Posts tagged files
Nokia files further complaint against Apple alleging major patent infringement
Mar 30th
[March 30, 2011]
Nokia files further complaint against Apple alleging major patent infringement
(Canadian Press DataFile Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) HELSINKI, Finland _ Nokia is suing Apple in the United States for allegedly infringing patents in “virtually all” of its mobile phones, portable music players, tablets and computers, the Finnish company said Tuesday.
The complaint, filed with United States International Trade Commission, ITC, is the latest in a string of lawsuits by Nokia and comes as the world’s largest handset maker struggles to keep up with smartphone rivals like Apple.
Nokia said the seven patents in the new complaint relate to its “pioneering innovations” that Apple allegedly is using “to create key features in its products, including in multitasking operating systems, data synchronization, positioning, call quality and the use of Bluetooth accessories.” Last week, the ITC found no violation in an earlier complaint. Nokia said it “is waiting to see the full details of the ruling before deciding on the next steps in that case.” Last year, Nokia Corp. also sued Apple Inc. in Britain, Germany and the Netherlands for allegedly infringing its patents with technology used in the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
Those followed earlier lawsuits by Nokia claiming that a broad swath of Apple products violate its patents. Apple had earlier responded with its own infringement claims against Nokia.
“Our latest ITC filing means we now have 46 Nokia patents in suit against Apple, many filed more than 10 years before Apple made its first iPhone,” said Paul Melin, vice-president of intellectual property at Nokia.
“Nokia is a leading innovator in technologies needed to build great mobile products and Apple must stop building its products using Nokia’s proprietary innovation.” Nokia said that in the past two decades it has invested some C43 billion in research and development to build “one of the wireless industry’s strongest and broadest IPR portfolios,” which includes more than 10,000 patent families.
The legal disputes, which generally don’t stop products reaching markets, come amid increasing competition in the fast-growing smartphone market. Tech companies are scrambling to win over the growing number of consumers buying handsets that come with email, Web surfing, cameras, videos and scores of apps for checking the weather, updating Facebook and other tasks.
Nokia has been struggling against stiff competition, especially from the iPhone and RIM’s Blackberry.
In addition to the two ITC complaints, Nokia said it has filed cases on the same patents and others in Delaware, and has further cases proceeding in Mannheim, Dusseldorf and the Federal Patent Court in Germany, the UK High Court in London and the District Court of the Hague in the Netherlands. Some of them will come to trial in the next few months.
Nokia stock closed almost unchanged at C6.17 ($8.68) on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.
Online: http://www.nokia.com (c) 2011 The Canadian Press
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From www.tmcnet.com
App files 1040EZ on mobile phone
Jan 17th
SAN FRANCISCO – Few chores are as unpleasant as filling out a tax return. But filers can avoid some of the drudgery by turning it over to their mobile phones.
Intuit, the company that makes TurboTax software, introduced an application Friday that lets users automatically fill out the 1040EZ, the most basic of the IRS personal tax forms. Filers photograph their W-2, and the app does much of the rest.
Intuit’s SnapTax app, available for the iPhone and Android phones, relies on image-recognition technology to read salary and withholding information from the W-2. Users answer a few questions and review their return for accuracy before submitting it electronically by tapping a “file now” button.
Intuit charges $15 for each filing through the app, and it says that completing a return can take as little as 15 minutes.
The app is intended for consumers who increasingly are using their mobile phones for tasks such as shopping and banking online.
Taxes are just the next step, although it might take some getting used to for people accustomed to preparing their returns with a pencil and calculator or on a desktop computer at home or in the office.
SnapTax offers the possibility of doing your taxes in atypical locations, but the reality is probably more mundane, said Colleen Gatlin, an Intuit spokeswoman.
“We don’t expect that people will be filing on the train,” she said.
To use SnapTax, individuals must earn less than $80,000; married couples must earn less than $100,000. The limit for individuals is lower than the $100,000 cap set by the IRS for taxpayers using the 1040EZ but not filing by phone.
Intuit says it wants to make sure the app is not used by people who should be maximizing their savings by itemizing deductions, which is not allowed on the 1040EZ.
Additionally, 1040EZ filers must have no dependents and be younger than 65.
Image-recognition technology, which for years was considered unreliable, is being put to use increasingly in online services.
Technical advancements and the spread of smart phones have provided new opportunities for it. The technology also is being used to translate signs from Spanish into English, scan bar codes in stores and help solve Sudoku puzzles.
SnapTax is among a number of mobile-phone apps related to taxes. H&R Block’s app lets users ask questions of the company’s tax professionals, Shoeboxed helps users organize their spending by photographing receipts, and Intuit’s TurboTax app estimates what users owe in taxes.
“We are in favor of anything that would make it easier for people to file their taxes,” said Sara Eguren, a spokeswoman for the IRS.
