MacRumors

The wide-ranging intellectual property battle between Apple and Samsung has continued in recent days, with one of the more notable events taking place in Germany, where Apple won a new preliminary injunction against Samsung requiring the company to remove its new Galaxy Tab 7.7 from the expo floor at the IFA show in Berlin as part of a broader ban against sale and promotion of the device.

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's second-biggest handset maker, unveiled the Galaxy Tab 7.7 for the first time at the annual trade fair, known as the IFA, which kicked off on Friday for a six-day run in Berlin.

But Samsung pulled the tablet computer out of the show after a Dusseldorf court accepted on Friday Apple's request to ban sales and marketing of the product in Germany, the company said.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is being pressured to reveal specific iPad sales numbers in the United States and United Kingdom as part of its case against Samsung in Australia. The judge in that case is requesting that sales data from markets where Samsung has launched its Galaxy Tab products in order to ascertain whether Apple's sales have been hampered by the Galaxy Tab's introduction.

Apple’s claim that the Samsung tablet’s release in Australia will hurt iPad sales may carry little weight if it doesn’t provide the numbers, Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett said in Sydney Federal Court today.

“Unless Apple puts on evidence showing the impact in the U.S. or U.K., I can’t draw any positive assumptions,” Bennett said.

Despite a request by Samsung, Bennett is not requiring Apple to disclose such figures, but failure to do so would seem to substantially harm Apple's case.

Specific disclosure of iPad and iPad 2 sales in the United States and United Kingdom would be an interesting look into Apple's performance, as the company typically provides little detail on its iOS device sales, only reporting the total number of units sold each quarter on a worldwide basis. Such numbers are considered key competitive information, so much so that Samsung has decided to stop reporting mobile phone sales entirely.

About six weeks ago, it was revealed that Apple had passed Nokia and held off Samsung to become the world's largest smartphone vendor as measured by shipments during the second quarter of 2011, even if Nokia reportedly held off Apple in sales to end users.

Digitimes Research now reports that it is projecting Apple to take the top spot among global smartphone vendors for the entire calendar year of 2011, leading the way with nearly 19% of the market at 86.4 million units. Apple is projected to easily top Nokia, whose shipments appear set to drop 25% to under 75 million.

Apple is expected to overtake Nokia as the top ranking vendor in terms of shipment volume in 2011, while Huawei Technologies will enjoy robust growth in shipments enabling the China-based company to close its gap with Sony Ericsson and Motorola.

Apple's smartphone shipments are projected to top 86.4 million units in 2011, up 82% from 47.5 million units in 2010. In contrast, Nokia's smartphone shipments in 2011 will decline to 74.4 million units from over 100 million in 2010, said Luke Lin, analyst for Digitimes Research.

Samsung's strong growth on the popularity of several of its Android-based handsets should see it leap over both HTC and Research in Motion, but will not yet be enough to catch either Nokia or Apple in full-year shipments.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has received certification to sell the 3G iPad 2 in mainland China. Up until now, Apple has only been allowed to sell the Wi-Fi models of the iPad 2 in China.

According to China's Telecommunication Equipment Certification Center, a device by Apple with third-generation high-speed wireless data capabilities was issued the network access license needed for the company to begin official sales in China. The device, listed under model number "A1396," is compatible with the 3G standard WCDMA, and would work with the cellular network operated by Apple's local iPhone partner, China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd.

Model number A1396 is Apple's model number for the 3G iPad 2 that was released in the U.S. in March.

Separately, Penn Olson reported that Apple's official China site had listed 3G iPad 2s for sale for the first time yesterday (now removed). Shipping was listed as within 2 or 3 weeks. The site explains that Apple's 3G products are always slower to enter the Chinese market.

In related news, Apple officially confirmed that Apple's first Hong Kong retail store would be opening this quarter in the International Finance Center's IFC mall. Photos of the beginnings of the store have been sent in to us and other sites. Engadget China reports the store will open on September 24th.

Apple's rapid expansion in its Greater China market of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan has been well documented with 6x year over year growth reported in July. At the time, now Apple CEO Tim Cook said they believe that Greater China is "a substantial opportunity for Apple and we're just scratching the surface."

