News

The biggest news of the week was the end of The Apple v Samsung case. After hearing four weeks of testimony, the jury deliberated for three days before it delivered a verdict. They found that many of Samsung's devices did indeed infringe upon several of Apple's patents, and awarded the company $119 million. This can hardly be considered a victory, as it sought $2.2 billion in damages. Samsung had a counterclaim that Apple infringed upon several of its patents. The jury agreed, but only awarded $158,000. The real impact of the verdict is that it opens the door for Apple to try to block Samsung devices (the ones that infringed) from the U.S. market.

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Apple will join Google, Facebook and Microsoft in a stand against government data seizures. The tech giants will be updating "their policies to expand routine notification of users about government

UPDATE: IGN's Free Game of the Month is The Wolf Among Us. Click here for a free promo code for Episode 1. Additional episodes can be bought for $5 each as an in-app purchase.

There were a lot of games released to the App Store this week so lets jump right in. App Updates: Republique Episode 2: Metamorphosis is now available as a $4.99 in-app purchase, Microsoft has added AirPrint support to its Office iPad apps, and Google Drive now features a Passcode Lock option and Docs and Sheets support.

Here are this week's noteworthy App Store and Cydia releases for 04/27/14 to 05/03/14. Apple's Free Game of the Week is the note taking app Notability. The app will be free on the App Store until 05/08/14. Super Stickman Golf 2 is also currently free for a limited time, and both Infinity Blade and Machinarium are on sale this week.

After nearly four weeks of testimony and three days of deliberation, the eight person jury in the Apple v Samsung patent infringement trial finally delivered a verdict. It is hard to say who won this round, as Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was only awarded a fraction of what it sought - $119.6 million, while Samsung, though it was awarded just $158,000, dodged the bulk of the $2.2 billion in damages that Apple claimed.

Apple initially filed suit against Samsung in February 2012, claiming that several of the Korean company's devices, including the Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note and Note II, and the Galaxy Tab II infringed upon Apple patents. Apple sought nearly $2.2 billion from Samsung, a number arrived at by Apple damages expert Chris Vellturo. A large fraction of the damages sought was derived from Vellturo's estimate of $1.15 to $15.03 in damages per patent infringement, per device, which added up to about

Talks of launching a MetroPCS-branded iPhone have resurfaced one year after T-Mobile acquired the pre-paid carrier. Marketing Officer Mike Sievert told Re/code, that the company is very interested in bringing the iPhone to its customers.

Last summer, T-Mobile CEO John Legere told AllThingsD that a MetroPCS iPhone was not out of the question, but also not "imminent". T-Mobile is struggling on how to make Apple's handset "affordable enough for all of MetroPCS’s customers," according to Re/code. Pre-paid iPhones are not a new concept, the AT&T owned Cricket offers the 16GB iPhone 5s for $600, but that may be a stretch for some budget-minded MetroPCS customers.

Live Colors for Kids is a fun app that takes the mess out of finger painting. The app is geared towards preschool aged kids, but I have found that older children also enjoy it. Like most children's apps the game features an easy to use interface for little fingers plus fun graphics and music.

The app includes 20 animated coloring pages and a blank template for children to use to create their own drawings. A pleasant voice not only walks users through the game but it also names each color as it is used so smaller children can learn to identify them. The game also teaches users how to create new colors using the app's built-in color mixing palette. Other features include an auto save option so you can finish your drawings later, the ability to share your child's creations on social networks and the ability to print finished masterpieces.