MacRumors

Apple needs to pay PanOptis $506 million for willfully infringing on a handful of patents related to 4G LTE technology, a Texas federal jury ruled today (via Law360).

The jury said that Apple did not prove that PanOptis' patent claims were invalid, resulting in the order to pay $506 million in royalties. PanOptis first levied a lawsuit against Apple in February 2019 on behalf of five of its wireless companies, accusing Apple of violating seven patents related to LTE standards.

According to PanOptis, all LTE-enabled Apple products, including the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, infringe on its LTE patents. PanOptis had requested damages "in the form of reasonable royalties" when demanding a jury trial last year.

PanOptis and its sister companies, Optis Wireless Technology, Optis Cellular Technology, Unwired Planet, and Unwired Planet International, are non-practicing entities that hold patents and generate revenue through patent litigation, otherwise known as patent trolls.

Just prior to when the lawsuit was originally filed, Apple began the process of closing all of its stores in the Eastern District of Texas, presumably in an effort to avoid patent infringement lawsuits in the jurisdiction, which is a favorite of patent trolls. PanOptis' lawsuit and jury trial took place in the Eastern District of Texas.

Apple will undoubtedly appeal today's decision.

Qualcomm today scored a major victory in its ongoing antitrust battle with the FTC, winning an appeal that will prevent the San Diego company from having to renegotiate its licensing agreements with smartphone makers.

Back in May 2019, the Federal Trade Commission won an antitrust lawsuit against Qualcomm, with the court ruling that Qualcomm's "no license, no chips" model that allowed Qualcomm to refuse to provide chips to companies without a patent license, violated federal antitrust laws. The ruling required Qualcomm to renegotiate all of its licensing terms with customers in good faith.

According to Bloomberg, the federal appeals court today said that the judge in the original case was wrong to side with the FTC, and the court vacated the order mandating that Qualcomm re-establish its licensing deals with companies like Apple.

The court said that the original ruling went "beyond the scope" of antitrust law and that Qualcomm's licensing practices are not anticompetitive because Qualcomm is "under no antitrust duty to license rival chip suppliers." If Qualcomm has breached obligations to license patents under fair and reasonable terms (FRAND), the issue needs to be brought up under patent law, not antitrust law.

In a statement, the FTC called the court's ruling "disappointing" and said that it will be considering options going forward. The FTC can appeal the decision, but if it stands, it will end Qualcomm's years-long legal battle over its chip licensing deals.

Qualcomm general counsel and executive vice president Don Rosenberg told Bloomberg that the ruling validates Qualcomm's business model.

"The court of appeals unanimous reversal, entirely vacating the district court decision, validates our business model and patent licensing program and underscores the tremendous contributions that Qualcomm has made to the industry."

Qualcomm's fight with the FTC ran concurrent with its legal battle with Apple. The Qualcomm vs. Apple dispute spanned years, but was resolved last year when the two companies reached a settlement and agreed to drop all litigation.

Apple had accused Qualcomm of unfair licensing deals and overcharging for the iPhone components that it supplied to Apple, but Apple dropped the case because it has no other source for 5G modems for its iPhones. Apple tried using Intel modem chips in its devices and did so successfully for a few years, but Intel ultimately could not produce the chips Apple needed and ended up selling its modem chip business.

Apple purchased Intel's smartphone modem business for $1 billion, and in the future, intends to manufacture its own modem chips. For now, though, Apple continues to be reliant on Qualcomm and this year's ‌iPhone‌ 12 models will be equipped with Qualcomm modem chips.

Compelling a suspect to unlock a smartphone doesn't violate Fifth Amendment rights, New Jersey's Supreme Court ruled today (via NorthJersey.com), adding a new argument to the ongoing debate on whether those arrested can be forced to unlock their devices with biometrics or passcodes.

