Apple Vs. Samsung: Dutch Court Just Banned Galaxy S, S II And Ace Smartphones

The courtroom drama continues to get worse for Samsung as Dutch courts in The Hauge have just issued a ruling asserting the Galaxy S, S II and Ace smartphones do in fact infringe on Apple’s IP. What it means in the not too distant future is that both in The Netherlands and across Europe, Samsung’s best selling line of smartphones (ever) will have to be removed from store shelves.

The small bit of good news is that the ruling isn’t immediate. Samsung will have until October 13th, 2011 to prepare a defense. Still, it’s a bad position to be in.

The new ban on smartphones follows a similar ban pushed forth by the same Dutch court last week over Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablets. In that previous post, the possibility of Samsung’s moneymaking Galaxy S/S II smartphones facing the same fate was just coming to light.

We’re desperately hoping somebody gives — whether it be Apple, Samsung, some random court, etc. — because as it stands now, useless patent litigation is beginning to destroy the mobile sector.

• Galaxy S/S II/Ace ruling (PDF)

[Update] HTC Puccini Android Tablet Spied Again. AT&T LTE Support Confirmed!

HTC’s Puccini tablet is a sharp, yet admittingly “normal” as far as Android tablets go. So how is HTC looking to differentiate? Oh perhaps by throwing AT&T LTE support into the mix. That’s right! HTC’s upcoming (and first) Honeycomb tablet will support AT&T’s next-gen super fast network.

Release date is still something that eludes us all. But let’s be real. Would you really drop serious cash on an LTE tablet that doesn’t have any LTE network to make use of (yet)? We didn’t think so. On that same note, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the Puccini pushed back until 2012 for the aforementioned reason.

Did your hope in Android tablets just get revived?

Update

It’s official — AT&T announces HTC Puccini/Jetstream tablet as carrier’s first LTE tablet.

Watch Out Verizon. Next LTE Rival Is…Dish Network?

If all goes according to plan, the U.S. LTE race will get a rather interesting new LTE contender — Dish Network. The satellite TV outfit has outlined preliminary plans to use roughly 40 MHz of spectrum from the recently acquired TerreStar Corp as the basis for their LTE network. What will differ from current LTE offerings by Verizon, AT&T and MetroPCS, however, is that Dish will market their LTE network for MVNOs — either cellular-only or satellite-only. Dish has also been rather vocal about readily adopting next-gen wireless technology, LTE-Advanced (read: real 4G).

Any public LTE launch is still likely many years out given the needed time to re-purpose hardware as well as gain the necessary regulatory approval.

Current users of Dish Network who still make use of the hybrid satellite phone/cellular phone devices and network need not worry. Dish Network claims that even with the move to LTE, existing services and features will not be cut (for now).

Competition is competition, right?

AT&T Facing Their Own KIN With The HTC Status?

The KIN was easily the biggest failure in Microsoft’s and Verizon’s recent history (and dare we say the tech world at large in the last several years). But according to an alleged “trusted source” who is “close to AT&T” came forward to TechCrunch earlier today with information that sheds a grim light on the Facebook-centric HTC Status. Apparently the device has suffered from sales poor enough to have execs looking for an early exit — barely one month after the device’s initial release. Sounds exactly like Verizon’s KIN I & II doesn’t it?

It would certainly be surprising to see AT&T pulling the plug on the Status so soon after launch, especially considering social networking on the go is currently a huge selling point. Then again, the sub-par and outdated-18-months-ago hardware packed within the Status’ body — 800 MHz, really?! — is pretty much a joke compared to the current crop of Android devices. So is it really all that surprising AT&T is potentially giving it the boot?

Yet despite the rumors AT&T still maintains that “the HTC Status is a great product and our plans for it to be part of our portfolio haven’t changed.” Do you think AT&T would ever admit to launching a failure? Yeah, we didn’t either.

Microsoft Talks Windows Phone Tango And Apollo.

In a rare departure from the norm, Microsoft spoke quite candidly of upcoming Windows Phone 7 updates, specifically mentioning Windows Phone Tango (7.5) and Apollo (8.0) at an MSDN Seminar in Hong Kong. According to the original report by welovewp.hk:

• WP7 Tango is not a major refresh — it is an updated form of Mango, and one that is destined to cater more to “developing countries”.

• Developing countries will be launching cheap, entry-level WP7 devices with which WP7 Tango will come pre-loaded.

• Windows Phone Apollo (8) will be the next “major” release after Mango.

If you’ve been on the Windows Phone fence so far, do you think Windows Phone 8 will finally push you over the edge?

Apple Having Trouble Meeting Demand For New 13″ MacBook Airs.

It appears Apple’s latest MacBook Air refresh is a resounding success. A new report by AppleInsider citing their own Mac Pricing Guide claims Apple may have underestimated demand for the larger 13″ model (based on reports they slightly favored production for the smaller 11.6″ model). Many physical and e-retailers across the world are citing low or no stock for the 13″ MacBook Air, while those that do have models in stock are selling them upwards of $200-$300 above MSRP. For example, the entry-level 13″ Air with 128 GB SSD and 4 GB is currently listed on Amazon.com for $1,549 ($250 above retail). It’s worth noting, however, that most of Apple’s own retail stores still have a decent supply of stock (obviously).

We’ve been loving our 13″ MacBook Air since we picked it up last month. Any other new MacBook Air owners out there want to gush about their new hotness?

Facebook Announces Massive Privacy Changes, Cedes Check-in Victory To Foursquare (For Now).

Survive earthquakepocalypse? Good. Share it on Facebook. But before you do, you may want to know that Facebook just pushed out some rather large changes to user privacy settings. But don’t worry, this time the changes are actually pretty useful, if not a straight ripoff of Google+’s own feature list. Get the full rundown after the break…