Apple and HTC reach global patent dispute settlement, agree to ten-year licensing agreement

Apple and HTC have announced that the two companies have reached a global settlement regarding the two firm’s multiple patent infringement lawsuits. The agreement is on a global-scale and includes a ten-year licensing agreement. All current lawsuits have been dismissed.

TAIPEI, Taiwan and CUPERTINO, California—November 10, 2012—HTC and Apple® have reached a global settlement that includes the dismissal of all current lawsuits and a ten-year license agreement. The license extends to current and future patents held by both parties. The terms of the settlement are confidential.

“We are glad to have reached a settlement with HTC,” said Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. “We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation.” Peter Chou, HTC’s CEO, said “HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation.”

[Source: 9to5Mac - Click here to read the full story]

Microsoft and Nokia use celebrities to promote Windows Phone 8

After an on stage appearance by Jessica Alba at Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 launchrecently, the company and its partners are starting to use even more celebrities to promote Redmond's latest mobile OS. In a similar move to Apple's celebrity Siri ads, AT&T and Nokia are using Will Arnett to promote the Lumia 920 in the US.

Over in the UK, Microsoft has hired popular TV presenter Holly Willoughby to star in an advert promoting Windows Phone 8 and Kid's Corner. Digital Spy reports that the ad will run across primetime TV shows in the UK. Aside from Arnett's debut in the US, Nokia has also used Ke$ha's latest music video to promote the Lumia 920. A yellow handset was originally spotted in the video, but has since been replaced by a deck of cards.

Microsoft is set to kick start its worldwide Windows Phone 8 advertising campaign during NFL games on Sunday. WPCentral reports that the company will air a one minute slot dedicated to the personalization aspects of Windows Phone 8.

[Source: The Verge]

Want to replace Siri with Google Search? You can via jailbreak

Google's latest version of its voice-enabled Search app may not have the personality of Siri, but it is as good, if not better, than Siri at pulling up relevant search information. If you want to replace Apple's personal assistant with Google's version, you can do so thanks to a jailbreak tweak called NowNow.

As spotted by AppAdvice, NowNow is available in Cydia and allows you to launch Google Voice Search anywhere in iOS. It requires you to install Activator and Google Voice Search, but once you set it up, it's as easy to use as Siri. If you drop Siri for Google, remember that you will lose the "assistant" features of Siri, like adding reminders and setting alarms.

Your device has to be jailbroken to use this tweak, which means it is not available to iPhone 5 users or anyone with an iOS device with an A5/6 processor on iOS 6.

[Source: TUAW]

British Airways to support Apple Passbook

An AppleInsider reader reached out to British Airways to ask about Passbook support and a helpful representative said they're already looking into it. In particular: "Please be assured that we will get our Passbook-compatible functionality live on ba.com as soon as we can." Another airline hopping on board the Passbook wagon is music to my ears. So far I'm really enjoying the (admittedly limited so far) functionality of Passbook.

[Source: TUAW]

Apple donates $2.5M to aid Hurricane Sandy victims

Apple has been making more charitable gifts since Tim Cook became CEO, and the latest organization to benefit from the company's generosity is the American Red Cross. The company donated US$2.5 million to the organization earmarked for Hurricane Sandy relief. The image above is from an email received by an Apple employee who forwarded it to 9to5Mac.

The company had set up an iTunes page last week making it easy for iTunes users to donate money to relief efforts. We at TUAW want to thank all of our readers who have used the iTunes tool to make a donation to the American Red Cross, and urge those who haven't to think about those who are still suffering in the wake of Sandy.

[Source: TUAW]

Xbox 360 USB storage quietly doubled from 16GB to 32GB in latest dashboard update

It seems that Microsoft's latest dashboard update to the Xbox 360 was little more than a trojan horse for a super secret USB storage update from the original 16GB cap to 32GB -- you can't fool us, Microsoft! Er, at least you can't fool the vast swaths of people using their Xbox 360s, who tipped our superfriends at Joystiq on the update. Microsoft confirmed the storage limit change as intentional and explained its purpose in a statement: "The more our customers use their profile and download digital content, the larger the file size necessary to store that content and move it between consoles gets. Therefore we increased the size of the memory to enable our customers to take more of their Xbox profile with them on the go." So, there you have it! If you'll excuse us, we'll be over here loading our entire history of game saves to USB sticks for mobile gloating.

