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The German maker of a new tablet PC is setting out to rival Apple’s iPad with the promise of even more technology such as a bigger screen, a webcam and USB ports.

It is not, however, an “iPad killer” as it has been dubbed by some blogs but an alternative to its bigger rival, Neofonie GmbH’s founder and managing director Helmut Hoffer von Ankershoffen told reporters on Monday in Berlin. Read more…

No more sleepless nights for Apple’s lawyers, at least not until the Nokia and HTC suits begin to heat up. The company is now the proud owner of a slightly used trademark: iPad™, as of March 17, is no longer a Fujitsu mark and has been assigned to Apple. Much speculation had surrounded the trademark process for iPad, as Fujitsu’s mark was being challenged by Apple as early as September 2009, but it looks like the two companies have come to some sort of agreement. Read more…

It was a little less than a month ago when news broke of a South Korean company called CJ Corporation noticing a sharp increase in sales of their frozen sausages. CJ did some digging around and it turned out the good people of South Korea were using their sausages as iPhone styluses. Someone who was sick of taking their gloves off in the cold Korean winter to use their iPhone found out that the sausages were Read more…

Sony is developing a new lineup of products to compete with Apple’s growing stable of portable devices, according to the WSJ.

Journal sources say, the company plans to release a new smartphone which is capable of downloading and playing Playstation games.
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Apple’s retail “experts” — a new position that will serve as a roaming counterpart to existing “geniuses” at brick-and-mortar locations — are expected to debut in stores in a matter of weeks, people familiar with the matter have told AppleInsider.

Interviewing for the expert position is said to start this week at the company’s retail outlets, and Apple plans to debut the new personnel in about two weeks. Originally, the “expert” title was only available to current Apple Store employees who sought a promotion within the company.

Apple has referred to the experts as “Family Room expertise out in the Red Zone.” The “Family Room” at an Apple Store is known to customers as the Genius Bar. The “Red Zone” equates to the sales floor.
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An AT&T executive this week made comments to assure customers that the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the U.S. will not implement tiered data plans.

The comments from Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of mobility and consumer markets, came just a week after the AT&T official said the company would likely provide incentives to encourage bandwidth-hogging customers to “reduce or modify their usage.” What kind of incentives were never made clear, though de la Vega said it is inevitable that high-bandwidth users will be charged for what they consume.
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Verizon, the largest wireless provider in the U.S., is reportedly investing in its network to make it capable of handling extra traffic from Apple’s iPhone, a company official said.

In an interview with BusinessWeek, Anthony Melone, Verizon Wireless’ chief technology officer, said his company is prepared if Apple decides to end its exclusive agreement with AT&T in 2010.

“We have put things in place already,” Melone reportedly said. “We are prepared to support that traffic.”
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Gameloft has released Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X for iPhone, a game in which you play as David Crenshaw, an elite pilot working for a powerful private military company.

You are David Crenshaw and you work with ARTEMIS, a private military company. You are in charge of providing all necessary fire support to the elite Ghost Recon combat units. Your objective is to rid the world of dangerous terrorists who threaten global stability. The assault has begun! In a storyline adapted from Tom Clancy novels replete with plot twists, pilot one of the most powerful jet fighters in production to complete your mission. Dodge your enemies or destroy them with your missiles and discover levels where your flying skills are put to the test.

Features:
- 13 missions to put your pilot skills to the test
- 26 licensed planes
- Full-3d environments
- Accelerometer or virtual joystick
- Local multi-player mode

Apple’s surprise purchase of music streaming service Lala last week has been given an unconfirmed price tag of about $80 million, placing a premium on the company.

Citing multiple sources, Peter Kafka of MediaMemo reported Monday that Apple’s acquisition price was less than half of what investors agreed to pay in 2008. However, it is more than the $35 million the company had raised, meaning some — but not all — could see a return on their investment in the company.
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As the iPhone has proven itself to be a formidable competitor in the handheld gaming business, the president of Nintendo has said his company must differentiate itself to survive.

As Apple portrays the iPod touch and iPhone as the ultimate portable gaming machine, Nintendo, maker of the Nintendo DS, has seen its profits freefall last quarter, from 133 billion yen a year prior to 64 billion yen. Highlighting the newfound competition between Apple and Nintendo, The Wall Street Journal noted that Nintendo has fended off several potential portable challengers, but it hasn’t quite faced a competitor like the iPhone.

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