" apple Ipad Demo" Apple - iPad - Introducing the iPad

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ITC to investigate Apple complaint vs Nokia

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The U.S. International Trade Commission said on Friday it has agreed to investigate Apple Inc's patent infringement complaint against Nokia Oyj, as the legal battle between the two technology heavyweights continues to play out.

The companies have been locked in a legal tussle since last October, when Nokia sued Apple and said the iPhone maker was using its patented technologies without paying for them.

Apple countersued Nokia, and both companies have turned to the ITC, filing complaints with the trade body.

Apple is asking the ITC to block Nokia from selling some mobile devices in the U.S. Apple contends the products infringe upon nine of its patents.

The case will be assigned to one of the ITC's six administrative law judges, who will hold an hearing on the evidence. The trade body will set a target date for completing its probe with 45 days after beginning the investigation.

The ITC agreed last month to investigate Nokia's complaint against Apple. Nokia alleges Apple infringed seven of its patents.

The legal dispute between Nokia and Apple potentially involves hundreds of millions of dollars in annual royalties.

Nokia is the world's largest mobile phone maker but has had trouble in the fast-growing smartphone market. Apple entered the smartphone market in 2007 but has seen huge success with the iPhone.

(Reporting by Gabriel Madway, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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Google CEO woos suspicious mobile industry

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Google's Chief Executive Eric Schmidt urged the mobile industry to embrace the mobile Web instead of seeing Google as the enemy, in his first speech to the world's biggest wireless industry fair.


Schmidt said the industry stood at an historic moment when the computing power of mobile phones, attractive services and networks that could handle them had come together, and said Google was driving network traffic to the benefit of operators.


"It's like magic. All of a sudden there are things that you can do that didn't really occur to you... because of this convergence point," he told a packed auditorium at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

"That time is upon us -- right now, right here, for this year and at least the next many years," he told the audience of operators, telecoms gear vendors, and observers of an industry that generally views Google with suspicion.

Google has recently made overtures to other industries who consider it a threat, including newspaper and book publishers, and advertising agencies.

In telecoms, Google has raised hackles by launching a free smartphone platform, Android, selling its own-branded phone directly to consumers without the mediation of carriers, and announcing plans to build a super-fast broadband network.

It has also been seen as a problem by some operators, who are having to invest to upgrade their networks to meet the huge demand for data services required by users who are spending more and more time on the mobile Web on sites from Google and others.

Google announced two new features: one that translates images of text in foreign languages captured by a camera, such as restaurant menus, and the addition of German as the fourth language supported by Google's voice-recognition technology.

YES, NOT NO

Schmidt's remarks were met with skepticism and some hostility from an audience already worried about economic recession and the prospect of becoming "dumb pipes" that merely carry valuable content, including free Internet calls.

"I'm talking about Google stealing operators' talk minutes," said one questioner, when asked by Schmidt to clarify his concerns. Schmidt shot back: "It's not our objective to steal your minutes."

Later, in a roundtable with journalists, Schmidt explained why he believed the two industries needed one another.

"We need them to go ahead and invest these enormous amounts of money at great risk and, in return, they need us to continue to build powerful new reasons to upgrade the connections and get a new phone," he said.

"Find a way to say yes, not no, is our thesis."

Google's core business is in helping online businesses to attract vast audiences to which it can sell advertising.

"We want to have a little bit of Google in everybody's transaction with the Internet," Schmidt said.

He added that, eventually, other means of making money than advertising, like selling software to large enterprises, would become significant. Google has email, document-management and other subscription services for business users.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan and Kate Holton; Editing by Andre Grenon and Tim Dobbyn)

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Toy makers look to tech, green materials for 2010

Toy makers look to tech, green materials for 2010

NEW YORK (Reuters) - From Mattel's "Puppy Tweets" linking pets to a Twitter feed to biodegradable nursery toys, toy makers are focusing on fun technology and green materials to win sales in 2010.

The top U.S. toy fair kicks off in New York on Sunday, with an eye to selling retailers on the best playthings for the year. With the country slowly emerging from recession, toy makers will still focus on value, experts say.

"There isn't a sweet spot per se. The emphasis is on value more than price," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

"You will see the manufacturers emphasize how much play time or value the kid gets out of the toy and then talk about the amazing price associated with that play value," she said.

U.S. toy retail sales fell less than 1 percent in 2009 after a disastrous 2008, while the recent holiday quarter saw unit sales rise nearly 4 percent over the prior-year period, according to market research firm NPD Group.

