MacRumors

Last week, we noted that Samsung was rumored to be launching a new "store-within-a-store" concept inside Best Buy stores, taking on the dedicated "Apple Shops" that have been located in many Best Buy locations for a number of years.

Samsung and Best Buy have now officially announced the partnership, with "Samsung Experience Shops" focused on the company's mobile products coming to 1,400 Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile locations over the next several months.

At the Samsung Experience Shops, consumers can experience Samsung’s full range of mobile products including smartphones, tablets, laptops, connected cameras and accessories, all in one location. The shops enable consumers to interact with and buy Samsung’s latest mobile products and experience how the devices connect together to enrich their lives.

Select Best Buy stores will have Samsung Smart Service™, which includes dedicated Samsung Experience Consultants™ and Best Buy blue shirt sales associates to assist customers with purchasing and activating mobile products on the carrier of their choice, understanding their device and supporting them throughout the lifecycle of their product. The specially trained Samsung Experience Consultants will assist with product demonstrations, basic product services, Samsung account set up, warranty registration and post purchase support.

The Samsung Experience Shops will be of a variety of sizes, with the largest measuring 460 square feet and others such as those in Best Buy Mobile locations being considerably smaller.

CNET has obtained a 'sensitive' U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency document that says it is impossible for law enforcement agencies to eavesdrop on iMessage conversations, even with a court order, because of Apple's "secure end-to-end encryption".

The memo appears to be aimed at informing DEA agents that while they may have the appropriate subpoena to get SMS messages, they may not be getting all messages sent and received if the target is using iMessage.

Security researchers suggest that it may be possible for Apple to comply with government search warrants and subpoenas to hand over iMessage data, but the DEA note says it is currently "impossible to intercept iMessages between two Apple devices".

From CNET:

The DEA's "Intelligence Note" says that iMessage came to the attention of the agency's San Jose, Calif., office as agents were drafting a request for a court order to perform real-time electronic surveillance under Title III of the Federal Wiretap Act. They discovered that records of text messages already obtained from Verizon Wireless were incomplete because the target of the investigation used iMessage: "It became apparent that not all text messages were being captured."

This echoes what other law enforcement agencies have been telling politicians on Capitol Hill for years. Last May, CNET reported that the FBI has quietly asked Web companies not to oppose a law that would levy new wiretap requirements on social-networking Web sites and providers of VoIP, instant messaging, and Web e-mail. During an appearance two weeks later at a Senate hearing, the FBI's Mueller confirmed that the bureau is pushing for "some form of legislation."

This issue is nothing new, however -- law enforcement and spy agencies have struggled getting wiretaps on VoIP calls for years, with Skype's P2P calls being particularly difficult to tap.

In its privacy policy, Apple says it may disclose personal information "by law, legal process, litigation, and/or requests from public and governmental authorities within or outside your country of residence" or "if we determine that for purposes of national security, law enforcement, or other issues of public importance, disclosure is necessary or appropriate."

In a lengthy report today, Bloomberg Businessweek takes a look at Apple's upcoming "spaceship" campus in Cupertino, noting that the project is currently one year behind schedule and roughly $2 billion over budget.

Since 2011, the budget for Apple’s Campus 2 has ballooned from less than $3 billion to nearly $5 billion, according to five people close to the project who were not authorized to speak on the record. If their consensus estimate is accurate, Apple’s expansion would eclipse the $3.9 billion being spent on the new World Trade Center complex in New York, and the new office space would run more than $1,500 per square foot—three times the cost of many top-of-the-line downtown corporate towers.

According to the report, Apple is working to shave $1 billion from the cost of the project before beginning construction.

Bloomberg Businessweek pins much of the responsibility for the cost issues on Steve Jobs, whose insistence on design and construction quality as well as unusual and expensive construction methods have defined the project.

The true expense of the campus lies not in green tech, though, as much as the materials—as well as what product designers call “fit and finish.” As with Apple’s products, Jobs wanted no seam, gap, or paintbrush stroke showing; every wall, floor, and even ceiling is to be polished to a supernatural smoothness. All of the interior wood was to be harvested from a specific species of maple, and only the finer-quality “heartwood” at the center of the trees would be used, says one person briefed on the plan last year.