Courts around the United States have been split on the issue, with some determining that suspects cannot be forced to unlock an iPhone, while others have said it's not a rights violation. Most of these arguments have focused on biometric smartphone unlocking methods like Touch ID and Face ID, but New Jersey says that a criminal defendant can be forced to provide a passcode.

In the NJ case, prosecutors wanted access to two iPhones owned by former Essex County sheriff Robert Andrews, accused of secretly working with a street gang. Andrews argued that requiring him to provide a passcode would be a violation of his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, but the court rejected the argument and said that it only applies when the accused is "compelled to make a testimonial communication that is incriminating."

Fifth Amendment rights do not protect suspects from producing documents to use as evidence in cases, and the court considered the ‌iPhone‌'s text and phone call content to be documents.

The court, which was split on the decision 4 to 3, said that even if the passcodes were considered testimony, there was already evidence that there were texts and telephone exchanges between the sheriff and an alleged drug dealer, enacting a "foregone conclusion exception" to the Fifth Amendment because the state already knows about the texts. By providing the passcodes, Andrews would not be providing information the government is not already aware of. The full ruling with additional context is available from the NJ courts website [PDF].

Based on the record in this case, compelled production of the passcodes falls within the foregone conclusion exception. The State's demonstration of the passcodes' existence, Andrews's previous possession and operation of the cellphones, and the passcodes' self-authenticating nature render the issue here one of surrender, not testimony, and the exception thus applies. Therefore, the Fifth Amendment does not protect Andrews from compelled disclosure of the passcodes to his cellphones. The Court would reach the same conclusion if it viewed the analysis to encompass the phones' contents. The search warrants and record evidence of the particular content that the State knew the phones contained provide ample support for that determination.

Andrews' attorney, Charles Sciarra, called the court's ruling a "major defeat to the United States Constitution."

"Forget alleged criminal conduct: It's time to rethink whether you should keep anything simply private or personal on a personal electronic device because if the government wants it, they can now get it," he said. "If you are in a car accident they can go through your whole phone to see if you were a distracted driver."

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruling could have an impact on future court cases involving locked smartphones, and courts will continue to come to different conclusions on the issue of smartphone unlocking until the United States Supreme Court steps in and clarifies how constitutional rights and precedents apply to new technologies.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News 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.

Apple doesn't normally release a public beta of its upcoming Apple Watch software, but with watchOS 7, the company appears to have had a change of heart. That means anyone with a compatible Apple Watch can get a taste of the latest new Apple Watch features, such as sleep tracking, new watch faces, watch face sharing, new workout types, and more.

Before you rush to install the watchOS 7 public‌ beta, it's worth remembering that this is pre-release software, so don't expect things to work 100 percent trouble-free. Apple has released relatively stable beta versions of its operating systems this year, but beta software is inherently unstable, as it contains bugs and issues that have yet to be ironed out.

Another thing to note before installing the beta is that watchOS 7 completely removes the Force Touch gesture from the operating system, so expect a slightly different experience for some functions and menus. Also, bear in mind that there's no way to downgrade to watchOS 6 after installing the watchOS 7 beta.

watchOS 7 is compatible with Apple Watch Series 3, 4, and 5. If you have one of those models, here's how you can install the watchOS 7 public beta.

How to Install the watchOS 7 Public Beta

You need to be running the iOS 14 beta on the iPhone that your Apple Watch is paired with. Follow our walkthrough guide on how to do that, then come back and follow these steps.

1. Open a browser on your ‌iPhone‌ and navigate to the Apple Beta Software Program website.
2. Tap the chevron in the top-right corner of the webpage and select Sign In from the dropdown menu.
3. Enter your Apple ID credentials.
4. A Guide for Public Betas screen will appear. Select the watchOS tab, scroll down to the Get Started section and tap enroll your Apple Watch.
5. Scroll down and tap Download Profile.
   
   

6. Follow the onscreen instructions to install the watchOS 7 public beta.
7. Tap Allow in the prompt to download the beta profile to your ‌iPhone‌.
8. Tap Install in the top-right corner of the screen and enter your passcode if required.
   