Thanks Rickin

Several days ago, German site iPhoneBlog.de reported [Google translation] that Deutsche Telekom would begin offering "Premieren Tickets" for the iPhone 5 today, essentially first-come, first-served reservations for the new device whenever it debuts.

The company confirmed to Bloomberg earlier today that the program is now in effect.

Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE) will allow customers to reserve the next generation of Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone as of today in anticipation of supply bottlenecks for the device, spokesman Alexander von Schmettow said by phone.

The operator will hand out coupons to people who expressly request the successor model to the iPhone 4, without providing the name or release details of the device, he said.

The development comes as other retailers and carriers are also working to prepare for the launch, which has been rumored for early next month. Apple generally keeps its carrier partners in the dark about its specific release plans until it is ready to make a public announcement, so it certainly appears that retailers and carriers are simply working based on circulating rumors rather than any official information.

Nevertheless, excitement for the iPhone 5 continues to build as Apple has pushed the update interval on the device well beyond its usual 12-month cycle. Confusion remains about just what Apple is planning to introduce for this next iPhone revamp, with a number of part leaks hinting at a so-called "iPhone 4S" appearing nearly identical to the existing iPhone 4 seeing the widest publicity. But persistent rumors of a full iPhone 5 revamp also continue, with third-party cases based on a purported leaked design document pointing toward a significantly thinner but taller and wider device with a display in the neighborhood of 4 inches.

Though this could likely be Best Buy reading the same rumors as the rest of us, the company is anticipating that the iPhone 5 will be available for pre-order during the first week of October. BGR points to an internal memo:

Thanks to a leaked document from a Best Buy source, we have discovered that Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores are anticipating taking preorders for the iPhone 5 starting in the first week of October. What’s a tad bit more interesting, however, is the mention (and further anticipation) that Sprint will be carrying the iPhone 5 at launch.

Best Buy warns, of course, that dates may change. A report that Sprint will also be carrying the iPhone 5 was recently revealed by the Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, ThisIsMyNext reports that Best Buy is also expecting a new "Apple Fixture Installation" on Friday, October 21st.

To be clear, this isn’t a run-of-the-mill installation for the big box — our tipster tells us that the request that a manager be on-hand at 6AM is out of the ordinary (they usually show up at 7AM for inventory), and that a similar arrangement was scheduled for the iPhone 4 launch.

The new fixture could represent signs and displays for the iPhone 5 which has been rumored to launch at some point in October.

As reported by both 9to5Mac and AppleInsider, some additional evidence of Apple's work on a "Find My Friends" service has been discovered in relation to Apple's MobileMe website.

"Find My Friends" was originally discovered as a reference back in iOS 4.3. At the time we suspected that it represented a location-based friend-finding service like Loopt and Google Latitude. The strings (embedded above) seem to confirm those suspicions:

It includes references to standard social networking functions, like a list of people a user is "following," as well as "pending" and "accepted" follower requests. The code also mentions user statuses, updates, blocking of users and removing followers.

These types of services allow you to find your friends who near you at any given time by leveraging your mobile phone's GPS signal. The constant updates can broadcast your location to your friends to know who is nearby.

Apple's implementation seems very similar, and allows you to "follow" or be followed by others. This would presumably allow you to locate those you follow in real time.

Apple has yet to announce any plans to launch such a service, and given the fact that it first appeared back in iOS 4.3 could mean that Apple ultimately decided to scrap the project. Apple's patent applications have previously revealed that Apple is actively researching these type of location based mobile services.

While we've seen a number of possible "iPhone 4S" parts based on the iPhone 4 design in recent weeks, the design of the iPhone 5 has remained unclear with little concrete evidence of the device's design having yet surfaced. The first claim of a radical redesign surfaced back in April, suggesting that the iPhone 5 would adopt a "teardrop" form factor tapering in thickness from top to bottom.

By late July, a purported design document for the iPhone 5 surfaced and began to make its way to third-party case manufacturers, who apparently placed enough faith in its accuracy to begin making cases based on the design.

