Robert J. Mullins

A group promoting competitive innovation on the Internet has criticized the FTC’s “headline-grabbing settlement” for $22.5 million with Google as a move that “will chill Internet innovation.” The reaction from the Competitive Enterprise Institute followed the Federal Trade Commission’s Aug. 9 announcement that Google had agreed to settle with the agency over charges that it […]

When the Apple vs. Samsung patent-infringement trial resumes Aug. 10 in San Jose, Calif., attention is expected to focus on a 132-page confidential Samsung report showing point-by-point how Samsung’s design comes up short compared with the iPhone. The document, introduced into evidence by Apple during the trial in U.S. District Court for the Northern District […]

Microsoft already has more than 700,000 software developers creating and updating applications that integrate with the Office suite of productivity software, but it is trying to build out the Office ecosystem even more. The company is taking several major steps to encourage developers to support the Office platform and make it as easy as possible […]

It’s becoming increasingly apparent that Microsoft’s OEMs are irked by the software giant’s decision to compete against them by introducing the Surface, a tablet computer that combines Microsoft’s operating system and for the first time Microsoft-made PC hardware. J.T. Wang, CEO of Acer, was quoted in the Financial Times newspaper as saying Microsoft should “think […]

In an effort to make its patent case against Samsung as strong as possible, Apple brought forth a graphic designer as a witness to claim Samsung copied the look of Apple application icons in the design of its smartphones and tablets. The icons on a Samsung phone that identify applications such as email, messaging, contacts […]

Tech news Websites and blogs have been buzzing the last few days with news that Microsoft is going to block Windows 8 users from booting directly to their desktop without having to use the tiled start screen. But it’s apparent that Microsoft needs to take this step to truly compete in the tablet computer market. […]

An ongoing debate about subtle differences between Apple and Samsung mobile devices dominated most of the testimony Aug. 9 in the patent infringement trial playing out in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif. An industrial designer called by Apple to testify, Peter Bressler, said that there are similarities in the look of Samsung smartphones […]

SAP announced that it is falling short of its goal to make a $6.56 billion internal profit in 2012, based on weaker-than-expected first-half profitability, and it is seeking to reduce costs to reach its goal. Germany-based SAP said its first-half internal profit, also known as operating profit, came in at $2.35 billion and, at that […]

The first week of the trial of Apple’s patent-infringement lawsuit against Samsung included testimony from a Samsung executive acknowledging that the smartphone and tablet computer maker studied the products of rival Apple when developing its own competing models, but denying that it copied any elements of Apple’s products. The testimony of Justin Denison, chief strategy […]

The U.K.-based tech industry analyst firm Canalys got some media attention recently by predicting that the Microsoft Surface tablet will suffer the same fate as Microsoft’s failed foray into the MP3 player market with Zune, but a Silicon Valley-based analyst said the facts aren’t in yet to make such a judgment. “It’s difficult to do […]