Apple's decision to alter its iPhone developer licensing agreement yesterday to apparently exclude such offerings as Adobe's forthcoming Packager function of Flash Professional CS5 that would allow developers to export Flash content into the native iPhone format has continued to rumble throughout the industry today, with voices weighing in from all over about the impact of the decision and Apple's motivation for making the change.
Lee Brimelow, a "platform evangelist" for Adobe, shares his thoughts (via TiPb) on his semi-official TheFlashBlog, referring to Apple's decision as a slap in the face to developers.
What they are saying is that they won't allow applications onto their marketplace solely because of what language was originally used to create them. This is a frightening move that has no rational defense other than wanting tyrannical control over developers and more importantly, wanting to use developers as pawns in their crusade against Adobe.
An additional claim that "Apple has timed this purposely to hurt sales of CS5" has been redacted from Brimelow's blog entry at the request of Adobe, but not before it was captured by TiPb. Adobe's Creative Suite 5, of which Flash Professional CS5 will be a part, is scheduled for introduction next Monday.
Brimelow notes that he has decided to boycott Apple products "until there is a leadership change over there" and states in no uncertain terms how he feels about the situation.
Now let me put aside my role as an official representative of Adobe for a moment as I would look to make it clear what is going through my mind at the moment. Go screw yourself Apple.
But whether Apple's move is solely a shot directed at Adobe as Brimelow and others have contended appears to be up for debate, as AppleInsider notes that it may have more to do with the multitasking features being deployed in iPhone OS 4.
The primary reason for the change, say sources familiar with Apple's plans, is to support sophisticated new multitasking APIs in iPhone 4.0. The system will now be evaluating apps as they run in order to implement smart multitasking. It can't do this if apps are running within a runtime or are cross compiled with a foreign structure that doesn't behave identically to a native C/C++/Obj-C app.
"[The operating system] can't swap out resources, it can't pause some threads while allowing others to run, it can't selectively notify, etc. Apple needs full access to a properly-compiled app to do the pull off the tricks they are with this new OS," wrote one reader under the name Ktappe.
Whatever the reason for Apple's adjustment of its licensing terms, tempers are certainly flaring in the protracted dispute between the two companies.
Bloomberg reports that a new quarterly Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing from Adobe reveals for the first time that Apple's refusal to adopt Adobe's Flash platform for the iPhone and iPad could pose a material threat to Adobe's business.
The admission comes as part of the "Risk Factors" section of the report that typically offers "doom and gloom" scenarios in which the company's business could experience difficulty, but makes specific mention of Apple's potential effect on the company.
Additionally, to the extent new releases of operating systems or other third-party products, platforms or devices, such as the Apple iPhone or iPad, make it more difficult for our products to perform, and our customers are persuaded to use alternative technologies, our business could be harmed.
Bloomberg notes that earlier SEC filings from Adobe contained language noting that it wished to work with Apple on the iPhone platform but required cooperation from Apple in order to do so.
The dispute between Adobe and Apple over the inability for the iPhone, iPod touch, and now iPad to handle media in the Flash format has been well-known ever since the iPhone's original introduction in 2007, and thus it seems to be no surprise that Adobe may consider the situation at an impasse and consequently have adopted stronger language regarding the risk it poses to the company's business.
Interestingly, the filing comes just one day after Apple's iPhone OS 4 preview event alongside which the company released a modified developer licensing agreement that appears to prohibit the use of a feature in Adobe's forthcoming Flash Professional CS5 to export Flash content into the native iPhone format. Flash Professional CS5 is set to be introduced as part of Creative Suite 5 next Monday, and Adobe is reportedly looking into the change in Apple's developer licensing terms to understand how it affects the company's plans.
Apple engineers Anders Carlsson and Sam Weinig yesterday announced the forthcoming release of a new web framework known as "WebKit2" that will build upon the existing engine that powers the company's Safari browser as well as a number of other browser applications including Google Chrome. Notably, WebKit2 will support running various browser elements in different processes, "sandboxing" them to prevent problems with a single element from crashing the entire browser.
WebKit2 is designed from the ground up to support a split process model, where the web content (JavaScript, HTML, layout, etc) lives in a separate process. This model is similar to what Google Chrome offers, with the major difference being that we have built the process split model directly into the framework, allowing other clients to use it.
