When everyone gets back from this week’s Thanksgiving break, many observers are expecting there to be some progress on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s investigation of Google’s alleged anti-competitive activities.

The crucial issue right now is whether the FTC decides to legally challenge Google on “search manipulation” — that is, whether Google manipulates its search rankings to give preference to its own sites, while also pushing down competitors’ rankings.

But, according to people intimately involved in the case, the FTC is hesitating on whether it is willing to go to bat on that particular and critical point, as Google has persuasively argued to some of the FTC commissioners — specifically Tom Rosch — that search is shifting from delivering text links to other Web sites to delivering robust and helpful information on the spot.

For example, when someone searches for an address, instead of providing a list of links to pages on various mapping sites, such as for AOL’s MapQuest, Google surfaces a clickable image of the map itself from its own mapping service.

The company is asserting that this is a better experience for consumers, even if it disadvantages other sites. The center of its argument is that it is doing what’s best for users — and it just so happens that it’s also good for Google properties.

While that might be selfish, it might not be illegal, and it is a difficult legal task for the FTC to prove otherwise, especially since damages to consumers are not clear.

What’s clear is that competitors from a wide range of companies are upset that they don’t get more prominence, but the question centers on whether Google — under antitrust law — might not be compelled to help them.

Said one lawyer close to the situation: “Coca-Cola does not have to carry Pepsi in its gas-station coolers.”

Therefore, the FTC would need solid proof that Google specifically tried to hurt a competitor who had better information in order to push its own properties.

And while there are other issues in play, too — such as advertising data portability, exclusive search agreements on sites and phones and perhaps even issues involving standards essential patents — evidence of abuse of search dominance is at the dead center of the potential battle.

Without it, the FTC might be stymied.

Bloomberg reported the same thing earlier today, saying the FTC is unsure it has enough evidence to prove that Google’s activities harmed consumers. That’s a major change from a series of previous leaks to Washington reporters in recent months that indicated the FTC was proceeding with a strong case.

As one source familiar with the negotiations told me: “There’s a sense the FTC has been outmaneuvered by Google once again.”

After a highly publicized investigation of Google, if the FTC were to drop the search ranking aspect of the case, it could still be taken up by the Department of Justice, which had originally wanted purview over the issue. (Please note: That’s actually what happened a decade ago with the Microsoft antitrust case.)

But to drop the search part of the case would be a massive blink by the FTC that would have implications for further government regulation of technology companies. “They’ll never bring for many years a case against a high-tech company if they don’t bring it here,” said another D.C. insider today.

That doesn’t mean tech companies would all be happy about Google effectively winning. For Google to go unchallenged on antitrust violations could be seen as a green light for the company to pursue whatever form of competition it wants.

Take FairSearch, a coalition of companies including Microsoft, Expedia and TripAdvisor, that is squaring off against Google with a list of demands.

Spokesperson Ben Hammer said via email today: “The members of FairSearch would view any resolution to the antitrust investigations of Google, whether through litigation or a settlement, as incomplete if it does not end Google’s preferencing of its own products ahead of natural search results.”

The FTC had previously given Google a couple of weeks to talk about a settlement before its five commissioners voted on a formal complaint. But sources said Google is trying to call the FTC’s bluff, and it may be working.

Google is in negotiations with the tougher European Commission over antitrust as well, where search manipulation has been at the center of the case, so a timid move by the FTC would also look weak by comparison to the EC — which, in fact, is nothing new.

The background for all this is whether the FTC under Chairman Jon Leibowitz — who is expected to leave soon after serving eight years at the agency — has seemingly been “outmaneuvered” by Google in recent years.

First, the agency let Google’s controversial AdMob acquisition through, with the shaky reasoning that Apple’s purchase of rival Quattro made the mobile search ad market balanced.

Then it dropped its investigation of Google’s Wi-Fi spying. And, most recently, after it got Google to agree to a privacy consent decree over Google Buzz, the company promptly broke it with its Safari cookie workaround — and was fined a piddling $22.5 million (which was just upheld last week).

So, borking this case, which many consider to be the one true shot at restraining Google’s power, would really not look good.

When the stock market opens later today, one interesting indication of the impact of the Apple victory over Samsung in its patent infringement battle will be investor reaction.

A jury in California rendered the verdict in the contentious case — in which more than $1 billion was awarded Apple — after the markets had closed on Friday.

In after-hours trading starting later that day, Apple’s shares rose smartly. The stock is now up almost 2.4 percent, or $15.67, to $678.89. Apple closed Friday afternoon at $663.22, already an all-time high.

On the flip side, today in Asian markets, Samsung’s stock plunged 7 percent.

And even though the South Korean consumer electronics giant has vowed to appeal the decision, this morning will bring the clearest indication of what the financial markets think of the development.

Will Apple soar — especially given that the Silicon Valley icon is expected in the weeks ahead to also be releasing new versions of its hugely popular iPhone and iPad devices?

And whither the shares of Google — a major Samsung mobile partner, whose Android operating system software is at the heart of many of the contested smartphones and tablets?

The big question, of course, is whether Google is seen by Wall Street as a Samsung proxy, with the potential of being a future target of Apple’s lawyers or, perhaps more simply, collateral damage in the fight.

Not surprisingly, the search giant sought to distance itself from the legal melee by finally releasing an ain’t-nobody-here-but-us-chickens statement on the situation last night.

In case you’re keeping track anyway, Google shares closed Friday at $678.63 — ironically, at almost the exact same price as Apple’s.

Please see this disclosure related to me and Google.

Apple versus Samsung Full Coverage

The verdict from the San Jose, Calif., federal jury came early Saturday morning South Korea time, a day after a Seoul court, ruling on the same case, came out with a judgment that gave Samsung its biggest victory since the two companies began their global legal battle 16 months ago.

Read the rest of this post on the original site »

CNET nabbed an exclusive interview with one of the nine jurors in the high-profile and complex trial.

The jury largely handed over a victory to Apple in the patent infringement case, along with an award of just over $1 billion.

Manuel Ilagan — who said debates among jurors were at times “heated,” in spite of the quickness of the verdict — told CNET that “Samsung’s internal emails about incorporating some of Apple’s technology into its devices, and the evasive way Samsung executives answered questions, was damning.”

Ilagan also denied that the jury was favoring Apple in any kind of “hometown bias.”

“We weren’t going for Apple,” he told CNET. “We weren’t thinking Apple or Samsung.”

The interview is well worth a full read here.

Reuters also talked to another key juror, foreman Velvin Hogan, about making sure Samsung knew it had done wrong.

Hogan, who holds a patent himself, said the jury “wanted to make sure the message we sent was not just a slap on the wrist. We wanted to make sure it was sufficiently high to be painful, but not unreasonable.”

Apple versus Samsung Full Coverage

If anyone had any question what irony is exactly, consider this: Today is the one-year anniversary of the day Steve Jobs stepped down from his job as the charismatic and legendary leader of Apple, as well as the very moment that the company he co-founded has largely won an epic legal battle with Samsung over patent infringement.

The late Apple co-founder was particularly vocal at various times on the issue of copying innovations that he felt his company had pioneered.

That’s been especially true related to Google Android operating system that Samsung and many other device makers are using.