Toy makers will pull out all the stops to keep that momentum going.

Industry leaders like Mattel (MAT.O) are focusing on new links to technology, such as a sound and motion sensor called "Puppy Tweets" that attaches to a dog's collar and posts to a Twitter account in the pet's name.

Smaller rival Hasbro (HAS.N) is putting a twist on the classics, like a new Scrabble word game that lets players shuffle electronic cubes rather than using wooden tiles on a game board.

Scrabble Flash Cubes contain "Smart Tile Technology" which recognizes words formed when the letters are placed side by side and keeps score of correctly spelled words.

Hasbro is also celebrating the 75th anniversary of Monopoly by relaunching the game with a round playing board and an electronic console that features sound effects and song clips including "Celebration" by Kool & the Gang and "Drive My Car" by the Beatles.

U.S.-based Wowwee will tout "Paper Jamz," an electric guitar made of cardboard that produces music from touch-sensitive electronic sensors hidden under its surface.

The tech-savvy emphasis is here to stay as toy makers benefit from linking an established brand name to newer technologies like social networking, already popular among children, said Elizabeth Komes, Associate Publisher of Playthings Magazine.

Customers are also often willing to pay higher prices for these toys, she noted.

GREEN IS IN

Toy Fair will also feature a "green" pavilion for environmentally friendly toys for the first time.

Reyne Rice, trend specialist for the Toy Industry Association, said about 25 percent of retail buyers at last year's event wanted to see more "eco-friendly" products.

Toys made from organic cotton, bamboo or other organic materials are safer for children and could eliminate or reduce huge testing costs associated with playthings, Komes said.

While bigger players like Mattel and Hasbro are not prominent in this space, they are becoming increasingly "green" in choosing their packaging material.

Toy maker WHAM-O Inc is working with Colorado-based Sprig Toys to make a line of preschool products out of biodegradable materials.

Plush toy maker Hosung, known for its miYim organic toy line, has partnered with famed anthropologist Jane Goodall to design an alternative to chemically treated toys.

Lesser-known game maker TDC Games even offers puzzles that have flower seeds embedded in each piece.

But being eco-friendly comes with a price as many of these raw materials are often more expensive.

More traditional toys will also be in the spotlight next week, with Hasbro marking the 50th anniversary of its "Play-Doh Fun Factory."

Mattel is betting big on its World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE.N) line with figures like "Triple H" and "The Undertaker" already attracting buzz. The toys are priced between $10 and $25.

The world's biggest toy maker is also expected to unveil a new doll under its "I can be" Barbie range. It gave fans a chance to choose the 125th career of the iconic doll which made its debut 51 years ago.

(Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Matthew Lewis)

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Apple iPad Tablet (16GB, Wifi)

 Apple iPad Tablet (16GB, Wifi)

Technical Details

• Full Capacitive Multitouch Tablet
• 1GHz Apple A4 Processor;
• 0.5" Thin; 1.5 Pounds; 9.7" IPS Display
• 16GB Flash Storage; Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR; Wifi 802.11n;
• 10 Hours of Battery Life, Over a Month of Standby

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Product Details Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. ASIN: B002C7481G Date first available at Amazon.com: January 27, 2010

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Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Apple iPad: Revolutionary Device with Advanced Technology

A truly revolutionary device, the Apple iPad is perfect for your mobile computing lifestyle, including browsing the Web, reading and sending e-mail, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, and much more. It features a brilliant 9.7-inch, LED-backlit display with IPS technology that delivers crisp, clear images and consistent color and a highly precise, capacitive Multi-Touch display that's Amazingly accurate and responsive--whether you're scrolling Web pages or playing games.

Measuring just 0.5 inches thin and weighing a mere 1.5 pounds, the iPad is easy to carry and use anywhere. There's also a slight curve to the back. Which makes it easy to pick up and comfortable to hold. This version of the Apple iPad comes with 16 GB of internal flash memory and ultra-fast Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking.

The iPad runs almost all apps from the App Store, including apps already purchased for your iPhone or iPod touch. And the iPad comes with 12 new innovative apps designed especially for the iPad, including Mail, Photos, Maps, Notes, and YouTube.

Reading and sending e-mail is on iPad's large screen and almost full-size "soft" keyboard. Import photos from a Mac, PC or digital camera, then see them organized as albums, and enjoy and share them using iPad's elegant slideshows. Watch movies, TV shows and YouTube--all in HD.