The team behind WebKit2 has also posted documentation outlining some of the changes coming in WebKit2 and how its split process model differs from that used in Chromium and Google Chrome, building the functionality directly into the framework rather than putting it in the application layer where considerable work would be required for porting or reusing the functionality.
CNET notes that Apple's announcement has ruffled some feathers in the WebKit community, as it is being seen as rolling out a major revamp of the engine without the input of the rest of the community. Apple's Maciej Stachowiak responded to the criticism, noting that existing ports will continue to work and that the new tools are in a very early stage that is appropriate for review and discussion by the community.
We picked the name "WebKit2" in the hopes of picking something really bland. Apparently that backfired, because it seems to make this project seem like a bigger deal than it is. Basically, you can think of this as a new port-specific API [application programming interface]. But we're trying to put some general mechanisms in this API, so other ports can use it if they choose. We are also welcoming input from the whole WebKit community on the design, architecture and direction of this work. It is at a very early stage, barely enough that you can build a trivial demo browser on top of it. We decided that our proof of concept was far enough along at that point that we should make the code public for community review and input.
Initial versions of WebKit2 have been developed for Mac and Windows, and the developers invite others to submit patches for additional ports.
Another SDK release from Apple means more hints to uncover about their future plans. Today's iPhone OS 4 release was no exception, though the hints it reveals seem to be familiar. The iPad SDK first revealed tons of evidence that Apple had, in fact, been working on support for video conferencing iChat as well as support for a front-facing camera.
While the iPad didn't implement these features, it seems likely that the next iPhone will. A report from John Gruber last week claimed that the next generation iPhone would carry the following features:
- A4-family CPU system-on-a-chip - 960x640 double-resolution display - second front facing camera - 3rd party multitasking in iPhone 4
3rd party multitasking came true during today's keynote, and SDK 4 evidence continues to contain references to "front facing" cameras.
Meanwhile TUAW posts evidence of an "iChatAgent" process running on the new operating system (pictured above). Apple is expected to release a new iPhone sometime this summer. Rumors have also suggested that the next iPhone may make its way to the Verizon network as well.
Daring Fireball notes a very specific change in the iPhone OS 4 SDK that will directly thwart Adobe's efforts to directly compile Flash applications onto the iPhone. The new terms dictate the following:
Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).
This seems to go directly against Adobe's plans to release Flash Professional CS5 that would have allowed developers to export native iPhone applications from Flash. Adobe had hoped to provide this compatibility layer to allow their Flash developers to write once and then deploy to multiple platforms.
Adobe has acknowledged the change to the New York Times, but doesn't have any change in plans just yet.
We are aware of Apple's new SDK language and are looking into it. We continue to develop our Packager for iPhone OS technology, which we plan to debut in Flash CS5.
With iPhone 4 seeded to developers, videos and screenshots of the new operating system are already appearing. Here's one video (in Polish) walking through multitasking and folders (via MyApple.pl):
We've discovered references to Camera Flash in the iPhone SDK (again), suggesting that Apple is working on a physical camera flash for future versions of the iPhone. Apple has also integrated Grand Central Dispatch into the iPhone OS -- a technology introduced with Snow Leopard to ease the use of multi-core processors. The current iPhone currently only has single core processors, though there have been long-standing rumors that Apple might use the multi-core Cortex A9 in the future.
Apple has posted a preview page covering the various iPhone 4 announcements today. Notably, they list device compatibility for the iPhone 4 OS:
iPhone OS 4 will work with iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and the second- and third-generation iPod touch this summer, and with iPad in the fall. Not all features are compatible with all devices. For example, multitasking is available only with iPhone 3GS and the third-generation iPod touch (32GB and 64GB models from late 2009).
The original iPhone and 1st Generation iPod touch are excluded from iPhone OS 4 compatibility, while the 3G and 2nd Generation iPod Touch exclude multitasking abilities. Customers will have to have an iPhone 3GS, 3rd Generation iPod Touch, or iPad to access the full feature set including multitasking.
iPhone OS 4 is due this summer. To gauge how many of our readers will be able to take advantage of the new OS, we've created this simple poll asking the latest iPhone or iPod Touch hardware you own. Note that we've purposefully excluded the iPad in the interest of simplicity:
Detailed differences between models are listed here: iPhone, iPod Touch.
