Apple, Mobile | featured news

A U.S. judge has ordered Apple Inc to disclose to rival Samsung Electronics details of a legal settlement the iPhone maker reached with Taiwan's HTC Corp, including terms of a 10-year patents licensing agreement.

Samsung sold more than 97 million mobile phones in the third quarter, besting Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone by more than 74 million units. According to Gartner (NYSE: IT), nearly 428 million mobile phones were sold during the quarter. Approximately 23.5 million of those phones were manufactured by Apple — 97.9 million were made by Samsung.

Apple Inc and HTC Corp announced on Saturday a global patent settlement and 10-year licensing agreement that ends one of the first major conflagrations of the smartphone patent wars.

Apple Inc. said Monday that it sold more than 5 million units of the iPhone 5 in the three days since its launch, less than analysts had expected. Apple shares were down $6.60, or 0.9 percent, at $693.49 in morning trading. The shares are still close to their all-time high of $705.07, hit Friday as the phone went on sale in the U.S., Germany, France, Japan and five other countries.

Tim Cook is no Steve Jobs when it comes to leading Apple Inc. As the debut of the new iPhone 5 just proved, that may not be a bad thing. The taller, thinner and lighter phone prompted a rush on Wall Street to raise price targets for Apple stock, but the optimism was not because of a big technological advance or design breakthrough; the "wow" factor that was the trademark of the late Apple co-founder Jobs was decidedly absent.

In a now familiar global ritual, Apple fans jammed shops from Sydney to Paris to pick up the tech juggernaut's latest iPhone. Eager buyers formed long lines Friday at Apple Inc. stores in Asia, Europe and North America to be the first to get their hands on the latest version of the smartphone.

Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday it anticipates accusing Apple Inc. of patent infringement over the iPhone 5, in a U.S. court case separate from the one that grabbed worldwide attention last month.

Even if you’re not planning to upgrade your iPhone to the iPhone 5, that doesn’t mean you have to sit out the smartphone refresh fun. Apple’s going to release the next version of its operating system, iOS 6, to the public Wednesday, which will come with an improved version of Siri, a new mapping app and calling features, such as the ability to set a “do not disturb” period.

The rush to be the first kid on the block with the latest iPhone is on. At midnight on Thursday, the new iPhone 5 became available for pre-order online though the Apple, Verizon, Sprint and AT&T sites. On Friday, major online outlets had already moved their estimated shipping dates back, indicating a large volume of orders or limited supply of iPhones ready to ship next Friday, September 21.

Delivery times have climbed quickly as Apple takes orders for the iPhone 5, suggesting strong demand. Apple began taking orders for the phone at 12 a.m. Pacific time. It initially promised delivery by next Friday, when the new phone also goes on sale in stores.