Apple Sued by Proview, SmartData, Audience

CUPERTINO, USA – Apple has filed a new case against Samsung – whereas Proview, who sued Apple over iPad trademark, seeks apology in addition to damages, and a Swiss company seeks ban on Apple iPhone and Apple TV in Switzerland.

In related news, Google has hired the Apple’s senior director of product integrity. While the new book Inside Apple reveals that new engineers at Apple are burdened with working on fake products for a considerable period before they are trusted.

The lawsuit Apple filed against Samsung solicits a preliminary injunction on Samsung products, because the company thinks that those products are infringing Apple’s own patented inventions. The accusations relate to auto-correction of spelling and unlocking the device through touchscreen. However, absolute nature of the complaint is not yet known as the petition has not been made public till now.

On other hand, the Chinese company Proview sued Apple, charging it with iPad trademark infringement and received a decision in its favor last December. Subsequently, Apple appealed the decision and awaits the verdict. The lawyer of Proview insists that the company is looking for an apology by Apple, and 240 million yuan ($38 million) fine. It is anticipated that Apple might loose the appeal again.

While the Swiss company SmartData is trying to impose a ban on Apple iPhone and Apple TV in the Switzerland claiming that when devices are used with Apple remote, it infringes the company’s “modular component” patent. The company contends that Apple knew about the patent before releasing the products.

Technology blog Venturebeat claims that the eight-year Apple veteran, Simon Prakash, will be joining rival Google soon, and will supposedly work on a “secret project” led by co-founder Sergei Brin. Apple has faced the same problem in past, only that this time it would be a more historic one as the recruitment will be from senior position of Apple.

Adam Lashinky’s new book Inside Apple revealed that due to Apple’s tendency toward secrecy, new hires are deployed to decoy products for a reasonable period before they are fully trusted.

It is disclosed that Apple’s A5 processor consists noise-reduction circuitry licensed from Audience. The iPhone 4S incorporates Audience’s EarSmart technology straight into the A5 processor, which scales up the primary voice and helps in noise-reduction during the calls. Unlike the iPhone 4, where the device had be held close to mouth for the technology to work fine, the new one is much improved to pick the primary voice from a distance of arm’s length. Without this new technology, Siri is not able to hear well. Other customers of Audience include HTC, LG, Pantech, Samsung, Sharp, and Sony.