In a quote by Jobs from Walter Isaacson’s biography of him, he famously said:

“I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.”

And that has certainly been at the center of the landmark trial over who stole what in the aggressive race to dominate the market for popular smartphones and tablet devices, including Apple’s iPhone and iPad.

Right now, the verdict from a California jury — who deliberated for less than 24 hours — is being read in a San Jose courtroom.

And, so far, it is largely favoring the Silicon Valley-based Apple over the South Korean consumer electronics giant on the wide-ranging patent infringement case.

As The Verge’s liveblog of the verdict noted: “Apple didn’t win everything — not by a long shot — but it won enough to make this a very important day.”

Indeed.

Those wins include patents related to touchscreen features, such as zooming, as well as on designs.

In addition, so far, Samsung has been ordered to pay Apple $1.05 billion in damages.

The jurors determined that Samsung violated six of seven patents and found that it willfully infringed in five instances. Also: The jury said that all seven of Apple’s patents were valid, which Samsung had contested.

The findings in the complex case are still being read in court, because it involves many patent infringement allegations on both sides related to dozens of devices.

Legions of lawyers for Apple and Samsung went back and forth on who invented what and whether it was a matter of copying or simple inspiration.

Samsung, naturally, said the various devices might be similar, but not the same. Apple begged to differ.

Jobs would have been in agreement, too, had he lived to see the verdict — he died of pancreatic cancer in October of last year, only months after stepping down.

But, in his resignation letter a year ago, he wrote about the importance of innovation:

“I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role. I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.”

Apple versus Samsung Full Coverage

Now, when I go for a run, I don’t have to find creative places to stuff my ATM card or subway pass. At restaurants, I can leave my “wallet” at the table and also keep an eye out for work-related calls or texts. Grabbing said wallet before running a quick errand means I am also, undoubtedly, bringing my phone with me.

Some consumers might not like the additional bulk these wallet/cases can add to super-slim smartphones, and with constantly changing phone form factors, these cases won’t suit your needs forever. More importantly, if you lose your phone, in this case (no pun intended) you lose your wallet, too. But if you still prefer to consolidate all the clutter in your purse or pocket, these three products might do the job:

Sena

Let’s put this right out there: Sena cases aren’t the cheap, $7 to $10 phone cases you might order on Amazon.com. They’re designer leather wallets that act as part smartphone case, part card-carrying case for a variety of smartphones and tablets, including iPhone 4 and 4S, iPad, BlackBerry and the new Samsung Galaxy S III.

The Magia Wallet for the Galaxy S III is available for preorder at a price of $44.95. This one here, the walletbook for iPhone, costs $52.

Most Sena cases fit a couple of credit cards, a license or photo ID and, if you squeeze it in there, a cash bill or maybe a couple of small receipts. All buttons, camera lenses and charging ports are accessible through the cases; the fold-over styles include a small leather strip that tucks around and under your phone to hold it in place while it’s in the wallet.

I had a love affair with a red Sena walletbook for about five months, before the case started to fray and look tattered. But during that time, at least a half-dozen people stopped me at the gym or in coffee shops to ask where I got such a nifty case.

For a slightly cheaper alternative, try the Ardium smartphone wallet for $37.95.

Speck

The worn Sena became but a distant memory when a colleague showed me the Speck iPhone case.

The slightly less spendy ($39.95) Speck CandyShell Card case adds a lot less bulk than the Sena does.

It fits neatly around the back of my iPhone 4, offers solid protection in the form of hard plastic, and has a carved-out slot in the back that can fit up to three cards or other plastic forms of ID (and unlike the Sena case, which has a clear plastic insert, the information on your cards is concealed by the Speck).

The matte-plastic Speck CandyShell Card case for iPhone 4 and 4S comes in six different colors and, like the Sena, has cut-outs for the phone’s charging port, camera lens and side buttons. My only gripe about the Speck so far is that credit cards, once wedged in the case, can be a little difficult to pry out of it. But, if you’re going for a less-distinguished look or don’t have the dough for a leather wallet case, the Speck might do the job.

Cheaper alternative: The Callet, for $20.

Handmade Cases

If you want to make a statement or stand out from the crowd with your mobile wallet, Etsy, the online marketplace for handmade goods, might be the way to go. One of my favorite Etsy finds is this “Beetlejuice”-inspired phone-and-card case, called the Nerd Herder, for $30 (there’s also one with a circuit-board design, for the true nerd herders).

You can also find a $30 gray merino-wool felt wallet for iPhone; and, if you’re willing to spend a bit more, this $80 gray chevron-striped case, which holds not only your smartphone and multiple cards, but also a passport.

Just keep in mind that, as stylish as some of these are, cloth or wool isn’t going to protect your phone very much if you’re prone to dropping it.

Cheaper alternative: Make your own.

That’s because I’ve been testing Logitech’s new Ultrathin Keyboard Cover for iPad, which has changed the way I feel about productivity on the iPad.

You see, I’m not a huge fan of touchscreen keyboards. Many other consumers share this sentiment, as much as they might love their tablets.

Hardware makers have addressed this by offering a variety of accessory keyboard options. They range from Bluetooth-enabled wireless keyboards to tablet cases with built-in keyboards, like the $70 Belkin YourType Folio, and plastic overlays that create tactile keys on top of the iPad’s touchscreen. Companies have even tried experimenting with laser-projected keyboards — though those still won’t give you keys you can actually feel.

But some of these solutions are bulky, or add too much extra weight to the iPad. Not the $100 Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard. The successor to the Logitech Keyboard Case by Zagg, the Ultrathin is a sleek, super-slim Bluetooth keyboard that also works as an iPad cover. It works with both iPad 2 and the new iPad.

I’ve been trying out the Ultrathin with an iPad 2 for over a week now, in part to determine whether it’s worth its $100 price tag. Despite the fact that it scratches easily and doesn’t firmly support the iPad when the tablet is in the vertical position, I would buy this device.

The Ultrathin Keyboard Case is 9.5 inches by 3.5 inches. It’s just .39 inches thick — thinner than all three of the iPads themselves. Made of aluminum, it mimics the look of the back of the iPad. When the keyboard isn’t in use and the case is being used as a cover, it looks very much like you’ve mashed two silver iPads together. On its own, it weighs roughly 12 ounces. The combined weight of the case with the Wi-Fi-only iPad 2 is 2.071 pounds; the case plus the new iPad weighs 2.185 pounds.

Like Apple’s own cover for the iPad, the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover comes with magnetic grips that firmly latch onto the long edge of the iPad.

To get started using the Ultrathin, I powered on the keyboard, then turned on the iPad’s Bluetooth. The iPad quickly recognized the device, and I paired the two by selecting the keyboard from the iPad’s list of recognized devices.

Next, I tested the keyboard. I positioned the iPad horizontally in a thin, white trough that runs across the top of the keyboard. The magnetic pull was so strong that the iPad snapped into place. This propped the iPad up at an angle in front of me, and I was ready to begin typing.

Set in a smooth, black, recessed tray, the keys are black, Chiclet-shaped and made of etched plastic with slightly raised lettering. Despite the shallowness of the tray, the keys have a nice spring to them.

