OBAMA VETOES APPLE PRODUCTS

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Obama Administration Vetoes Apple Product Ban

AUGUST 3, 2013 AT 11:48 AM PT

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The Obama administration on Saturday issued a veto on a proposed potential ban on a number of Apple products in the U.S., including some iPhones and iPad devices.

“After extensive consultations with the agencies of the Trade Policy Staff Committee and the Trade Policy Review Group … I have decided to disapprove the USITC’s determination to issue an exclusion order and cease and desist order in this investigation,” a letter from the U.S. government to United States International Trade Commission Chairman Irving A. Williamson said.

The president’s veto comes in response to a ruling made by the USITC in June, granting the South Korean electronics giant Samsung’s request for an import ban on older iPhones and iPads, which the ITC found to infringe one of Samsung’s standards-essential patents. The order would have affected only AT&T iPhone models prior to the 4S, as well as the iPad 2 and earlier iPad versions.

“We applaud the administration for standing up for innovation in this landmark case. Samsung was wrong to abuse the patent system in this way,” an Apple spokeswoman toldAllThingsD.

Update 1:26 pm PT: A Samsung spokesman provided AllThingsD with the following comment: “We are disappointed that the U.S. Trade Representative has decided to set aside the exclusion order issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). The ITC’s decision correctly recognized that Samsung has been negotiating in good faith and that Apple remains unwilling to take a license.”

Apple was involved in an ongoing appeals process to overturn the ITC’s June ruling, arguing that the decision would cause “long-term, dynamic harm” to competition and innovation. The ITC was expected to deliver its final ruling on the appeal on Aug. 9.

As The Wall Street Journal noted, this is the first time an administration has vetoed a product ban ruling by the ITC since the Reagan administration issued a veto in 1987.

“The Administration is committed to promoting innovation and economic progress, including through providing adequate and effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights,” the letter said.

Samsung is still free to pursue further litigation and patent-infringement claims through the courts.

New leak suggests budget iPhone to feature 8-megapixel camera

Just because the iPhone 5C will cost less than the standard iPhone model, that doesn’t mean it will have lousy specs. 9to5Mac has spotted some new pictures of iPhone 5C parts on a Chinese website that claims the budget smartphone is using the same 8-megapixel camera sensor used in the iPhone 5. 9to5Mac notes that having an 8-megapixel camera lends credence to reports that the upcoming device will be more of a mid range iPhone than a true budget device along the lines of the Nokia Lumia 521. Apple is expected to launch the new device alongside the high-end iPhone 5S in September.Please visit Gsmgalaxy.comfor mobile phone information.



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The next BlackBerry flagship could be called the Z30

So far, we've all been working under the assumption that BlackBerry's next all touchscreen flagship device would be the A10, because the device is part of BlackBerry's so-called "A-series". However, that idea never made all that much sense since BlackBerry has two device options on the market: the Q-series with a physical keyboard and the Z10, which is all touchscreen.
Given that, it makes much more sense that the BlackBerry Aristo is using the letter A for its codename and little more. There is a new theory popping up that the next flagship touchscreen device from BlackBerry could be called the Z30. This makes more sense, because it follows the Z10. But, the name does have its own issues in that it would be skipping over Z20, and going straight to Z30.
If nothing else, the name BlackBerry Z30 makes more sense than A10. There has also been a video render put together on the rumored device, which continues to show off the gestures available in BlackBerry 10 for navigation.

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Sony Xperia Z Ultra gets its first update

Sony recently announced its Xperia Z Ultra phablet and the 6.4-inch beast with its Snapdragon 800 chipset is by far the most powerful device in the current market. Sony is yet to launch its monstrous phablet outside of Asia, but the company has already rolled out a firmware update for it. The latest firmware for the Sony Xperia Z Ultra has a July 19 build date and is pretty minor. There is no change log available, so it appears it was all about squashing some of the bugs that were spotted after the market release.
The firmware update is currently available on the PC companion and is not seeding over-the-air (OTA). Sony has officially announced that the Xperia Z Ultra will be getting the latest Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update, but that's going to come later on with another update.
By the way, we have already got our hands on the gigantic Sony Xperia Z Ultra and you can check out hands-on impressions here.

