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.

Korean news site Electronics Times News (Google Translation), also claims that the newest iteration of Samsung’s flagship smartphone will sport a Super AMOLED Plus display, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, 8 megapixel front camera and 2 megapixel rear camera, quad-core processor, and 4G LTE capability. Previous rumors have suggested the phone would also have 2 GB of RAM and possibly even 3D functionality. Another report recently hinted that the Galaxy S III may have a waterproof Liquipel coating right out of the box.

While these are still just rumors, the specs listed by ET News are reasonable. The loss of over a millimeter of thickness would be a pretty impressive feat. Also, a May release date would allow Samsung the chance to beat Apple’s next iPhone – presumably coming out in June or July – to the shelves. We’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available.

And during Sunday night’s Super Bowl, Samsung allowed Apple fans to break free in a pretty awesome way.

In a 90-second spot called “A Thing Called Love,” Apple users standing in a line are lamenting the fact that they are missing the big game to wait on their product of choice. Suddenly, a wild Galaxy Note appears – and it has a stylus!

The ad quickly transitions into a rousing performance of one of the most energetic tracks to dominate your radio in 2003: “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” by The Darkness. (We’re assuming that Jet was busy).

Check it out below:

The ad was directed by Bobby Farrelly, you might know him better as one of the brothers that comprise the Farrelly brothers. You can thank them for classics like There’s Something About Mary and Dumb & Dumber.

While portraying Apple fans as brainwashed hipsters is always rather fun, I believe that the most common response to the ad (other than “Holy Sh-t, it’s The Darkness”) was “A stylus?” And of course, this is based on the unscientific study of everyone at my Super Bowl party.

Anyway, the Galaxy Note began pre-orders on Super Bowl Sunday. It will launch in stores on February 19th.

What did you think of the commercial? Effective? Are Apple fans really brainwashed? Would you really use a stylus? Why don’t you let us know the answers to these burning questions in the comments.

According to a new report from DigiTimes today, Apple has been trying to buy OLED panels from Samsung and LG, and have not met with much success. Both companies debuted remarkable new OLED and AMOLED based HDTVs at this year’s CES conference. Though it may be disappointing to Apple, it’s not all that surprising that they wouldn’t be eager to share. Apple’s iTV has been generating massive amounts of buzz despite still being little more than a rumor. If Apple really is working on it, as seems likely, it would be a major competitor to Samsung’s and LG’s newest and best products. It stands to reason that they would want to keep the core technology of those products under wraps, at least for a little while.

While rumors of a release date for an iTV have been vague at best, many have suggested that the device would launch in the second half of 2012. If Apple is indeed having difficulty securing display panels, that could be a significant setback that could push any release date into 2013 or later.

According to a rumor published by Today’s iPhone, Apple’s next iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy S III will ship with a Liquipel coating. The report comes from a source inside a British independent phone retailer. Apparently insurance policies relating to the two phones are being changes to alter how they handle water damage, the leading cause of insurance claims on mobile devices.

While this is a rumor and deserves its fair share of skepticism, this is exactly the kind of thing Apple likes to do with its products. When the iPhone 3GS launched, Apple made much of the oleophobic coating on the device’s screen. A waterproof coating like Liquipel (or HzO’s Waterblock technology) would be a relatively small change that Apple could turn into a major selling point. What’s more, it would be fantastic news for the 75% of us who take our phones with us to the toilet.

While there are no devices that currently ship with a Liquipel coating, getting your device treated is a fairly simple process, provided you can stand to be separated from your phone for a couple days. For $59.99 Liquipel will treat an iPhone 4S within 1-2 days of receiving the device. For an extra $10, they will treat it within 2 hours.

Here’s a video of Liquipel in action.

What do you think? Would a waterproof coating be a strong selling point for Apple’s next iPhone? Sound off in the comments.

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.

Part of the reason for that expansion, he said, is the technology’s penetration into the smartphone market. McLaughlin insisted that “I don’t know of a handset manufacturer out there that isn’t in the process of making sure their stuff is PayPass ready.” When pressed on whether that included Apple, McLaughlin would only repeat that there aren’t any handset manufacturers not working on the technology.

Though still in its early days, the technology is becoming increasingly common in the smartphone market. Google Wallet, a system designed for Android phones with NFC technology, stores users’ credit card data on their phones so that they can use them with NFC-based payment systems like PayPass. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which launched late last year, includes NFC, and the major mobile phone carriers are said to be working on their own mobile payment system much like Google Wallet (which, incidentally, is likely the reason Verizon blocked Google Wallet on the Galaxy Nexus when it launched).

More than two years ago we began hearing rumors that the iPhone 4 would have NFC. When the iPhone 4 launch came and went with no mention of NFC, it was thought that Apple might include it in the iPhone 5. In October the iPhone 5 was revealed as the iPhone 4S, and still NFC technology was notably absent. Now, of course, rumors are flying that the next iPhone will finally have the technology built in. Though hardly an direct confirmation, McLaughlin’s statements are strongly suggest that those rumors are correct.

[Via Fast Company]

The investigation seems to stem from Samsung’s ongoing legal battle with Apple over patent infringement. Though Apple is never mentioned by name – and is apparently not a target of the investigation – the statement notes that in 2011 Samsung “sought injunctive relief… against competing mobile device manufacturers” on the grounds of patent infringement. The focus of the Commission’s investigation will be whether Samsung’s suits violated the company’s 1998 agreement with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to license essential patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.

Samsung filed suit against Apple for infringement of several mobile device patents last year. In response to a suit filed in the U.S. by Apple to block sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, Samsung initiated legal action in several countries. At the time Samsung’s suits were seen by many as retaliatory. It looks like the European Commission may agree. It is unclear what implications this will have, if any, on the law suits still working their way through several European courts.

Now Google is claiming that by suing Samsung and HTC the law firm has created a conflict of interest for itself and is being disloyal to Google and should be disqualified from representing the Digitude Innovations case in court.

Google explains in court documents:

“In short, Pepper Hamilton is accusing its own client of infringement.”

“Pepper Hamilton should not be allowed to continue alleging infringement against the products and interests of its current client.”

Google is seeking to resolve the matter but has had no success. They have filed formal paperwork with the courts asking that the case not be allowed to persist under current representation. Google also claims that the law firm attempted to “fire them” as clients over the matter.

Scott Daniels, a partner with Westerman Hattori Daniels in Washington comments on these type of legal conflicts within law firms:

“Conflicts are hard on law firms, you don’t want to anger your clients.”

Google was not informed by Pepper Hamilton of the conflict and maintain that detailed information they shared with the law firm undoubtedly creates a conflict of interest in the case.

The court’s decision to uphold this ban is the latest in a string of rulings that have not favored the Korean electronics giant. German courts have thrown out two separate suits Samsung has filed against Apple for patent infringement in as many weeks. Samsung and Apple have been waging a worldwide legal battle since last spring over Samsung’s alleged copying of Apple’s design elements. The conflict started with the Samsung Galaxy line of phones, and came to a head with the launch of the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Apple filed suit in the US to block sales of the device, Samsung quickly countersued in the US and elsewhere in a legal battle that now spans ten countries and around twenty individual suits. Injunctions on the sale of the are or have been in place in several countries, including the one still in effect in Germany, and another in Australia that was lifted just in time for the 2011 Christmas season.