Samsung’s Never-Ending Battle With Apple Over ‘Slide to Unlock’ May be Headed to Supreme Court

A longstanding lawsuit between Apple and Samsung over “Slide to Unlock” may be headed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Samsung has until March 29 to file a petition for a writ of certiorari, aka a request for Supreme Court review, per FOSS Patents.

If it accepts the case, the Supreme Court will review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s decision to reinstate Apple’s $119.6 million award last October.

Apple successfully argued that Samsung copied its patents related to slide to unlock, autocorrect, and phone number detection.

The lawsuit is so old that Apple does not even use “Slide to Unlock” anymore. Unlocking an iPhone on iOS 10 requires using Touch ID or pressing down on the Home button, which first brings up the passcode screen if you have one enabled. Swiping to the right now brings up a collection of Lock screen widgets.

This case is not to be confused with another 2011 lawsuit in which Apple accused Samsung of copying the iPhone’s design with its own Galaxy-branded smartphones. That larger case made it all the way to the Supreme Court and is now headed back to the same San Jose district court where it began for a possible damages retrial.

Tags: Samsung, lawsuit
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Best app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time

Everyone likes apps, but sometimes the best ones are a bit expensive. Now and then, developers make paid apps free for a limited time, but you have to snatch them up while you have the chance. Here are the latest and greatest apps on sale in the iOS App Store.

These apps normally cost money, and this sale lasts for a limited time only. If you go to the App Store and it says the app costs money, that means the deal has expired and you will be charged. 

More: 200 Awesome iPhone Apps | The best Android apps for almost any occasion

Temple Raider

Wander through the mazes of the ancient temples in search of lost treasures. Unleash your adventurous spirit and travel to mystic places where no human set foot for thousands of years.

Available on:

iOS

Sketch Me!

Turn your photos into drawings, cartoons or sketch images in one click to create instant works of art. 19 effects that are easy to use with full control.

Available on:

iOS

Beep

Censor words in a video precisely and add a beep sound. Censor a subject’s mouth or other visuals using emojis. The effects can be pretty hilarious (or useful).

Available on:

iOS

iPlayTo

Play photos, videos, and music from your iPhone or iPad to DLNA devices such as your Smart TV, AV Device, Sound Box, PC, other phones, and tablets.

Available on:

iOS

Note-ify

Note-ify Notes is a simple and convenient note-taking app. Organize your notes, ideas, shopping lists, tasks and different reference information.

Available on:

iOS

Quotes

Get inspired with two quotes a day from this app. Quotes provides you with a carefully selected quote list, and you can set your own text or image.

Available on:

iOS

How to turn on private browsing on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device

Most browsers have a Private Browsing mode designed to prevent your browser from doing a couple of things. First, your browser will not save your search history, or your auto-fill information. It will also prevent your browser from saving any cookies the website may want to save on your smartphone or desktop. Cookies can contain things like your login information, which allows you to quickly log into your favorite websites.

More: The 5 best iOS VPN apps for privacy and security

Nonetheless, some Android and iOS users still prefer to browse incognito. Many use it as a way to avoid pay walls that may keep them from reading an excess of news each month, while others utilize the private mode as a way to keep sensitive information and browsing history away from prying eyes. After all, not everyone feels comfortable disclosing their medical conditions with the world. Fortunately, keeping your browsing habits on the down low is easy with today’s mobile devices. Here’s how.

Private Browsing limitations

Private Browsing Mode is great for ensuring that your browsing history is not stored on your device. That means if someone else uses your smartphone, they won’t be able to see any of the websites you’ve recently visited, but this is all that you should use it for. It doesn’t prevent a server, your employer, or your ISP from monitoring or storing your browsing activity. As a matter of fact, some cookies will not respect the Private Browsing mode and track you anyway. These are called Super Cookies. 

Now that we know what Private Browsing Mode can and cannot do for you, let’s take a look at how to enable it.

