Samsung has been told it can no longer sell the Galaxy tablet in Germany

Apple has won a case in Germany to prohibit the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 device in the country.

A Düsseldorf court upheld the preliminary injunction secured by Apple, which claims that Samsung had infringed its intellectual property and copied the iPad.

Judge Johanna Brueckner-Hoffmann ruled that there was a “clear impression of similarity” between the Apple and the Samsung devices.

Apple declined to comment on the judgement, but Samsung wrote in a statement:

“We are disappointed with this ruling and believe it severely limits consumer choice in Germany.”

The company added that it will “actively and immediately” appeal the ruling and will likely go to a higher court, the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf.

Colin Fowler, associate at specialist IP law firm Rouse, said that the practical effect of the ruling will be limited to Germany, rather than the EU-wide ban – with the exception of the Netherlands – that Apple had initially secured.

“The skirmish over the injunction is important not just for Apple and Samsung, but also for other tablet manufacturers, as well as consumers, because it means the product stays off the market in Germany. Apple is reportedly now also pursuing the Galaxy Tab 7.7 so the dispute between the two companies appears to be escalating,” said Fowler.

“However, the two central issues of whether Apple’s design survives a validity attack and whether Samsung’s product is too close to Apple’s design and therefore infringes it will not be finally decided for many months. If Apple is eventually successful Samsung will have to redesign or abandon the affected products and future designs for tablets from all manufacturers would have to steer clear of Apple’s design rights.”

The FT has pulled its app from the App Store

The Financial Times (FT) has had its iPad app removed from iTunes following a dispute with Apple.

The decision was made after the FT refused to comply with Apple’s demand that is collects a 30 per cent cut from all in-app payments and subscriptions, and has ownership of all customer data that is collected.

The FT has instead been pointing users to its web browser-based app for the iPad and iPhone, which offers more features than the native app, and is written in HTML 5.

“The FT iPad and iPhone apps will no longer be available to new users through iTunes. We’re encouraging our readers to switch immediately to the new FT web app, as many new features and sections will be added over the coming weeks,” said a spokesperson from the FT.

“iTunes will remain an important channel for new and existing advertising based apps.”

However, the move should not have too much of a negative impact on FT’s readership figures, as it has already garnered a strong reputation among iPad users, according to Adrian Drury, consultant and lead analyst for media tech, broadcast and telecoms at Ovum.

“The value of the App Store is that it offers access to traffic that goes through its search bar,” he said.

“But the FT has been very clever; it has already created a solid critical mass and a solid reputation for apps, and it began moving users away from its native iTunes in March this year.”

“Other publishers have been exploring the idea of exiting iTunes because of to Apple’s demands, but they first have to get to that point where they have that critical mass of users. The FT has had its iPad app on iTunes since day one, and it has the reputation and a large user base, but other firms don’t have that critical mass of users that they can then concentrate on converting them to browser apps, rather than their native apps.”

The Galaxy Tab 10.1, get it while you can

A ban on the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab in Europe that was put in place earlier this month has been lifted already, albeit temporarily, while authorities investigate the legitimacy of the original ruling. A German court instigated the EU-wide ban (excluding the Netherlands) on the import and sale of the tablet device, after complaints from Apple that the Galaxy imitated its iPad product.

It was widely acknowledged that such a ban would be a short term win for Apple, which claimed Samsung had “slavishly” copied the iPad to develop the Galaxy Tab. But before the case even made it to appeal, the authority of the German court to initiate an EU-wide ban has been called into question, although it still holds in Germany.

The two companies, which are both embroiled in wider tit for tat patent disputes across the industry, are due to meet in court on August 25, when the latest twist in the saga will be revealed.

“Samsung welcomes the Dusseldorf District Court’s decision to suspend the pan-European preliminary injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Samsung is fully committed to providing our innovative mobile devices to the market without disruption, and ensuring that consumers have a wider selection of innovative products to choose from. We look forward to the opportunity to reassert our intellectual property rights at the hearing scheduled on August 25,” the South Korean vendor said.

Analyst Caroline Gabriel, of Rethink Wireless, notes that the firm could lose at least ten per cent of its tablet shipments should the ban remain in place for the rest of 2011, with western Europe expected to account for about 30 per cent of total tablet sales this year.

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Samsung is seeking a ban on the import of Apple products into the US

The patent dispute between Apple and Samsung has escalated another few notches with Samsung’s announcement Wednesday that it will seek to ban imports of Apple’s devices into the United States.

In a statement issued by the South Korean manufacturer, it was revealed that the company had filed a complaint with the US International Trade Committee (USITC) requesting “relief in the form of a permanent exclusion order prohibiting entry to the United States of all Apple products in violation of Samsung patents.”

