Samsung's new CEO, Kwon Oh-hyun
(Credit: Samsung)Samsung has replaced CEO Choi Gee-sung with the head of its components operation.
Samsung's components business chief, Kwon Oh-hyun, will now head up the company as chief executive officer. Kwon will continue to run Samsung's component business, but will now be tasked with handling "corporate-wide affairs," Samsung said today. However, the presidents of Samsung's TV and appliances and telecom and IT divisions will not report to Kwon.
Although Choi is no longer chief executive, he hasn't been let go. Quite the contrary, he will now head up the Samsung Group Corporate Strategy Office, a central body that rules over the organization's dozens of companies. Samsung Group is controlled by the chairman of Samsung Electronics, Lee Kun-hee.
According to Reuters, Choi has acted as a mentor to Lee Kun-hee's son Jay Y. Lee, who is expected to take over the group when he's ready for the job. One source, speaking to Reuters, said that Choi will aid Jay Y. Lee in understanding the strategy behind Samsung's many businesses, not just electronics.
Choi made headlines last month after meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook in San Francisco to discuss their patent lawsuit battles. Although the discussions were meant to help the companies come to some form of an agreement, that apparently hasn't happened. Whether Kwon will be actively involved in the legal cases surrounding patents and Apple is unknown at this point.
Updated at 7:15 a.m. PT to include Samsung's confirmation of its executive changes to CNET.
(Via The Wall Street Journal and Reuters)
Sprint's Virgin Mobile to Offer Pre-Paid iPhone June 29 - PC Magazine
Virgin Mobile USA is set to become the second U.S. mobile phone carrier to offer the Apple iPhone on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Confirming earlier rumors, the Sprint-owned pre-paid carrier announced Thursday that it will begin offering the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S on June 29. The basic model 8GB iPhone 4 will be available for $549 while the 16GB iPhone 4S will sell for $649.
Virgin Mobile will offer the coveted smartphone with unlimited data and messaging plans starting from $35 per month, with a $5 monthly discount possible for buyers who register for automatic payments with a credit card, debit card, or PayPal account. The cheapest plan provides 300 minutes of calling, plus unlimited texting and data. The "unlimited" data, however, throttles after 2.5GB.
The carrier will also offer two other plans — $40 per month (with discount) for 1,200 minutes and $50 per month (with discount) for unlimited calling.
"This month marks Virgin Mobile USA's tenth birthday," Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, said in a statement. "And what better way to thank our fans for ten years of loyalty than by giving them exactly what they want: the perfect plan for the perfect phone."
The Apple smartphone will be available to Virgin Mobile customers via virginmobileusa.com/iphone, and at Radio Shack, Best Buy, and other select local retailers. Customers can sign up to receive a reminder when Virgin Mobile starts selling the iPhone.
Just last week, Cricket Communications announced that it will be the first pre-paid carrier in the U.S. to offer the iPhone.
Cricket, a subsidiary of Leap Wireless, will start selling the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S to prepaid customers on June 22 with its $55 per month, unlimited talk, text, and data plan. On Cricket's plan, the 16GB iPhone 4S will be available for $499.99 and the 8GB iPhone 4 will be available for $399.99. Both will come in black or white.
T-Mobile is currently the only major U.S. carrier that does not yet have the iPhone, thanks to network incompatibilities. Sprint jumped on board with the release of the iPhone 4S.
In April, a number of regional carriers landed the coveted Apple smartphone, including nTelos, Cellcom, and GCI.
For more, see PCMag's full review of the iPhone 4S and the slideshow below.
For more from Angela, follow her on Twitter @amoscaritolo.
Apple seeks Samsung Galaxy S3 temporary sales ban in US - BBC News
Apple has sought to disrupt the US launch of Samsung Electronic's flagship smartphone by asking a court to ban the product from sale temporarily.
The iPhone-maker claimed the Galaxy S3 infringed at least two of its patents based on its analysis of a model bought in the UK.
Samsung denied the accusation, saying the launch would proceed as planned.
The two firms have been embroiled in dozens of patent and design disputes over the past year.
A judge ordered the chief executives of both to meet in San Francisco and discuss settling their legal differences last month, but the talks did not lead to a settlement.
Since the meeting, Apple has also sought to ban sales of one of Samsung's tablet computers.
'Phenomenal sales'The latest case centres on two Apple patents: a unified search interface allowing users to scan a wide range of file types and sources; and a way to identify patterns in data and then carry out appropriate actions.
In a court filing, the iPhone-maker acknowledged there was huge demand for Samsung's new phone, but said the South Korean firm had failed to address a complaint it had already made about one of its earlier Android-based models.
"The Galaxy S3 will... irreparably harm Apple for the same reasons as the Galaxy Nexus, but on a much greater scale," wrote Apple's lawyer, Mark Lyon.
"The central premise of Samsung's opposition to Apple's motion for a preliminary injunction was that the Galaxy Nexus had not sold sufficiently well to cause severe enough harm to Apple. While that argument is legally and factually untenable, it is entire inapplicable with respect to the Galaxy S3, which reportedly will sell phenomenally well immediately upon launch."
Apple requested its existing complaint against the Nexus to be amended to include the Galaxy S3. Samsung continues to defend the earlier case and also opposes Apple's attempt to link the motions together.
A statement from the Galaxy-maker said: "Samsung believes Apple's request is without merit. We will vigorously oppose the request and demonstrate to the court that the Galaxy S3 is innovative and distinctive... We believe that Apple's actions would only serve to disrupt consumers' access to the latest innovative mobile technology."
The Galaxy S3 went on sale in Europe last month. Sales numbers have not been released, but Vodafone has said that the handset broke its UK record for pre-orders of an Android device.
The device is due to be released in the US on 21 June.
Apple is expected to launch its next iPhone model later this year.
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