After roughly a full month of testimony, the jury deliberated for 2 days and reached the following conclusion:
Apple is to be rewarded $119.6 million while Samsung has been rewarded $158,400. For Samsung, that’s much lower than the $6 million they had originally sought.
The courts determined that Samsung infringed on the following Apple patents:
On the other side of the fence, Apple was found to have infringed on the following Samsung patent:
Neither company got all the patents they wanted. Samsung tried getting patent 5,579,239 (a video transmission patent) and failed while Apple lost out on their background sync and universal search patents.
Apple originally sought an absurd $2.2 billion for Samsung’s “patent infringements.” Luckily the jury decided that these claims were grossly exaggerated. However, the money Apple has been awarded thus far is not finalized. The courts must still determine how much to tack on for damages caused by the Samsung Galaxy S II and that is scheduled for early next week. All monetary penalties will be reimbursed to Samsung from Google.
As Engadget noted, there will likely be appeals filed on both sides so this may not be the end-all-be-all for this case. Could Apple or Samsung overturn their respective verdicts or is this a fair ruling? Let us know what you think.
Welcome back to Google Play Weekly everyone and happy Friday! This week, Google Search received an update that added new parking information and better restaurant info. Google broke up Google Drive into not one, but four standalone applications. Snapchat got text chatting and video calling. LastPass updated and now includes Galaxy S5 fingerprint scanner integration. Finally, here are five Android apps you shouldn’t miss this week!
[Price: Free]
First up this week is FacesIn. This unique application lets you sign into a bunch of social networks and when your friends check in nearby, it’ll send you a notification letting you know that they’re around. This is great for socialites who enjoy impromptu meet ups and the app features a clean, sleek design. It’s totally free to use and supports a range of social networks and they’re working on including more. It’s also free, so why not right?
[Price: $0.99]
Next up is a brand new application called Slyde. Slyde is a fairly simple application that gives you shortcuts to your five favorite applications in the form of floating icons. It works pretty much as it looks. There’s a little dock on the side of your device that you tap. Once you do, your five favorite apps pop up and you can easily switch between them. This is a nifty app that can be really useful for people who use the same apps all the time and it gets out of your way when you don’t need it. It’s $0.99 in the Play Store and you should give it a look.
[Price: Free]
Buzz Launcher is a popular and unique app that just passed the seven million download mark. Using this app you can theme and organize your home screen in a number of unique manners and has over 300,000 home screens to choose from. They’ve also updated their app recently to include a few new features. It’s free to download in the Google Play Store.
[Price: Free]
Clumsy Ninja is a newly popular game that is kind of cute and also enjoyable. You play as a clumsy ninja as you complete various tasks like jumping on a trampoline or catching chickens. It is a silly time waster so there is no real gaming value but admittedly it is fun to just play around with it for a bit from time to time. Also, it’s free.
[Price: $1.99]
Last up this week is the venerable HD Widgets. They’re releasing version 4.0 to the Google Play Store in a staged rollout so some people may have it while others may not yet. The update includes a completely overhauled interface as well as completely overhauled widgets. There are also new themes included, including a more modern, flat theme, as well as upcoming updates to their theme add on app, called Colourform. If you haven’t checked out HD Widgets yet, now is a great time to do so.
Since 2011, May the 4th has been celebrated by Star Wars fans as a quasi-holiday with several Star Wars parties, festivals and other activities taking place on this day. As you might have guessed, the date was chosen simply because “May the 4th” sounds a fair deal similar to “May the Force”.
Anyhow, if you’re a Star Wars fan you’ll be happy to know that both Amazon and Google are kicking off their own little celebrations of the upcoming event, holding a Star Wars themed sale of sorts.
Over at Google Play, this sale includes discounts on select Star Wars books, as well as reduced pricing on games like Lego Star Wars Microfighters ($.99) and Angry Birds Star Wars II ($.99). Google is also offering discounted in-app purchases for several ‘free’ Star Wars games.
As for Amazon? Admitedely, there sale isn’t as extensive. For Kindle owners, you can get Angry Birds Star Wars Premium HD for $.99, and then there’s reduced in-app purchases for Star wars TM Pinball 3 and Star Wars: Tiny Death Star . Amazon also promises a premium Star Wars game will be free on Sunday, May the 4th — but it doesn’t say which one.
