Apple is reportedly working on OLED displays
Apple has opened a lab in Taiwan, according to Bloomberg, with “at least 50” engineers looking into advanced display technology for products including the iPhone and iPad. It’s pulled in workers from Taiwanese display company AU Optronics, as well as Qualcomm, to develop new screens. The tech company is aiming to make its displays thinner, lighter and more efficient, with Bloomberg’s sources adding that Apple is looking into OLED (organic light-emitting diodes) displays. While these would tick a lot of the aforementioned boxes (and don’t need backlighting), they’re also harder and more expensive to produce — although they often look incredible. If Apple can get it right, however, it’ll reduce its supply needs from other electronics giants, including Samsung, LG and Sharp.
Source: Bloomberg
Apple is reportedly working on OLED displays
Apple has opened a lab in Taiwan, according to Bloomberg, with “at least 50” engineers looking into advanced display technology for products including the iPhone and iPad. It’s pulled in workers from Taiwanese display company AU Optronics, as well as Qualcomm, to develop new screens. The tech company is aiming to make its displays thinner, lighter and more efficient, with Bloomberg’s sources adding that Apple is looking into OLED (organic light-emitting diodes) displays. While these would tick a lot of the aforementioned boxes (and don’t need backlighting), they’re also harder and more expensive to produce — although they often look incredible. If Apple can get it right, however, it’ll reduce its supply needs from other electronics giants, including Samsung, LG and Sharp.
Source: Bloomberg
Lumsing and AndroidGuys are giving away 10 four-port intelligent wall chargers
- INTELLIGENT QUICK CHARGE TECHNOLOGY: Detects and automatically switches to the right charging mode of the connected digital device for full speed charging of up to 4.2 overall amps.
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The rules are simple.
- Like Lumsing’s Facebook fan page (https://www.facebook.com/LumsingFans/).
- Share this post on Facebook.
- Leave a comment below in the comments section.
- Enter the giveaway from now until Sunday December 20 11:59PM PST. Winners will be contacted on Monday December 21. Just provide a shipping address and Lumsing will mail you the product direct.
All entrants will be able to receive one product at %50 off from the Lumsing Amazon store. Lumsing has over 16k ratings on Amazon.com, with over 97% overwhelming positive. They have a wide range of products from portable power banks, to wall chargers to accessory cables. We have positively reviewed its products on AndroidGuys.com, and use the products ourselves. In no way is Lumsing or AndroidGuys using this giveaway as an attempt to collect any personal information such as your phone number or credit card information.
From the team at AndroidGuys.com and Lumsing, we want to wish you a happy holiday season!
To learn more about Lumsing products head on over to the Lumsing Amazon.com storefront – LINK
Terms and Conditions
- Winners must live in the United States.
- We are not responsible for lost shipments.
- Only one winner per household.
- We reserve all rights to make any changes to this giveaway.
- Your email address will be given to Lumsing so they can contact you to send you a free prize
Lumsing Grand A1 accessory review
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Samsung appeals to Supreme Court regarding Apple design patents
Earlier this month it was revealed Samsung agreed to pay Apple over half a billion dollar settlement from their historic patent battle of a few years ago. Samsung said they reserved the right to claw back some of the payment if a planned appeal to the Supreme Court was successful, indicating the case would continue despite the payment. Today Samsung filed an appeal with the Supreme Court concerning how the court handled design patent violations in the Apple case.
Although Samsung is appealing specific findings in their case with Apple, their arguments are based on a wider front in which they claim courts are mishandling design patents at contention in lawsuits. Samsung says judges are only providing limited guidance to juries about how to interpret design patents and what they may apply to. This is contrasted with utility patents in which very specific instructions are provided.
Samsung also claims the way damages are calculated could result in companies paying damages that are several times larger than the profits made on a product found to infringe on a design patent if multiple patents are violated. The end result is a situation in which design patent trolls are encouraged to engage in litigation. This will also result in stifled innovation and fewer choices for consumers, a point Samsung has tried to make in the past.
source: Re/code
Come comment on this article: Samsung appeals to Supreme Court regarding Apple design patents
Apple Gifts Retail Employees With Apple Music Subscription
Apple last week provided all of its employees with urBeats earphones from the Beats by Dr. Dre product lineup as part of an annual holiday gift, and today iTunes chief Eddy Cue told Apple employees they would also receive a free nine-month subscription to Apple Music.