Alternating between the touchscreen and the keys took some getting used to, but typing on the iPad using the Ultrathin was fluid and easy. I answered emails, jotted down some thoughts in the Notes app, filed a short blog post and wrote this column.

I also used some of the shortcuts available through the function keys at the top of the keyboard: There’s a home key for returning to the iPad’s home screen, while the function key plus the “1” key launches spotlight search. Function and the “3″ key makes the iPad’s virtual keyboard pop up, and function plus 6, 7 and 8 allow users to cut, copy and paste.

Logitech says the keyboard’s battery life is expected to last six months with two hours of daily usage. The keyboard also goes into sleep mode when it’s not in use for 20 minutes, thus conserving battery life. Charging it requires a micro-USB cord, which goes into a small port on the keyboard and a regular-sized USB port on your laptop or computer. Unfortunately, the $100 you’ll pay for this won’t cover the cost of a wall adapter.

There are some less-desirable aspects of this product. For one, it only works with the iPad. Logitech does make a $70 Bluetooth keyboard that works with Android tablets, but it’s a separate wireless keyboard.

Another drawback: The “delete” key is way too small — one of the downsides of cramming an entire keyboard into such small physical real estate. It sometimes took me three tries to make contact with the delete key while typing.

The Ultrathin only covers the iPad display screen, and not the backside of the iPad, which is prone to scratching. As it turns out, the cover side of the Ultrathin is also prone to scratching, as I discovered after a week of throwing it in my bag and toting it around.

Users that don’t want to deal with scuffs or that are looking for more iPad coverage will likely want to consider something like the Belkin I mentioned earlier, the $100 Zaggfolio iPad 3 keyboard case, or Logitech’s $130 Solar Keyboard Folio.

The magnetic clips that hold the tablet in place are super strong, but that’s only when it’s propped up horizontally. While, technically, the iPad can rest in a vertical position in the keyboard’s tray, it doesn’t feel like it’s firmly in place.

Also, though I love how thin and lightweight this thing is, it’s so light that it sometimes creates an awkward balance between the keyboard and the iPad. When I was sitting on my couch, with my feet up and my iPad and its keyboard on my lap, it was fine. But when I was sitting upright in my desk chair with the iPad and Ultrathin on my lap, it felt a little unsteady.

However, the benefits outweigh the downsides of this keyboard and case. I didn’t get to try out the Ultrathin on an airplane, but I did test it during a train ride. It was the perfect travel accessory, and now I can’t imagine traveling without it.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20120521/one-small-keyboard-for-logitech-one-giant-leap-for-ipad-productivity/feed/ 28 http://allthingsd.com/20120320/juicetank-aims-to-juice-up-your-phone-no-strings-attached/ http://allthingsd.com/20120320/juicetank-aims-to-juice-up-your-phone-no-strings-attached/#comments Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:40:32 +0000 Lauren Goode http://allthingsd.com/?p=188438 Smartphone ownership and the app economy might both be booming, but that doesn’t mean phone batteries are always up to the task. And the problem was underscored at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin last week, when some conference attendees complained that the new batch of social apps were draining the juice from their phones.

A new project being funded through Kickstarter is aimed at providing a short-term wireless solution to the power-drainage problem, with an iPhone case that’s got the plugs plugged in.

The nifty rubberized JuiceTank case, created by New York-based entrepreneurs Jesse Pliner and Lloyd Gladstone, comes with a wall charger built into the back of the case. The prongs fold flat to the side, making it easy to slide into a pocket. And with prototypes of the device weighing 3 ounces or less, it’s lightweight, too.

Since putting the JuiceTank up last week on Kickstarter, the popular online platform where people can pledge money to support projects in the works, nearly 529 people together have pledged nearly $26,000. The company has set a goal of $125,000, which it has to reach within the next 54 days in order for the backers to bring their product to market.

If it makes it to market, the expected retail price of the JuiceTank will be $55. Other battery-boosting iPhone cases, like the ones made by Mophie, can range in price from $20 to around $100.

Right now, the case is just for iPhones, and has only been designed in black, but the company plans to produce other colors (white, they say, has been a top request).

The “Juicers” acknowledge that it’s tough to fit an iPhone into some spaces around electrical outlets, so they’ve also built in a USB microport, in the event that users have a cord with them and can plug in that way. Pliner and Gladstone are also working on designing the next iteration of JuiceTank: A case that, like a Mophie pack, combines the plug with a rechargeable energy supply.

If the project is funded, the company anticipates that the first JuiceTank case will ship in July. They say they hope to have the combo case available by fall 2012.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20120320/juicetank-aims-to-juice-up-your-phone-no-strings-attached/feed/ 2 http://allthingsd.com/20110824/typing-with-the-original-ipad/ http://allthingsd.com/20110824/typing-with-the-original-ipad/#comments Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:59:49 +0000 Walt Mossberg http://allthingsd.com/?p=113719 Q:

I am looking for a simplified PC for my elderly relative, and was disappointed that you couldn’t recommend the Telekin PC for seniors. Are there any alternatives?

A:

I don’t know of any other entire, multi-function computers aimed at seniors. But there’s a new program that claims to turn a standard Windows PC into an easy-to-use machine for seniors. It’s called Seniorama Pointer 2011. It costs $97 for a five-year license and offers large-type, simplified interfaces for email, Web browsing, photos, games, and Skype video and audio calls.

I haven’t tested it, so I don’t know how well it works. But the website notes that the program has some limitations. For instance, its email program requires a new email address, and its photo program only handles pictures received via email.

Q:

I read your review of cases with built-in keyboards for the iPad 2. Are there similar products for the original iPad?

A:

Yes. I haven’t tested them, but if you search the Web or look in stores, you can find some.

For instance, the Zaggmate aluminum keyboard case for the original iPad, which is quite similar to the Logitech keyboard case for the iPad 2 that I tested, is still being sold at zagg.com and elsewhere for $100 or less.

An earlier iPad 1 model of the Kensington keyboard case I reviewed, called the KeyFolio (not the KeyFolio Pro,) can still be found at Kensington.com and elsewhere for $100 or less. And there are others.

Q:

We will soon be moving to a rural area where the only opportunities we have for decent Internet service will be cellular data or satellite.

Is there a device that can access the Internet via 3G cellular and wirelessly serve our two laptops simultaneously?

A:

Yes, there are a number of them. Perhaps the most common are small, dedicated mobile hot-spot gadgets sold by the major wireless carriers, such as the Novatel MiFi. These connect to the 3G or 4G cellular networks and then convert that Internet connection into a Wi-Fi signal that can be used by multiple laptops or other devices.

The devices are often inexpensive, but the monthly rates can be stiff, depending on how much data you use.

Another approach is to use a smartphone. Many of these, including the iPhone 4 and Android phones, can be turned into hot spots that act like the dedicated gadgets described above.

However, extra monthly fees apply for this functionality, and they can add up if you use a lot of data.

Write to Walt at mossberg@wsj.com.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110824/typing-with-the-original-ipad/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110817/how-to-outfit-the-ipad-2-to-make-typing-easier/ http://allthingsd.com/20110817/how-to-outfit-the-ipad-2-to-make-typing-easier/#comments Thu, 18 Aug 2011 01:04:29 +0000 Walter S. Mossberg http://allthingsd.com/?p=111401 Although it’s a smash hit, Apple’s iPad isn’t winning the hearts of users who find it difficult to type on its onscreen keyboard. And even for many who love their iPads for other things and can type shorter items on the screen, the lack of a physical keyboard has meant they still must turn to their laptops for intensive typing tasks.

