.

Now the second teaser video takes a more pragmatic approach, and Samsung USA says it will be part of a series revealing the ins and outs of the phone for the future users. What is presented is the email client, which splits the screen in landscape mode like what you are usually used to on tablets. Have a look at the new video below while you wait for the August 30 unveiling event.  

Dutch judge says Apple's patent on "slide to unlock" is probably invalid

As we reported, the gallery application on the Samsung Galaxy S II, the Galaxy S and the Galaxy S Ace were found by a Dutch judge to have infringed on a patent relating to the "bouncing" or "flicking" of pictures. And while that was only one out of ten patent that Apple claimed Samsung had used without permission, the judge did issue a preliminary injunction against the sales of those three Samsung smartphones. 

One of the patents that Apple claimed that Samsung had infringed upon was U.S. Patent No. 7,657,849 which related to the "slide to unlock" feature used on smartphones. In fact, Apple has legal issues with HTC and Motorola relating to this patent. But Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents says that the European version of this patent has been found to be "obvious" and the same Dutch judge that rules against Samsung yesterday says that the "slide to unlock" patent in Europe is probably not valid.

Australian retailer Myer still plans on launching the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 on September 1st

Samsung showed the court a phone with a European Windows CE handset design, the Neonode N1m, which was manufactured before the December 23rd 2005 date of Apple's patent filing. According to Mueller, the Neonode N1m already had the "slide to unlock" feature before Apple had even asked for a patent on it. The judge was not convinced that Apple earned a patent on the feature even when it was pointed out that there was a difference between the two unlocking mechanisms. Apple's "slide to unlock" features an image on the screen that moves along with the finger, something that the Neonade N1m did not have. Samsung also brought along evidence of other phones that use sliders that move "along a pre-defined path to a particular position in order to have the effect of an on/off switch (as in the slide-to-unlock case)."

According to patent expert Mueller, both Apple and Samsung will have a chance in the near future to have to have this past week's rulings overturned in a main proceeding.

In other related news, today a court in Germany made a similar ruling to one in Australia, which upholds a preliminary ban on sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet. A ruling is set to be made on September 9th. Even though the court ruled against Samsung in Australia, photos show that Australian retailer Myer still plans on launching the tablet in that country on September 1st, priced at $579 USD.

All three Samsung Galaxy S II variants for the US pose together in a leaked shot

With Hurricane Irene bent on making its way towards the Big Apple, where Samsung expects to hold a media event on Monday to disrobe the veil from its upcoming line of Galaxy S II smartphones, we’re getting our first look at them all.

In the leaked image below, we can plainly see the specific Samsung Galaxy S II variants coming to AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile – with Verizon obviously out of the mix.  Looking at them, they don’t appear to drastically differ in design from the international version that’s been available for some time – albeit, they shed the physical home button found with the original. For the most part, the three handsets appear to have the same looking design on the surface.

Now that’s out of the way, the only thing left going forward is to know each of their respective release dates and pricing. Unless the hurricane spells doom for the Big Apple, we’ll know that information hopefully soon enough.

White HTC Evo 3D hitting RadioShack at September 9th

The HTC Evo 3D is one of the best devices you can buy in the U.S. these days. However if you want to further differentiate yourself from other users, you may want to have your 3D smartphone in some other color. How about white? Yep the white Evo 3D will be available soon, with RadioShack snapping the exclusive launch rights. The first such devices are set to be released on September 9th, which is like two weeks from now. Price was not unveiled, but I see no reason why the white Evo 3D would cost more than the original black version ($199). Of course, the same two-year contract with Sprint will also be required but that’s like given these days.

As a reminder, the Evo 3D is HTC’s first Android smartphone with glasses-free 3D screen and the first such device released in the U.S. In addition, it also comes with WiMAX, EV-DO Rev. A (where WiMAX is not available) and Wi-Fi connectivity, two 5-megapixel cameras, fast dual-core processor and other “standard for Android” goodies like sensors, Bluetooth and so on…

Verizon may not be getting a version of the Galaxy S II after all

According to several anonymous sources cited by the Wall Street Journal, Verizon wireless will not be adding a version of the popular Samsung Galaxy S II to their lineup after all. 

Verizon Wireless attended the party for the original Samsung Galaxy S when they launched the Samsung Fascinate last year. All four networks had a version of the original and it was believed that would be the same case for the four major networks this year. 

Sprint is said to be launching the Galaxy S II under the name Epic Touch 4G, AT&T is going to be calling their version the Attain and T-Mobile’s will be called the Hercules. It was rumored that Verizon would be calling their own version the Samsung Function, but now it appears that will not be the case.

It isn’t official just yet that Verizon will not be launching a variation of the Samsung Galaxy S II. Sources have been wrong before so we will just have to wait and see what happens at next week’s Samsung event. There are plenty of other worthy devices available for Verizon now and there will be even more in the future. That being said, are any of you Verizon customers going to be disappointed if this turns out to be true? Tell us what you think in the comments below.


BUT, don't worry, you can buy the official unlocked Galaxy S II on http://www.m2cmobile.com 

UPDATE: Apparently, the I has questioned Verizon, and they have confirmed the rumors - Big Red will not be carrying the Samsung Galaxy S II. Here's what Verizon's spokesperson said: "We have an extensive portfolio that offers customers a great variety of devices, including the Samsung Droid Charge.”Oh well, at least there are some other rumors going that Samsung and Verizon are working on another phone, which will reportedly feature specs that are very, very similar to what the Galaxy S II offers. Looking forward to that then!