With today's introduction of iPhone OS 4, Apple revealed several new enhancements to its Mail application, as well as a number of improvements tailored to the enterprise community.
One of the most requested email features for the iPhone OS has been a unified inbox that would allow users to check for new messages across all accounts without requiring navigation to each account individually. Apple CEO Steve Jobs indicated last month in an email response to a user that such a feature was in the works, and it did in fact make an appearance at today's event. Users who prefer to view their inboxes individually will also gain access to simpler navigation between inboxes for different accounts.
iPhone OS 4 will also introduce threaded conversations to Mail, making it easier for users to follow multiple discussions. Finally, users will be able to directly open email attachments with compatible apps downloaded from the App Store.
On the enterprise front, Apple will be rolling out a new Mobile Device Management that will allow for simple wireless configuration and management of corporate iPhone OS devices. Enterprise users will also be able to wirelessly distribute apps to their client devices.
Security is another major improvement for the enterprise aspects of iPhone OS 4, with new encryption options and support for forthcoming SSL VPN applications from Juniper and Cisco. Finally, support for multiple Exchange accounts and compatibility with Exchange Server 2010 offers more flexibility for corporate users.
Apple today announced that iBooks, its App Store ebook reader application released for the iPad in the U.S. last week, will be coming to the iPhone and iPod touch as part of iPhone OS 4 later this year. The iPhone version of iBooks will also offer access to the company's iBookstore, a marketplace where users can purchase and download ebook content.
Currently available only in the United States, Apple has been making plans to extend access internationally, a process that is taking some time to execute due to the complexity of geographic distribution deals with publishers.
Another major announcement today was Apple's intention to provide a centralized Game Center that offers users a way to track achievements, high scores and offer matchmaking services for online multiplayer. The system sounds similar to Microsoft's Xbox Live service which has been very popular.
The move shows that Apple is very serious about iPhone gaming and sees it as a major focus for the platform. Several companies, however, will be impacted by Apple's move. A number of small companies have already established themselves as similar service providers on the iPhone. These include OpenFeint, AGON, and Ngmoco's Plus+ system. The problem with these systems has been the fragmentation requiring players to sign up for multiple services.
Game Center will be part of iPhone OS 4 which is due this summer.
Another major feature that Apple introduced with iPhone 4 was the introduction of their new "iAd" mobile ad service. Apple promises more interactive in-app ads for advertisers and to be deployed by developers in their (presumably free) apps. The ads will be created in HTML5 and allow for interactive media and games without leaving the application themselves.
Apple will be selling and hosting ads and giving developers 60% of the revenue. Jobs admitted they were still learning and referenced Google's acquisition of AdMob:
"We do not have any plans to become a worldwide ad agency. We tried to buy a company called AdMob, and Google came in and snatched them from us. We bought Quattro instead. They're teaching us and we're learning as fast as we can."
During the Q&A, Jobs stated that developers were free to use other ad networks if desired.
Alongside Apple's media event today to introduce some of the features for its upcoming iPhone OS 4, Apple has posted iPhone SDK 4 Beta to its developer site to offer developers the tools necessary to implement the new features. Apple has also posted a number of developer pages highlighting changes in the new version of the operating system.
Apple notes that there are over 1,500 new APIs available in iPhone OS 4, including access to the Calendar application, in-app SMS, access to photos and videos in users' Photos libraries, full control over video playback and capture, mapping improvements, and incorporation of Quick Look functionality for previewing documents. Also included is Apple's "Accelerate" functionality, which provides access to a iPhone-optimized complex mathematical functions such as vector and matrix factorization, array multiplication, and computation of simultaneous linear equations.
Other major features we've covered are summarized below:
At its 'Sneak Peek Into the Future' media event today, Apple announced several major feature additions, including multitasking and an in-app ad network, to iPhone OS 4.0 for release this summer.
The most significant new feature of iPhone OS 4.0 highlighted by Jobs is multitasking, which recent rumors had indicated might be coming. Apple had not previously implemented this feature out of concern for battery life and overall performance, although Jobs said that the company had found a way to implement multi-tasking without these negative effects.