   

9. Read the consent information, then tap Install two more times.
10. Tap Restart if prompted to restart your ‌iPhone‌.
11. Launch the Watch app on your ‌iPhone‌.
12. Select General -> Software Update.
    
    

13. After a few moments, you should see watchOS 7 available to download. Place your Apple Watch on its charger and tap Download and Install.

After a few minutes your Apple Watch will restart with the new watchOS public beta running.

Apple has reached a first-look deal with renowned filmmaker Martin Scorsese, who will produce and direct films and series for Apple TV+ as part of a multi-year agreement with his company Sikelia Productions, according to Deadline.

Scorsese is best known for his crime and gangster movies, such as 1973's Mean Streets, 1985's After Hours, 1990's Goodfellas, 2004's The Aviator, 2011's Hugo, 2013's The Wolf of Wall Street, and 2019's The Irishman.

Amazon will add podcasts to its Amazon Music and Audible services, according to a confidential email obtained by The Desk.

Amazon said in the email that it would soon allow Amazon Music and Audible users to subscribe, download, and stream free podcasts on the services. Podcasts will also be available to customers of Amazon Music's ad-supported free tier, in addition to its premium paid service. The launch date of podcasts in Amazon Music and Audible was not stated in the email.

The email was reportedly sent to some podcast producers on Monday, with the offer to submit a podcast feed before the feature becomes publicly accessible. This is needed to allow the new podcasts feature to launch with popular shows already available.

During submission of a podcast feed, producers are required to agree to terms and conditions. Strikingly, one term in particular stated that podcasts on the platforms could not include comments that disparage Amazon or its products.

Podcast features would allow users of Echo smart speakers and Fire TV devices to stream podcasts through Amazon's default apps, rather than via third party apps. Amazon Music had 55 million subscribers as of January, just five million less than Apple Music's 60 million.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Apple is working on original podcasts that will be exclusive to its Podcasts app. Podcasts are increasingly becoming an area of competition between major tech companies, with Apple, Spotify, Google, and now Amazon heavily investing in the sector.

Back in January 2017, independent subscription app service Setapp launched as an alternative to the Mac App Store, and now offers unlimited access to over 190 Mac apps across a wide range of categories for a flat $9.99 monthly fee.

Today, Setapp announced that users can now also unlock and use premium iOS versions of apps that are currently hosted through the service.

In order to use iOS apps, Setapp subscribers register their iPhones and iPads as additional devices on their plans (per device price has been reduced from $4.99 to $2.49). Once they've done that, they can check out the iOS versions of Mac apps that appear in the "Available on iOS" category section of the Setapp UI.

Each app in the section has two scannable QR codes associated with it: One that installs the app on the user's iOS device through the App Store, and one that unlocks the full version of the app via Setapp activation.

As of writing, seven iOS apps are available through Setapp, including Ulysses, Paste, Gemini Photos, Taskheat, SQLPro Studio, Mind Node, and PDF Search.

"The addition of iOS apps to Setapp has been one of the most popular requests since we launched Setapp more than three years ago," said Oleksandr Kosovan, CEO and founder of Setapp. "Today we're excited to provide the option for people to use their favorite apps, wherever they go on their mobile devices. We look forward to the new opportunities this provides for enhancing productivity and getting work done."

In order to get into Setapp, Mac apps must pass a review process conducted by Setapp that examines items such as user experience, security overall functionality, respect for user data and privacy, appropriate use of notifications and reputation. iOS apps accessed through Setapp are reviewed by Apple before becoming available in the ‌App Store‌.

Setapp distributes customer revenue back to developers based on app usage within the service. New apps for macOS and iOS will be regularly added to Setapp, updates are free and all the apps are full-featured pro versions.

Setapp's catalog includes many popular apps in categories including productivity, design, writing, social media, and maintenance tools, all from approved vendors, and all apps on Setapp are available without ads or in-app purchases.

