The Korea Times

Copycatting ― Apple style

US firm’s internal memo indicates iPhone imitated Samsung, LG products By Kim Yoo-chul Apple sued Samsung Electronics for copying its iPhone and a U.S. jury made a “patriotic” ruling ordering the Korean firm to pay $1.05 billion in damages. Now, what appears to be an internal memo from Apple appears to show it was the other way around — the U.S. firm copying designs from Samsung and LG Electronics. The San Jose verdict was made without key evidence being shown to the nine-member jury. The evidence, rejected by the judge for its late introduction, concerned Samsung’s F700 smartphone and LG’s Prada-branded phone, both cited in the Apple memo in question. It remains to be seen how this latest revelation will affect a court in the Netherlands and a ruling by U.S. Judge Lucy Koh on the San Jose verdict. The “3GSM Congress Trade Show Report” was written just after the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in 2006 by Apple’s marketing executives; a copy of which was obtained by The Korea Times. Apple’s first iPhone was introduced in June 2007, after the F700 had

Sep 5, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Strange bedfellows

Relations sour between Apple, Korean parts suppliers By Kim Yoo-chul For Korean technology companies, Apple has been an odd bedfellow ― a foe in finished products like smartphones and touch-screen tablets and a friend in parts like liquid crystal display screens (LCDs) and memory chips. It remains to be seen whether this love-hate relationship will turn into a hate-hate one. There are increasingly complaints among Korean components providers that Apple is exploiting its supremacy in consumer devices to strong-arm them in negotiations over price and volume. While purchase deals in the technology industry follow a difficult and complicated process, the Koreans believe that Apple’s tactics are beginning to run against the limits of acceptability. Apple has been a major customer for Korean technology firms like Samsung Electronics, LG Chem, LG Display and SK hynix, who have been providing parts used in iPhones and iPads. Samsung, locked in an ugly intellectual property dispute with Apple over smartphones and tablets, provides chips and screens to its rival. LG D

Sep 4, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Tweet may cost Apple man his job

Bt Kim Yoo-chul Apple appears to enjoy a touch of mystique — it rarely reveals anything important in advance such as the unveiling of new products. The American technology giant also keeps its representatives around the world mum. “No comment” is their typical response. Nothing was wrong with this, but it may cost Korean spokesman who was caught using Twitter his job. Apple doesn’t allow its people to tweet, some sources say. Following the ruling by a U.S. jury in a court in San Jose favoring Apple over Samsung Electronics, an employee believed to be a spokesman for Apple Korea tweeted that Korean media was too sympathetic toward Samsung, raising the question of what if it lost other patent fights in other countries, with a tad of cynicism. The official declined to confirm whether the Twitter account was his personal one but the user name was changed after the tweet was reported in The Korea Times. The man who identified himself as an Apple spokesman made a request over the telephone to change his personal tweets to an official Apple response. He is now

Sep 3, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Samsung guns for Europe fight

Korean firm to stress consumer rights against Apple By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung is focusing efforts on winning patent battles with Apple in Europe to regain the upper hand in the technology legal dispute of the century, which took a new turn Friday after a court in Japan reached a verdict in favor of the Korean company. It sees the upcoming trial in Netherlands “more than crucial” because it believes that the outcome will set the tone for a series of trials that will follow in Europe. Samsung confirmed Monday that the Hague court will review an appeal by the Cupertino-headquartered Apple on Sept. 7. ``Samsung still believes Apple is still limiting consumer choice and we plan to emphasize this in the Netherlands,’’ said an official over the telephone. ``The situation is not looking good for Samsung as Apple put our strategic Galaxy S3 smartphones on its sales ban list in the United States, though chances are low for U.S. federal Judge Lucy Koh to order Samsung to stop selling the S3, there. But Europe is the market in which Samsung has been doing well in. We will defend ou

Sep 3, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Patent war pushes Samsung's innovation

By Kim Yoo-chul The patent dispute with rival Apple has strengthened Samsung Electronics’ innovation drive, according to industry experts and Samsung officials. ``Although U.S. federal Judge Lucy Koh is not likely to overturn the jury verdict awarding Apple $1 billion in damages, Samsung is changing already and will change more,’’ said Song Jong-ho, a senior analyst at KDB Daewoo Securities, Sunday. Song said,” Samsung has diversified its product lineup like a 4.8-inch Galaxy S3 smartphone and the 5.5-inch Note 2,” explaining that Apple is heavily dependent upon its 4-inch iPhone.’’ The Korean firm is challenging Apple with its advanced fourth-generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE) technology. Samsung also unveiled its next-generation Galaxy Note 2 that shows major improvements from surface design to specifications. The iPhone 4S has been out for about a year in contrast to a series of new products by Samsung. Apple could unveil its latest iPhone next week but has not announced its release date. Top Samsung officials are also talking about a change that m

Sep 2, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Note 2 shows Samsung's innovation push