Based on that same design document, we commissioned a set of renderings in an attempt to get an idea of what the iPhone 5 might look like. Our designer took measurements of this imaginary device using the dock port as a standard measurement and produced the document shown above. Based on that extrapolation, the iPhone 5 design should have had dimensions of 4.33" x 2.36", suggesting a shorter but only slightly wider design. In comparison, the iPhone 4 dimensions are 4.5" x 2.31".

What we can't explain, however, is that the actual third-party cases circulating are significantly longer and wider than what the design document would have suggested.

Measurements

We ordered a pair of these third-party iPhone 5 cases, confirming they are available for public sale and subjecting them to a series of measurements.

While accurate measurements were difficult to achieve due to open ends and overhangs on the sides of the case, we estimate the size of the phone at approximately 4.7" x 2.6". Measuring the expected thickness of the device is more challenging given uncertainty about exactly how the case snaps onto it along the sides, but the device certainly appears to be below .30" at its thickest and tapering by approximately .065" from top to bottom.

The following images show an iPhone 4 inside this iPhone 5 case with substantial room on all sides, illustrating the increased size of the iPhone 5. The much thinner profile of the iPhone 5 compared to the iPhone 4 is also visible in a side shot.

Macitynet.it also provides a nice gallery of size comparisons against an iPhone 4 with a soft iPhone 5 case.

Even a second-generation iPod touch, which measures in at a thickness of .33", is significantly thicker than the iPhone 5.

Screen Size at Least 4"

The iPhone 4's 3.5" (measured on the diagonal) screen measures approximately 1.95" in width within a total device width of 2.31", leaving approximately 0.36" for margins/bezel.

Assuming a comparable margin on the iPhone 5, the device's display would be approximately 2.24" wide, making the display approximately 4" on the diagonal. It seems unlikely that Apple would make the margins of the iPhone 5 screen larger than on the iPhone 4, so if this does represent the final case design, the iPhone 5's screen would have to be at least 4". Of course, this contradicts a recent report from DigiTimes claiming that the iPhone 5's screen would be between 3.5"-3.7".

Conclusion

Unfortunately, we don't have any definitive answers. Depending on which evidence you believe, there are several possibilities.

If you believe these cases represent the final iPhone 5 design, then you also have to believe that the iPhone 5 will be much larger than the iPhone 4 and is certain to have at least a 4" screen. We still can't reconcile this data with the extrapolated dimensions from our designer that suggested a much smaller phone. Those dimensions match up more closely with the circulating rumors of a screen closer to 3.5"-3.7".

Apple is expected to reveal the iPhone 5 later this month for a possible October launch.

Contrary to previous statements, SFWeekly reports that the San Francisco Police Department now admits to assisting Apple investigators with the search of a lost iPhone 5. An earlier report suggested that Apple had acted on its own without the participation of the police department.

Contradicting past statements that no records exist of police involvement in the search for the lost prototype, San Francisco Police Department spokesman Lt. Troy Dangerfield now tells SF Weekly that "three or four" SFPD officers accompanied two Apple security officials in an unusual search of a Bernal Heights man's home.

The four plainclothes San Francisco Department Police officers accompanied two Apple investigators to the home of Sergio Calderón. According to the most recent report, only the two Apple employees entered the home and searched while the four police officers remained outside.

SFWeekly suggests that there are some questions now why this incident was not recorded as per standard procedure. San Francisco Police Department spokesman Lt. Troy Dangerfield now says "Apple came to us saying that they were looking for a lost item, and some plainclothes officers responded out to the house with them. My understanding is that they stood outside. They just assisted Apple to the address."

The previous report had suggested that Apple investigators may have impersonated the police which is a criminal offense. It seems now that this was not the case.

An Apple employee reportedly lost this iPhone prototype in a restaurant/bar in late July. It seems, so far, that CNet's original account of the tale was accurate.

FOSS Patents reports on an interesting twist in Apple's case against HTC currently underway with the U.S. International Trade Commission. According to a recently-filed brief, Apple claims that a key patent for a "real-time signal processing" API which HTC is accused of infringing in its Android devices was developed by a team of Apple engineers, of which Android co-founder and current Google executive Andy Rubin was a member.