Providing a demonstration of multitasking, Jobs showed a pop-up tray at the bottom of the iPhone's screen - which is triggered by double-clicking the home button - with the icons of all currently-running apps displayed. Clicking on the desired app opens it without closing the other apps. Scott Forstall, SVP of iPhone Software, described the multitasking feature in more detail, claiming that the company "distilled the services" that third-party apps need to run in the background, and these services are available as APIs to developers.
The seven multitasking APIs now available to developers are: background audio, voice over IP (VOIP), background location, push notifications, local notifications, task completion, and fast app switching. Demos highlighting the new APIs used Pandora, Skype, TomTom, and Loopt. Incoming notifications can be shown just below the status bar or in a pop-up dialogue on the home or lock screen.
While the iPhone 3GS and late 2009 32 GB and 64 GB third-generation iPod touch will be fully-compatible with iPhone OS 4.0, earlier models of the devices will not support all of the features announced today. Notably even the iPhone 3G and second-generation iPod touch will not support multitasking. iPhone OS 4.0 will also come to the iPad in the fall.
Apple today is holding its iPhone OS 4.0 media preview event where it is expected to show off the next-generation operating system for its multi-touch portable devices and begin offering developers tools to build applications for the new operating system.
The event is scheduled to kick off at Apple's Cupertino headquarters at 10:00 AM Pacific Time / 1:00 PM Eastern Time, or just about one hour from now. Apple will not be providing live video or audio coverage of the event, and thus observers will have to rely primarily on text and photo updates coming out of the event. Apple will likely post a video recording of the event later today for full analysis.
Event Updates - Audience is seated and music is playing. - Steve Jobs on stage, talking about iPad success. Quoting reviews. - 450,000 iPads sold so far, up from 300,000 on the first day. Best Buy is out of stock, and we're making them as fast as we can. - iBooks: 250,000 books downloaded on first day, now up to 600,000. - iPad apps: 1 million on first day, now up to 3.5 million. - App Store: over 4 billion apps sold, with over 185,000 apps available in the store, 3,500 iPad apps. - Jobs quickly showing off a number of iPad apps. - Moving on to iPhone. - JD Power satisfaction award for three years in a row. 64% share of mobile browser usage. - Over 50 million iPhones sold. Add in iPod touches and we're over 85 million total. - Today is preview of iPhone OS 4.0. Shipping this summer with developer preview today. Over 1,500 new APIs. - Devs now have access to calendar, camera data, Quick Look, SMS within apps, etc. - Over 100 new user features: playlist creation, 5x digital zoom for camera, tap-to-focus for video, Photos app has Places support, home screen wallpapers, spellcheck enhancements, etc. - We'll highlight seven of the features today - Feature #1: Multitasking. We won't be first, but we'll be best. Now demoing. Double-clicking home button pulls up a "dock" showing currently-running apps.
- Scott Forstall on stage to explain how they accomplished this while preserving battery life and performance. - Apple has provided seven multitasking services to developers to assist with the functionality - Service #1: Background audio streaming. Demo from Pandora founder Tim Westergren. Claims it took them one day to implement background streaming. Showing Pandora continuing to play while browsing in Safari, on lock screen, etc. - Service #2: VoIP. Can now leave Skype app while still running. Can even see calls come in with status bar on the lock screen. Demoing with Skype's David Ponsford.
- Service #3: Background location. GPS apps like TomTom can continue in the background while you exit the app to listen to music. Audio cues overlay other audio. Also a second class of this service uses cell towers for apps like Loopt. For privacy purposes, status bar indicator lets you know if any app (foreground or background) is requesting location. Can also fine-tune approvals for location tracking on an app-by-app basis. - Service #4: Push notifications. 10 billion push notifications served in past 9 months. - Service #5: Local notifications. Rather than requiring third-party server to push notifications, iPhone itself can push within the phone. TV Guide application given as example. - Service #6: Task completion. For apps like Flickr where a photo upload make take awhile, you can now leave the application and task will continue - Service #7: Fast app switching. Application state stored and preserved instantly, freeing up resources when switching. - Now back to Steve for more on iPhone OS 4.0's new features. - Feature #2: Folders. With people downloading more and more apps, we need better organization. Drag and drop apps onto one another to create folders. Automatically names folder based on app categories, but user-editable. Icon becomes a "multi-icon". - Also demonstrating changing home screen wallpaper. - Folders now allow you to see 2,000 apps on your device, up from 180. - Feature #3: Enhanced email. Unified inbox, multiple Exchange accounts, fast inbox switching, threaded views, open attachments with App Store app. - Feature #4: iBooks for iPhone OS. Same as for iPad, same iBookstore. Showing of Winnie the Pooh.