The iPad syncs with iTunes just like the iPhone and iPod touch, using a standard Apple 30-pin to USB cable, so you can sync all of your contacts, photos, music, movies, TV shows, applications and more from your Mac or Windows-based PC. Other features include up to 10 hours of battery life, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR connectivity, and built-in speakers plus 3.5mm headphone jack.

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Key Features

• 16 GB of internal flash memory
• 9.7 inch LED-backlit, display: The high-resolution, 9.7 inch LED-backlit, IPS display is remarkably crisp and vivid, making it perfect for web browsing, watching movies, or showing off photos. It's also been designed to work in any orientation--portrait or landscape.
• Multi-Touch capabilities: The Multi-Touch screen on the iPad uses the same revolutionary technology that's in an iPhone. But for iPad, the technology has been completely reengineered for the larger surface, to make it extremely precise and responsive.
• IPS (in-plane switching) display technology provides a wide, 178-degree viewing angle, enabling you to hold it almost any way you want and still get a brilliant picture with excellent color and contrast.
• Powered by A4, Apple's next-generation system-on-a-chip: Designed by Apple, the new A4 chip provides exceptional processor and graphics performance along with long battery life of up to 10 hours. Apple's advanced chemistry and Adaptive Charging technology deliver up to 1,000 charge cycles without a significant decrease in battery capacity over a typical five-year lifespan.
• Built-in Wireless-N Wi-Fi: With integrated 802.11n networking, the iPad can take advantage of the fastest Wi-Fi networks. And it will automatically locate available Wi-Fi networks, which you can easily join with a few simple taps.
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR enables you to connect to devices like wireless headphones or the Apple Wireless Keyboard.
• Powerful, built-in speaker produces a full, rich sound, and the iPad also comes with a headphone jack and a built-in microphone.
• 30-pin dock connector on the bottom of the iPad allows you to dock and charge it. It also lets you connect to iPad accessories like the Camera Connection Kit or the Keyboard Dock.
• Up to 10 hours battery life: To maximize battery life, Apple engineers took the same lithium polymer battery technology they developed for Apple's notebook computers and applied it to the iPad. As a result, you can use iPad for up to 10 hours while surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching videos, or listening to music.
• Commitment to environmental design: Continuing Apple's dedication to designing and creating environmentally responsible products, each iPad enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminum and comes standard with energy-efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. iPad contains no brominated flame retardants and is completely PVC-free.

iPad Apps

iPad will work with almost all of the over 140,000 apps for the iPhone. That means popular apps for gaming, video, Amazon Kindle, cooking, photography -- whatever it is you're into -- are at your disposal.

The process for getting new apps is exactly the same: Just download them from the App Store and start using immediately. Or, if you already have apps for your iPhone or iPod touch, you can sync them to iPad from your Mac or PC. Then run them in their original size, or expand them to fill the screen. And developers are working on new apps designed specifically for this amazing device and all the things it can do.

The iPad also includes 12 new innovative apps designed especially for the iPad:

• Safari: The large Multi-Touch screen on iPad lets you see web pages as they were meant to be seen--one whole page at a time. And with iPad, navigating through the web has never been easier, or more intuitive.
• Mail: In landscape, you get a split-screen view, showing both an opened e-mail and the messages in your Inbox. To see the opened e-mail by itself, you just turn iPad to portrait, and the e-mail automatically rotates and fills the screen.
• iBooks: You'll be able to buy everything from classics to bestsellers from the built-in iBookstore. Once you've bought a book, it's displayed on your Bookshelf. To read it, all you have to do is tap on it and it opens up.
• Photos: The new Photos app displays the photos in an album as though they were in a stack. Just tap or pinch to open the stack, and the whole album opens up. Then you can flip through your pictures, zoom in or out, or watch a slideshow.
• Video: The large, high-resolution screen makes iPad perfect for watching any kind of video: from HD movies and TV shows, to podcasts and music videos. You can also easily move between wide-screen and full-screen with a double-tap.
• YouTube: The YouTube app organizes videos so they're really easy to see and navigate. To watch one, you just tap it. When you're watching in landscape, the video will automatically play in full screen.
• iPod: With the iPod app, all your music is literally at your fingertips. You can browse by album, song, artist, or genre, with a simple flick. To play a song, just tap it, and the now playing screen will show the album art at full size.
• iTunes: Just tap on the iTunes Store icon, and you can browse and buy music, TV shows, podcasts--or buy and rent movies--wirelessly, right from your iPad.
• Maps: See more of the world with high-resolution Satellite and Street View images. You can even see topography with the new Terrain view. You can also search for a nearby business type (for example, "Restaurant") and then tap on that business to see directions.
• Notes: With its expansive display and large, on-screen keyboard, iPad makes jotting down notes easy. In landscape mode, you get not only a note-taking page but also a list of all your notes.
• Calendar: You can see an overview of a whole month, or the details of a single day with Calendar's Day, Week, Month or List views. iPad will even show multiple calendars at once, so you can manage work and family calendars at the same time.
• Contacts: A new view lets you see both your complete contact list, and a single contact, simultaneously. Need directions? Just tap on an address inside a contact and it'll open Maps.
• Spotlight Search: You can search across iPad, and all of its built-in apps including Mail, Contacts, Calendar, iPod, and Notes. It will even search apps you've downloaded from the App Store.
• More apps: The iPad will run almost all of the apps designed for the iPhone. If you already have apps for your iPhone or iPod touch, you can sync them to iPad from your Mac or PC. Then you can run any of those apps in either their original size, or you can expand them to fill the screen.

What's in the Box
iPad, dock connector to USB cable, 10W power adapter, documentation
Storage Capacity

• 16 GB

Wireless Connectivity

• Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n)
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology

Location Capabilities

• Wi-Fi
• Digital compass

Display

• 9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology
• 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)
• Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
• Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously

Processor

• 1 GHz Apple A4 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip

TV and Video

• Support for 1024 x 768 with Dock Connector to VGA adapter; 576p and 480p with Apple Composite A/V Cable, 576i and 480i with Apple Composite A/V Cable
• H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

Audio Playback

• Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
• Audio formats supported: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
• User-configurable maximum volume limit

Mail attachment support

• Viewable document types: .jpg, .tiff, .gif (images); .doc and .docx (Microsoft Word); .htm and .html (web pages); .key (Keynote); .numbers (Numbers); .pages (Pages); .pdf (Preview and Adobe Acrobat); .ppt and .pptx (Microsoft PowerPoint); .txt (text); .rtf (rich text format); .vcf (contact information); .xls and .xlsx (Microsoft Excel)

Battery and Power

• Built-in 25Whr rechargeable lithium-polymer battery
• Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music
• Charging via power adapter or USB to computer system

System Requirements

• Mac: Mac OS X v10.5.8 or later
• Windows: Windows 7, Windows Vista; Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 3 or later

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Apple pitches $499 iPad, takes on Amazon

 

 

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc CEO Steve Jobs took the wraps off a sleek tablet that it called the iPad, pitching the new gadget at a surprisingly low price to bridge the gap between smartphones and laptops.

 

A buoyant Jobs took the stage at a packed theater on Wednesday to show off the 9.7-inch touchscreen tablet, which looks like a large iPhone, and to introduce a new iBook electronic reader service that will compete with Amazon.com Inc's Kindle.

The iPad is Apple's biggest bet on a new product since the iPhone three years ago, and seeks to tap an unproven market for tablets. Analysts, while impressed by the iPad's seamless functionality, also pointed out that consumers already have smartphones and laptops for their mobile computing needs.

 

 

Jobs described the iPad as a "third category" of devices, a do-everything media gadget that can surf the Web, and play movies and video games. He also left little doubt that Apple was going after the e-book market that Amazon had popularized.

 

"If there's going to be a third category of device, it's going to have to be better at these kinds of tasks than a laptop or a smartphone; otherwise it has no reason for being," said Jobs, who still appeared thin following his liver transplant last year.

 

"Now Amazon's done a great job of pioneering this functionality with their Kindle. And we're going to stand on their shoulders and go a bit further," he said.

Famous for his skills as a pitchman, Jobs, dressed in his trademark blue jeans and black turtleneck, created plenty of drama as he waited until late in the event to discuss the cost of the iPad, which analysts had expected to be up to $1,000.

 

Apple elected to price it for as little as $499 for 16 gigabytes of storage, starting in late March. An extra $130 is needed to equip the iPad with third-generation (3G) wireless capability. Higher-capacity models will sell for $599 and $699.

"Pricing is very aggressive, so it's pretty positive from a mass adoption perspective," said Brian Marshall, an analyst with Broadpoint Amtech.