In a research note shared by Business Insider, Wedbush Securities analysts said that Apple may release a cheaper iPhone 12 in early 2021 with no 5G connectivity.

Wedbush initially believed Apple would launch a mix of 4G and 5G iPhone 12 models this fall. Following re-examination of Asian supply chains, analysts Daniel Ives, Strecker Backe, and Ahmad Khalil revised the predictions, concluding that they now expect multiple ‌5G iPhone‌ 12 models this fall, and one cheaper 4G-only model in early 2021.

Ives told Business Insider that this 4G-only variant could launch around February, and would be cheaper than ‌5G iPhone‌ 12 models, with a price around $800. He added that the ‌5G iPhone‌ 12 models are unlikely to be more expensive than the current prices of ‌iPhone‌ 11 and ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro, despite the additional connectivity features.

"Price points will be aggressive as Apple goes after their broader customer base," Ives commented. "Especially in a recession, in a COVID-19 backdrop, they need to make sure they're hitting all price categories."

A total of four OLED iPhones in 5.4, 6.1, and 6.7-inch sizes are expected in fall 2020. Rumors suggest the 6.7-inch ‌‌iPhone‌‌ and one 6.1-inch model will be higher-end devices with triple-lens cameras, while the 5.4 and 6.1-inch models will be lower-end iPhones with dual-lens cameras and a more affordable price.

It has been reported that the different sizes may see a staggered launch. During Apple's third fiscal quarter earnings call, Apple CFO Luca Maestri confirmed that Apple is expecting to release this year's iPhones later than usual.

Apple has included an ECG function in new Apple Watch models since 2018, providing users in select territories with the ability to measure the electrical activity of their heart. Apple now appears to be ready to extend the ECG feature to South Korea, based on recent government filings.

According to etnews, Apple has obtained an approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) in South Korea for its ECG app. Apple will likely issue an update to ‌Apple Watch‌ users in the country to enable the electrocardiogram feature and irregular heart notifications on their devices, since the company has now completed every prerequisite for a Korean version.

Apple routinely has to gain approval from government health agencies before marketing the ‌Apple Watch‌'s ECG feature in different countries. Apple won U.S. FDA clearance to promote the function when the ‌Apple Watch‌ Series 4 launched in 2018.

In May, Japan and Brazil gained approval for ECG functionality and irregular heart rhythm notifications on Apple Watch, but it appears as though users in those countries are still waiting for the features to be enabled.

Twitter today announced it will begin testing a feature with a small group of users that automatically translates tweets that are in a language they may not be able to read.

Currently, users whose primary language is set to English in Twitter can tap or click a button to manually translate a tweet in their feed that's in another language.

Starting today, however, users in Brazil will see English-language tweets that have been automatically translated to Brazilian Portuguese, rather than having to manually opt to translate it themselves.

Twitter explained the pilot test in a blog post:

In order to make it easier to understand the conversations you follow on Twitter, we are experimenting automatic translations to Tweets in other languages that appear on your home page. We know that sometimes it can take a long time to translate Tweet by Tweet and stay on top of what is relevant to you.

Twitter says that one part of the testing group will see the translated text and can click to return it to the original language, while the other part will view the translation and the original text in the same tweet in a standard way. If a tweet is translated, it will be accompanied by the warning, "Translated from English by Google" or "Translated from English by Microsoft."

According to 9to5Mac, however, some Brazilian users have already voiced their frustration with the experimental feature because the automatic translations are enabled by default, and inevitably some machine translations aren't always accurate.

The test is only in Brazil and applies to a limited group of people on iOS and Android. It's unclear if or when it will expand to more countries – as with all experimental features, there's no guarantee that it will survive the testing phase.

Parallels Desktop 16 released today, bringing some notable new features and performance enhancements to the virtualization software, including full support for macOS Big Sur.

When Apple introduced macOS Big Sur, it ended support for the third-party kernel extensions that previous versions of Parallels were built on. That forced the developers to re-engineer the virtualization software from the ground up, but that challenge has now been officially completed.