- Buy books once and read them anywhere. Wireless syncing of content and bookmarks. - Feature #5: Enterprise. Better email encryption, APIs for better encryption inside apps, wireless app distribution, mobile device management, multiple Exchange accounts, SSL VPN support. - Feature #6: Game Center. We have over 50,000 gaming titles already. Game Center brings social aspect...challenge friends, leaderboards, achievements - Feature #7: iAd. Free apps are great, and we want to help developers make the money they need to survive. Most mobile advertising sucks, and we want to help them keep free apps free. On the desktop, search is where advertising is at. But on a phone, users are in dedicated apps. - Users spend 30 minutes a day in apps. Say an ad every 3 minutes...10 ads per day. We'll be at 100 million devices soon, so that's 1 billion ad opportunities per day. - Apple wants more interaction and emotion than typical mobile ads. Interactive ads currently take you out of the app, but with iAd in the OS itself, you won't have to leave the app. Users are more likely to click since there is no penalty. - Apple will sell and host ads, giving developers industry-standard 60% of revenue. - Demoing Toy Story 3 ad. Everything is done in HTML5. Click an ad and it takes over the screen. Explore the ad...sound clips, video, in-ad purchases, even mini-games. It all plays back right there.
- Now demoing a Nike ad with video. Make your own shoes with Nike ID...link to app in the ad. Store locator right there with Google Maps pop-up. - Now a faux Target ad allowing user "build" a dorm room. - That's the demo. Very easy for ad agencies and devs to make the ads, and users are more likely to use them because they stay in the app. - Jobs reviewing new features, all available in developer preview today. - Public release in summer for iPhone 3GS and 3rd-generation iPod touch. iPhone 3G and 2nd-generation iPod touch will run many of the new features, but not all. Multitasking will be one of the ones that won't be supported on those. Original iPhone and 1st-generation iPod touch apparently left out. iPhone OS 4.0 coming to iPad in the fall. - End of presentation, with a short break before Q&A.
Q&A - Q: How will multitasking affect AT&T network demands? A: Jobs says not sure that's accurate...background data usage will be minimal. Data intensive tasks are things like video that require user attention. - Q: Wireless app distribution is possible for all users? A: Jobs says no. Forstall clarifies that it is enterprise-only, requiring signed certificates. - Q: How will Game Center social network affect Ngmoco and OpenFeint? A: Forstall notes that developers have asked for a unified network, and that's why Apple is providing it. - Q: Will there be an ad approval process for iAd like the App Store? A: Jobs says that there will some boundaries, but hoping that nothing more than a "light touch" will be necessary. - Q: Any changes to Apple's stance on Flash/Java? A: Jobs says no. - Q: Any development tools required for iAds? A: No, with HTML5, they can use whatever tools they want. - Q: No background APIs for things like monitoring Twitter in background? A: We think Twitter and related services work much better with push notifications. - Q: Why no widgets on iPad? A: We just shipped it on Saturday, and we rested on Sunday. Everything is possible. - Further discussion of market for iAd and how users' attention isn't occupied by apps on computers. But on phone things are different. Apple not looking to become worldwide ad agency. Tried to buy AdMob but Google snatched it, so Apple bought Quattro, a smaller but great company. We're learning as fast as we can from them. - Talking about iPhone OS 4.0 compatibility for older devices. Earlier hardware just can't support some of the features like multitasking. - Q: What are you doing to address distracted driving? A: Jobs says that they've done more than most, with hands-free calling and integrated displays and controls for cars. - Q: Any chance of running unsigned applications like on Android? A: Jobs says that because of that ability, there is a porn store for Android, and that's not a place we want to go. - Q: Any surprises on reactions to iPad? A: Jobs says they "still have butterflies" about it. Reaction has been great...a profound game changer. Schiller is surprised by the quality of the applications coming out already. Jobs says that competitors would be hoping for 3500 apps in the first year, and the iPad has that in a week. Building on the base of 85 million existing iPhone OS users helps. - Q: With so much in the App Store, how can developers get their apps discovered? A: Jobs says that the App Store is not part of iPhone OS, and so the server-side stuff can be enhanced constantly. They've added the Genius feature and a lot of third-party sites have sprung up to feature and recommend apps. Game Center will also help the viral spread of apps. And gifting. - Q: Are you concerned that multitasking and other new features not compatible with older devices will alienate existing customers? Will it encourage them to upgrade? A: The growth curve for these products has been very steep, so most of the devices out there are the newer models. The older models will get some great new feature, but will be missing some like multitasking. If they upgrade because of that, fantastic. - Q: How do you close apps when multitasking? A: You don't have to. Jobs says that if you see task manager, you blew it. Users shouldn't have to think about it.
