MacRumors

Apple will use lithium-ion batteries supplied by Samsung SDI, Tianjin Lishen Battery, and LG Chem for its upcoming iWatch, reports The Korea Herald. LG Chem in particular produces stepped batteries that are said to offer both greater longevity and greater flexibility, as they can be made in a variety of shapes.

"Apple will utilize LG Chem's stepped battery since it offers better longevity than others and can be applied for different shapes," a source said, declining to be identified.

A stepped battery is similar to a traditional lithium-ion battery but it also includes an extra ridge or "step" on the back that increases the battery's capacity. According to LG Chem, the design boosts capacity by 16 percent, which results in three extra hours of battery life in the LG G2 smart phone. Apple would, of course, need to use a much smaller battery, but such a design could help it eke out extra longevity.

Battery life is said to be one of Apple's major iWatch developmental issues, with a report from last year suggesting the company was seeing just one to two days of battery life in prototype devices. Another January report indicated Apple is still having trouble reaching its target goal of four to five days of battery life.

Along with its efforts to increase battery life, Apple has also been experimenting with a number of effortless charging methods that could make it easier for consumers to charge their devices on a frequent basis. Inductive charging, for example, would allow the iWatch to be charged wirelessly, alleviating the need for a traditional cable charging method. The company has also investigated solar and movement-based charging, but it is unlikely these technologies will be included in the iWatch.

Apple's iWatch remains in the developmental stages, but the company reportedly has a multitude of employees working on the device. It has hired a number of health and fitness experts in recent months and it appears that the device could include an array of battery-intensive functions and health sensors. It is unknown when the iWatch might be released, but recent reports have suggested that late 2014 could be a target goal, possibly alongside iOS 8 and the next-generation iPhone.

Apple is joining Google and 13 other companies in a combined effort to curb frivolous lawsuits from patent holding companies, reports Bloomberg. Speaking to the Supreme Court justices, Apple said it has been sued 92 times by patent companies in the last two years. It currently has 228 unresolved patent claims and employs two lawyers who are dedicated to responding to royalty demands.

Google, joined by 13 other companies, told the justices that patent-assertion entities have an unfair advantage because they don’t make products of their own, leaving them effectively immune from countersuits.

Apple and the other technology companies are asking the Supreme Court to make it easier for companies to collect attorney's fees when patent holding companies lose infringement lawsuits. This allocation of fees, they argue, would cut down on the number of frivolous suits.

Just as Apple moves to seek judicial assistance in addressing patent abuse in the U.S., German patent holding firm IPCom has filed two patent infringement lawsuits in the German court system that accuse Apple of infringing on cellular technology it owns (via FOSS Patents). Both the European and German patents describe methods of managing priority emergency access when wireless networks are overloaded. Apple could pay more than $2 billion in damages if it loses these legal battles.

The patent asserted in case no. 2 O 53/12, in which, inter alia, a partial claim of damages amounting to 1.57 billion euros ($2.12 billion), plus prejudgment interest, has been brought, is EP1841268. This patent has recently (on January 22, 2014) been the subject of a validity decision by the European Patent Office, in the first instance.

In case no. 2 O 95/13, in which no quantified damages claims but requests for an accounting and for declaratory judgment of liability for damages have been brought so far, the patent-in-suit is DE19910239, a German patent.

IPCom obtained both patents from German automotive parts company Robert Bosch GmbH. Apple, Nokia, HTC and others asked the European Patent Office to invalidate the European patent, but the EPO denied this request.

Apple again led the combined PC and tablet market in shipments during Q4 2013, according to a report from research firm Canalys. Apple shipped 30.9 million Mac and iPad units, accounting for a 19.5% share of the market. Lenovo secured the second spot behind Apple by increasing its market share 25.5% year-over-year, as the Chinese company jumped over HP and now has an 11.8% share of the global PC market.

Canalys' estimates show that 84.3% of Apple's shipments, or 26 million units, were iPads. The combined launch of the iPad Air and the Retina iPad mini helped boost the company's share of the overall tablet market from 27.4% in Q4 2012 to 34.1% in Q4 2013.