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Front panel and innards of the iPhone 5C leak

Hours after the purported camera module of the cheaper Apple iPhone 5C got snapped, now photos of the phone's display and framing have surfaced. Said parts of the rumored cheaper iPhone 5C have been leaked by a company called Chinese C Technology. It claims that there are minor differences between the iPhone 5 and the device they claim is the affordable iPhone 5C. The inside wiring is one of them, in addition to the all-plastic build.
We've already seen the plastic casing of the iPhone 5C on video as well as the different color variations that allegedly Apple is going to launch it in. Naturally, if you've been following the topic, you've also seen a lot more leaks regarding the low-cost Apple smartphone, as well as renders showing how it would look like based on the information available. Naturally, there is no official confirmation from Apple just yet. Even worse, Apple has repeatedly denied that it's working on a more affordable iPhone, so you'll have to judge for yourself whether the leaks and reports are to be believed.

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Motorola Moto X goes live with X8 chipset, 4.7" AMOLED screen

Motorola has officially taken the wraps off the Moto X - the first phone that has been entirely developed under the supervision of Google. It's also the company's first phone in a while to be fully assembled in the USA.
The Motorola Moto X is build around a 4.7" AMOLED display with full RGB matrix and 720p resolution. This results in a pixel density of 316 ppi. The screen is protected by a new type of Gorilla Glass, which is dubbed Magic Glass due to its curves towards the edges of the phone.
On the inside, the Motorola Moto X features a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset with dual 1.7GHz Krait cores, Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB of RAM. Internal storage is 16GB or 32GB depending on the version you choose but there's no card slot for further expansion. Just like the latest DROID line-up, the Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset is part of the Motorola X8 board, which also includes a natural language processor and contextual computing processor.
The Moto X camera has a 10MP sensor and uses the ClearPixel technology for superior low-light performance. Every other green portion of the Bayer filter array, which sits in front of the image sensor, is replaced by a clear one, allowing more light to reach the sensor.
On the software side, the camera offers HDR, burst shots and panorama. The Moto X can also shoot full HD videos at 30fps and there are features like face detection and geo-tagging on board. At the front, there's a 2MP camera capable of 1080p video recording that serves for video-chatting purposes.
Motorola has gone great lengths to make the Moto X a truly customizable phone. Customers can choose whether the front panel to be black or white, as well as the color of the back panel from 18 options. There's also a third customizable area called accent - it covers the camera rim and side buttons. Further customization includes adding a name or short message on the back of the phone as choosing a Google account and wallpaper to come preinstalled on the device.
The Motorola Moto X runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, which at first glance looks as clean as stock, but Motorola has added a few touches of its own. One of them is the Active Display feature, which makes use of the OLED screen and brings a snippet of information (the time, new messages and voicemail) on a blank black screen. Think of it as an Android version of Nokia's Glance Screen feature.
Motorola has also preinstalled a transfer app called Migrate. It allows you to transfer your photos, videos, SIM contacts and even call and text history from any Android phone running Android 2.2 or higher.
Because of the curved back, the Motorola Moto X thickness varies from 5.6 to 10.4mm. The phone has a pretty decent footprint for its 4.7" display - 129.3 x 65.3mm with a weight of the very acceptable 130 grams.
Below the customizable back panel sits a 2200mAh battery, which Motorola rates at 13 hours of 3G talk time and up to 24 hours of mixed usage endurance.
The Motorola Moto X a will be available on the five largest carriers in the USA - AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and US Cellular. It will cost $200 for the 16GB version and $250 for the 32GB units, both with a two-year contract.

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Samsung Galaxy S4 Active with Snapdragon 800 seemingly confirmed by benchmarks

Several weeks ago, an upgraded variant of the Samsung Galaxy S4 was announced officially. It is currently on sale on the South Korean market, packing a speedy Snapdragon 800 chip and offering blazing-fast LTE-Advanced connectivity. This, however, won't be the only handset by Samsung to get a refresh. If the clues contained in this benchmark result spotted on GFXbench are to be trusted, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active, which happens to be a water-resistant sibling of the S4, is next in line for the treatment. The presence of an MSM8974 chip is clearly stated in the listing, while the model name is mentioned in both the "fingerprint" and "device" strings.  Sadly, this upgraded Samsung Galaxy S4 Active model we're dealing with isn't meant to launch globally, as far as we can tell.

It appears that this is a handset made for SK Telecom – the very same mobile operator that is now selling the aforementioned LTE-A Galaxy S4 smartphone in South Korea. Nevertheless, we've been hearing rumors about a possible worldwide release of the latter, so who knows, perhaps the Snapdragon 800 variant of the S4 Active might get a broader rollout as well one day. We'll keep you informed as we learn more on the matter. If this smartphone is meant to see the light of day, its official announcement might be right around the corner.

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