While the revelation is not directly relevant to Apple's case against HTC , the claim is provided primarily to bolster Apple's case that HTC has not been entirely truthful in presenting its case by omitting discussion of Rubin's time at Apple. According to Apple, Rubin was a "low-level engineer" at Apple reporting directly to the inventors of the patent in question at the time the invention. Apple suggests that Android's alleged infringing framework was the result of "Mr. Rubin's inspiration" from that work at Apple. From the legal brief:

Android and Mr. Rubin's relevant background does not start, as HTC would like the Commission to believe, with his work at General Magic or Danger in the mid-1990s. In reality, as the evidence revealed at the hearing, Mr. Rubin began his career at Apple in the early 1990s and worked as a low-level engineer specifically reporting to the inventors of the '263 [realtime API] patent at the exact time their invention was being conceived and developed. [...] It is thus no wonder that the infringing Android platform used the claimed subsystem approach of the '263 patent that allows for flexibility of design and enables the platform to be "highly customizable and expandable" as HTC touts. [...] While Mr. Rubin's inspiration for the Android framework may not be directly relevant to the pending petitions for review, that HTC felt compelled to distort this history is illustrative of the liberties it takes in attacking the ALJ's [initial determination] and the substantial evidence supporting the ALJ's findings.

Apple is of course not claiming that the entire basis of Android was actually developed at Apple, but its assertion that Rubin may have utilized some of Apple's work within Android could be problematic for Google should Apple decide to press a case directly against Google.

Rubin's behavior has already been called into question in a separate case brought by Oracle over the use of Java in Android. In that case, evidence in the form of an email written by Rubin in which he suggested that Google could use Java within Android without permission from Sun (now a part Oracle) has been introduced, leading to accusations of "willful infringement" against Rubin and Google. It seems that Apple may be at least planting the seed that Rubin could have engaged in similar activity dating back to his time at Apple twenty years ago.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Apple in late July had once again lost an iPhone prototype in a bar, mirroring an event that took place in 2010 ahead of the iPhone 4 launch. According to the report, Apple and San Francisco police tracked the device to a home in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco and conducted a search, but were unable to find the device.

That account was quickly called into question yesterday after the San Francisco Police Department reported that it had no records of such an investigation. SF Weekly follows up with a new report today interviewing the man whose home was searched and suggesting that Apple security personnel may have posed as police officers during the search, a criminal offense. Alternatively, police officers may have improperly assisted in the investigation without properly documenting their work.

[Sergio] Calderón said that at about 6 p.m. six people -- four men and two women -- wearing badges of some kind showed up at his door. "They said, 'Hey, Sergio, we're from the San Francisco Police Department.'" He said they asked him whether he had been at Cava 22 over the weekend (he had) and told him that they had traced a lost iPhone to his home using GPS.

At no point, he said, did any of the visitors say they were working on behalf of Apple or say they were looking for an iPhone 5 prototype.

Calderón claims that he allowed the investigators to search his home and car and to examine a computer to determine whether the lost iPhone had been synced with it. Coming away from the search empty handed, the investigators reportedly offered Calderón $300 to return the phone and left a phone number for him to contact them if he could offer further information on the device.

As the visitors left, one of them -- a man named "Tony" -- gave Calderón his phone number and asked him to call if he had further information about the lost phone. Calderón shared the man's phone number with SF Weekly.

The phone was answered by Anthony Colon, who confirmed to us he is an employee of Apple but declined to comment further. According to a public profile on the website LinkedIn, Colon, a former San Jose Police sergeant, is employed as a "senior investigator" at Apple.

A San Francisco Police Department spokesman has expressed concern about the purported series of events, noting that the department will investigate the incident.

Anthony Colon's LinkedIn profile has been deleted but we've saved an image of it.

Update: SFWeekly now reports that the San Francisco Police did assist Apple investigators with the home search.

Apple today pushed out new test builds of OS X 10.7.2 and iCloud for OS X developers, continuing to quickly move forward with testing of iCloud. As with the previous interval, the updates come exactly one week after the previous seeds.

Unlike last week's release, there is no new beta of iPhoto 9.2 in today's set of seeds. There also appear to be no new developer releases on the iOS side, with Apple having released the seventh beta of iOS 5 just two days ago.

