SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday it will fight Apple's move to stop U.S. sales of its new Galaxy phone in the latest flare-up of an intellectual property battle between the world's top smartphone makers.
Samsung said it will vigorously oppose Apple's request for a court to ban sales of the Galaxy S III smartphone and still plans to go ahead with the device's scheduled release in the U.S. on June 21.
The South Korean company said in a statement that it will "demonstrate to the court that the Galaxy S III is innovative and distinctive."
On Tuesday, Apple Inc. asked a U.S. district court to temporarily ban sales of the S III smartphone before its launch in the United States. The maker of the iPhone accused Samsung of infringing two Apple patents.
The request, if accepted by the U.S. District Court for Northern California, would deal a blow to Samsung's attempt to get a headstart on sales of Apple's next iPhone.
The S III smartphone went on sale in Europe on May 29 and will be offered by around 300 mobile carriers in Asia and North America later this month.
The early launch puts Samsung in a favorable position to take a bigger chunk of the lucrative smartphone market. While Apple is keeping mum on its annual iPhone upgrade, many analysts expect the new iPhone to go on sale as early as July.
Samsung has become the biggest threat to Apple's clout in the mobile market as its Galaxy series of smartphones won popularity among consumers seeking an Android-powered device.
Most market research firms say Samsung overtook Apple in smartphone shipments for the first time during the first three months of this year.
Samsung and Apple have been embroiled in bitter patent lawsuits in North America, Europe and Asia since Apple accused Samsung of copying its iPhone in April 2011.
Chief executives of the two companies met in San Francisco last month after a court instructed them to negotiate, but the talks didn't produce a settlement.
Amid the legal battles, the two companies continue to do business with each other.
Samsung counts Apple as among its largest buyers of chips and display screens while Apple relies on Samsung for mobile components.
Samsung appoints Kwon Oh-hyun new CEO - CNET News
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)
Samsung names new chief executive - Financial Times
June 7, 2012 9:44 am
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.
Samsung appoints Kwon Oh-hyun new CEO, reports say - CNET News
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)
Samsung ready to invest in next-gen chip production: here comes 20nm and even 14nm - engadget
Samsung Electronics Announces New 300mm Logic Line in Korea
SEOUL--(Korea Newswire) June 7, 2012 -- Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a world leader in advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced plans to build a new fabrication line in Hwaseong, South Korea, to meet the growing demands for logic products.
Samsung will invest 2.25 trillion Korean won in the new fabrication line, which will break ground this month with a target timeline for completion by the end of 2013.
The new fabrication line will mainly produce highly advanced mobile application processors on 300mm wafers at 20nm and 14nm process nodes.
Along with Lines 9 and 14, which have been converted to System LSI fabrication earlier this year, the new line will help supply to the expanding need for smart mobile solutions.
With the new investments, as well as the addition of Line 16 in Hwaseong last September and plans to build a new NAND Flash plant in Xi'an, China, Samsung looks to balance its global semiconductor fabrication prowess.
Mr. Stephen Woo, president of Samsung Electronics' System LSI Business, said, "With the construction of our new System LSI fabrication line, Samsung will be able to respond to the demand of the global IT industry and strengthen our ability to support our customers' requirements even further."
According to market research firm Gartner, the demand for system semiconductor chips for use in smartphones and tablets will grow more than 20 percent on average from $23.4 billion in 2011 to $59.4 billion in 2016.
Samsung Gets Extra Cozy With Linux Foundation - Linux Insider
Samsung on Tuesday deepened its involvement in the Linux ecosystem, reportedly upgrading its silver membership in The Linux Foundation to platinum and forking over the US$500,000 annual membership dues its new status requires.
The move will give Samsung a seat on the Foundation's board alongside six other industry heavyweights, including IBM (NYSE: IBM), Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) and Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM).
That could help the company, which is the largest manufacturer of handsets using Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Linux-based Android OS, shape the future of Linux.
"While board-level participation at the Linux Foundation is no guarantee of specific features and functionalities making their way into Linux, it gives Samsung a stronger starting position for influencing Linux Foundation initiatives and enhances the company's already substantial profile among the developer community," Bill Weinberg, principal analyst at Linux Pundit, told LinuxInsider.
"Besides the money, the Foundation's got a huge commitment from Samsung for a lot of development efforts which will feed back," said Jim McGregor, president of Tirias Research, said.
Samsung is "going to make multiple bets in multiple areas [using Linux] because they have the resources and they can support multiple solutions for different markets, usage models, devices, different everything," McGregor told LinuxInsider.
Samsung's Reach Into Linux
Samsung "develops and deploys on Linux across the complete gamut of its offerings, from handsets running Android and, soon, Tizen and Bada, to consumer electronics offerings to core networking equipment and beyond," Linux Pundit's Weinberg said. "No other single Foundation board member can boast comparable end-to-end offerings or a footprint that touches so many markets."
This, together with Samsung's position on the Foundation's board, will make the company "ideally positioned to lead by example, further amplifying Linux adoption and adhering to best practices for open source management and governance across multiple segments and accompanying ecosystems," Weinberg said.
Tizen, an open source, standards-based software platform for the mobile market, is being developed jointly by Samsung, Intel and the Linux Foundation. Bada is Samsung's smartphone platform.
Samsung might leverage its new role to further the development and adoption of Tizen as well as its own Bada platform, Weinberg disclosed. "One possible and probable development is a tighter integration 
of Bada into Tizen and some level of stewardship by the Linux Foundation in the evolution of the two as a single platform."
Further, if Samsung takes a larger role in Linux, that "can help Samsung avoid Android fragmentation, or at least shape the Android roadmap to meet its needs and those of its partners," Weinberg suggested.
Servers, Anyone?