Samsung claims that Apple is violating five of its patents – two relating to “telecommunications standards” and three relating to “mobile devices and user interface inventions.” Some of the patents have initial filing dates going back to 1999 and the early 2000s; among them are a “method for dialling in a smartphone”, “user interface systems and methods for manipulating and viewing digital documents” and a “device and method for storing and reproducing digital audio data in a mobile terminal.”

In the US, the International Trade Commission has become an increasingly popular stage on which telecoms rivals hammer-out patent-related grievances. Apart from the fact that it’s perceived to offer speedier resolutions, its power to effect import bans is seen as part of the attraction for companies looking to get one up on a competitor.

Samsung’s latest move appears to be retaliation for Apple’s decision to file a suit against the company on its home turf in Seoul last week. Apple’s complaint: the Galaxy S is a mere copy of its iPhone. This latest legal challenge echoes the one that set the balling rolling back in April this year, when Apple accused its key supplier of “slavishly copying” its products, citing Samsungs Nexus S 4G, Galaxy Tab and Droid Charge among the devices. As the legal spat rumbled on, Samsung unsuccessfully attempted to subpoena prototypes of Apple’s next versions of the iPhone and iPad – a move Apple claimed merely underlined the S Korean firm’s eagerness to imitate its products. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab device has offered a robust challenge to the iPad on the sales front, shipping over 2 million units by early 2011.

Tablet devices could help carriers regain ground in the enterprise market

The boom in popularity of tablets represents an opportunity for carriers to trawl back some ground in the enterprise markets, according to John Giere, SVP at Openwave. Giere told Telecoms.com that the tablet market is shaking up the enterprise space far more than it will the consumer one – at least in the US.

“I don’t see that much of it in Asia or Europe, but in the US, people are increasingly bringing these devices to work and using them in a productive way, which means that all those conventional enterprise desktop apps are getting jumbled into the mix,” he says. “People want to use their iPad or Galaxy, and you’d better go make it work for your enterprise.”

According to Giere, this kind of disruption is good for the long-suffering mobile carriers. “A market that has traditionally been cocooned is commoditising rapidly now. If you’re clever enough to start offering enterprise-focused plans that are also carrier-friendly, there could be some real room for growth there,” he says.

A cornerstone – and, from the carrier perspective, challenge – of the explosion in tablet usage has been video. According to Openwave VP for EMEA Will Blench, video is something that carriers “absolutely have to get a handle on”, not least in terms of quality of service (QoS).”The killer app of the future is going to be video and that’s all there is to it,” says Blench. With Giere saying that video conferencing in the enterprise space is a major opportunity for carriers, optimisation is set to become a significant feature. “Video calling is going to go mainstream,” says Giere. “And the carriers have to manage QoS effectively, otherwise their networks will simply fall apart, even on 4G.”

Blench said that a number of Openwave’s customers are already saying that, even with LTE networks in the pipeline, they won’t be able to cope with the surge in demand. “The appetite for video is just huge,” he says. “The iPhone totally opened up mobile video with its YouTube app, setting very high expectations for users.” With video driving so much traffic, Blench said that carriers are going to have to look towards quality as a differentiator, especially with 3G and 4G tablets. But that kind of quality will have to come with a price tag: “In two or three years time, you’re not going to be able to do high-definition video calling on a tablet without there being some sort of premium attached to it,” says Blench.

Premium price tags call for premium treatment of carrier call plans as well, he says. “There will have to be an enhancement of the way in which carriers communicate with their customers, otherwise it’s going to be nasty and messy – a bit like it is today, where you only really get best effort. And eventually, that’s going to have to stop – you don’t expect best effort when you’re at home,” he says. In this regard, Blench believes that users are “absolutely willing to pay” for enhanced quality of service.  Giere says that Verizon’s “survival of the AT&T-Apple onslaught” based on having a better network is a case in point for people’s willingness to take a little pain in return for high QoS. “Look at the gaming market, where players will pay extra for low-latency. I think that’s just the start of QoS as a differentiator.”

According to Giere, video now accounts for around 67 per cent of all mobile data traffic in the Middle East and the UK. As carriers seek to push data-heavy traffic further out to the edge of their networks, Giere says that LTE/4G will make it easier to apply policies and smart premium service offerings for both content providers and consumers. “4G is an enabler,” he says. “We can solve a lot of these challenges with today’s technology, but LTE will make it much easier and cost effective for carriers to resolve traffic issues.”

The device will go on sale in December in Orange stores in Europe from €279

The Apple iPad will be subsidised in Europe by mobile operators Orange and T-Mobile, in a bid to boost the postpaid user base.