One solution to this dilemma has been to carry a separate wireless keyboard. But that means carrying two things. So a number of companies offer protective cases for the iPad 2 with low-profile, but real, keyboards built right into their inner surfaces. These keyboards appear when you open the cases, which act as stands for the tablet while you type.

I’ve been testing four such iPad 2 combo keyboard cases, each of which lists for $100. I also took a look at a slightly different accessory, a new full-size $130 keyboard and stand for the iPad 2 that folds up and holds the tablet for carrying, though it doesn’t cover or protect the screen.

If I were personally going to buy one of these, it would likely be the Logitech Keyboard Case for iPad 2, a thin, light and sturdy aluminum enclosure with a keyboard I liked. But this is a personal decision, involving the look and shape of the case, the feel of the keyboard and the angles at which they prop up the iPad. I strongly recommend going to a store and trying some before choosing one.

Though these rival cases differ, they all have certain things in common. They all make the beautiful, slim iPad 2 much bulkier and heavier. Also, the keyboards inside these cases require recharging after a few weeks or months, depending on how heavily they’re used. And none comes with a charger. You have to charge them from a laptop, or by using the wall adapter that you use to charge the iPad itself, or another USB-compatible charger.

In addition, these cases only work well for typing when you place them on a flat surface. And I found they make it clumsier to hold the iPad for reading. They have special keys for such things as replicating the iPad’s home button; searching; volume; copy, cut and paste; and controlling music and video playback. Most also switch the iPad’s screen on and off when you open or close them. Finally, with each keyboard, you have to perform a simple, one-time Bluetooth “pairing” process with the iPad the first time you use them.

Here are some features and downsides to the cases and keyboards I tested.

Logitech Keyboard Case for iPad 2

This is the simplest of the keyboard cases I tested. It’s just a thin, rigid aluminum tray with a recessed keyboard in the bottom. To use it as a carrying case, you snap your iPad 2 into the tray, where it’s held tight by rubbery pads in the corners that keep the screen from touching the keyboard. You can still charge the iPad while it’s in the case. When you’re ready to type, you remove the iPad 2 and stand it up in a groove above the top row of keys, in either a horizontal or vertical position.

This case is the only one I tried that doesn’t completely cover the iPad 2. It uses the tablet’s aluminum back as a part of its protection. I found it to be lighter, thinner and yet sturdier than the others. I also liked the feel of its keyboard and found the angle at which it held the iPad to be excellent. The product was developed by a small company called Zagg, which made a similar case for the original iPad. Logitech is coming out later this month with a version for the 10.1-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet.

Zaggfolio

Zagg also has come out with its own new design for the iPad 2, a hard-plastic wraparound case that completely covers the tablet. The iPad snaps inside the top cover, and the cover, when opened, tilts forward to allow the tablet to nestle into a groove in a keyboard that is almost identical to that of the Logitech. One difference: The folio allows the iPad 2 to be used only in horizontal mode while in the case.

The first units of the folio, which came out in July, had a defective closure. That has been fixed and the company is offering to replace the early units. I tested the revised version and it closes tightly. The folio comes in a variety of colors, as does its removable keyboard—the only removable keyboard I tested. This case also had the best-aligned cutouts for the iPad 2′s buttons and ports of the wraparound models tested.

Kensington KeyFolio Pro

This is a soft-plastic case that, like the Zagg, stores the iPad 2 inside the top lid and places the keyboard inside the bottom lid. It has no latch, and doesn’t switch the iPad screen on and off. The Kensington differs from the others in that it has a swivel mechanism that allows the iPad 2 to be used vertically or horizontally while tucked into the top cover. However, I found the angle at which it placed the screen to be too straight for comfortable viewing while typing. And, in vertical mode, I found the screen was a bit wobbly. I liked the feel of the keyboard, but it was the only wraparound that lacked dedicated buttons for copy, cut and paste.

Belkin Keyboard Folio

This is another soft plastic wraparound model, but I found it too complicated and bulky. It tucks the keyboard under the top flap that holds the iPad 2, so you can use it as just a stand. But this made it thick and, to my eye, odd-looking, when closed. On the plus side, it offers multiple angles, though it only allows horizontal use of the iPad.

I found the keyboard more cramped than those on the others. I also found the iPad hardest to insert and remove on the Belkin, and the holes for the ports and buttons to be the least aligned.

Logitech Fold-Up Keyboard

This isn’t actually a case and it doesn’t protect the screen at all. Instead, its main selling point is that, unlike the others, it packs in a full-size keyboard that protrudes beyond the iPad’s dimensions via a clever design. The keyboard is hinged in the middle and folds out from beneath a hard-plastic cradle that holds the iPad 2 face up and allows access to all the ports and buttons. When the keyboard unfolds, it raises the iPad into a standing position, in horizontal orientation. It probably will appeal most to people just carrying an iPad around the office or home. It costs $130, and, to protect the screen, you’d have to shell out another $40 for Apple’s own screen cover. It will be unveiled next week and available in September.

Bottom line: You don’t need either a case or a keyboard to use an iPad 2, but if you want both in one package, there are plenty of choices.

Email Walt at mossberg@wsj.com.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110817/how-to-outfit-the-ipad-2-to-make-typing-easier/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110524/you-will-know-jack-square-ceo-dorsey-added-to-d9-speaker-line-up/ http://allthingsd.com/20110524/you-will-know-jack-square-ceo-dorsey-added-to-d9-speaker-line-up/#comments Tue, 24 May 2011 19:58:10 +0000 Kara Swisher http://allthingsd.com/?p=77529

With the mobile payments space rapidly heating up, we thought it would be a perfect time to add the person most responsible for that current disruption–Square CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey–to the speaker roster at the ninth D: All Things Digital.

By the way, Dorsey is the same man who also invented a little thing called Twitter, the groundbreaking microblogging service–where he also now serves as Executive Chairman and now its product guru once again.

In other words, Dorsey is just the kind of person Walt Mossberg and I are thrilled to have onstage at D9–a perfect entrepreneur to talk about the innovative product vision that has made tech in Silicon Valley so powerful.

Dorsey started Square in 2009, after serving as CEO of Twitter until 2008. A software engineer by training, he previously worked as a programmer at a bike courier dispatch service.

Just this week, Square made news by launching a new cash register for merchants and a new mobile wallet for consumers to make paying for retail goods extremely easy.

This is a quick development from the start-up’s original Square dongle and app, which allows consumers to use their smartphone or Apple iPad to accept credit card payments.

Square has distributed 500,000 of these dongles, which click into the headphone jack, and has recently said it is processing $2 billion in gross payment volume per month.

The new innovations should increase that if they catch on and Square can best a plethora of competitors, including a new digital wallet entry by Google (whose Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt will also be at D9 onstage demoing it too).

As Tricia Duryee wrote about Square’s latest effort:

It starts with the user’s card case, which must be set up in advance with a user’s credit card information. From the card case, the user will be able to see the menu of the restaurant, cafe or spa they are visiting. Users can click to order. When they go up to the register to pay, the consumer doesn’t hand over anything but their name.

