Samsung

Samsung is about to hand over a billion dollars in damages to Apple after being found guilty of infringing on several of the Cupertino-based company's patents. Weeks of drama ended in the jury awarding Apple with a major win that will impact tech company patent cases for years to come.

Of course as AppleInsider points out, there are still a number of major patent suits around the world that have yet to be settled between the two companies. In this case, Apple won damages on not only its utility patents, but on design patents as well.

Reports of Apple considering a larger display size on the next generation iPhone are nothing new, but according to a South Korean newspaper, suppliers have already taken orders for the components. Apple is said to be moving forward with a whopping 4.6-inch screen on the iPhone 5.

This would be a significant jump from Apple's iPhone-standard 3.5-inch Retina display. Competing smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung already offer models with 4.3 and 4.6 inch diagonal screens, while Apple has yet to bump up this dimension on the iPhone.

Apple was named with T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, HTC, Samsung and Motorola in a class action lawsuit on Monday. Sianni & Straite of Wilmington of Delaware and two other law firms from New Jersey (Crutchlow Zaslow & McElroy of Edison and Keefe Bartels of Red Bank) filed the lawsuit with the U.S. District Court in the District of Delaware. The lawsuit alleges Apple and other companies committed an "unprecedented breach of the digital privacy rights of 150 million cell phone users.”

The class action lawsuit is in response to the Carrier IQ software installed in various cell phones that logs the keystrokes, texts and geographic data of its users. Apple admitted using the diagnostics tool in the past, but said they never recorded "personal information for diagnostic data and have no plans to ever do so.” Apple also promised to remove the software from all their devices in a future firmware update.

Samsung has transformed their Facebook page into an iPhone 4S smear campaign. One image compares the iPhone 4S to two tin cans on a string and other outdated cell phone technology. The "cutting edge" (Samsung Galaxy S II) vs. "old school" (iPhone 4S) ad campaign also pokes fun at the iPhone's screen size, battery problems and Apple not releasing a new iPhone in 2011. Here are some examples of Samsung's recent wall posts making fun of the iPhone 4S.

Take your pick: Carrying a magnifying glass or click to zoom?

If it looks the same and feels the same - it's probably the same.

The newest iPhone rumor has nothing to do with tear drops or the number 5. Instead the latest suggests Apple will finally be joining the 4G LTE club with its newest handset next year. According to DigiTimes, 2012 is going to be the year of 4G LTE. Sprint plans to launch 15 LTE capable devices next year, and Nokia, Apple, RIM and Sony are expected to jump aboard the LTE bandwagon soon.

Apple isn't known for being "cutting edge" when adopting new technologies, but with so many 4G LTE devices available right now, Apple fans are growing tired of waiting. However, the technology is still young, and Apple is probably waiting for all three major U.S. networks to expand their coverage before deciding if it's worth making the leap or not. Verizon plans to have 175 markets nailed down by the end of this year, and Sprint plans to cover 260 markets by 2013.

After delaying the launch of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of respect for Steve Jobs, Google finally announced their new operating system and its flagship phone the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Motorola also announced their "faster and thinner" Droid RAZR on the same day. These Android devices are the newest and baddest smartphones on the market, but do they stand a chance against the iPhone 4S?

Motorola didn't lie, the RAZR is "impossibly" thin measuring in at 7.1 millimeters. Its 4.3-inch display is bigger than the iPhone 4S, but smaller than the Nexus which measures in at 4.65-inches. The Galaxy Nexus has the highest pixel resolution (1280 x 720), but the iPhone 4S features the higher pixel density with 330 ppi (Galaxy Nexus 316 ppi).

It looks like Apple has no intention of slowing down its patent war against Samsung until every Samsung Galaxy device is banned from the planet. Apple has moved the battlefield to Japan, where they hope to block sales of the Galaxy S and Galaxy S II smartphones, as well as the Galaxy 7 tablet. Apple has been successful in stopping Samsung from selling and advertising their Galaxy devices in Germany and Australia, and are looking to do the same in Japan. They're also seeking 100 million yen ($1.3 million) in damages. The lawsuit was filed on Aug. 23 and the first court hearing was on Wednesday.

"It is no coincidence that Samsung's latest products look a lot like iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging," said Seoul-based Apple spokesman Steve Park. "This kind of blatant copying is wrong and we need to protect the Apple's intellectual property when companies steal our ideas."

Apple filed another round of complaints with the International Trade Commission to try and block the sale of HTC devices which they claim infringe on their patent rights. The complaint is similar to the lawsuit Apple filed claiming Samsung's Galaxy products “slavishly” copied iPad and iPhone technologies.

HTC general counsel Grace Lei said HTC is "disappointed at Apple’s constant attempts at litigations instead of competing fairly in the market. HTC strongly denies all infringement claims raised by Apple in the past and present and reiterates our determination and commitment to protect our intellectual property rights.”

This is not the first time Apple has gone after HTC. In March, the company sued HTC over 20 patents mainly targeting their Android Devices.

GetJar CMO Patrick Mork issued a harsher reply to Apple's cease and desist over the name the "App Store:"

Forget the iPhone 4S or the iPhone 5, how about the iPhone 6? The Apple/Samsung catfight has made things awkward for the two companies, and may cause Apple to move to its orders for A6 processors to Taiwan.

The iPhone's A5 chips are currently made in Korea, the latest battleground for Apple's lawsuit against Samsung. Apple alleges that Samsung's Galaxy S and other mobile devices "blatantly” copy its technologies and designs.

Intel already manufactures x86 processors for Apple's desktop computers, and now the company may be taking a closer look at mobile ARM chips like the Apple-designed silicon featured in current model iPads and iPhones. According to the EE Times, Intel is courting Apple with the intent of manufacturing processors for future generations of Apple mobile hardware.

Currently the A5 processor is manufactured by Samsung, however this is already slated to change. On the horizon is chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), who has already signed a deal with Apple to take over the foundry relationship. TSMC could begin getting revenue from Apple business before the end of 2011.