The move is being driven by France Telecom/Orange in France and Everything Everywhere – the joint venture between Orange and T-Mobile in the UK, pitching the iPad at ‘’more affordable prices when purchased with a data service plan’’.

The device will go on sale in December in Orange stores in Europe from €279 when purchased with a subscription to mobile service, which is likely to be in excess of two years. An unsubsidised iPad starts at around €499.

A tablet a day keeps churn at bay

The UK’s mobile underdog and most disruptive wireless player, 3, has unveiled its own tariffs for the Apple iPad, which lands in the UK on Friday, and they’re pretty competitive.

On a one month rolling contract, 3 is pitching 1GB of data for £7.50 per month and 10GB of data for £15.00 per month. This comes in as the cheapest monthly deal for 1GB and the best value for 10GB.

Details on O2, Vodafone and Orange’s tariffs can be found here. So far T-Mobile UK is the only UK carrier left out in the cold without an iPad.

Interestingly, 3 is also pitching itself as tablet friendly for devices other than the iPad. On Tuesday the carrier began promoting a range of tariffs for its MiFi mobile hotspot device, which allows a user to connect non-cellular devices (such as the iPod Touch or a wifi only tablet) over wifi and make use of the MiFi as mobile backhaul.

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HTC's complaint comes in response to an Apple lawsuit filed in March this year

Taiwanese handset vendor HTC, the first company to release an Android handset, has taken legal action against Apple for patent infringement, filing a complaint with the US International Trade Commission, asking it to “halt the importation and sale of the iPhone, iPad and iPod in the United States.”

HTC said that the complaint outlines five patent infringements, but did not specify which patents were allegedly breached. The move is a response to a similar suit brought against HTC by Apple in March this year. In a suit filed with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) and in the US District Court in Delaware, Apple alleged that HTC had infringed on 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.

“As the innovator of the original Windows Mobile PocketPC Phone Edition in 2002 and the first Android smartphone in 2008, HTC believes the industry should be driven by healthy competition and innovation that offer consumers the best, most accessible mobile experiences possible,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of North America, HTC Corporation. “We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC phones.”

The Apple iPad will be available in nine countries beyond the US from May 28

The Apple iPad will be available in nine countries beyond the US from the end of this month, with pre-ordering starting from today, May 10.

Consumers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK will be the first outside of the US to get their hands on the iPad on May 28.

UK pricing for the hardware is as follows:

UK operators Orange, O2 and Vodafone have also announced their data plans:

From the looks of it, Vodafone’s offering is the most restrictive and O2’s is the most flexible. Yet if you’re a heavy data user, Orange would be the way to go with its 10GB offering.

But at the price point the iPad sells at, Android is offering up stiff competition. French consumer electronics firm Archos has unveiled an Android-based tablet device for the UK market coming in at £129.

The Android-based Archos 7

The Archos 7 tablet sports a 7” touch screen (800×480) and a form factor 12mm thick, weighing 350g.It has built in wifi but no 3G. Preinstalled apps have the device ready for music streaming, social networking, e-books, and web browsing out of the box.

In related news, Finnish handset giant Nokia has put in a complaint with the Federal District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin, alleging that the Apple iPhone and iPad 3G infringe five Nokia patents.

The patents in question relate to technologies for speech and data transmission, positioning data in applications and antenna configurations that improve performance and save space, allowing smaller and more compact devices.

Expect this one to drag on for some considerable time.

Magic iPad shifts 300,000 units in first weekend

Apple’s latest market disruptor, the iPad, launched in the US on April 3 and promptly sold over 300,000 units in the first weekend.

iPad users also downloaded over one million apps from Apple’s App Store and over 250,000 ebooks from its iBookstore during the first day.

The wifi only version launched at the weekend. Dubbed as a ‘magical’ device by chief exec Steve Jobs, the iPad will sell for $499 for the 16GB, $599 for the 32GB, and $699 for the 64GB versions. The 3G-capable models will be available at $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB and $829 for 64GB.

Apple opened up a new section in the App Store to cater to the iPad, although the device is also able to use 140,000 existing iPhone and iPod Touch applications. However, some have noted that once some of these apps scale up to the available resolution of the iPad (1024 by 768 pixels at 132 pixels per inch) they look a bit like the blocky graphics of the Commodore 64

The device will hit European shores (Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the UK) as well as Australia, Canada and Japan late in the same month.

In related news, mobile ad network AdMob, which may or may not be acquired by Google, depending on what the competition authorities say, is expected to show off its advertising platform for the iPad before the month is out.

Meanwhile, the Apple faithful will later this week get a sneak preview of what’s going on in iPhone OS v4.0. Invitations have been sent out to an exclusive US event on April 8, at which attendees will get a glimpse of OS 4.0. The new platform will not make it to the market until later this year however.

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