Consumers and retailers will have to believe that using Apple products can be as safe and secure as big enterprise-grade systems that everyone is accustomed to seeing.

Square will also have to go up against a ton of other providers coming down the pike, including solutions from [eBay's] PayPal and payment giants such as Visa, MasterCard and American Express.

The San Francisco-based start-up recently received an investment from Visa.

Given that the future of the massive, badillion-dollar industry is at stake, it should make for a great interview session at D9.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110524/you-will-know-jack-square-ceo-dorsey-added-to-d9-speaker-line-up/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110211/youve-got-labor-problems-again-aols-huffpo-gripe-seems-very-familiar/ http://allthingsd.com/20110211/youve-got-labor-problems-again-aols-huffpo-gripe-seems-very-familiar/#comments Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:30:39 +0000 Peter Kafka http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/?p=29597 Internet site asks users to help it grow, hits the big time, forgets about the little people.

Huffington Post contributors griping in the wake of the site’s sale to AOL? Sure. But it’s also the same gripe that AOL users made in the dial-up era.

And–pay attention, angry bloggers–some of those AOL users eventually got paid!

The bad news: They had to go to court to get their cash, via a class action suit they filed in 1999. And they didn’t see a check until last year.

As the Columbia Journalism Review reminds us, the old, pre-Time Warner AOL used to rely on an army of volunteers–”community leaders”–to do essential gruntwork like moderating chatrooms. Wired called it a “cyber-sweatshop.“

And while it took a decade, the plaintiffs in the AOL case did end up with something for their trouble–a $15 million settlement, handed out last year.

Of course, 30 percent of that–$4.5 million–went to the lawyers, court documents show. But that’s still $10.5 million divvied up among a couple of thousand former chatroom monitors. You can’t retire on that, but you could buy a few MacBook Airs.

So could HuffPo’s angry bloggers get something for their troubles? Seems like a tough case to make: One big difference between AOL’s unpaid workers and HuffPo’s unpaid writers is that AOL really did treat its workers like workers.

It recruited them through want ads, held them to time commitments and compensated them with benefits like free or discounted dial-up access. (Remember that?)

HuffPo’s writers, on the other hand, simply handed the site some copy, which it ran–just like the people who submit op-ed pieces to newspapers. And I never hear about them demanding cash for their work. It seems quite clear that the trade is your words/their distribution.

Still, you never know! And I’m sure there’s at least one attorney, somewhere, who’s ready to try it out. Let’s check back in a decade and see how it panned out.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110211/youve-got-labor-problems-again-aols-huffpo-gripe-seems-very-familiar/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20110119/hp-plans-another-probe-into-hurd-departure/ http://allthingsd.com/20110119/hp-plans-another-probe-into-hurd-departure/#comments Thu, 20 Jan 2011 01:10:07 +0000 Arik Hesseldahl http://newenterprise.allthingsd.com/?p=1968 Hewlett-Packard will hire outside lawyers to run a new, independent investigation into the circumstances that led to the resignation of former CEO Mark Hurd, Bloomberg is reporting, citing court filings.

Word of a new probe comes in response to a shareholder lawsuit in federal court in California claiming that HP paid Hurd too much in severance when he left. In the meantime, both HP and the shareholders suing have asked the judge to put the case on hold until the investigation is complete.

Hurd says he wants to see a copy of the shareholder demand that led to the lawsuit, and will oppose the delay in the case until that happens. HP says that as a subject of the inquiry, Hurd isn’t entitled to see any of the documents in question.

In the Delaware case, Hurd’s lawyers argued that the original letters from Jodie Fisher, a onetime actress and a former HP contractor who accused Hurd of sexual harassment, shouldn’t be made public.

Hurd, you’ll recall, went on to become co-president of Oracle, after Oracle CEO Larry Ellison raked HP’s board over the coals for its handling of the incident. Ellison wasn’t alone, as former General Electric CEO Jack Welch later piled on.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110119/hp-plans-another-probe-into-hurd-departure/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20110113/government-may-sue-google-to-block-ita-deal/ http://allthingsd.com/20110113/government-may-sue-google-to-block-ita-deal/#comments Thu, 13 Jan 2011 20:00:21 +0000 Arik Hesseldahl http://newenterprise.allthingsd.com/?p=1741 Regulators at the U.S. Department of Justice are mulling a lawsuit against search giant Google over its proposed $700 million acquisition of ITA Software, the company behind many airline ticket and booking sites.

Bloomberg reported today that agency staffers are preparing documents for use in a possible case against Google, but a decision on whether or not to bring a case hasn’t been made. Google–clearly eager to get the deal closed, as it has been six months since it first moved to acquire ITA in July–invoked a federal law that gives the government 30 days to rule thumbs up or thumbs down.

Since then numerous companies, as varied as Microsoft, Expedia and Travelocity, have opposed the deal and formed a coalition called Fairsearch.org to air concerns that Google could stop other companies that depend on ITA’s technology from using it, though Google has said it will continue to offer licenses after the deal closes. Orbitz Worldwide supports is neutral on the deal.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110113/government-may-sue-google-to-block-ita-deal/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110110/intel-will-pay-nvidia-1-5-billion-to-maintain-patent-peace/ http://allthingsd.com/20110110/intel-will-pay-nvidia-1-5-billion-to-maintain-patent-peace/#comments Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:36:57 +0000 Arik Hesseldahl http://newenterprise.allthingsd.com/?p=1593 Intel has agreed to pay Nvidia $1.5 billion to settle their long-simmering legal dispute that had been set to go before a Delaware Chancery Court in December.

Intel will pay Nvidia in five annual installments beginning Jan. 18, and in return will receive full access to Nvidia’s full range of patents, which had been part of the dispute. Nvidia will retain use of certain Intel patents that had also been in dispute.

“This agreement ends the legal dispute between the companies, preserves patent peace and provides protections that allow for continued freedom in product design,” said Doug Melamed, Intel senior vice president and general counsel, in a statement.

The fight had been over the terms of a 2004 agreement under which Intel granted Nvidia access to some of Intel’s technology for use in its chipsets, the chips that sit between the microprocessor and the graphics chip like connecting tissue. The cross-licensing agreement allowed Nvidia to make chipsets that were compatible with Intel microprocessors.

The trouble began in 2008, when Intel released its Nehalem generation of PC chips. The two companies disagreed over whether the 2004 agreement allowed Nvidia to make chipsets that would work with Nehalem chips and generations of chips that would follow. They filed dueling lawsuits in the Delaware Court of Chancery in early 2009. Intel asked a judge to rule that the agreement didn’t cover Nehalem and future generations of chips, while Nvidia sued for breach of contract, and sought to terminate Intel’s right to use some Nvidia patents that had been part of the agreement.

As I reported last December for Businessweek, the dispute caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission, which added it to an antitrust complaint that was later settled.

The larger backdrop here is the growing threat Nvidia’s chips, known as graphics processing units (or GPUs), pose to Intel’s chips in servers and supercomputers. Engineers often refer to this as the CPU-GPU debate, where Intel’s chips are referred to as CPUs.