While support for Big Sur is the headline feature, Parallels 16 also comes with several new features and improvements. This version claims to launch twice as fast and offers a 20 percent improvement in DirectX performance, with OpenGL 3 graphics in Windows and Linux also said to be improved.

There are new multi-touch gestures for Windows apps such as smooth zoom and rotate multi-touch gestures, while printing from Windows (with Shared Printers) now allows users to print on both sides and use more paper sizes, from A0 to envelope.

Virtual machines can now be set to automatically return unused disk space when shutting down, and Windows Travel Mode claims to be able to increase laptop battery by up to 10 percent.

Elsewhere, Pro Edition users can now name their custom networks, and export virtual machines in a compressed format that are a said to be a fraction of their pre-compressed size. Parallels has also launched a plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio to simplify testing on different operating systems.

Lastly, in addition to all the work that has gone on under the hood to ensure Big Sur compatibility, Parallels 16 also brings a new look to the software that's more in keeping with Apple's redesigned interface in macOS 11.

There's no word at present whether Parallels will run Windows on the forthcoming Apple Silicon Macs that Apple announced at WWDC, but Parallels says it will release further information on this further down the line.

Users with Parallels Desktop 14 and 15 (including Pro and Business Editions) can upgrade for $49.99, while college students in the United States, Canada, Germany and U.K. have access to the reduced price Student Edition. A 14-day trial of the virtualization suite is also available.

Apple CEO Tim Cook's net worth has climbed to over $1 billion, according to calculations by Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.

At a net worth of $1 billion, Cook doesn't rank on the chart of the world's 500 richest people, a list topped by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. According to Bloomberg, Cook's net worth was calculated using regulatory filings and market performance.

When former Apple CEO Steve Jobs died in 2011, Apple was valued at approximately $350 billion, and the company has grown significantly under Cook's leadership. Much of Cook's fortune stems from stock awards provided when he took over as CEO. He was awarded with restricted stock units that have vested over time, and has garnered additional stock awards as Apple has outperformed at least two thirds of the firms in the S&P 500.

Later this month, Cook is set to receive his ninth payout, which will include 560,000 shares of Apple stock and should boost his net worth by approximately $100 million.

Cook has said in the past that he plans to give most of his money away to charity, and that he's developing a "systematic approach to philanthropy." For the last several years, Cook has donated $5 million in stock to various charities on a yearly basis, though the charities have gone unnamed and it's unclear if there have been other undisclosed donations.

Apple is facing App Store scrutiny in Russia as the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) today said (via Interfax) that Apple abused its dominant ‌App Store‌ position and limited competition in the iOS app market by banning parental control apps.

The FAS began investigating Apple's ‌App Store‌ policies back in August 2019 after Apple cracked down on parental control apps using Mobile Device Management functionality.

Cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab lodged an antitrust complaint with the FAS after Apple pulled the Kaspersky Safe Kids app from the ‌App Store‌. Kaspersky Safe Kids had, at the time, been in the ‌App Store‌ for three years before Apple said that it was no longer allowed to use configuration profiles.

According to the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service, since 2018, Apple has limited "instruments and opportunities for the development of parental control apps," leading to the loss of functionality in third-party apps.

The FAS also pointed out that the removal of the parental control apps coincided with the launch of the Screen Time feature, and that Apple is able to block any third-party app even if the app meets Apple's specifications.

"Apple occupies a dominant position with a 100% share of the market for mobile apps based on the iOS operating system because it is only legally possible to install such apps from the ‌App Store‌," said the FAS.

The FAS plans to order Apple to address the regulatory violations. In response, Apple said that it respects the FAS but disagrees with the decision and will appeal the ruling.

Apple is also facing an antitrust investigation in the United States, with Apple CEO Tim Cook recently testifying in front of the U.S. House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee, where he was grilled on Apple's App Store policies.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News 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.