Samsung is starting its 5G tests in London alongside Arqiva

Why it matters to you

We’ve been stuck on 4G LTE for what feels like an eternity, and now, 5G could be coming to London thanks to Samsung and Arqiva tests

The future is coming fast for the U.K. According to the latest reports, Samsung and telecommunications firm Arqiva will be debuting 5G mobile internet to the U.K. in the second half of this year. A partnership between these two companies will bring 5G trials to central London in hopes of determining whether this technology could replace fiber optic broadband beginning in 2020.

The hope, IBTimes reports, is to determine the feasibility of a future “where residential and commercial properties connect to a super-fast internet connection wirelessly over 5G, as smartphones do with 4G today.” Today, most of these connections are made through a fixed fiber optic cable. Not only is this a slower option, but it also requires significant time and resources to install new cables as businesses and populations grow. But with 5G, homes and businesses could simply buy a router and get online.

More: Trends with Benefits: 5G may allow you to cord cut everything & home exoskeletons are becoming a reality

“5G will be a crucial pillar of the U.K.’s economy in the 2020s. The smarter network infrastructure and an enhanced ability to support exponential scale for connectivity will open the doors to further applications across a variety of markets such internet-of-things, industrial applications, and the full promise of autonomous vehicles,” Arqiva chief executive Simon Beresford-Wylie told IBTimes.

So why are these tests being conducted in the U.K.? According to Thomas Riedel, head of Samsung Networks Europe, “There is so much opportunity in the region due to the diversity of markets and services already in place here, and we think the U.K. is a prime candidate to show off the benefits that 5G can bring to consumers here.”

The nation itself is also investing plenty of capital in connectivity. As Karen Bradley, the culture secretary, noted, “The government wants the U.K. to be a world leader in 5G and we’re already laying the foundations for a successful launch. We are investing [$1.25 billion] to boost the U.K.’s digital infrastructure and support 5G trials, and will shortly be publishing our 5G strategy.”

How to clean your PlayStation 4 console

Keeping your console clean is mandatory for the best gaming experience!

Your PlayStation 4 is a behemoth when it comes to delivering awesome games, movies, and even VR content. However, you may start to notice some slow down if you let dust build up over time, and nobody wants that. To keep your console running as efficiently as possible, you definitely need to keep it clean. Thankfully this is an easy task that should only take about 10 minutes of your time.

Compressed Air

The first thing that you want to do while cleaning your system is to go ahead and grab a can of compressed air. Your PlayStation 4 is covered with vents located at the front, sides, and back of the system, and these have a tendency to get absolutely covered in dust. To take care of this all that you need to do is go ahead and point the nozzle of the can at those vents, and then spray in short measured bursts. You ought to see the dust clear out of all the vents very quickly, and since PlayStation 4 consoles are black it’s easy to see where the dust has evacuated the system.

Now when you’re using compressed air you want to keep the nozzle a fair few inches away from the system so that the dust can escape properly. Likewise, you want to ensure that you hit all the vents on the system so you don’t miss built up dust somewhere. By cleaning out all of the vents, you’re ensuring the system is able to expel excess heat which helps reduce strain on the internal components.

PS4 in need of a good dusting? You can order a two-pack of compressed air via Amazon.

See at Amazon

Microfiber Cloth

Now if your system frequently turns gray with dust, you might be tempted to hit it with a wet wipe of some kind. Do not, we repeat, do not do that. You never want to introduce any kind of moisture to the system. Instead what you’ll want to use is a microfiber cloth. Using the cloth you’ll want to wipe the entire system down. This includes the top, sides, front, and back. Depending on how you have your console set up, wiping down the bottom isn’t a bad call either. Depending on how much dust you are dealing with you may need to clean the cloth off a few times, but the shiny black of a clean console is very easy to differentiate. You can stock up on microfibre clothes for cheap with this Amazon Basics 24-pack.

See at Amazon

Cleaning your Dualshock 4 controllers

Much like your system, if your controllers sit on a rack all day long they are going to accumulate dust. All that you need to do is go ahead and use a cleaning cloth to wipe down the controller. While wet wipes are still a general no-no, they can be used on the controller so long as you are avoiding the headphone jack, and charge port. When wiping down the controller you’ll want to pay special attention to all of the buttons, the analog sticks, and the light bar at the back of the controller.