We've yet to hear about any specific changes in the latest seeds, but Apple has been asking developer to target AirPort, AppKit, GraphicsDrivers, iCal, iChat, Mac App Store, Mail, Spotlight, and Time Machine with the last several builds of OS X 10.7.2.

Apple has announced that it will be launching iOS 5 and iCloud this fall, and the company has been rumored to be launching new iPhone hardware in early-to-mid October, with iOS 5 and iCloud should be going live right around that same time. Apple earlier this week began developer testing on iTunes Match, a paid service that stores all of a user's music in the cloud for access from any Internet-connected iOS device or computer.

Thanks, Chanyoon!

As the puzzle of Apple's next-generation iPhone codenamed "N94" begins to come together in the form of what has been dubbed the "iPhone 4S", the latest iOS 5 Beta 7 released earlier this week provides more confirmation that Apple is unsurprisingly moving towards a release.

One of the new files we've been tipped off about included in the latest update is called RegulatoryInfo-N94AP@2x~iphone.png, showing the regulatory data for the N94 iPhone as viewed through Settings > General > About > Regulatory on the device.

According to the new file, the unreleased N94 iPhone has been assigned a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ID of BCG-E2430A. This compares to the BCG-E2380A identifier on the GSM iPhone 4 and the BCG-E2422A identifier on the CDMA iPhone 4.

The device has yet to show up in the FCC's equipment authorization database, although those entries generally do not appear until the day the products are announced. Even then, Apple typically requests that some of the more sensitive documents such as photos of device internals be considered confidential and thus kept from public view for a period of time.

We've seen parts for the N94 and other references in Apple's SDK. That information has suggested the N94 is an A5-based iPhone that looks just like the iPhone 4. The assignment of an FCC ID suggests that Apple is close to bringing the new device to market.

Earlier this week, The New York Times published a report on the "mystery" of Steve Jobs' philanthropic contributions or potential lack thereof, noting that Jobs has not been publicly linked with any charitable giving, despite his $8.3 billion fortune.

Despite accumulating an estimated $8.3 billion fortune through his holdings in Apple and a 7.4 percent stake in Disney (through the sale of Pixar), there is no public record of Mr. Jobs giving money to charity. He is not a member of the Giving Pledge, the organization founded by Warren E. Buffett and Bill Gates to persuade the nation’s wealthiest families to pledge to give away at least half their fortunes. (He declined to participate, according to people briefed on the matter.) Nor is there a hospital wing or an academic building with his name on it.

While the article acknowledges that Jobs may in fact be donating money anonymously, perhaps most notably in an anonymous $150 million gift to the cancer center at the University of California, San Francisco that he has been rumored to be responsible for, it cites Jobs' curious position as one of only a few of America's wealthiest people to not participate in publicly-acknowledged philanthropy.

Two of his close friends, both of whom declined to be quoted by name, told me that Mr. Jobs had said to them in recent years, as his wealth ballooned, that he could do more good focusing his energy on continuing to expand Apple than on philanthropy, especially since his illness. “He has been focused on two things — building the team at Apple and his family,” another friend said. “That’s his legacy. Everything else is a distraction.”

Jobs is not without his defenders, however, as evidenced by a letter to the editor written by U2 singer Bono in response to the article. In his letter, Bono points to Apple's participation in the (Product)RED campaign against AIDS co-founded by Bono that has seen the company become the program's largest contributor with "tens of millions of dollars" in donations from the sale of RED iPods and other products.

Steve Jobs said when we first approached him about (RED), “There is nothing better than the chance to save lives.”

I’m proud to know him; he’s a poetic fellow, an artist and a businessman. Just because he’s been extremely busy, that doesn’t mean that he and his wife, Laurene, have not been thinking about these things. You don’t have to be a friend of his to know what a private person he is or that he doesn’t do things by halves.

Apple and Bono have had a close relationship for many years, with Apple offering a U2-branded iPod from 2004 until 2007 and introducing a (Product)RED iPod nano in late 2006. Apple has continued to offer (Product)RED iPods and accessories since that time, currently offering the iPod nano and an iPad 2 Smart Cover under the program.