GPUs are common in most PCs, and usually handle the processing required to make games look good and run smoothly, working in concert with the CPU.

Since GPU chips do certain kind of math known as a floating point operation a lot faster than a CPU, they’re increasingly being used in systems that Intel has traditionally considered its primary domain: Heavy-duty financial modeling (oil and gas exploration is a good example). They’re also making a huge splash in the rarefied world of supercomputing: Nvidia GPU chips are being used in three of the top five systems on the elite Top 500 list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. And as we all saw at CES last week, they’re starting to show up in tablet and other PC-like devices running Windows with the full support of Microsoft.

The dispute between them, which effectively put Nvidia out of the business of making chipsets that were compatible with Intel chips, certainly hurt. Though for Intel’s part, losing the Nvidia patents in question could have conceivably hurt its new Sandy Bridge chips, which combine a GPU and a CPU into one single component. Intel formally launched Sandy Bridge at CES last week.

And as recently as last week, sources familiar with the matter were saying that a new trial date was scheduled for February. Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang was careful not to directly answer a question about that from Mobilized’s Ina Fried in an interview at our D@CES event last week:

Intel and Nvidia had mysteriously withdrawn the case from the court’s calendar days before opening arguments were set to get underway on Dec. 6. Bloomberg News then reported that settlement talks were underway, though by mid-December there were signs that those talks had stalled, and sources said that a new trial date had been agreed to. That was until today, when sources at both companies started to drop hints that news was imminent.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110110/intel-will-pay-nvidia-1-5-billion-to-maintain-patent-peace/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110104/court-undoes-microsoft-win-in-patent-case/ http://allthingsd.com/20110104/court-undoes-microsoft-win-in-patent-case/#comments Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:37:24 +0000 Beth Callaghan http://voices.allthingsd.com/?p=34751 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled today to reinstate a jury decision from an April case that found Microsoft’s anti-piracy software installation system infringed a patent held by Uniloc Singapore Private Ltd. The judge in the original case had thrown out the jury’s finding. The court also ruled, though, that a new trial is required to determine how much Microsoft should pay, stating that the jury’s $388 million award to Uniloc was “fundamentally tainted.”

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110104/court-undoes-microsoft-win-in-patent-case/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20101221/the-fcc-votes-a-new-internet-dawns-like-it-or-not/ http://allthingsd.com/20101221/the-fcc-votes-a-new-internet-dawns-like-it-or-not/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:50:16 +0000 Arik Hesseldahl http://newenterprise.allthingsd.com/?p=873 There is only one point of consensus that has emerged from today’s imminent 3-2 vote by the Federal Communications Commission on network neutrality rules proposed by Chairman Julius Genachowski: All concerned are dissatisfied with the result.

Even those who are voting in favor are doing so holding their noses. Of the five voting members of the commission, only one, Democrat Michael Copps, had been considered remotely likely to vote with the two Republicans who had pledged to vote against it. When he announced he would vote in favor yesterday he said he was doing so with reservations.

Republicans, both on the commission and in Congress, sense an opportunity, the size of which you can discern by the size of the headlines topping the Drudge Report during the last few days. Genachowski is being portrayed in 80-point type as the villain “Julius Seizure” out to ruin the freewheeling Internet by shackling it with a list of bureaucratic rules and regulations. The irony is that the current proposal on the table is a dramatic step back from a far more ominous one: Immediately after losing a court case brought by the cable company Comcast over the extent of its legal authority to regulate the Internet, Genachowski considered reclassifying the Internet under the FCC’s Title II authority, which governs regulation of the phone system. This was an extreme response, thankfully abandoned, that would have certainly warranted the nickname. The current proposal is by no stretch of argument so extreme that it amounts to a seizure.

But rules they are, and no one likes new rules where none existed before, least of all multibillion dollar corporations like Comcast and Verizon. Having established in the courts that they have the right to control the use of certain applications that impact the performance of their network–or, more precisely, the fact that the FCC has no legal authority to tell them not to exercise such control–they’re now going to be required to disclose how and why they exercise such controls.

The rules allow for “reasonable network management” by service providers, which is a squishy phrase. Internet companies like Amazon and Skype, which aren’t service providers themselves, argue that the new rules are weak and don’t protect them from service providers that may “reasonably manage” their products and services out of existence. Get your stopwatches ready, because there will almost certainly be several lawsuits over what constitutes “reasonable network management.”

The scenario is easy to imagine: Embittered broadband customers band together in a class-action lawsuit complaining that their provider refuses to allow them to experience the latest video streaming or video chat application. They argue that the provider favors another inferior application that it happens to own. The provider argues that it’s only engaging in “reasonable network management” allowed under FCC rules, leaving judges to tease out what that means. Lawyers are probably already shining up their Ferragamos as they polish their legal briefs.

These cases are already appearing. Comcast and Level 3 Communications are sparring over the terms under which Comcast conveys to its customers video streaming traffic sent by Level 3 associated with its relationship with Netflix. Level 3 has turned to the FCC and the U.S. Department of Justice at a delicate time for Comcast: It wants federal approval for its takeover of NBC Universal, and wants it now.

The FCC’s new rules, rightly or wrongly, make Comcast and companies like it more vulnerable to similar threats by regulators in response to actions taken in their own reasonable self-interest. Until today, this sort of dispute between companies would normally be worked out by negotiators in private, not regulators on the public dime. No matter whose side you tend to favor, the prospect of government gumming up the work with endless busywork isn’t a happy side effect.

The rules themselves may also be challenged. There’s still a huge question–as FCC commissioners Meredith Atwell Baker and Robert McDowell have both argued in recent newspaper op-eds (one in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, the other in today’s Washington Post)– about the FCC’s legal authority over the Internet. House Republicans are already making noise about jumping into the policy fray, and another court challenge is probably likely.

The one overarching mission concerning the Internet that the FCC can undertake with some measure of agreement is that of widening the availability of the network to places it doesn’t adequately reach and to people who don’t have broadband access for economic or other reasons. In an age where so much of daily public business–from applying for a job to becoming an informed voter in the presidential election–all but requires a broadband link, far too many remote and rural areas are the victim of market forces where the investment to build infrastructure in sparsely populated areas outweighs the potential for a reasonable return.

Genachowski has argued that by adapting the Universal Service Fund (which helped the telephone network penetrate these same underserved areas) for broadband, providers could get this otherwise impossible job accomplished. Extending broadband availability was one of President Obama’s campaign promises, but the $7.8 billion in federal stimulus funds awarded under the auspices of the National Telecommunications and Infrastructure Administration and the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service have not and will not make a significant dent in the problem.

Why not focus on what is clearly the more important problem and without question in the national interest, and leave the finer points of how service providers and Web companies carry content to sort themselves out? Like it or not, a new, more legally complicated Internet is here.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101221/the-fcc-votes-a-new-internet-dawns-like-it-or-not/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20101203/viacom-asks-for-a-do-over-on-youtube/ http://allthingsd.com/20101203/viacom-asks-for-a-do-over-on-youtube/#comments Fri, 03 Dec 2010 19:51:52 +0000 Peter Kafka http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/?p=26593 As promised, here’s Viacom’s appeal in the YouTube copyright case, where a federal court ruled overwhelmingly in Google’s favor earlier in the year.

