Apple, Smartphone | featured news

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.

Samsung may have lost big to Apple in the courtroom, but it’s just scored a victory in the marketplace. The Samsung Galaxy S III has stolen the title of the world’s most popular smartphone from the iPhone for the third quarter of 2012, according to data from Strategy Analytics.

Thousands of workers went on strike Friday at a Foxconn plant in China that makes Apple Inc's iPhone 5, paralyzing production of the smartphone, rights advocate China Labor Watch reported.

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.

Shares of Apple moved above $700 for the first time ever Tuesday morning, boosted by a strong reception for the latest version of its popular iPhone.

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.