Apple remained the PC market leader in Q4, shipping 30.9 million units to take a 19.5% share of the market. It shipped 26.0 million iPads, which accounted for 84.3% of its total shipments in Q4. Apple’s share of the overall tablet market increased sequentially from 27.3% to 34.1%, with the launch of the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display providing a much needed boost. The original iPad mini also fell in price, down to US$299 in the US, making it cheaper than ever to buy an iPad. But competition is mounting and Android tablets are falling in price, which will put pressure on Apple’s market share in 2014.

Overall, the worldwide combined PC and tablet market was bolstered by strong consumer interest in tablets and grew 17.9% in the final quarter of 2013. The tablet market increased 65.2% year-over-year, while PC shipments declined 6.9% yearly. In total, tablets now account for 48.3% of the total PC market.

Ahead of a second patent infringement lawsuit set to take place on March 31, Apple and Samsung have filed a final list of the accused patents and products being brought to trial, reports FOSS Patents.

Previously, both companies agreed in September 2013 to drop one patent each from the trial, as Judge Lucy Koh ordered both companies to narrow the scope of their ongoing legal battle. Last month, Judge Koh also invalidated two of Samsung's patent claims, which will result in the Korean company bringing a total of only four patent claims to trial. Apple will bring the expected amount of five patents to trial.

Apple's asserted patents:
- U.S. Patent No. 5,946,647 "System and method for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated data" - Claim 9
- U.S. Patent No. 6,847,959 "Universal interface for retrieval of information in a computer system" - Claim 25
- U.S. Patent No. 7,761,414 "Asynchronous data synchronization amongst devices" - Claim 20
- U.S. Patent No. 8,046,721 "Unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image" - Claim 8
- U.S. Patent No. 8,074,172 "Method, system, and graphical user interface for providing word recommendation" - Claim 18

Samsung products accused by Apple:
- Admire
- Galaxy Note
- Galaxy Note II
- Galaxy S II
- Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch
- Galaxy S II Skyrocket
- Galaxy S III
- Galaxy Tab 2 10.1
- Stratosphere

Samsung's asserted patents:
- U.S. Patent No. 7,756,087 "Method and apparatus for performing non-scheduled transmission in a mobile communication system for supporting an enhanced uplink data channel" - Claim 10
- U.S. Patent No. 7,551,596 "Method and apparatus for signaling control information of uplink packet data service in mobile communication system" - Claim 13
- U.S. Patent No. 6,226,449 "Apparatus for recording and reproducing digital image and speech" - Claim 27
- U.S. Patent No. 5,579,239 "Remote video transmission system" - Claims 1 and 15

Apple products accused by Samsung:
- iPhone 4
- iPhone 4S
- iPhone 5
- iPad 2
- iPad 3
- iPad 4
- iPad Mini
- iPod Touch (5th generation)
- iPod Touch (4th generation)
- MacBook Pro

Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents noted that both companies' current products do not appear on either list due to the lengthy process of U.S. patent litigation lawsuits. However, the list of accused products and their outcomes in the trial may be used as a basis for damages and injunctive relief going forward.

Mueller also noted that the anonymous request to reexamine Apple's infringed autocomplete patent has been granted, with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) now scheduled to take a closer look at the viability of the patent:

In August 2013, the USPTO granted the reexamination request only in part -- and in a way that would have been useful for Samsung's purposes. But the anonymous requester(s) kept fighting for a more comprehensive review and filed a petition. That petition related to various claims the examiner refused to reexamine, particularly including claim 18, the claim-in-suit. In mid-January, the USPTO published a favorable decision on the petition, holding that the anonymous requester had indeed raised substantial new questions of patentability.

A mediation meeting between Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung Electronics CEO Oh-Hyun Kwon is scheduled to take place before the trial, with the date for the session set for on or before February 19. Both companies will also partake in a separate trial centered around Apple's new call for a U.S. ban on Samsung products set for January 30.

Apple has hired Roy J.E.M Raymann, from Philips Research, for its iWatch team, according to a report from 9to5Mac. The hire is the latest in a long series of recent reports that suggest Apple is hiring a wide variety of health and medical sensor experts for its upcoming iWatch product.