Viacom’s filing runs 72 pages, but here’s the gist: It argues that if the appeals court lets the lower ruling stand, then it will “radically transform the functioning of the copyright system and severely impair, if not completely destroy, the value of many copyrighted creations.”

Google’s response: “We regret that Viacom continues to drag out this case. The court here, like every other court to have considered the issue, correctly ruled that the law protects online services like YouTube, which remove content when notified by the copyright holder that it is unauthorized. We will strongly defend the court’s decision on appeal.”

youtube appeal

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101203/viacom-asks-for-a-do-over-on-youtube/feed/ 2 http://allthingsd.com/20101118/heres-how-that-50-apple-ipad-dodocase-is-made-plus-a-look-at-the-new-kindle-cover/ http://allthingsd.com/20101118/heres-how-that-50-apple-ipad-dodocase-is-made-plus-a-look-at-the-new-kindle-cover/#comments Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:55:56 +0000 Drake Martinet http://voices.allthingsd.com/?p=32797 Owners of the Apple iPad are usually looking for a case with a certain analog aesthetic–and, as it turns out, they are willing to pay for it.

Thus, the San Francisco-based makers of DODOcase have managed to sell tens of thousands of their pricey $55 to $65 cases. For many, the signature black faux-leather cover and elastic band give the hard-edged iPad an old-world tangibility and bespoke countenance, looking like–as it does–the famous Moleskine notebook that hipsters favor.

Today, the cult-popular business is releasing its second product, an Amazon Kindle-size DODOcase that wraps the plastic e-reader in its signature book-like binding.

Founders Patrick Buckley (the maker guy) and Craig Dalton (the business guy) have spent the last seven months tweaking the product and building the brand. But they took some time to give us a look into their Dogpatch manufacturing facility, which doubles as an actual book bindery, to see exactly what goes into the product.

As it turns out, the main ingredient is time.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101118/heres-how-that-50-apple-ipad-dodocase-is-made-plus-a-look-at-the-new-kindle-cover/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20101028/ellison-taunts-hp-ceo-a-second-time/ http://allthingsd.com/20101028/ellison-taunts-hp-ceo-a-second-time/#comments Thu, 28 Oct 2010 10:30:02 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=51543 If Larry Ellison’s Tuesday evening harangue against former SAP chief Léo Apotheker was, in the words of an SAP spokesperson, “a sideshow,” then the Oracle CEO’s latest tirade is more of a gala.

With Oracle’s high-profile trade secrets case against SAP scheduled to begin in a few days, Ellison is in rare form and is filing copy like Hunter S. Thompson’s software magnate doppelgänger.

On Wednesday evening, Ellison let loose with another screed against Apotheker and his new employer, Hewlett-Packard, accusing the former of knowingly stealing Oracle’s intellectual property and the latter of helping him dodge a subpoena.

“HP Chairman Ray Lane has taken the position that Léo Apotheker is innocent of wrongdoing because he didn’t know anything about the stealing going on at SAP while Léo was CEO,” Ellison wrote. “The most basic facts of the case show this to be an absurd lie. Oracle sued SAP for stealing in March of 2007. Léo became CEO of SAP in April of 2008. Léo knew all about the stealing. In fact, Léo did not stop the stealing until 7 months after he became CEO. Why so long? We’d like to know. Ray Lane and the rest of the HP Board do not want anyone to know. That’s the new HP Way with Ray in charge and Léo on the run. It’s time to change the HP tagline from ‘Invent’ to ‘Steal’.”

Did I say Ellison’s latest tirade was more of a gala? Make that carnival–or bacchanal. This is goading of the top order, beginning with an accusation of outright theft and deceit, and ending with the verbal desecration of the hallowed HP Way, which Ellison attributes to Lane–a former Oracle president.

Sadly, Ellison gets his facts wrong again. As I noted here yesterday, Apotheker didn’t become SAP’s sole CEO until June of 2009–seven months after SAP shuttered the TomorrowNow division at the center of Oracle’s suit. But as I also noted yesterday, that’s just semantics. Apotheker wasn’t just some prole prior to his CEO appointment; he was co-CEO.

And anyway, who’s this latest philippic of Ellison’s really about? HP Chairman Lane’s name is mentioned in it nearly as many times as Apotheker’s. And he never worked for SAP.

But he did work for Oracle–until he ran afoul of Ellison–and now, of course, he works for HP, an Oracle rival. Look at the statement through that lens and you’ll see that it actually fulfills a threefold purpose:

1. Trash-talking SAP
2. Trash-talking Apotheker to smear HP
3. And trash-talking Lane to smear HP and vent some old resentments

This trial is every bit as much about HP as it is about SAP.

PREVIOUSLY:

• SAP to Ellison: Save the Drama for Your Mama
• Ellison to HP CEO: “Warrior, Come Out to Plaaeeay!
• SAP: Please Gag Oracle
• HP Scandal Sucks in New York Times Columnist Over Conflict of Interest
• Welch to HP Board: You Don’t Know Jack!
• Insiders Criticize Ellison For HP CEO Slam
• Was Apotheker HP’s First Choice of CEO?
• HP Names Ex-SAP Chief Apotheker as CEO

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101028/ellison-taunts-hp-ceo-a-second-time/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20101027/ellison-to-hp-ceo-warrior-come-out-to-plaaeeay/ http://allthingsd.com/20101027/ellison-to-hp-ceo-warrior-come-out-to-plaaeeay/#comments Wed, 27 Oct 2010 14:01:06 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=51441 Oracle’s long-running legal battle with SAP and its now-shuttered TomorrowNow subsidiary goes to trial in an Oakland, Calif., courtroom next week. And as uncomfortable an event as it will be for SAP, which has already publicly acknowledged liability in the case, it promises to be even more so for former SAP chief Léo Apotheker, who was recently tapped to replace Mark Hurd as Hewlett-Packard’s CEO.

Apotheker’s first day as CEO of HP, Nov. 1, is also the first day of the trial. And he’s on Oracle’s witness list.

But if he’s called, will he show up?

Oracle’s not sure he will, but it wants everyone to know that it has big plans for him in the courtroom, whether he does or not.

In a statement Tuesday night, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison essentially dared Apotheker to appear on the witness stand, suggesting that HP’s newly appointed Chairman, Raymond Lane–a former Oracle president–might try to keep him from testifying.

“A few weeks ago I accused HP’s new CEO, Leo Apotheker, of overseeing an industrial espionage scheme centering on the repeated theft of massive amounts of Oracle’s software. A major portion of this theft occurred while Mr. Apotheker was CEO of SAP,” Ellison said in a statement.

“HP’s Chairman, Ray Lane, immediately came to Mr. Apotheker’s defense by writing a letter stating, ‘Oracle has been litigating this case for years and has never offered any evidence that Mr. Apotheker was involved.’ Well, that’s what we are planning to do during the trial that starts next Monday. Unless, Mr. Lane and the rest of the HP Board of Directors decide to keep their new CEO far, far away from HP Headquarters until that trial is over. If HP keeps Leo Apotheker far from HP headquarters we cannot subpoena him to testify at that trial.”

