Apple says iPhone 5 is the thinnest smartphone in the world, turns out it isn’t

Apple’s Phil Schiller called the new iPhone 5 “world’s thinnest smartphone”, but many makers have made that claim for many phones. It happens often and sometimes it’s not true. So, how does the new iPhone stack up against the competition.

We’ve prepared a table with every “world’s thinnest” phone we could dig up plus various high-end phones that are competing with Apple’s latest flagship.

Phone	Thickness	Weight	Availability
Apple iPhone 4S	9.3mm	140g	Yes
Apple iPhone 5	7.6mm	112g	In a week
Samsung Galaxy S III	8.6mm	133g	Yes
HTC One X	8.9mm	130g	Yes
HTC One S	7.8mm	120g	Yes
Samsung Ativ S	8.7mm	135g	Soon
Nokia Lumia 920	10.7mm	185g	Soon
Nokia Lumia 820	9.9mm	160g	Soon
Motorola RAZR	7.1mm*	127g	Yes
Motorola RAZR HD	8.4mm*	146g	Soon
Motorola RAZR M	8.3mm*	126g	Soon
Huawei Ascend P1s	6.7mm	130g	Soon
Panasonic Eluga DL1	7.8mm	103g	Yes
Oppo Finder	6.7mm	125g	Soon
Fujitsu Arrows F-07D	6.7mm	105g	Yes
NEC Medias N-04C	7.7mm	105g	Yes

* At the thinnest part

So, no the iPhone 5 isn’t the thinnest smartphone in the world. As far as currently available devices go, the Fujitsu Arrows F-07D takes that title. Sure, it’s not an easy phone to get hold of, but it exists.

And there are at least a couple of other phones that will soon be available and are thinner than the iPhone 5. Note that I’m not counting the Motorola RAZR because the top part of the phone is much thicker than the claimed 7.1mm (even though the part where you actually hold the phone is really that slim).

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

Samsung win: Patent violation case brought by Apple in Japan dismissed by judge

Apple had been hoping to score another win over Samsung in its ongoing global patent infringement battle with the Korean tech firm. However, its latest claim, heard in a Tokyo court on Friday, was dismissed by the judge.

Apple may well have scored a big win against Samsung last week in the patent battle between the two tech giants, but it’s not all going the Cupertino company’s way.

In a Tokyo court on Friday, a judge dismissed Apple’s claim that Samsung had infringed on a patent relating to the synching of music and video data with servers.

Tokyo District Judge Tamotsu Shoji told the court it was “hard to believe the products belong to the range of technologies of the claimant.” Apple was ordered to pay the costs of the lawsuit following the court’s decision.

In a statement given in response to the ruling, Samsung said, “We welcome the court’s decision, which confirmed our long-held position that our products do not infringe Apple’s intellectual property.”

Friday’s decision comes exactly a week after a California court ordered Samsung to pay Apple just over $1 billion dollars in damages after a jury ruled the Korean firm had violated a number of Apple patents related to its mobile devices. The Korean firm now faces the prospect of having eight of its smartphones banned from sale in the US, with a hearing set to take place on December 6.

After last week’s decision, Samsung shares slumped 7.5 percent, wiping $12 billion dollars off the firm’s market value.

Courts around the world are dealing with a number of patent violation cases where Apple and Samsung are accusing one another of infringement regarding various aspects of their respective mobile offerings.

In another case last week – this time in South Korea – a Seoul court ruled that Apple and Samsung had violated each other’s patents, resulting in the judge slapping a national sales ban on a number of products made by both companies. Besides the sales bans, the court ordered Apple to pay 40 million won ($35,500), and Samsung 25 million won ($22,000). Such sums pale into insignificance when compared to the billion dollar fine that Samsung has to pay to Apple in the US.

Still, Samsung can take at least a crumb of comfort from the fact that not all court decisions in its various patent infringement battles with Apple are going against it.

[Source: Bloomberg]

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Nigeria vs South Africa – Who is The Giant Of Africa ?

This is a very interesting infographics comparing various socioeconomic indicators from Nigeria and South Africa to determine who can lay claim to the bragging rights as the ‘Giant of Africa“. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country, It is on record that one out of every four Africans is a Nigerian, South Africa on the other hand has grown to become the economic hub of Africa

These two countries has been laying claim to the ownership of the title “Giant of Africa” who is indeed the true giant of Africa, let’s take a look at the infographic below, It’s from our friends at business intelligence tools, I leave this to you, you be the judge.

Learn about business intelligence tools.

Source : techtalkafrica[dot]com

GM’s knuckles rapped over misleading Vauxhall Ampera UK TV ad

Vauxhall has had its TV advert for the Ampera banned in the UK, after its 360-mile all-electric range claim was deemed to be misleading.

A television advert for the Vauxhall Ampera, or Chevrolet Volt as it’s known in the USA, has been deemed to be misleading by the Advertising Standards Agency in the UK.

It’s a simple advert, comparing the Ampera to several athlete’s incredible physical achievements, and closes with the onscreen statement “Ampera, up to 360 mile range,” while narrator Patrick Stewart says “Driving electricity further” as the car disappears into the distance.

The combination of those statements, plus the more subtle presence of power lines and the healthy, wooded area through which the Ampera drives, suggests the car is a lean, green, solely electrically powered machine.

It also led three people to complain to the ASA that the advert was misleading. The reason? It suggests the car can travel 360 miles using only electricity.

This is true, but not quite accurate, as after between 38 and 50 miles, the car switches from electric power to something called a “range extender,” which is a gas-driven generator. On a full tank, the car can then run for another 310-plus miles before requiring some kind of fuel — be it electricity or gas to generate it.

Heated debate

Vauxhall argues that since the engine isn’t connected to the wheels, its small-print at the base of the screen clears them of any deception. The small-print says “Comparison based on electric vehicles and extended-range electric vehicles driven electrically at all times, even when an additional power source is generating electricity.”

While it does acknowledge the presence of a “range extender” system, not everyone knows what this means, and as there is no mention of an internal combustion engine at all, the ASA decided to uphold the complaint and ban the ad in its current form.

Vauxhall’s marketing folk will have to come up with a revised advert before it can be shown on UK TV screens again. By comparison, US adverts for the Volt include this informative spot, which describes in detail how the car works, while even the owner testimonials used the word “gas” in the small print when discussing range.

The operating range of electric cars is a subject that prompts heated debate. Nissan for example, in last year’s UK advert for the all-electric Leaf, avoided the subject altogether, while UK motoring show Top Gear famously incurred Tesla’s wrath in 2011, after it demonstrated the car’s limited range in a typically irreverent manner.

Vauxhall/GM isn’t helping the cause with this type of advert either. Range-extended electric cars are innovative and interesting, and the Ampera is a great-looking — although expensive — vehicle. Trying to attract uninformed customers this way shouldn’t really be necessary.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com