Cue shared the news in a video message that went out to employees this morning. Employees will receive an Apple Music promo code later this month, which will allow them to activate their free subscriptions.
Valued at $90, the Apple Music subscription paired with the urBeats headphones makes Apple’s 2015 gift to its employees one of the most generous the company has offered in recent years. Apple’s holiday gifts go out to all of its employees around the world, encompassing Cupertino, satellite offices, and each of its retail locations.
In addition to being a nice perk for employees, offering an Apple Music subscription to all of its employees will have benefits for Apple, as it will allow retail workers to familiarize themselves with the service so they can better explain and recommend it to customers.
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MacKeeper Exposes Data on 13 Million Customers
Anti-virus company MacKeeper is making headlines today for its lax security on a customer database that contained 13 million customer records complete with names, email addresses, usernames, password hashes, phone numbers, IP address, and system information.
As shared in a reddit post, Chris Vickery (via Forbes) was able to download the records simply by entering an IP address, with no username or password required to access the data, a major security oversight on MacKeeper’s part.
MacKeeper was also using MD5 hashes for passwords, a weak algorithm that’s easily bypassed using an MD5 cracking tool. As Vickery says, MacKeeper (and parent company Kromtech) “appears to have no respect for the privacy of its users’ data or the integrity of their information.”
Vickery did not share details on the exploit and immediately contacted Kromtech about the oversight. Using Vickery’s information, Kromtech secured the database after several hours, and nobody with malicious intent was reportedly able to get ahold of customer details. With the exploit fixed, Vickery explained how he accessed the data.
Here are some details (now that it’s secured): The search engine at Shodan.io had indexed their IPs as running publicly accessible MongoDB instances (as some have already guessed). I had never even heard of MacKeeper or Kromtech until last night. I just happened upon it after being bored and doing a random “port:27017” search on Shodan.
For those unfamiliar with MacKeeper, it is Mac software that purports to optimize a Mac and keep it secure from viruses and malware, tricking people into a purchase with unrealistic claims. Earlier this month, a class action lawsuit led to a $2 million settlement that will see MacKeeper providing refunds to customers who purchased the software and would like their money back.
Though MacKeeper says Vickery was the only person to access the information, MacKeeper customers should still change their passwords and passwords on sites that used the same password as the MacKeeper password.
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Samsung Appeals to U.S. Supreme Court in Last Effort to Avoid $548 Million Apple Payment
Samsung today asked the United States Supreme Court to hear its latest appeal in its ongoing patent battle with Apple, reports Re/code. In August, following a rejection from the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, Samsung said it would take its case to the Supreme Court by November, and it has now followed through with those plans.
In its appeal, which also includes a wider criticism on patent law, Samsung says the jury was not provided with enough information to understand the patents, a problem it says afflicts many design patent cases.
“Samsung is escalating this case because it believes that the way the laws were interpreted is not in line with modern times,” it said in a statement. “If the current legal precedent stands, it could diminish innovation, stifle competition, pave the way for design patent troll litigation and negatively impact the economy and consumers.”
Samsung has already agreed to pay a $548 million settlement to Apple, with the full sum expected to be paid by today, but should the Supreme Court rule in Samsung’s favor, there is a clause that would require Apple to pay back the money.
Apple and Samsung have been battling over patent infringement issues since 2012, when a jury ruled Samsung willfully violated multiple Apple patents, resulting in $1 billion in damages. Since then, Samsung has been fighting the ruling. Over the course of several appeals and a partial retrial, Samsung has gotten the damages reduced to the $548 million total.
Samsung’s appeal to the Supreme Court is a last ditch effort. Should the Supreme Court refuse to hear its appeal or rule in Apple’s favor, Samsung will not be able to recoup the $548 million it is paying to Apple. Samsung could have some difficulty convincing the Supreme Court to look at its case, as the court is notoriously selective about the cases it agrees to hear.
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MacRumors Video Gift Guide by Matt: Inateck iPad Sleeves, Jaybird X2 Earbuds, Moko Apple Watch Bands, and More
We’ve been sharing a selection of gift guides on MacRumors, featuring Apple-related accessories hand-picked by the MacRumors team from some of our absolute favorite products. Our latest gift guide comes in video format and was created by our videographer, Matt.