Specifically, you want to ensure theres no dust or grime blocking that light bar, especially if you are playing PlayStation VR games, since the camera needs to be able to properly see that light bar. Likewise, nobody wants to use a controller with sticky buttons caused by dust or debris. If that’s exactly what you’re dealing with, your best bet is to turn off the controller and then use a wet wipe to clean away the dust and grime. This can also be particularly handy for those times when you can’t actually see what is causing a button of analog stick to get stuck. Just ensure that the controller has plenty of time to dry out before use, and limit the amount of moisture as much as possible to avoid damage.

Cleaning your PlayStation Move controllers

The first thing that you want to do is pick your compressed air back up. With controlled bursts, spray all of the ports and crevices on the controller to make sure there isn’t any dust hiding in a sneaky spot. From there, all you need to do is go ahead and wipe down the rest of the controller with a microfiber cloth. If there is any sticky residue, use a slightly damp paper towel or wet wipe while avoiding all ports.

If you have a pair of Move controller that you want to bust out, but that are particularly dusty, there are a few things to remember. The PlayStation camera reads Move controllers by tracking the lights in the bulb of each controller, so you want to ensure that they are as clean of dust and debris as possible. Likewise, cleaning out the ports, and around the button ensures that you won’t get distracted while playing a game.

Tips

It’s basically impossible to keep your system entirely clear of dust, but there are a few things that you can do to help minimize the amount of dust or debris you need to clean. Just keep in mind that the PlayStation 4 console is essentially a dust magnet thanks to that shiny black exterior.

• Keep it away from pets: If you have dogs or cats, try to keep the console as far from the floor as possible so that animal hair isn’t getting stuck on your system.
• Avoid glass entertainment centers: Glass already has a tendency to attract dust, so if you set up your PS4 on a glass entertainment center you can expect your system to need a good cleaning about once a week or so. You can set your system in vertical orientation or invest in a dust cover to help keep the dust to a minimum.
• Don’t smoke in the house: Cigarette smoke causes faster dirt accumulation, and this definitely includes your console.

Conclusion

PlayStation 4 consoles are going to get dirty; it doesn’t matter if they are sitting up on a shelf or hanging out on the entertainment center. What matters is knowing how to properly clean it up and get it back up and running in tip-top shape after it’s gone gray with dust. Armed with just a microfiber cloth and some compressed air, you can easily dispatch the army of dust bunnies that has taken up residence on your console and its controllers. Do you have a particular tip for cleaning your system? Is there something we missed? Be sure to drop us a comment below and tell us about it!

The downsides to using an ‘alternative’ carrier

Beware of things that seem great “for the price”.

The company that provides your cellular service has a single goal in mind — to make money. Achieving that goal in 2017 means offering features you want at a price you are willing to pay, and guaranteeing a certain quality level to that service. Some of us pay more for that guarantee, or more for an increased capacity to enjoy wireless service, but for the most part the US cellular market is fairly static. Those of us paying close attention to relatively small changes in service get excited by the theater of competitive marketing, but overall the “big four” have been mostly the same for years.

This is why there are frequently pockets of excitement surrounding “alternative” carriers. Sometimes we call them pre-paid providers, sometimes we call them MVNOs, but they’re all basically the same thing. These alternatives are exercises in securing users willing to sacrifice features for a lower monthly rate, but in recent years the marketing around these companies has become so good it’s often difficult to see what features you are losing.

How these ‘alternatives’ work

When land line telephones were in their infancy, service providers would sell more lines than they could support in an area. It was highly unlikely that everyone would pick up the phone at the same time to make a call, so there was always part of the network left unused. In selling a fraction of those unused lines, the phone company could make more money without expanding service.

Just like everything else, read the fine print first.

A similar technique is used in the cellular world today. Many people pay the “big four” for more than they actually use, either as a way of ensuring there’s never a surprise overage fee at the end of the month or because a lower alternative isn’t available. This means there’s a portion of the network almost never being used, even when selling over the theoretical capacity. This leftover network is sold as a bulk service to a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO for short) which turns around and sells this service just a hair above the cost of the bulk rate offered by the carrier.

