Apple has filed another suit in Germany against Samsung today, citing infringement of a patent relating to list-scrolling and display manipulation behaviors on a touchscreen display. This suit was filed as an extension to a prior complaint. The older complaint centered on a similar patent relating to scrolling within a photo gallery.

At the same time, a Swiss company called SmartData has filed suit against Apple for patent infringement. SmartData claims that the AppleTV, Remote app, and iPhone all infringe on SmartData’s lone patent, which “concerns a pocked-size computer comprising a central unit, an input device, a communication interface with a remove network and display and/or sound reproduction means.” According to SmartData’s website (whence comes the description I just quoted) the patent is for a product of theirs called Zukero. Interestingly, the website contains no option to purchase Zukero, nor any more details than a description lifted from the patent abstract and an animation purporting to show Zukero in action.

The “news” section of SmartData’s website consists of six items. The most recent item, dated May 5, 2008, says that “Smartdata is looking to license Zukero (modular computer) patent rights” and offers would-be licensees an email link. Otherwise, SmartData’s website is virtually barren.

All in all, SmartData smells like a troll. Their complaint, which was filed in U.S. Federal court in San Jose, accuses Apple of willful infringement on SmartData’s patent. SmartData asks for a permanent injunction barring the sale of the offending products, a percentage of royalties from the sale of the infringing products, and that all damages be tripled due to “the willfulness of Defendant’s infringement.” The complaint also asks that the court order Apple to pay SmartData’s costs and attorney fees.

Today the court ruled that Apple’s devices do not, in fact, infringe on Motorola’s 3G patents at all, and dismissed the case. According to Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents, Motorola’s claim centered on the relevant patent being industry essential, rather than on demonstrating that Apple had actually infringed the patent itself. Judge Voss of the Mannheim court did not agree that the patent was essential, and ruled that Apple had not violated Motorola’s specific patent, and so dismissed the case.

This is not a total victory for Apple however. Motorola also won an injunction last week concerning push notifications for Apple’s iCloud service. As that is a separate case, the injunction still stands and Apple must continue to move forward with the modifications to iCloud in Germany.

The ban didn’t last long at all, however, as the devices are now back up in Apple’s online store in Germany. Apparently a higher court suspended the injunction this morning in response to Apple’s appeals. Apple appealed on the grounds that Motorola refused to license the relevant patents according to the EU’s FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, And Non-Discriminatory) rules.

The suspension is temporary, however, which means that Apple could be required to remove the devices again if further appeals are unsuccessful. The wi-fi iPad and the iPhone 4S are exempt from the injunction, which means that they have remained available despite the injunction. Also, as noted this morning, the injunction did not cover sales of the devices in physical stores, only in Apple’s online store.

The removal only applies to Apple’s online store, however. People wishing to purchase one of the devices in question can still get them from any retailer that sells Apple products, including the Apple store. It is unclear whether Motorola plans to attempt applying the December ruling to physical sales of Apple’s devices. That ruling stated that those devices violated patents held by Motorola in Europe relating to 3G technology.

The second victory comes in the form of a permanent injunction against Apple’s iCloud service in Germany. That ruling was handed down by a German court today. At issue in this case the iCloud feature that pushes email notifications to users’ devices instantly, rather than waiting for the device to check the email server. Apple is apparently in the process of modifying iCloud to remove the infringing functionality. While most of iCloud’s services will still function normally, users will have to set their devices to fetch email periodically.

I sent a request for comment to Apple, but have not yet received a response. This represents Apple’s first significant loss in any of its myriad patent battles. The company’s ongoing battle with Samsung has gone largely in Apple’s favor in Germany, where the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been banned for some time, despite Samsung’s appeals. In fact, the ongoing dispute between Apple and Samsung in Europe has prompted the European Commission to investigate Samsung for using its patents anti-competitively. You can bet that Apple will be appealing this ruling as soon as possible.

However, the crew over at 9to5Google are more dedicated Google readers than I am and, from the document, tallied up that Google added 79 companies to their empire for the everyday low price of $2 billion. Some of the companies you might recognize: Motorola (this one’s still pending approval), ITA Software, AdMob, On2 Technologies, and a new office building in NYC (that’s kind of an unofficial acquisition, right?). In the document, Google claims that “These acquisitions generally enhance the breadth and depth of our expertise in engineering and other functional areas, our technologies, and our product offerings.”

The 9to5Google folks pointed out some other acquisitions that I didn’t find in the document: Zagat, DailyDeal, Dealmap, and Admeld.