Matt doesn’t write posts, but he does handle most of our videos over on YouTube, so make sure to subscribe to our channel to see more of Matt’s awesome work. Matt’s video is below, as are links to each of his picks.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
- Inateck iPad Air Felt Sleeve ($12.99)
- Inateck Sleeve Case for iPad Pro and MacBook ($21.99)
- Jaybird X2 Wireless Earbuds ($179.95)
- MoKo Apple Watch Sport Replacement Bands ($14.99)
- BlueLounge Jimi iMac USB Port Extender ($14.95)
- Click and Grow Smart Herb Garden ($64.90)
We have a reader curated master gift guide drawn from the MacRumors forum, so if you have favorite products you want to share with others as gift ideas, make sure to add them there. For more ideas, check out the rest of our gift guides:
- Juli’s Gift Guide: Philips Hue, UE Roll Speaker, Pressed Flower iPhone Cases, Canvas Smart Desk, and More
- Joe’s Gift Guide: 64GB iPhone 6s on T-Mobile, V-MODA Crossfade Wireless Headphones and More
- Mitchel’s Gift Guide: Pad & Quill Accessories, HoverBar for iPad, Beats Pill, and More
- Marianne’s Gift Guide: Elevation Dock, Fluxmob Bolt, and More
- Eric’s Gift Guide: SteelSeries Nimbus Controller, Apple Watch Dock, BB-8, and More
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Microsoft Allowing OneDrive Users on Free Tier to Keep 15GB Free Storage and Camera Roll Bonus
In November, Microsoft made the controversial decision to reduce its unlimited OneDrive storage to 1TB for Office 365 Home, Personal and University subscribers early next year. OneDrive’s free storage will also be reduced from 15GB to 5GB, and the 15GB camera roll bonus will be discontinued.
Microsoft’s decision was poorly received by OneDrive customers, who created an online petition called “give us back our storage” with over 70,000 votes. The backlash has prompted the company to apologize and introduce a new offer for OneDrive customers to keep their 15GB free storage and 15GB camera roll bonus.
Microsoft Group Program Manager Douglas Pearce (via The Verge):
In November we made a business decision to reduce storage limits for OneDrive. Since then, we’ve heard clearly from our Windows and OneDrive fans about the frustration and disappointment we have caused. We realize the announcement came across as blaming customers for using our product. For this, we are truly sorry and would like to apologize to the community. […]
In addition, for our biggest fans who have been loyal advocates for OneDrive, we are adding a new offer that lets you keep your existing 15 GB of free storage when the changes happen next year. If you also have the 15 GB camera roll bonus, you’ll be able to keep that as well. From now until the end of January, you can sign up to keep your storage at the link below.
OneDrive users who sign up by January 31, 2016 will be able to keep their 15GB of free storage and 15GB camera roll bonus, even after Microsoft reduces its free storage tier to 5GB next year. OneDrive customers using more than 5GB of free storage will also receive a free Office 365 Personal subscription with 1TB storage for 12 months.
Microsoft is not backing down from its larger plans to discontinue unlimited storage, a decision it made because a small number of users exceeded 75 TB storage, or 14,000 times the average, by “backing up multiple PCs and and storing entire movie collections and DVR recordings.” The changes take place in early 2016.
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PIQ and Rossignol Launch Ski Sensor to Track Performance on Slopes
PIQ has partnered with Rossignol to create a new version of its multi-sport sensor for tracking skiing performance on the slopes (via Engadget). The 13-axis ski sensor attaches to a ski boot and allows skiers to record runs, analyze turns, challenge friends, track best speeds and more.
It can then measure stats like edge-to-edge speed, G-force and carving angle, while giving freestyle skiers air time, G-force at landing, rotation and more. As with other PIQ models, you can check stats immediately from your Android or iOS smartphone via Bluetooth, but if you don’t carry a phone during mogul practice, it’ll store the data for later.
PIQ sells a package with the sensor and Rossignol ski accessory for €149, or the €49 ski accessory can be purchased separately for those that already own a PIQ sensor. The products can be pre-ordered until January 12, 2016 and will ship in February before general public availability.
Rossignol’s companion Ski Pursuit app is free on the App Store for iPhone [Direct Link].
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