Apple has been sued by Taiwan based manufacturer Elan Microelectronics Corp. for reportedly infringing two of its patents for touchscreen technology. The lawsuit, filed in a US District Court here on Tuesday, accuses Apple of infringing on Elan patents in its iBook, PowerBook and MacBook portable computers, the iPhone smartphone and the iPod Touch digital music player.

“Each of these devices includes a touch-sensitive input device capable of detecting the simultaneous presence of two or more fingers or other capacitive objects using the structure and methods claimed in (Elan’s) 352 patent,” the complaint said.

Elan alleged that the iPhone and iPod Touch infringe on another patent held by the Taiwan company. The complaint claims the patent infringement is causing Elan “irreparable harm,” asks the court to put an end to it and demands unspecified damages from the Cupertino, California-based Apple.

According to The New York Times, Elan filed suit in 2006 against another US company, Synaptics, over one of the patents mentioned in the Apple lawsuit. It said Synaptics countersued and both actions were dismissed last year after the companies reached a cross-licensing agreement.

(Source) AFP

Tags: Apple, apple lawsuit, Business, damages, digital music player, elan microelectronics, input device, iPhone, iPod Touch, patent infringement, patents, portable computers, powerbook, smartphone, taiwan company

Here is another clamshell design phone that should make some noise soon. The new phone soon to be available in the market is the sleek MOTO VE465 phone. This new phone is a combination of contemporary style and fun-filled features.

The phone features two lighting modes namely call and media and brings to you an amazing multimedia experience. It bundles up a digital music player, 1.3 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom and Bluetooth technology to play music on wireless headphones and speakers.

It claims to be a perfect companion for all those looking for a mobile multimedia experience. It also features a crisp display screen, video recorder, a microSD memory port with 4GB support (4GB microSD card sold separately) and an external speaker. You can conveniently access Bluetooth and music even with the flip closed using the external control keys while the Aricent Celltop 2.1 offers easy access to personalized services and applications.

The MOTO VE465 is available at Alltel Wireless retail outlets and also online at Shopalltel website for $50 with a two-year contract and instant rebate.

(Source) Press

Tags: Alltel, Alltel, alltel wireless, celltop, clamshell design, control keys, digital music player, microsd memory port, mobile multimedia, MOTO, perfect companion, personalized services, video recorder, wireless headphones

Dell Inc., a familiar brand name in the world of personal computing has been rumored to join the mobile phone industry soon. At the moment, Dell has reportedly instructed its engineers to work on several prototypes based on mobile software from Google and Microsoft.

If reports are accurate, it seems that Dell is trying to conceptualize a phone similar to the touch screen iPhone. It will be recalled the Dell planned to unveil a digital music player that could connect wirelessly to the Internet last summer but was later on scrapped. That could also happen to this new mobile phone plan.

Dell’s possible entry into the mobile device market comes as it continues to lose PC market share.

(Source) Market Watch

Tags: Apple, Business, Cell Phones, dell inc, digital music player, Google, iPhone, microsoft, mobile market, mobile phone industry, mobile phone plan, Mobile Software, prototypes, touch screen

Among the three new phones unveiled by Nokia, the Nokia 2700 has to be the most affordable unit that people are bound to want. This full-featured handset has up to 2GB of storage via the memory card slot, an integrated digital music player and a 2.0 megapixel camera.

So for consumers who want communication, imaging and media in one phone at an affordable price, the Nokia 2700 classic is the one for you.

“These features mean people can save, access and share files in hundreds of formats via Nokia’s online service, Share on Ovi, or a number of other websites. The rich features and simple interface mean that in many cases, the Nokia 2700 classic will provide its owner’s first Internet experience,”

Expected to come out by the second quarter of 2009, the Nokia 2700 Classic is priced at EUR 65.

(more…)

Tags: digital music player, handset, integrated digital, Nokia, Nokia, nokia 2700