Bryan Chaffin

Samsung lost its bid to get an import ban on smartphones that were found to infringe on Apple patent overturned. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman—a White House appointee—announced on Tuesday that he would allow the import ban to go into effect. Apples and Oranges Samsung had asked the White House to overturn the import ban,…

Samsung seems intent on proving the company is incapable of learning lessons from…well, anything. Bloomberg reported that Samsung wants the White House to veto an import ban on some older Samsung devices the same way an import ban on a couple of Apple devices was recently vetoed, but Samsung is relying on a false equivalence…

Hold on for this shocker: Samsung's outside counsel provided Samsung executives, internal attorneys, and even external attorneys working on other cases with details of a highly confidential licensing agreement between Apple and Nokia despite a court order not to do so. Better yet, Samsung then further shared those details, on several occasions, with more than…

Cheating. I don't care for it. If you have to cheat to win, there's no value in the victory. I know there are tons of folks who don't care about such things—and thus we have cheating—but some cheating transcends morality to venture into the weird because it's hard to see how the cheater thought he…

Bill Gates Three of Microsoft's top shareholders—representing some 5 percent of the company's outstanding shares—want company cofounder Bill Gates to step down as chairman. In an exclusive report, Reuters said that Mr. Gates's presence at the head of Big Redmond's board will inhibit the adoption of new strategies and products and limit the power of…

IHS has conducted its teardown of the iPhone 5c, and the firm said that the bill of materials (BOM) for the device is some 12 percent less expensive than the iPhone 5 it replaced in Apple's product line. This is in keeping with thoughts on the device, but the IHS report offers some specifics on…

Apple CEO Tim Cook joined Twitter and sent out his first tweet on Friday, September 20th. That was enough to start the Twitter ball rolling, and he already has more than 187,000 followers. That tweet Visited Retail Stores in Palo Alto today. Seeing so many happy customers reminds us of why we do what we…

It's always a guess on how much inventory Apple will have for an iPhone (or iPad) launch, but carriers are saying they will have little inventory for Apple's launch. One carrier source characterized inventory levels for launch day to AllThingsD as “grotesquely low.” Another carrier said it was extremely disappointed in Apple's inventory deliveries. Apple…

Apple's technology is everywhere, but a photograph of an iPad being used on the front lines in the civil war in Syria is garnering media attention. The photograph shows a member of the Free Syria Army using an iPad to eyeball-aim a mortar. The image comes from a Reuters story about Russian comments on forcing…

Twitter, Inc. announced on Thursday that the company has filed a confidential (i.e. secret) filing with the SEC to go public. The company has been valued at US$10 billion, but so far Twitter has not announced what kind of valuation it will shoot for in its initial public offering (IPO). Fittingly, Twitter made the announcement…

Apple's dual media events—one in Cupertino and one in China—start on Tuesday. Most speculation has focused on what Apple will announce. The iPhone 5S and 5C? Yes. New Apple TV features? Likely. iTunes Radio? Duh. iOS 7? Double duh. A distribution deal with China Mobile and Japan's DoCoMo? Hopefully and maybe, in that order. Forget…

It's time for Microsoft to think differently. The company announced earlier this week that it was buying Nokia. That's certainly thinking differently, but Big Redmond needs to go much further. In today's unsolicited advice column for Microsoft's board of directors, I'm suggesting that Microsoft turn to Communist China for inspiration and become one company with…

Amazon announced an interesting and important program this week called Matchbook. This program allows customers who purchase some physical books to also download a Kindle Edition version of that book at a discount, or for free. This is the sort of thing I have long wanted physical book stores to offer to remain relevant in…

Samsung's Galaxy Gear, the smartwatch that has been rumored for about half as long as Apple's iWatch. The company announced it today, and the biggest thing I get from it is that it should have been called the Galaxy Fear. Samsung Galaxy Gear Smartwatch Specs and Features First, the low-down. It's a smartwatch. A ginormous…

Apple has added a new online chat option for AppleCare support, as noted by CNet. The option allows you to get one of Apple's support staff in a text conversation right in your browser. Here's how to find it. If you visit Apple's Support page, you'll find lots of options for manuals, videos, downloads, tech…

I've been asking a basic question about Android for quite a while: what the heck are they doing with all those Android devices? Thanks to a couple of recent studies from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), we're starting to get some color on that question. Lagging Usage At issue is the discrepancy between the gagillions…

Apple has hired a top executive from Levi Strauss and Co. to fill a position in its U.S. retail leadership ranks. Citing unnamed sources and a LinkedIn profile, 9to5Mac reported that Apple hired Enrique Atienza as a “top director” in its U.S. retail operations. His Facebook page also lists Apple as his employer. Mr. Atienza…