 

Research group IDC said it expects Apple to ship 4 million iPad units in 2010, with about 2 million in the United States.

Shares of Apple rose to as high as $210.58 after the pricing news, up 5.5 percent from their session low. The stock closed up 0.94 percent at $207.88 on Nasdaq, within reach of its all-time high of $215.59 logged on Jan 5.

 

The half-inch thick, 1.5-pound iPad features Apple's own processor and 10 hours of battery life. It runs a version of the iPhone's operating system and can use virtually all of the 140,000 apps currently available for the smartphone.

"What once occupied half your living room can now be dropped in a bag," said Outsell Inc analyst Ned May. "It's pulling together a variety of needs (in) a universal entertainment device."

 

Apple announced a data plan deal with AT&T Inc, which appeared to have beaten out Verizon Wireless. AT&T will offer two monthly data plans for the iPad, a limited one for $14.99 and an unlimited one for $29.99.

IPHONE-LIKE ANTICIPATION

 

Other technology companies, including Microsoft Corp and Toshiba Corp, have launched tablets that failed to take off in recent years.

But analysts said they were impressed with the technology that Apple showed off. The iPad has a near life-size touch keyboard, and comes with all the expected features, including a calendar, an address book and maps.

 

 

"One thing Apple has proven is that they can consumerise new concepts, new technologies," said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, a consulting firm. "That will probably be their claim to fame again with this."

 

However, some also mentioned potential cannibalization of other Apple products.

"If it's doing all these things and does it better than a notebook then they'd have to tell me why I'd want a MacBook," said NPD analyst Steve Baker.

 

Some industry watchers said the iPad, with its multimedia bells and whistles, will be a tough competitor for Amazon's Kindle. The iBooks store will let users buy from publishers including Pearson Plc's Penguin, News Corp's HarperCollins, and Hachette Book Group.

But other analysts noted that the Kindle costs less -- $259 for the cheapest version -- and was more tailored for long-form reading, at least for now.

 

"This is not an e-reader -- this is a device that can be used to read books," Cowen & Co analyst James Friedland said of the iPad. "This doesn't change the game -- at the same time, Apple is a formidable competitor and our view is that over time, Apple and Amazon will emerge as the two largest players" in e-books.

Shares of Amazon took a brief hit but recovered to end 2.7 percent higher at $122.75 on Nasdaq.

 

 

In an online poll on reuters.com before Wednesday's media event, 37 percent of more than 1,000 respondents said they would pay $500-$699 for the tablet. Nearly 30 percent weren't interested, while 20 percent said they would pay $700-$899.

(Additional reporting by Edwin Chan, Poornima Gupta, Ian Sherr, Gina Keating, Sue Zeidler, Alex Dobuzinskis and Paul Thomasch; Editing by Richard Chang and Tiffany Wu)

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Google releases new Google Voice for iPhone

Google releases new Google Voice for iPhone

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc unveiled a new version of its Internet phone service on Tuesday in its latest effort to bypass Apple Inc's gatekeepers and make Google Voice a popular service on the iPhone.

The new version of Google Voice can only be accessed through a smartphone's Web browser, unlike the so-called native apps that can be downloaded directly onto an iPhone.

In July, Google said that Apple had turned down its application to offer Google Voice as a native iPhone app. The rare public spat underscored the growing competition between the two tech giants and prompted the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to request more information from the companies on the matter.

Apple responded at the time that the Google Voice app had not been rejected, but that it was under review.

Google Voice allows users to make cheap long-distance calls and to forward calls from a single phone number to multiple phones, among other things.

The disagreement over Google Voice comes as Google, the world's No. 1 search engine, and Apple are increasingly encroaching into each other's markets. Earlier this month, Google began selling the Nexus One smartphone directly to consumers, and Google is developing an operating system for PCs that could compete with Apple's line of Mac PCs.

In August, Google CEO Eric Schmidt resigned from Apple's board of directors.
Google already had a version of Google Voice available through mobile Web browsers.
But Google described the new version of Google Voice as a "Web app," noting that it is much more interactive than the previous browser-based version of the service, with the ability to listen to voice mails directly from within the browser and to dial phone numbers on an interactive on-screen keypad.

Google said the new version of Google Voice is designed for iPhone 3.0 and higher and Palm Inc Web OS smartphones.

A Google spokeswoman said the company had not received any updates from Apple regarding offering a native app version of Google Voice on the iPhone. An Apple representative could not be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Gary Hill)

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