[Source: Engadget]

Windows Phone 8X, Galaxy S III Mini and Xperia J available on Three UK today

ree customers in the UK have three new options when deciding how to spend their smartphone dollar (or pound, as it were). Starting today the carrier will now be be home to HTC's Windows Phone 8X, the Galaxy S III Mini and the Xperia J. Prices for the devices are all over the map, with the 8X starting at £350 with a pay-as-you-go plan, while the GS III and Xperia J are £270 and £150 respectively with the same deal. If you're looking to save a bit up front, the 8X can be had for just £29, so long as you're willing to commit to a £30 a month plan. The Sony and Samsung handsets are both available without any upfront costs, with the Xperia starting at as little as £13 a month and the four-inch Galaxy offshoot weighing in at £28 per month. For more details, check out the PR after the break.

[Source: Engadget]

Apple gives App Store categories their own highlights, lets niche apps have 15 minutes of fame

It's tough to find truly stellar mobile apps, no matter what platform you're running, and that's even truer when delving into categories. Apple has made a gesture towards giving more titles their moment in the sun through a low-key update to the App Store in iTunes and on iOS 6 devices. Jump to at least some categories, such as games or education, and you'll get the same carousels, banners and other promotions that would normally be reserved for the main portal. The shift is a simple one, but it theoretically helps App Store shoppers go beyond the surface -- and developers to reap the rewards.

[Source: Engadget]

Google services grind to a halt in China, political transition suspected as the culprit

As eagerly as Google has gone through routing acrobatics to minimize the Chinese government's ability to censor and spy on its its services, it's still at the mercy of the Great Firewall. The company might have just run head-first into the bricks as of Friday. As confirmed by some of our own staff, all of Google's services stopped working in China for at least the better part of a day despite the search firm verifying that everything was in good working order. Officials haven't confirmed that anything was afoot, but it's easy to raise the specter of possible censorship given local political maneuvering. The once-a-decade Communist Party Congress began on Thursday, and the establishment may have wanted to cut off a relatively unfiltered line of communication for dissidents during a transition of power. We're hearing that access may have ameliorated in at least parts of the country, which would be a pleasant surprise -- not that a sudden improvement in service will cheer up those who know they still face a backlog.

[Source: Engadget]

Microsoft's November security updates include critical Windows 8 and RT patches

Microsoft recently issued its "Security Bulletin Advance Notification" for this month, detailing which operating systems and software will be updated on November 13th. While many products are being addressed, including Office for Mac, newly released Windows 8 and RT are the most notable entries on the list. The first patches since they hit the market will fix "critical" issues which open them up to "remote code execution." Microsoft hasn't gone into specifics (obviously), but you can register for a webcast being held on the 14th (see source link) should you want enlightening. If you thought your fresh machine or slate was flawless, we're afraid to say it's just another member of the 'Patch Tuesday' club.

[Source: Engadget]

FreshBooks releases iPad app

Do you charge by the hour for your services? If so, you may already know about FreshBooks, the cloud accounting service. In late August the company released an iPhone app for on-the-go entry of billing and accounting information; now the FreshBooks app has become iPad friendly as a universal release.

The free app works just like the web version of FreshBooks, providing a way for you to get paid by clients online, attach expenses to invoices, let staff or sub-contractors log hours on your projects, see hours and timesheets, and view a dashboard with a full account overview.

One of my personal favorite features is the ability to snap photos of receipts to "clip" to expenses. Being able to add those expenses and document them immediately is a very compelling feature.

While the app is free, you must have an existing FreshBooks account or create one from within the app. There's a 30-day free trial available if you want to try out the service and app. It's free after that time for companies who send invoices to no more than three customers, otherwise it's US$20 per month for up to 25 customers, more for additional customers.

[Source: TUAW]

Display Menu brings back Mountain Lion's screen resolution to your menu bar

Do you miss the menu-bar option that allows you to select a display resolution? Recently, TUAW got pitched -- rather enthusiastically -- about a utility that helps with this. I tested it and wasn't especially thrilled by either its design or functionality. So I decided to hunt down a better solution. I quickly found one in Display Menu.

A free utility on the Mac App Store, Display Menu offers what I was looking for. With full multi-monitor support, it easily adjusted my various displays with a simple drop-down menu. What's more, it did this with a clever presentation that offers aspect hints as well as resolution values.

If you've been looking for a replacement for lost system functionality now that you're on Mountain Lion, Display Menu might be that app. Developer Thorsten Karrer did a good job creating an app that's simple to use. According to the developer, while the app supports HiDPI modes, it does not support the "two small display modes" of the Retina MacBook Pro.

[Source: TUAW]