Which is true–as a foreign national, Apotheker is under no legal obligation to appear at the trial if called to testify (his name has been on Oracle’s witness list since August 5, 2010–see image below). But given the recent war of words between Oracle and HP over his hiring, it would be odd for him not to, particularly if, as HP claims, he wasn’t involved in the IP theft at the center of Oracle’s suit.

That said, it seems HP is already setting the stage for Apotheker to be a no-show.

“Oracle had ample opportunity to question Leo during his sworn deposition in October 2008,” the company said in a statement. “Given Leo’s limited knowledge of and role in the matter, Oracle’s last-minute effort to require him to appear live at trial is no more than an effort to harass him and interfere with his duties and responsibilities as HP’s CEO.”

One last thing: If you missed the reference in the headline of this post, here’s your explanation:

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101027/ellison-to-hp-ceo-warrior-come-out-to-plaaeeay/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20100910/apples-iphone-4-case-program-to-end-sept-30/ http://allthingsd.com/20100910/apples-iphone-4-case-program-to-end-sept-30/#comments Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:11:01 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=48277 When Apple first announced its iPhone 4 case program, the company said it would be re-evaluating at the end of September. Well, it’s evidently done early and chosen not to extend the offer. Come Sept. 30, iPhone 4 owners suffering signal attenuation problems will no longer be eligible for a free case through Apple’s iPhone 4 Case Program, though they will be able to request a free bumper through AppleCare. The company has also decided to end the 30-day, no-restocking-fee return offer on the device as well.

“We now know that the iPhone 4 antenna attenuation issue is even smaller than we originally thought,” Apple (AAPL) said in an update to its iPhone 4 Case Program site. “A small percentage of iPhone 4 users need a case, and we want to continue providing them a Bumper case for free. For everyone else, we are discontinuing the free case program on all iPhone 4s sold after September 30, 2010. We are also returning to our normal returns policy for all iPhone 4s sold after September 30. Users experiencing antenna issues should call AppleCare to request a free Bumper case.”

PREVIOUSLY

• iPhone 4 Full Coverage on AllThingsD.com
• Apple Hopes for Best Case Scenario in iPhone Flap
• Apple’s “Just Encase” Answer to iPhone 4 Complaints [Live Blog]
• What Will Apple Say Tomorrow? Your Guess Is as Good as My Analyst’s.
• Apple Releases iOS 4.0.1 for iPhone, iOS 3.2.1 for iPad
• The Reality Distortion Field Appears to Be Suffering Attenuation Issues as Well
• Analyst: “Highly Unlikely” iPhone 4 Recall Could Cost Apple $1.5 Billion
• Apple Snips Needling Threads From iPhone 4 Forums
• IPhone 4 Recall? Get a Grip!
• Consumer Reports: By the Way, the iPhone 4 is Also the Best Smartphone on the Market
• Duct-Tape Makers Look for Boost From Consumer Reports iPhone Verdict
• Consumer Reports: We Can’t Recommend the iPhone 4
• Apple: Your iPhone 4 Antenna Is Fine, and So Is Your Reception–But We’re Fixing Our Software Anyway
• Grip Different: Apple, AT&T Sued Over iPhone 4 Antenna Issue
• Gripping Antenna Drama Won’t Hold iPhone 4 Back, Says Analyst
• Apple on iPhone 4 Reception Problems: Grip Different

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20100910/apples-iphone-4-case-program-to-end-sept-30/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20100407/the-answers-to-your-questions-about-the-ipad/ http://allthingsd.com/20100407/the-answers-to-your-questions-about-the-ipad/#comments Thu, 08 Apr 2010 01:05:14 +0000 Walter S. Mossberg http://ptech.allthingsd.com/?p=1255 Since my review of the new Apple iPad tablet last week, I have been bombarded with questions. This is natural. The iPad is a real computer that overlaps many functions of a laptop, but works very differently from one.

So here are answers to some of the most common questions I’ve received, in hopes they may help clear up any confusion. One caveat: Apple is offering a “sneak preview” on Thursday of a forthcoming revision to the iPhone operating system, which powers the iPad, so some changes might be revealed.

Can you print from an iPad? Apple (AAPL) didn’t build in a printing function, so you can’t just tap a menu button to print an email, photo or Web page. But a few third-party apps allow printing of some items from an iPad to a networked printer. One is Print Online. It costs $5 and I tested it successfully. But these apps are complicated and limited workarounds—inadequate substitutes for built-in printing.

The iPad lacks a USB port, so how do you get files into it? Like the iPhone and iPod Touch, the iPad has the familiar Apple connector port and comes with a cable that links this port to a USB port on a PC or Mac. Then, using iTunes on the PC or Mac, you can sync over to the device your songs, photos, videos, contacts, apps and more.

New to the latest version of iTunes is a function that will also transfer to the iPad files like Microsoft Office documents. But this feature only works if you’ve installed on your iPad certain programs that can edit these documents, such as Apple’s optional $10 word-processor, spreadsheet and presentation programs. Documents can be moved in the other direction, too.

You also can get some types of documents into the iPad wirelessly, if you receive them as email attachments or as downloads from the Web. For example, if you receive a Word-document attachment, and you have Apple’s Pages word processor installed, you can send it to Pages, where it can be stored and edited. Pages can then send back the edited version.

Is there a way to type on the iPad without laying it flat and using the virtual keyboard? There are several. Apple sells a $39 case that bends to angle the device in a more convenient typing position (and allows for hands-free video watching). The company also sells a $69 accessory physical keyboard that features a dock at the rear to hold the iPad upright. In addition, you can type on the iPad using Apple’s $69 wireless keyboard for the Mac, which can be held on your lap.

Can I run Windows or Mac programs on the iPad? Not unless their makers produce iPad versions of these programs. The iPad doesn’t run the Macintosh or Windows operating systems, so it can’t run programs designed for them. It runs the iPhone operating system, which is only compatible with iPhone and iPad apps, of which there are more than 150,000. There are some iPad and iPhone apps that let you remotely control Windows and Mac computers, so you could indirectly run Windows and Mac programs via the screen of an iPad, but that isn’t like running the programs locally.

I hear the iPad lacks multitasking. What are the downsides of this? First, let me clarify that the iPad (and iPhone) can technically perform multitasking, or running more than one program at once. But Apple has chosen to limit this ability to some of its own built-in apps, and deny it to third-party apps. For instance, the built-in email program will continue to receive messages while you are watching a movie on the built-in video player.

The downsides of denying multitasking to all apps are considerable. For example, you can’t listen to streaming music from the Pandora music app while checking email. And you can’t view fresh Twitter posts while on other apps. You have to close the app you’re in, then re-launch a Twitter app and wait for it to fetch the new posts. And, you can’t, say, check email or surf the Web while waiting for a complex game to load in the background, because the game stops once you change to another app.

Since the iPad’s battery is sealed in, how do I replace it? The battery isn’t designed to be replaceable by the user. Apple will replace your iPad with one containing a fresh battery for $107, including shipping. The process takes up to a week. Most important, you will lose all your personal data unless you back it up regularly to your computer and restore it on the replacement iPad. Details are at: apple.com/support/ipad/service/battery/.

Find all of Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free of charge, at the All Things Digital Web site, walt.allthingsd.com.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at walt.mossberg@wsj.com

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