Among other unique details contributing to project costs:

- 6 square kilometers of curved glass manufactured by Seele in Germany using specialized processes to prevent clouding or distortions. Seele has doubled the size of its production facility to accommodate the project.

- Per Jobs' orders, gaps between surfaces should be no more than 1/32 of an inch, far tighter than the typical 1/8 inch standard in U.S. construction.

- Polished concrete ceilings are to be cast in molds and then raised into position to ensure uniformity, rather than being cast in place. The requirement "left one person involved in the project speechless."

The report notes that investors concerned over Apple's falling stock price and looking for the company to return more cash to shareholders are questioning Apple's commitment to following through on Jobs' vision for the new campus. The company may, however, have little choice in the matter if it seeks to maintain its image as an iconic and visionary company in the post-Jobs era.

Google announced today that the company is forking the WebKit rendering engine to create its own web rendering engine called 'Blink'. Google had been the using Apple-initiated WebKit project to power its Chrome web browser. Future versions, however, will now be based on this new system.

Google is now free to make changes to its rendering engine with less complexity and bureaucracy than when it was saving its changes to Webkit. The company posted this on its FAQ explaining why it wanted to create a new engine:

The main reason is that Chromium uses a different multi-process architecture than other WebKit-based browsers. So, over the years, supporting multiple architectures has led to increasing complexity for both the WebKit and Chromium communities, slowing down the collective pace of innovation.

With the change, Google has set Chrome and Apple's Safari on their own paths. Webkit was originally created by Apple as a fork to the KHTML rendering engine. Apple took interest in developing it when launching Safari for the Mac, and it now powers Safari for iOS, as well.

WebKit has been heavily adopted with over 20 companies now contributing to the project. Google and Apple, however, have remained the most active contributors to the open-source project.

In fact, Google has been the most active contributor of WebKit in the recent years. This graph from Bitergia (above) shows Google's increasing number of "commits" to WebKit over the years. Google's efforts will now be directed at 'Blink'. Apple has made no public comments about the news.

Stephane Richard, CEO of France Telecom, said in an interview with Bloomberg that customer behavior is changing and price-conscious consumers are driving demand for lower priced smartphones, threatening sales of comparatively expensive phones like the iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy S line.

The shift has been especially severe in Europe, where more customers are keeping the same phone when they switch carriers. Amid a slumping economy and mounting competition, France Telecom has seen prices drop 25 percent over the past three years, squeezing profit margins and its stock price. Its cheapest plan now provides unlimited calls and texting and 3 gigabytes of data for about 20 euros ($26) a month -- about half the price of T- Mobile USA Inc.’s $50 plan, which is touted as a U.S. bargain.

Richard believes there will be fewer early adopters purchasing the latest and greatest devices going forward, though it's unclear if the slowdown would be restricted to Europe or if it could pressure iPhone sales in the U.S. as well. Regardless, many recent rumors suggest Apple is working on a cheaper iPhone to address some of these concerns.

As noted by The Verge, Microsoft today launched version 3.0 of its SkyDrive iOS application for accessing and managing files stored in the company's cloud service.

New in version 3.0

- Updated to support iPhone 5 and iPad Mini
- Download full resolution photos to your iPhone or iPad
- Improved support for opening SkyDrive files in other iOS apps
- Improved support for uploading files to SkyDrive from other iOS apps
- Updated app icons and visuals
- Other bug fixes

Back in December, it was reported that Apple and Microsoft were at odds over SkyDrive, with Apple refusing to allow any updates to the app after Microsoft launched paid storage tiers for the service. Apple's rules require that developers offering any sort of paid content or service through their apps use the company's In App Subscription mechanism, which nets Apple 30% of revenues. Developers are also prohibited from including external sign-up links in apps to direct users to external addresses where they can purchase such plans without going through Apple.

It is not entirely clear how Apple and Microsoft have settled their dispute over SkyDrive, but version 3.0 does not provide any external links to allow users to sign up for the SkyDrive service, simply presenting users with a sign-in page for existing accounts. Users who do not have accounts are required to manually navigate to Microsoft's SkyDrive website in order to sign up for an account with 7 GB of free storage and access options for additional paid storage.