By Kim Yoo-chul The patent dispute with rival Apple has strengthened Samsung Electronics’ innovation drive, according to industry experts and Samsung officials. ``Although U.S. federal Judge Lucy Koh is not likely to overturn the jury verdict awarding Apple $1 billion in damages, Samsung is changing already and will change more,’’ said Song Jong-ho, a senior analyst at KDB Daewoo Securities, Sunday. Song said,” Samsung has diversified its product lineup like a 4.8-inch Galaxy S3 smartphone and the 5.5-inch Note 2,” explaining that Apple is heavily dependent upon its 4-inch iPhone.’’ The Korean firm is challenging Apple with its advanced fourth-generation (4G long-term evolution (LTE) technology. Samsung also unveiled its next-generation Galaxy Note 2 that shows major improvements from surface design to specifications. The iPhone 4S has been out for about a year in contrast to a series of new products by Samsung. Apple could unveil its latest iPhone next week but has not announced its release date. Top Samsung officials are also talking about a change that may have

Sep 2, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Samsung wins battle with Apple in Japan

By Kim Yoo-chul A Japanese district court ruled Friday that Samsung Electronics did not infringe on patents belonging to Apple, sending the dispute between the two technology giants into a new phase. The ruling came a week after a nine-member U.S jury led by foreman Velvin Hogan ordered Samsung to pay $1.05 billion to Apple for patent infringements. Tokyo District Judge Tamotsu Shoji ruled Samsung’s Galaxy line of devices including tablets and smartphones “didn’t violate” Apple’s patent related to synchronizing music and video data in devices to servers. Samsung welcomed the decision. “The ruling in Japan is confirmation that the decision in California doesn’t make any sense. The company will accelerate efforts to provide innovative and qualified products in Japan,” spokesman Lee Seung-joon said. Apple was seeking $1.27 million in damages from Samsung accusing it of stealing technology used to transfer music and video files. “Unlike Korea and the United States, Japan rules case-by-case. Six other pending issues are waiting judgments by the court. But we are confide

Aug 31, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Infringement of consumer rights?

'Apple tax' to limit innovation and consumer choices By Kim Yoo-chul Ever since the patent dispute between Apple and Samsung Electronics began, the U.S. technology giant has said that Samsung infringed on its patents, which it claims is hurting innovation and deceiving consumers. Ironically, the highly-controversial jury verdict in California is likely to limit consumer choices for mobile phones and negatively influence innovation as people should be prepared to pay an ``Apple tax,’’ according to industry experts. ``So far, Apple has been insisting the consumer is king. But its move is likely to hurt consumers and limit choice. That’s irony,’’ said Park Seong-min, a local patent attorney. Apple is already moving to ask major handset makers to license various Apple designs and software innovation. ``There may be a big Apple tax,’’ said IDC analyst Al Hilwa. ``Phones will be more expensive.’’ Apple spokesman in Korea, Steve Park, wasn’t available for comment. In its closing argument, Samsung stressed consumers make the right choice and don’t make mistakes. But ni

Aug 30, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Samsung monitors jury foreman

Tech & Science

Samsung monitors jury foreman

By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics said Thursday that it is looking closely into whether patents owned by Velvin Hogan, the foreman of a U.S. jury that recently delivered a verdict against the company, may have been used by Apple. Samsung’s reaction came after U.S. media reported that Hogan holds a patent in his name that could be used in Apple’s iProducts. ``Samsung Electronics is monitoring the situation, closely,’’ said a company spokesman, Thursday, without elaborating further. Hogan, 67, the foreman of the nine member jury, has had a 35-year career in hard-drive technology. He has a U.S. patent to his name ― one that is currently causing a lot of controversy as it covers a ``method and apparatus for recording and storing video information.’’ A story posted on patent blog AndroidPIT claims that Hogan may’ve ruined the whole trial for Apple. “I don’t know how he got on the jury as a patent holder for a patent that Apple may be using.” AndroidPIT is a famous blog that covers tech and mobile industries, and was the first to raise the claim that one of the Hogan

Aug 30, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Samsung set to strike back against Apple

Electronics giant in talks with US mobile carriers to get away from patent claims By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics is moving to fight back against Apple by strengthening its partnerships with American mobile carriers to develop new technologies to get away from the U.S. firm’s claims on design. The world’s biggest smartphone maker is in talks with major telecom carriers on Apple’s home-turf such as Verizon Wireless about modified designs in Samsung Galaxy devices. It is also closely partnering with Microsoft (MS) to cut its dependency on Google Android, according to officials Wednesday. “Samsung has been in talks with major U.S. carriers to jointly develop modified design technology. This will be effective, though we can’t unveil more details for the time being,” said an official from the company’s telecommunications division. On the legal front, its lawyers are making preparations to counter nearly every patent issue which nine jurors found in favor of Apple. Officials said Samsung has been preparing “all measures for all scenarios” to fight Apple in 50 patent d

Aug 29, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

US ruling won't affect Samsung's rating

Kim Yoo-chul

Read more

Copycatting ― Apple style

Strange bedfellows

Tweet may cost Apple man his job

Samsung guns for Europe fight

Patent war pushes Samsung's innovation

Note 2 shows Samsung's innovation push

Samsung wins battle with Apple in Japan

Infringement of consumer rights?

Samsung monitors jury foreman

Samsung set to strike back against Apple

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