According to Raymann's LinkedIn biography, his main research is in "how to optimize rest and activity", "non-pharmacological approaches to promote sleep", and "interpretation of ambulatory physiological and biomechanical data". He did other research on sleep and coffee, power napping, and he founded the Philips Sleep Experience Laboratory, a non-clinical sleep research facility.

Philips Research has been involved in many major technological advancements, including the development of the compact disc, LED lightbulbs, the MRI, and more.

Philips Research is a global organization that helps Philips introduce meaningful innovations that improve people’s lives. We provide technology options for innovations in the area of health and well-being, targeted at both developed and emerging markets. Positioned at the front-end of the innovation process, we work on everything from spotting trends and ideation to proof of concept and – where needed – first-of-a-kind product development.

The hire suggests Apple could be looking to help iWatch buyers with tracking and improving sleep, while also possibly tracking other health data like pulse and activity, and blood data like glucose levels. Several current fitness tracking devices are designed to track both sleep length and sleep quality. For example, bands like the Jawbone UP and the Fitbit Force are both able to slip into a night time monitoring mode that keeps track of sleep.

Philips confirmed to 9to5Mac that Raymann no longer works at the company, but would not say where he was currently employed.

Earlier today, Apple released the fifth beta of iOS 7.1 to developers, which included both bug fixes and a minor updates to the operating system. While previous iOS 7.1 betas introduced several visual changes, iOS 7.1 beta 5 included just a few additional tweaks to further streamline the look of iOS 7 ahead of a prospective public release.

Keyboard: In iOS 7.1 beta 3, Apple introduced a new design for the shift key, which was unpopular with many beta testers as it made it unclear when shift and caps lock were activated. With iOS 7.1 beta 5, Apple has tweaked the keys once again to make it clearer when shift and caps lock are enabled.

iTunes Radio: iTunes Radio has gained a new "Buy Album" button which accompanies the option to buy an individual song that is playing.

Siri: Siri has gained new natural sounding voices for English (Australia), English (United Kingdom), Japanese, and Chinese (Mandarin - China).

Calendar: iOS 7.1 beta 2 introduced a new event list view within the Calendar app. In beta 5, the toggle for the list view has been made bolder and easier to see.

AirDrop: According to several reports on our forums, AirDrop appears to be experiencing some issues in iOS 7.1 beta 5.

iOS 7 Jailbreak: Apple patched an evasi0n iOS 7 jailbreak exploit in beta 4 and it appears to have issued another patch for additional exploits in beta 5.

Previous iOS 7.1 betas have also included a number of significant features like a "Button Shapes" option in Accessibility, more prominence for Touch ID and Passcode options, a new look for several aspects of the Phone dialer and shutdown screen, a new animation for "Slide to Unlock" and a slightly revamped color for the Phone, FaceTime, and Messages app icons.

Details on features in past beta releases can be found in our previous beta posts: Beta 1, Beta 2, Beta 3, Beta 4.

Though a December report from BGR indicated that iOS 7.1 would not be released to the public until March, today’s build number, which is not much different than the build number of beta 4 indicates the software could be nearing a public launch.

A new report from BGR issued today also retracts the initial March release estimate and suggests the software will be released to the public in the "coming weeks" following the debut of a golden master build of iOS 7.1 for developers.

Apple today released the fifth beta of iOS 7.1 to registered developers for testing purposes, following the release of the fourth iOS 7.1 beta on January 20. The update has a build number of 11D5145e and is available via an over-the-air update and through Apple's developer center website.

According to the release notes, iOS 7.1 beta 5 includes new natural-sounding Siri voices for English (Australia), English (United Kingdom), Japanese, and Chinese (Mandarin - China). It also notes that a compact version of Siri is bundled with the release for the new languages, but can be expanded to the more natural voice after install.

The iOS device initially uses a compact voice for Siri. After you have configured a Wi-Fi network and have the device connected to a power source, iOS will automatically download and install a higher quality version.