Microsoft declined to comment to The Verge about the dispute with Apple, noting only that Apple approved the app earlier this week and that each app store has its own set of rules to satisfy.

Update: Microsoft has issued a revised statement to The Verge indicating that it has indeed resolved the issue by directing all paid storage upgrades through the SkyDrive website.

Microsoft says it "worked with Apple to create a solution that benefited our mutual customers." The company's new SkyDrive app for iOS "is slightly different than other SkyDrive apps in that people interested in buying additional storage will do so via the web versus in the app," says a Microsoft spokesperson. "Earlier this week, Apple approved the SkyDrive app for release and we’re excited to allow people everywhere to start using it."

For nearly two years, we've been following the saga of patent troll Lodsys, which has been demanding licenses from and filing lawsuits against developers over in-app purchasing and related functionalities in their apps.

Apple quickly stepped in on behalf of iOS developers when the situation first arose in May 2011, claiming that its existing license with Lodsys covered developers using iOS development tools, and nearly a year ago Apple was granted limited permission to intervene in lawsuits filed against developers by Lodsys. While Lodsys initially focused on small developers, it did expand its scope to take on gaming heavyweights such as EA, Rovio, and Atari.

News has been relatively quiet on the Lodsys front for the past year, although the firm did announce last October that a key claim of one of its patents had been upheld following reexamination and tout that it was achieving significant licensing momentum with over 150 companies already signed up to license some or all of the firm's four patents. Many of these firms are small developers who likely felt that taking out a license was a safer solution than trying to fight a lawsuit against Lodsys.

We've heard that Lodsys has continued to send out notices to app developers over the last few months, and yesterday the firm took on another big name in the industry by filing suit against Disney. As with many of the firm's other lawsuits, Lodsys is citing its '565 and '078 patents in alleging that Disney's apps, including the popular Where's My Water?, contain infringing functionality.

On information and belief, Disney manufactures, uses, sells, imports, and/or offersto sell infringing products and/or services — including but not limited to Disney’s applications such as Where’s My Water? — which infringe at least claims 1, 15, and 27 of the ‘565 patent under 35 U.S.C. § 271.

Prior to filing this complaint, Lodsys informed Disney of the patents-in-suit and offered to enter into a licensing arrangement that would allow Disney to continue practicing the inventions claimed in patents-in-suit. Disney, however, chose not to enter into a licensing agreement. Instead, with knowledge of the patents-in-suit and disregard for Lodsys’ patent rights, Disney chose to continue its infringement. On information and belief, Disney continued its infringement despite an objectively high likelihood that its actions constituted infringement of a valid patent (i.e., the ‘565 patent). Disney was made aware and, therefore, knew of the risk that it infringed the ‘565 patent. Accordingly, Disney acted knowingly, willfully, and with intent to infringe the patents-in-suit.

The lawsuit against Disney is just one of ten filed against app developers by Lodsys over the past several days, with other targets including major iOS developer Gameloft and Paper Toss and DragonVale developer Backflip Studios. Also targeted is TLA Systems, which consists of PCalc developer James Thomson, who was among the first to speak up about threats by Lodsys nearly two years ago.

Lodsys now touts that over 200 companies hold for its patents, and it seems to be ramping up efforts to expand that number even further, using new lawsuits to pressure developers who have declined to enter into licensing agreements so far.

Lodsys is targeting not only app developers with its efforts, but also other companies such as major retailers Nordstrom, Burberry, and Godiva. In recent months, Lodsys has filed additional lawsuits against other companies including SanDisk, Volkswagen, Crocs, Dr Pepper Snapple, General Motors, and HP, demonstrating the broad range of companies being targeted by the effort.

It is currently unclear exactly where things stand with Apple's efforts to defend its developers from threats by Lodsys, but Lodsys has clearly been emboldened by its licensing and patent challenge successes and is continuing to take aggressive steps to capitalize on its patent holdings.

Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White is out with a new research note today outlining a remarkable set of features for Apple's rumored television set product, claiming that the TV could launch later this year. White believes that the television will be available as a 60-inch model, with 50-55 inch models also potentially being available.

In a new addition to the Apple television rumor roundup, White's report claims that Apple will revolutionize the television market with an "iRing" device to facilitate motion control of the device.

[W]e believe Apple will release a miniature device called "iRing" that will be placed on a user's finger and act as a navigation pointer for "iTV"', enhancing the motion detection experience and negating some of the functionality found in a remote.

White also believes that Apple's "iWatch" will play into Apple's television ecosystem, complementing the iRing to support interactive TV services and phone calls.

Beyond the basic television set, White claims that Apple will be releasing auxiliary screens similar to iPads, with the devices allowing users to watch their television content on wireless devices within range of the larger television.

"iTV" will come with a "mini iTV" screen that will seamlessly allow users to view content on this smaller, 9.7-inch screen, while also opening up use cases around home security, phone calls, video conferencing and other areas. As part of this experience, Siri and FaceTime will be important. Essentially, we believe the "mini iTV" screens will be able to capture content from the 60-inch "iTV" across a distance of up to 200 meters, allowing a user to view "iTV" content in the kitchen, washroom, garage, bedroom, backyard, etc.

White claims that the basic iTV package would include one such mini iTV, with customers able to add on additional screens up to a maximum of four. He notes that while some aspects of the mini iTV would be similar to the full-size iPad and thus benefit from manufacturing efficiencies, they would have much more limited functionality and features.

White believes that the entire iTV package would be priced at $1500-$2500 depending on how many auxiliary mini iTVs are ordered, with some service providers perhaps subsidizing the cost to draw in customers.

Several of White's new claims appear to a fleshing out of his previous reports that have cited motion control and "iPad-like" touchscreen remotes. Still, while Apple has been said to be trying to revolutionize the television industry, White's reported feature set seems difficult to believe and has so far been uncorroborated.

After a lull in Apple television rumors while many observers turned their attention toward the company's iWatch efforts, reports on the iTV are beginning to ramp up again with White's report coming on the heels of rumors of a 4K "Ultra HD" set perhaps launching late this year or early next year.

In a Branch chat, which at the time of this writing is still going on, Daring Fireball's John Gruber says, according to what he's heard, iOS 7 is running behind schedule and that it will bring a significant user interface (UI) refresh.

What I've heard: iOS 7 is running behind, and engineers have been pulled from OS X 10.9 to work on it. (Let me know if you've heard this song before.)

Gruber went on to say that he's heard that iOS 7 is a "significant system-wide UI overhaul" and the iOS engineers who are allowed to carry around devices with iOS 7 on them even have special privacy filters on their devices which reduces viewing angles. This is to prevent others from accidentally getting a glimpse of the new iOS design.

Back in 2007, Apple delayed the release of OS X Leopard to concentrate work on iPhone. Gruber hints that this could be the case with Mac OS X 10.9 and iOS 7.

iMore's Rene Ritchie follows up Gruber's comments, saying that he's heard that Ive's work with iOS 7 is "making many people really happy, but will also apparently make rich-texture-loving designers sad."

His comments come during a Branch talk that includes Gruber, Ritchie, TechCrunch's MG Siegler, Engadget's Tim Stevens, The Next Web's Matthew Panzarino and more.

Ritchie follows up his earlier predictions, noting that he's heard that an event for a new, 9.7-inch iPad is or was planned for April, but it was contingent upon the new iPad being ready for release. He also notes that he's hearing the iPhone 5S will arrive in August, although Ritchie also says it could be a July/August window rather than a specific month.

As for what could be on the iPhone 5S, both Siegler and Panzarino say they've heard a lot about biometrics on the new device. The feature would apparently be used for payments and identification. Panzarino notes it wouldn't be surprising to see AuthenTec's biometric technology in Apple devices so soon after Apple purchased the company last July because of the urgency of the deal.

Finally, Siegler says he's heard "a whisper" that Apple's Passbook team is due for a shakeup and is in "shambles," though Ritchie points out that Forstall's departure could be the reason for the Passbook team's troubles.