Apple

Now Nokia is taking Apple to court for patent infringement. Ten different patents, to be precise. Nokia claims Apple has neglected to license Nokia's technology including the GSM and UMTS communications standards the iPhone uses.

Nokia along with other companies such as Samsung and Ericsson have invested billions in the development of the two standards. Nokia alone claims to have invested $60 billion in the technology and has licensed the patents to 40 different wireless device manufacturers.

Apple's incredible success in moving iPhones could be due to one statistic. According to pollster ChangeWave, a whopping 99% of iPhone users call themselves "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their device. In fact, those reporting "very satisfied" made up 74% of respondents.

This blows away RIM, with only 43% of users reporting they are "very satisfied" with their BlackBerry. Apple has jumped from holding 17% of smartphone market share one year ago to 30% today. The iPhone is hot on RIM's heels, as the BlackBerry has 40% of the smartphone market.

With all of the anti-iPhone advertising coming out of Verizon lately you'd think the company had no interest at all in dealing with Apple. Apparently this is not the case, considering the words of Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg during a third quarter earnings conference call.

Seidenberg explained that the decision to launch an iPhone on Verizon's network is "exclusively in Apple's court. Obviously we would be interested if they thought it would make sense for them to have us as a partner."

AT&T has reported their best and biggest quarter of iPhone activations to date, with 3.2 million iPhones activated in the third quarter of 2009. Shares of AT&T jumped following the initial release of the news, but have since declined, despite AT&T reporting better-than-expected per share earnings.

AT&T has wagered heavily on its relationship with Apple and the iPhone, and it has paid off. Many analysts site the iPhone as the single biggest reason for the telecom giant's continued strength in a down turned economy.

Apple is scooping up new talent left and right these days. After purchasing PA Semi to help them design their own microprocessors, Apple has bought the mapping outfit Placebase. Could this signal a further divide between Google and Apple?

Google provided the data and helped develop the Maps iPhone application from the very beginning. Now Jaron Waldman, founder and former CEO of Placebase, is a member of the Apple Geo Team.