In an interview with The A.V. Club (via MacDailyNews), actor Justin Long reveals that Apple may have discontinued its series of "Get a Mac" ads featuring Long and John Hodgman in their respective roles as "Mac" and "PC".
AVC: what's the status on those Apple commercials?
JL: You know, I think they might be done. In fact, I heard from John, I think they're going to move on. I can't say definitively, which is sad, because not only am I going to miss doing them, but also working with John. I've become very close with him, and he's one of my dearest, greatest friends. It was so much fun to go do that job, because there's not a lot to it for me. A lot of it is just keeping myself entertained between takes, and there's no one I'd rather do it with than John.
The news may not be a tremendous surprise, as Apple has not released any new commercials featuring Long and Hodgman since a series of three ads targeting the launch of Windows 7 debuted last October. Long's comments suggest, however, that that series may have come to an end rather than simply being on hiatus. Apple's "Get a Mac" campaign launched in 2006 and has received a number of awards, including AdweekMedia's Campaign of the Decade.
In a brief note, DigiTimes reports that Apple appears to planning to launch a smaller version of the iPad as soon as the first quarter of next year, bringing a sub-$400 price tag to a device carrying a display of 5-7 inches.
Apple is reportedly scheduling a smaller 5- to 7-inch version of the iPad that is expected to launch as soon as the first quarter of 2011, according to Digitimes Research senior analyst Mingchi Kuo.
Kuo, citing talks with upstream component sources, said Apple's smaller-size iPad will be priced below US$400 and will target the highly-portable mobile device market and consumers that focus mainly on reading and do not have a high demand for text input.
Reports of a tablet of that general size have been floating around for some time now, with an analyst claiming in August 2009 that Apple had developed a prototype carrying a 6-inch screen. A subsequent report claimed that Apple might be the cause of a major shortage of 7-inch touchscreens in the supplier market. Finally, in late December, a report surfaced claiming that Apple would be introducing a 7-inch tablet the following month.
While many of these reports indicated that a 6- to 7-inch device could be coming as part of, if not as the entirety of, Apple's tablet launch, the iPad debuted with a larger 9.7-inch screen in line with most other reports. Today's report reveals, however, that rumors of a tablet between that of the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad sizes are not dead and that we may hear more in the future.
Patent holding company Wi-LAN today announced that it has filed suit against Apple and more than two dozen other companies, claiming infringement of one of its patents related to Bluetooth technology.
In its filing, WiLAN claims that these companies have infringed and continue to infringe WiLAN's U.S. Patent No. 5,515,369 by making and/or selling various products enabled with Bluetooth technology including cellular handsets and personal notebook computers.
Wi-LAN is regarded in the industry as a patent troll, a former manufacturing company that has given up on producing devices to focus on extracting licensing fees and filing lawsuits related to its intellectual property. Wi-LAN's suit was filed in the Marshall Division of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, a court popular in patent litigation for its willingness to move quickly and its typically plantiff-friendly judgments.
Meanwhile, 9 to 5 Mac notes that Apple has hired former Chief Intellectual Property Counsel for Sun Microsystems Noreen Krall to a Senior Director position overseeing Intellectual Property and Litigation.
Apple is currently embroiled in legal battles with Nokia and Kodak over intellectual property issues, and recently went on the offensive against Android handset maker HTC, so it is certainly a busy time for Apple on the patent front.
