Away from all the glitzy product launches and lifestyle shows, three big guns — Apple, Samsung and HTC — are locked in pitched battles in courtrooms and this could have a massive impact on the consumers. Apple seems to be gaining ground with its patent violation cases against Samsung and HTC, and this could mean payment of royalties, and, in effect, the cost of it getting transferred to the customers. While Apple's iPhone is still the undisputed smartphone no.1, both Samsung and HTC have been innovating, putting out many more options for the consumers, and getting a tad too close for Apple's comfort.

Last month, the U.S. International Trade Commission upheld two claims in a patent suit filed by Apple against HTC. And this week, Internet forums are talking about how Apple has delayed the launch of Samsung's next-generation Galaxy Tab tablet PCs in some markets. The two companies have been filing and counter-filing suits against each other.

iPhone 5 rumours

Remember how fiercely Apple guards its product designs before they're launched? It was furious last year when popular technology blog Gizmodo had given its readers a preview of the iPhone 4 prototype. It was lost in a bar by an Apple employee while testing, and it eventually found its way to the Web before the company could preview it officially. Apple officially filed a complaint for theft, and things got a bit ugly before better sense prevailed. Now as rumours float about the iPhone 5, technology blogs are getting all excited about images leaked from the Shenzhen region in China, where the Apple fabrication factory is also located. Gizmodo is once again facing flak for bringing out some photos of the next generation iPhone.

Photo-tagging violates privacy

We have always known it, yet we are addicted to it. Social networks are privacy hell. Now a group of researchers with Carnegie Mellon University in the U.S. have demonstrated how deep the rabbit hole really is. Using an off-the-shelf available facial recognition software, cloud computing and publicly available data on social networks, they have proved that it is possible to violate the privacy of people. To cut the jargon down, someone with a social network account moonlighting as a romantic on a dating network can be tracked.

A press release issued by the Carnegie Mellon University quotes Alessandro Acquisiti, associate professor of information technology who headed the study, as saying: “A person's face is the veritable link between her offline and online identities. When we share tagged photos of ourselves online, it becomes possible for others to link our face to our names in situations where we would normally expect anonymity.”

Harry Potter second only to soccer

Last month saw the release of the final Harry Potter movie, and understandably it altered fault lines on Twitterverse. But according to statistics put out by Masable.com, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” was the second most trending topic last month. Top of the charts was, not surprisingly, soccer. Copa America and FIFA Women's World Cup just seem to have made more people more impulsive.

Share