Earlier betas of iOS 7.1 have introduced a number of features, including "Button Shapes" in Accessibility, more prominence for Touch ID and Passcode options, a new look for several aspects of the Phone dialer and shutdown screen, a new animation for "Slide to Unlock" and a slightly revamped color for the Phone, FaceTime, and Messages app icons.

Details on features in past beta releases can be found in our previous beta posts: Beta 1, Beta 2, Beta 3, Beta 4.

Today's update also includes Xcode 5.1 Developer Preview 5 and a new version of the Apple TV beta software.

Update: iOS 7.1 beta 5 includes redesigned shift and caps lock keys on the keyboard.

ComScore today released the results of its monthly rolling survey of U.S. mobile phone users for the October-December 2013 period, showing that Apple's U.S. smartphone market share has increased 1.2 percentage points since September, for a total share of 41.8 percent. Though Apple's share continues to grow, it still lags behind Android's total share of 51.5 percent, down 0.3 percent since September.

Looking at handset manufacturers, Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the category, growing their control of the market by 1.2 percent each over the three month period. Motorola, LG and HTC round out the top five, with all of them seeing flat or negative growth.

In Apple's earnings call last month, CEO Tim Cook warned that U.S. iPhone sales were weaker than expected because of U.S. carriers changing their upgrade policies. As a result, seeing share growth despite the headwinds is a positive sign for the company.

156 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (65.2 percent mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in December, up 3.2 percent since September. Apple ranked as the top OEM with 41.8 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers (up 1.2 percentage points from September). Samsung ranked second with 26.1 percent market share (up 1.2 percentage points), followed by Motorola with 6.7 percent, LG with 6.6 percent and HTC with 5.7 percent.

Apple grew its smartphone market share by 0.6 percent from November, largely at the expense of Android and BlackBerry. Despite a significant marketing effort, Micrsoft's Windows Mobile has failed to gain any traction over the past three months, dropping 0.2 percent from 3.3% to 3.1% of total platform share.

ComScore's data tracks installed user base rather than new handset sales, which means it is more reflective of real-world usage but slower to respond to shifting market trends than some other studies.

U.S. President Barack Obama today is announcing $750 million in corporate commitments for his ConnectED initiative to provide students with greater access to high-speed Internet connections. Apple is a key member of the group and has pledged $100 million in iPads, computers and other tools, according to an Associated Press report.

Apple is pledging $100 million in iPads, computers and other tools. AT&T and Sprint are contributing free Internet service through their wireless networks. Verizon is pitching in up to $100 million in cash and in-kind contributions. And Microsoft is making Windows available at discounted prices and offering 12 million free copies of Microsoft Office software.

Obama was to announce the commitments Tuesday at a middle school in the Maryland suburbs near Washington. Also in the pipeline: an addition $2 billion that the Federal Communications Commission is setting aside from service fees over two years to connect another 20 million students to high-speed Internet.

During the recent State of the Union address, President Obama mentioned that Apple and other tech companies would be providing the hardware and software needed to connect over 15,000 schools and 20 million students to the Internet in the next two years. Apple confirmed its role in the project in a statement provided to The Loop, but did not offer any specific details on its role at that time.

These corporate contributions will help fulfill ConnectED's goal of connecting 99 percent of U.S. students to the Internet within five years. When President Obama announced this goal last June, only one in five students had access to a broadband Internet connection.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Microsoft announced today that it has appointed company veteran Satya Nadella as Chief Executive Officer to replace retiring Steve Ballmer. Nadella, who previously served as executive vice president of the company's Cloud and Enterprise group, will take over as CEO and join the Board of Directors effective immediately.

As part of this leadership change, Bill Gates is stepping down as Chairman of the Board of Directors and will take a position as "Founder and Technology Advisor". John Thompson, former CEO of Symantec, will assume the role of Board Chairman. This will mark a significant shift for Gates, who has been asked by Nadella to take a more active role in product development within the company.

Microsoft also announced that Bill Gates, previously Chairman of the Board of Directors, will assume a new role on the Board as Founder and Technology Advisor, and will devote more time to the company, supporting Nadella in shaping technology and product direction.

Gates will work three days each week at Microsoft and will remain actively involved in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reports Re/code.