The benefit to users is clear. It’s a noticeably cheaper cellular service that can claim to be “just as good” most of the time, and for people on strict budgets or those who view cellular service as a luxury it’s a good way to save money. This smaller company makes a reasonable profit from reselling leftover network, and the host company makes a reasonable profit with almost no additional work on its end. Everyone wins, at least in theory.

What you sacrifice for that lower rate

There’s gotta be a catch, right? There’s always a catch. With MVNOs, the catch is all in the quality of service. That can mean a couple of different things, and each of them are important to consider when choosing whether it’s actually worth it to spend less.

For starters, the service you get from an MVNO is never “just as good” as the host service. The alternative option will almost always be slightly slower when using the 4G LTE, and in many cases the performance difference is more than just a 1-2mbps difference. The host carrier will always prioritize the service of their regular customers over the other users on the network, because they’re paying for the privilege.

The prioritization also happens when the network is completely saturated, which doesn’t happen terribly often in most places. Your cellular network is usually only fully loaded when a tremendous amount of people in a single unplanned place start using their phone all at once. For example, if a natural disaster occurs and suddenly everyone is making calls and broadcasting video streams all at once, the host network is designed to ensure its primary customers have service no matter what. The same can not be said of your average MVNO. In fact, most of these budget service providers include this clause in the Terms of Service:

WE MAY LIMIT, THROTTLE, SUSPEND OR TERMINATE YOUR SERVICE OR AGREEMENT WITHOUT NOTICE AT ANY TIME AND FOR ANY REASON

For anyone using cell service as their one and only phone line, that kind of planned instability invites catastrophe. But the specter of what might happen isn’t as concerning as not being able to hold the company responsible for failing to deliver the service promised in the advertising. If you call Verizon Wireless after an outage, you can ask for a credit for the time you were not able to use your service. If you call an MVNO and ask for the same, you will frequently be reminded of the section of Terms and Conditions that reads:

You agree we are not liable for problems relating to Service availability or quality.

Which brings us to the final problem with ‘alternative’ carriers — good old fashioned customer service. The whole point of an MVNO is to be able to offer you discounted service because the operating costs are much lower, and that includes customer service. The “big four” are available to you 24/7/365, usually through phone and email and even text chat on each of the websites. In some cases, you can even get support through Twitter and Facebook. You won’t find the same level of support through an alternative carrier, because it’s expensive to offer that level of support all the time.

Budget carriers can be expensive in other ways

As long as you know what you’re getting into when you sign up for service, there’s nothing wrong with saving money by going with a cheaper service provider. There are plenty of perfectly valid reasons to need or want to save money on your phone bill, and many of these alternative carriers offer that ability to save as the primary feature.

Just like everything else, read the fine print first. You always give up something when switching from a company that manages its own network to a company that resells a product as its own, and in most cases the cheaper you go the more you give up. If you’re using that service as your only way to communicate with the rest of the world, giving up the guarantee that you’ll even have service when you need it can be a real hassle.

Access geo-restricted content from anywhere with this lifetime subscription for just $39

Ever go to watch a show or stream music only to find out that it isn’t available where you live? There is nothing worse, right? Whether it is something on HBO that you want to check out, or some music you want to stream on Pandora, not being able to access it because it is only available in a different country is completely annoying. There are ways around it, but some are difficult, and others are expensive. It doesn’t have to be this way though!

Get a lifetime subscription now! Learn More

Meet Unblock All, one of the easiest ways to access geo-restricted services from anywhere. Whether the Netflix content you want isn’t available by you, or Pandora isn’t accessible, with Unblock All you’ll be able to gain access. You can change your location from Canada to the UK, or Australia to the U.S. all with just one click.

Some of the other features include:

• Access blocked content from anywhere in the world
• Change your location to the US, Canada, UK, or Australia w/ one click
• Browse faster than w/ a VPN or Proxy thanks to no traffic limits & equal security
• Use on an unlimited amount of devices

Save 81% right now! Learn More

Normally a lifetime license to the service would run around $215, but right now you can pay much less than that. For just $39 you can get the lifetime of access, or if you just want to check it out for a year, you can for only $19. If you want to access content that isn’t normally available in your area, you’ll want to check out Unblock All now!