With all those acquisitions happening, they’re not just gonna run themselves, are they? No, they’re not, so Google brought some more hands on deck in 2011 – over 32,000 pairs of hands, in fact, that were connected to 32,000 new employees.

And if you think this is big, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet because Google was clear about their plans for this year:

Our plans to continue to invest in systems, facilities, and infrastructure, increase our hiring, provide competitive compensation programs, and continue our current pace of acquisitions.

Place your bets now on which company will be carrying the Google banner by this time next year.

Verizon will flip the switch tomorrow on networks in Glens Falls and Utica in New York, Brownsville and McAllen in Texas, and Lawton, Oklahoma. Networks in Atlanta, Houston, and Spokane are being expanded.

Users connected to Verizon’s 4G network should generally experience downlink rates from 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps), and uplink speeds of 2-5 Mbps.

Verizon offers a wide variety of 4G devices on its network, including LG’s Spectrum, which was announced at CES 2012, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, and Motorola’s Droid line of phones. The iPhone 4S is not LTE capable, so it cannot run on Verizon’s network (a problem AT&T worked around by dual-layering their LTE network with an HSPA+ network, which the iPhone 4S is compatible with). The next-generation iPhone, presumably coming this summer, will probably have LTE capability.

On their blog today Comcast announced AnyPlay. This service, which will be available to Comcast Xfinity TV subscribers, allows users to stream Comcast’s broadcast content to their tablet over their home wi-fi network. In essence, AnyPlay turns users’ home wi-fi router into another cable box, broadcasting content over the network for tablets to pick up.

The service is initially available only for iPad users via the Xfinity TV app. Comcast says the service will soon be coming to the Motorola Xoom, however, as well as a variety of other devices. AnyPlay is currently available only to customers in the Nashville and Denver markets who have subscribed to the Xfinity HD Triple Play service. Those customers are being given the service for free, and Comcast promises that the service will roll out to more markets in the next few months.

Do you have access to AnyPlay yet? If so, let us know what you think of it in the comments.

[Source: Comcast Blog]

Bloomberg obtained comment from both the Commission and from Google. A spokesperson for the Commission said the review will continue after it’s btained certain documents that “are essential to its evaluation of the transaction”.

Google’s Al Verney is quote as saying, “We’re confident the commission will conclude that this acquisition is good for competition and we’ll be working closely and cooperatively with them as they continue their review.”

This comes as Google faces further scrutiny from the European Commission. Earlier this month, the commission was reported to be serving Google a 400-page document discussing complaints about the company’s competitive practices. More on that here.

The price of Google’s proposed acquisition of Motorola Mobility for is $12.5 billion.

On the subject of Google and Motorola, Verizon released the new Motorola Droid Xyboard tablets today, running Google’s Android operating system.

The Droid Xyboard 10.1 will be available in three models: 16 GB for $529.99 and 32 GB for $629.99. The 64 GB model will be available online for $729.99. Each comes with a new two-year contract.

The DROID XYBOARD 8.2 will be available in two models: 16 GB for $429.99 and 32 GB for $529.99, both with a new two-year contract.

The display sizes are 10. 1” and 8.2” respectively. Device dimensions are 10×6.8x.35 and 8.5×5.5x.35.

Both versions of the tablet run Android 3.2 Honeycomb, and will be upgraded to 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Both are 4G. They have dual-core 1.2 GHz processors.

They come with Motocast fro music, photos and documents. The 10” version comes with a stylus pen.

They have both rear-facing and front-facing cameras. They serve as 4G mobile hotspots, with support for up to 6 Wi-Fi enabled devices. They have 4,000 mAh batteries.

Customers are required to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Mobile Broadband data plan (starting at $30 a month for 2 GB).

Here’s an early look at the device:

Verizon talks it up:

The DROID RAZR not only shreds through the Web at blazing 4G LTE speeds, it does it in style with a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Advanced display and measuring 7.1 mm thin. DROID RAZR is also packed with brains and security giving customers apps like MotoCast and features like remote wipe, pin lock and government-grade encryption for email, calendar and contacts.

DROID RAZR customers can take advantage of the Super AMOLED Advanced display and 4G LTE speeds to stream videos with NFL Mobile, only from Verizon. Fans can stay up to date on news, schedules and scores from their favorite teams. NFL Mobile is included at no additional charge for 4G LTE customers for the remainder of the 2011 season. DROID RAZR customers will have access to Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network that now covers more than 186 million Americans coast to coast with additional markets planned before year end.

The device can be ordered here, in stores, or by calling 1-800-2JOININ.

The device will ship buy November 10.