From www.dispatch.com
Reopen files on News of the World phone hacking scandal, police tell prosecutors
Jan 15th
Reopen files on News of the World phone hacking scandal, police tell prosecutors
By Rebecca Camber
Last updated at 12:37 AM on 15th January 2011
Prosecutors are to re-examine all the police files on the News of the World phone hacking scandal in a move that could trigger new arrests.
Yesterday Scotland Yard asked the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, to carry out a ‘comprehensive assessment’ of all the material from the original inquiry and any new evidence of celebrities’ phones being tapped illegally.
The move follows the suspension of Ian Edmondson, a senior executive at the Sunday newspaper, over suggestions that he was linked to the hacking of actress Sienna Miller’s voicemail messages.
Target: Actress Sienna Miller had her mobile voicemail hacked. The phone scandal has dogged former News of the World Editor Andy Coulson who is now the Prime Minister’s Director of Communications
In an open letter to the DPP, Metropolitan Police Acting Deputy Commissioner John Yates said there ‘remain outstanding public, legal and political concerns’ about the scandal, which has dogged the News of the World and its former editor, Andy Coulson, now the Prime Minister’s director of communications.
The development comes a week after Scotland Yard ruled out a fresh inquiry into the case despite pressure from former home secretary Alan Johnson and Labour home affairs spokesman Ed Balls.
An internal investigation has begun at the News of the World into the conduct of Mr Edmondson, assistant editor in charge of news. He was suspended just before Christmas after his name appeared in legal documents submitted by lawyers representing Miss Miller, who is suing the paper’s parent company, News Group, and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who worked for the paper, accusing them of breaching her privacy and harassment.
Mulcaire and former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman were jailed in 2007 after they admitted intercepting voicemails left on mobile phones belonging to members of the royal household.
Downing Street has repeatedly said that David Cameron has full confidence in Mr Coulson. Last night a Government source said: ‘Andy Coulson has said from the beginning that he had no knowledge of phone hacking at the News of the World. Nothing has changed.’
From www.dailymail.co.uk
Sony files phone patent complaints against LG
Dec 30th
SEATTLE (AP) — Sony Corp. has filed a patent infringement complaint against LG Electronics Inc. and its U.S. subsidiaries with the U.S. International Trade Commission, saying LG’s mobile phones and modems step on proprietary technology including photo-based caller ID.
Among the seven patents Sony cites is one that describes how phones associate photos with phone numbers, so that when someone calls a friend, for example, the caller’s photo pops up on the friend’s phone, according to commission documents made public Wednesday.
Sony also filed a lawsuit against LG in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The filing was not available online Wednesday and it was not known whether Sony made identical claims.
LG did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
The complaints are the latest in a long string of patent disputes among phone makers trying to stake a claim on a slice of the rapidly growing smart phone market. Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Nokia Corp. and HTC Corp. and others have taken legal action to protect intellectual property in the last few years.
In the International Trade Commission complaint, Sony also said LG infringes on patented technology for encoding and transmitting audio in ways that adjust to available bandwidth capacity; delaying the start of audio recording for a set amount of time so that the recording doesn’t pick up inadvertent noises; and technology for using the images streaming through a device’s camera as a real-time viewfinder, then switching to saving better-quality files when the user decides to snap a picture.
The other patents in question involve ways of divvying up bandwidth and handing off phone calls from one base station to another to make the best use of network capacity.
Sony listed LG’s Fathom and Xenon phones and the LG VL600 modem, which can be used to connect a computer to the Internet using a cellular data connection, among other phones and devices.
In the commission filing, Sony said Nokia, Samsung Electronics Co. and Sony Ericsson, an LM Ericsson and Sony joint venture, license the patented technology in question.
Sony asked the International Trade Commission to block imports of products made with contested technology, but that doesn’t mean sales of LG products are immediately threatened. Patent cases can take months or years to resolve, and agreements over licensing and royalty payments often emerge.
Amitabh Bachchan harassed by blogger; files police complaint
Aug 30th
New Delhi, Aug 29 (Calcutta Tube) Amitabh Bachchan says an unknown person has been sending derogatory and abusive material on his blog and mobile phone. After enduring it for months, he has filed a police complaint.
‘There is a serious effort by a member that writes and comments on this blog to use language and expression that is abusive, filthy and utterly disgusting,’ Big B wrote on his bigb.bigadda.com.
‘I have brought this to the notice of the authorities and (sought) corrective measures to see none of the stuff that comes from this foul mouthed individual shall ever be allowed on this platform. Any further attempt from this person shall now be under legal cyber space action, now very prominently activated in the country.
‘This blog, this platform, this home for our extended family members is a sacred and revered destination and any attempt to defile it shall be dealt with in the most severe manner,’ he added.
Amitabh further revealed he is also receiving derogatory messages on his phone.
‘Further more. This individual has been sending me the most unprintable abuse on SMS on my phone. I have, after great tolerance for months, reported the matter to the police and they will be taking serious punitive action, not just in my country but in the country of the origin of these missives.’