WhatsApp now has 200 million users in India

WhatsApp has conquered the Indian messaging market.

WhatsApp usage is ubiquitous in India, and the latest numbers back it up. The Facebook-owned messaging platform has crossed 200 million users from the subcontinent, a drastic uptick from the 160 million it boasted just three months ago.

WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton is in the country to meet with IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to discuss the platform’s role in commercial messaging and digital payments solutions. With the recent demonetisation drive, customers have flocked to mobile wallets, with local services integrating with WhatsApp to facilitate money transfers through the messaging platform:

India is a very important country to us, and we’re proud to have 200 million people who use WhatsApp to connect with their friends, family and communities. We build every WhatsApp feature to be simple, reliable, and secure, and this vision is in line with what Digital India promises to achieve.

We will continue to invest so we can help more people across India, and we hope to contribute more to India’s vision for digital commerce in the future.

Views on #DigitalIndia by Brian Acton, Co-founder of @WhatsApp . pic.twitter.com/OaIqqfo97A

— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) February 24, 2017

Given WhatsApp’s availability on all mobile platforms and its ability to work on slow internet connections, it’s unlikely that there will be a rival service that will dethrone the messaging app in India anytime soon. With the service adding voice and video calls and the ability to post ephemeral status updates, it is slowly turning into an all-in-one communications platform, and an indispensable one at that.

Nintendo Switch Protip — Get discounts on game pre-orders!

Save yourself some cash and plan out your Nintendo Switch games.

Not everyone likes pre-ordering games, especially launch games for a new console. Many people wait for game reviews to decide whether they want to participate in the excitement, and those aren’t always available as the first wave of games come out for a new console.

If you’re already planning to get a Nintendo Switch, and you know you’re going to want at least one or two of the games, you should pre-order those games now. Even if you aren’t planning on getting the console the day it is available to everyone, pre-ordering Nintendo Switch games will save you a considerable amount of money.

Amazon pre-orders

Did you know everyone with an Amazon Prime subscription gets 20% off the cost of a game when you pre-order through Amazon? It’s a feature Amazon has offered for a while now, but it’s not something you see on the site unless you go to a specific game and look at the final price.

Under the listed price of the game, you’ll see a Prime Savings flag. That tells you the price at checkout, which is 20% lower than the listed price. For Nintendo Switch games, it means the $59.96 price tag is lowered to $47.99.

Even if you don’t think that’s a huge savings for a single game, when you add up the savings across the new Legend of Zelda, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2, and that crazy new ARMS punching game you almost have a free game in savings!

Best Buy Gamers Club Unlocked

The gaming service at Best Buy has offered exclusive rewards certificates and points towards discounts from every purchase for a while now, but the $30 every two years upgrade to that service quickly pays for itself when a new console is launched.

The Gamers Club Unlocked subscription gives you 20% off pre-orders for any games, 20% off the e-guides for those games, and a 10% increase on your trade-in value if you decide you’re done with the games you currently have.

Best Buy includes a sign-up form on its website, and if you’ve never had an Unlocked subscription before you get special coupons towards your first purchase as a thanks you for joining. Not only is this great for your wallet now, but the points you earn on purchases can be used to take the price down on your next console as well!

How to enable VR for Elite: Dangerous

Are you ready to sit in your favorite ship?

One of the greatest things about Elite: Dangerous is the ability to set your own pace and theme. If you want to wander around and explore the stars, occasionally delivering packages to pay for upgrades to your ship, you can do that with no problem. If you want to fly around and show everyone just how great a bounty hunter you are, leaving wrecked ships in your wake as you sail, you have everything you need. As the player, you get to choose your experience, which is awesome.

You also have some control over the level of immersion you have in the game. You can play on a laptop in a coffee shop with a gamepad, at a wide screen desktop with flight sticks, or dive fully into a VR rig and have everything move with your head. Here’s a quick guide on how to enable that last part!

Read more at VR Heads!