Samsung may have its eyes on yet another prize: the up-and-coming market for servers based on 64-bit ARM (Nasdaq: ARMHY) processors.
"Samsung and other vendors will target servers on the 64-bit ARM architecture on the system and device side, and Linux is very big in servers," Tirias Research's McGregor said. "Samsung's participation in the Linux community will help them as they look at architectures for servers and other applications."
On Tuesday, ARM introduced a server from Mitac that will support the chip manufacturer's 64-bit processors in 2014. Last week, Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) announced plans to begin providing some customers with ARM processors. It will also install ARM-based servers in some of its solutions centers for customers to try out. And HP (NYSE: HPQ) partnered with startup Calxeda last fall to develop very low-power systems running on ARM-based processors.
Web-based companies and other firms that use large numbers of servers are interested in ARM-based servers because they consume less power than other vendors' chips.
Samsung "will get a lot out of [its membership upgrade]," McGregor suggested. "Their participation in the Linux community will help them as they look at architecture for servers and other applications."
Neither Samsung nor the Linux Foundation responded to our request for more details.
Samsung names new electronics chief as it shuffles leadership - v3.co.uk
Samsung has made an unexpected change in its highly successful electronics group, shuffling its chief executive into a group strategy role at a time when it is battling for market dominance with chief rival Apple.
The firm named Kwon Oh-hyun, the former head of its components business as the new chief executive of Samsung Electronics, with former chief Choi Gee-Sung assuming a new role as head of its group corporate strategy office.
Samsung is reported to be making the changes in advance of anticipated global economic turmoil, resulting from the Eurozone crisis, according to The Korean Times.
“The new secretary is an ideal figure to help Samsung overcome the current economic uncertainties and cope with uphill competition from rivals,” a company representative is quoted as saying.
Under Choi, Samsung Electronics has become a global powerhouse in consumer electronics, helping the firm become a major player in the smartphone market.
Kwon meanwhile is widely credited with helping the firm expand in to the profitable mobile semiconductor sector.
The main challenge for Choi will be to continue the units success by continuing to innovate, according to Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst with market watchers IDC.
"It's much easier for companies to be innovative and take risks when they're not the market leader," he told V3.
Choi's other main challenge would likely be seeing off competition from Chinese rivals, he added.
Nevertheless, the moves are likely to be carefully examined by competitors such as Apple. Apple and Samsung are engaged in a cut-throat battle to dominate the smartphone market. But it also buys many of the components that go in to its iPhone from the Korean conglomerate.
In separate news, Samsung Electronics confirmed that it would invest £1.2bn in new facilities to produce mobile processors.
T-Mobile Prepares for 2012 Hurricane Season - TMCnet
T-Mobile Prepares for 2012 Hurricane Season
Jun 07, 2012 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- T-Mobile USA, Inc., said it is preparing for the 2012 hurricane season, which officially started June 1.In a release, the company said that it has implemented frequent engineering drills coupled with network fortification and crisis management coordination focused on the locations where hurricanes have the greatest propensity of making landfall, including the entire Eastern Seaboard and Gulf Coast areas of the United States.
"T-Mobile has a long history of moving swiftly in emergency situations to ensure our customers can stay connected when they need it most," said Bentley Alexander, VP, South Region Engineering, T-Mobile USA. "We have made significant investments in supplemental cell site backup generators, microwave technology equipment and cell-on-wheels (COWs), along with other tools and equipment to enhance the stability and, when necessary, the recovery of our network operations. At the same time, our engineers and our cross-functional crisis management teams - our people - play the most critical role for network and service continuity and recovery. We continue to focus on emergency response procedures and drills that will ensure we are ready for the 2012 Hurricane season." The company noted its National Engineering Response and Crisis Management teams constantly monitor weather patterns and potential storms. In advance of any major hurricane forecasted to make U.S. landfall, T-Mobile establishes an engineering Command Center near the area where the storm's impact is expected, creating a home base for engineers and rapid response teams, and a staging area for equipment and supplies that may be needed during the aftermath of the storm. As soon as it is safe, T-Mobile technicians and engineers are mobilized to support and assist any network restoration.
T-Mobile Network Operation Centers (NOCs) manage network traffic during any event, and the company has redundant support in place for each NOC, the company added.
T-Mobile said it takes the following additional steps to prepare the company's network for major weather-related events: -In the event of widespread power outages, T-Mobile has access to additional fuel to supply generators and company repair and transport vehicles, and for other emergency circumstances.
-Backup generators and fuel tanks for regional network switch operations are put in place and tested, and fuel is topped off for all generators in the potential path of a storm. T-Mobile recently purchased 1,000 additional small mobile generators to assist with backup power when needed. These units are now being delivered to local markets and regional depots.
-To further supplement fixed and portable backup generators, T-Mobile is prepared to place dozens more portable generators, ready to be transported to impacted areas.
-Microwave radio equipment is readied to be trucked into affected areas to facilitate back-haul or data communication from the cell sites to T-Mobile's network switches, as backup, in the event that fixed-line service fails.
-T-Mobile pre-stages COWs in neighboring markets to move in and provide additional wireless communications capacity in the hardest-hit areas.
-T-Mobile monitors evacuation efforts and routes, and takes steps to increase wireless capacity in those areas as customers move inland.
-The company also coordinates closely with the recovery efforts of local, state and federal agencies.
-T-Mobile has crisis plans in place for employees who may also be in the path of a storm, and responds quickly to help safeguard our employees and our facilities.
T-Mobile's Persistent Communications solution combines the company's Wi-Fi Calling for Business or Wi-Fi Calling for Government solutions with access to satellite services for back-haul connectivity.
T-Mobile USA is a U.S. wireless operation of Deutsche Telekom AG.
More information:
www.T-Mobile.com
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