Apple vs Samsung retrial: Samsung ordered to pay $290 million, for a grand total of $890 million

And just like that, the Apple vs Samsung partial retrial is over. The jury in San Jose reached a verdict today, after it began deliberations on Tuesday.

The verdict is in Apple’s favor: Samsung was ordered to pay approximately $290 million for infringing five of Apple’s patents, including one that referred to the design of the original iPhone. The jury found that Samsung infringed its rival’s intellectual property on 13 devices, most of them no longer on sale. While the $290 million award is significantly lower than the $380 million that Apple requested, it’s still a hefty sum and way more than what Samsung said it should pay, which was just $52.7 million...

Read the full story here... Source: Android Authority

Find the Best Holiday Shopping Deals With MacRumors' Black Friday Roundup

Black Friday, which is a major shopping day in the United States, marks the kickoff of the holiday shopping season. 

During Black Friday, retailers often offer significant discounts on popular products to lure customers into their stores, so we've gathered all of the best deals on Apple products and accessories into a comprehensive roundup. 

In the roundup, we've listed the best deals on popular Apple products at the top of the page, which is followed by a list of deals by retailer. There's also a list of notable discounts on accessories and software, as well as a section that covers broader holiday deals...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

Apple Launching 'Apple Store' App for iPad

Nearly three and a half years after the debut of a dedicated Apple Store app for iPhone, Apple is launching a new iPad version of the application today, reports TechCrunch. The new app, which appears to be U.S.-only for the time being, offers a "sparse" iOS 7 design aesthetic and makes use of high-quality images and context-aware panels to offer an exceptional user experience...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

Apple Seeds OS X Mavericks 10.9.1 Beta to Developers

Apple has seeded the first beta of OS X Mavericks 10.9.1 to developers. The release asks testers to focus on Mail, Graphics Drivers and VoiceOver, though there are no known issues with the release.

Earlier this month, Apple released a special update to Mavericks to address issues using Gmail with the Mail.app client built into the OS...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

Apple Releases iOS 7.0.4 With Fix for FaceTime Call Issue

Apple today released iOS 7.0.4 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, a minor update that includes a number of improvements and bug fixes for the operating system. According to Apple, the update repairs a bug that could cause FaceTime calls to fail for some users. 

Apple has also released iOS 6.1.5 for the fourth generation iPod touch, which fixes the same FaceTime issue. A new version 6.0.2 of the Apple TV software is also available, although it is unclear what has been changed...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

Teardown of Retina iPad Mini Reveals A7 Chip, LG Display, Larger Battery

The experts at iFixit have performed another one of their usual high-quality teardowns on Apple's new iPad mini with Retina display, revealing that while the device is nearly unchanged visually from the original iPad mini, it features a number of internal upgrades such as an A7 chip and M7 motion coprocessor alongside the new high-resolution display...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

Analyst Predicts Multiple iPhone Refreshes Per Year, New Services After Meeting with Apple Execs

Apple's bifurcation of its iPhone lineup will provide the company with the opportunity to offer new iPhone products multiple times per year in the future, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty. Along with pricing flexibility, the ability to offer new products at more frequent intervals will drive unit growth upwards in 2014. 

Apple recently introduced both the high-end iPhone 5s and the mid-range iPhone 5c, priced slightly lower, selling both alongside the lower-end iPhone 4s. It is unclear how Apple plans to continue to upgrade these lines in the future, but according to Huberty, Apple will be able to utilize its dual product lineup for "multiple refreshes per year..."

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

Apple's iPad Air Adopts IGZO Technology for Thinner, Lower-Power Displays

Apple's new iPad Air marks a significant technological step forward for the company, improving performance while reducing the device's volume and weight by over 25%. Much of the size and weight savings have been enabled by improved power efficiency, allowing Apple to reduce the device's battery thickness and capacity by roughly the same 25%...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

Apple Releases iTunes 11.1.3 With Equalizer and Performance Improvements

Apple today released iTunes 11.1.3, two weeks after iTunes 11.1.2 and OS X Mavericks were first released. 

The update fixes issues with the equalizer and performance when switching views in large libraries. 

This version of iTunes resolves an issue where the equalizer may not work as expected and improves performance when switching views in large iTunes libraries. This update also includes additional minor bug fixes...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

75% of Early iPad Purchasers Already Own an iPad, Early-Adopter Upgrade Cycle Around 23 Months

According to a survey by PiperJaffray, 75 percent of U.S. iPad Air purchasers on launch day already owned an iPad, compared to only 58 percent for last year's iPad mini launch.

Gene Munster, a PiperJaffray analyst, believes the U.S. market may be getting slightly more saturated.

Surveying 71 day-one iPad buyers, Munster found that the early-adopter upgrade cycle is around 23 months, significantly shorter than the general public's upgrade cycle of 30 months. Also, the average capacity purchased today was 59.7GB versus 40.5GB for the 3rd-generation iPad launch...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

Google Smartwatch: Will it be an 'iPhone moment' for wearables?

Despite all the promises, smartwatches remain an acquired taste. Yes, there's a market but one that largely caters to the likes of health junkies and early adopters.

Fitness bands are cheap and light but too minimalist. Samsung's Galaxy Gear is all brawn but lacks device compatibility and email support. And the Pebble, one of the first true-blue smartwatches, is still trying to build an app ecosystem the way that Google and Apple did for their smartphones. It's an uphill battle for Pebble, the smartwatch darling, and it won't get any easier when those tech titans join the fray...

Read the full story here... Source: CNET

Apple Hit With Class-Action Lawsuit Over Failing 27" iMac Displays

An Idaho man is suing Apple under California's consumer protection laws because the display on his 27-inch iMac failed 18 months after he bought it -- notably outside the twelve-month standard warranty period, reports GigaOm.

The suit, which refers to a 321-page thread on the Apple Support Community as well as a post on TechCrunch from 2009, asks for more than $5 million in class-action damages and seeks to represent every Apple customer that purchased a 27-inch iMac with an LG display before December 2012...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours