Info Walkers: October 2012

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Grading iOS 6 Maps: pass or fail?

Almost as soon as Apple released iOS 6 users flocked to the new first-party (read:non-Google) Maps app and unleased a torrent of complaints (1, 2, 3) about it. There's no denying the sex-appeal of Maps' new photo-realistic and interactive 3D views, but would you trade transit and Street View data for it?

Generally, the biggest complaints are coming from users outside of the major metropolitan cities that iOS 6 Maps supports. For example, check out this screenshot of Bowling Green State University (as noted by @iOS6Maps) in iOS 5:

And then in iOS 6:

(Someone was so put off by @iOS6Maps Twitter account that it got it suspended. Hmmm...)

The other big complaints center around the iOS 6 Maps' lack of transit, Street View, POI data and sub-standard traffic reportage. Theamazingios6maps.tumblr.com is cataloging some of the more egregious failures in the new Maps.

In lieu of them, Apple focused on turn-by-turn navigation, 3D Flyover views and its own traffic data. Michael Degusta blogs that "Apple is risking upsetting 70% of the world’s population" with the feature removals, noting that 63 countries (representing a population of 5 billion+) will be without one or more of the Maps features previously available in iOS 5.

I'm still using my trusty iPhone 4, so my biggest complaint with iOS 6 Maps is that voice navigation isn't supported on the iPhone 4. You need an iPhone 4S or 5 for that. I've been using navigation in the TomTom app on my iPhone 4 for a couple of months, so it's not a hardware limitation. And TomTom includes a huge POI database from FourSquare. iOS 6's lack of navigation on the iPhone 4 is a classic example of planned obsolescence on Apple's part. It intentionally crippled Maps on the (two generation old) iPhone 4 to force users to upgrade.

To be fair, Siri also took a lot of criticism when it was released. It has since maturated into a flagship feature of iOS that many users find very useful. Apple's first-party Maps app is sure to improve over time -- collecting map data is extremely labor intensive and traffic data will grow via crowdsourcing -- but did Apple move too soon?

When Apple killed its YouTube app, Google was quick to respond. Danny Sullivan notes that after only a week, YouTube is the #1 free app in iTunes. So many have taken solace in thinking that Google will release its own Maps app for iOS (like it did with YouTube), but it's being cagey and won't confirm that a Google Maps app for iOS is coming.

City slickers are sure to dig the new 3D flyovers, but what about everyone else? What's your take on the new iOS 6 Maps? (Please note your locale in your comment.)

UPDATE: In June, Wired's Christina Bonnington noted that Google executive Jeff Huber confirmed in a comment on a Google+ post that the company would be releasing its own Maps app for iOS. Huber wrote, “We look forward to providing amazing Google Maps experiences on iOS.”

UPDATE 2: Apple has given this statement to AllThingsD regarding Map-gate:

Customers around the world are upgrading to iOS 6 with over 200 new features including Apple Maps, our first map service. We are excited to offer this service with innovative new features like Flyover, turn by turn navigation, and Siri integration. We launched this new map service knowing it is a major initiative and that we are just getting started with it. Maps is a cloud-based solution and the more people use it, the better it will get. We appreciate all of the customer feedback and are working hard to make the customer experience even better.
... and AllThingsD’s John Paczkowski notes that "the team assigned to the app is under lockdown right now working to fix it."

UPDATE 3: 9to5Mac claims that Google has been developing Maps for iOS for "years" and that a version of Google Maps for iOS 6 "has been submitted to Apple" and is awaiting approval.

Entire iPhone 5 shipment stolen from London O2 store

Police want to question an O2 shop assistant over the theft of iPhone 5 handsets from one of the operator's stores in London.

Around 250 handsets, worth about £100,000, were stolen from the O2 Store in the Tandem Centre in Colliers Wood near Wimbledon at 1.30am this morning. The stolen devices included the store's entire stock of iPhone 5 smartphones that were due to go on sale at 9am the same day.

The arrival of the iPhone 5 on Friday generated huge queues outside Apple Stores in London and across the world. However, the number of buyers at shops run by networks such as Three were much lower.

Metropolitan Police want to speak to 23-year-old Usman Sethi of Ilford in Greater London, who works as an assistant at the O2 store. He was captured on CCTV footage in the shop in the early hours of Friday morning.

Sethi is an Asian man, 6'1" in height and a Pakistani national. Police believe he may be driving a grey Ford Mondeo.

O2 said that it had alerted the authorities to the theft of the handsets, which include other devices besides the iPhone 5 stock.

"We notified the police and are doing everything we can to help them with their investigation," a spokesperson for O2 said.

A quantity of cash was also taken from the safe in the store. In addition, police are looking to interview Sethi in connection with the theft on Friday morning of jewellery belonging to a family member. They are appealing for anyone who sees Sethi to call Merton CID.

Teenage texting champion wins $50,000 prize

17 year-old Austin Weirschke from Wisconsin won $50,000 at the National Texting Championship held in New York City.

The sixth competition of its kind, the tournament tested American entrants on their ability to text quickly and efficiently.

Sponsored by LG Electronics, the competition featured one device with a physical keyboard. Speed, accuracy and dexterity were all scrutinized through a number of tasks.

Some of the tasks were fairly simple; memorizing a message and then quickly typing it out; translating shorthand 'text speak' to standard English -- for example, TTYL (talk to you later), and others impeded the challengers by blocking their vision or tying their hands behind their back.

One round involved writing messages backwards more quickly than rival competitors, whereas in another, entrants had to type "Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are; up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky" while wearing vision-blocking headwear.

Weirschke, who won the competition last year, defended his title by typing a 149-character message in just 39 seconds, beating 10 rivals between the ages of 16 and 24. Since May, competition has been whittled down from over 100,000 entrants.

The teenager says the money will be used to fund his college education, and attributes his success to practicing with his mother, typing random phases and words, and texting friends. He defended his title but had close competition as 16 year-old New Yorker Kent Augustine lost out to the champion by only a few seconds in the final round.

The high school student plans to keep improving and return next year.

Seven reasons to buy the Nokia Lumia 920

The Nokia Lumia 920 was shown off in New York last week and after checking out all of the coverage, I can say without a doubt that I will be purchasing one as soon as they are released. The color I choose will depend on which carrier(s) in the US get the high end Lumia, but with three carrier contracts I know at least one of my carriers will get the device. Based on just what we know so far, Microsoft was very tight lipped about Windows Phone 8, I have seven main reasons I think the Lumia 920 is the device for me.

Reason one: PureMotion HD+ display
The Nokia Lumia 900 has a ClearBlack display and some testing earlier this year revealed that the Lumia 900 has a better outdoor display than the iPhone 4S and Galaxy S. Nokia is now taking that ClearBlack display technology to the next level and showed us all their PureMotion HD+ technology that looks to be the leading display on smartphones today.

The PureMotion HD+ display automatically adjusts to sunlight glare, has those gorgeous deep blacks, provides super smooth scrolling through pixel translation speeds that are 2.5x faster than other phones, and works with fingernails, fingertips, and fingers covered with gloves. Yes, you can use your Nokia Lumia 920 in winter with gloves on without needing anything special in the gloves or any other gimmick. This new display just works and does so in nearly any environment you need. I recommend you read the white paper on the display (PDF link) to learn more about the technology.

Reason two: PureView camera technology
The Nokia 808 PureView sets the bar for all camera phones and really stands alone. Nokia's Lumia 920 doesn't have as much of that amazing technology, but it still has been shown to be an outstanding camera and when the device gets out of the prototype stage you can bet that reviewers will thoroughly test the camera. Nokia has an interesting white paper (PDF link) on the details of the camera technology used in the Lumia 920. As Nokia states this is the second phase in PureView technology and includes some of the core pieces such as high performance Carl Zeiss optics and powerful image processing algorithms. Low light performance is a major feature in this new camera, along with video image stabilization.

Reason three: Nokia Maps
Nokia Maps is the best service Nokia has ever offered and I use it on several different platforms. I love the functional offline maps and GPS navigation features in Nokia Maps Drive on my Lumia 900 and in the Lumia 920 Nokia improves that experience by rolling in several of the utilities that you can get now on the Lumia 900 and is taking Nokia Maps offline as well. You will find offline map support with free turn-by-turn navigation, daily commute and local traffic reports, Nokia Transport for public transit schedules, and Nokia City Lens for augmented reality discovery.

Reason four: Windows Phone 8
I would probably have placed this higher in my list if Microsoft would have allowed Nokia to actually show it off, but it seems Microsoft is running a bit behind on the software so manufacturers are not able to give demos yet. We have seen eight new platform improvements coming in Windows Phone 8 and there are still many details remaining to be revealed. I look forward to seeing what Nokia does with NFC since they have been using it well on their Symbian devices and accessories. The new Start screen looks fantastic for the way I use my Windows Phones and WP8 just cannot get here fast enough for me.

Reason five: Qi wireless charging
I know this is not a huge feature, but it is something unique that distinguishes the Nokia Lumia from other Windows Phone 8 devices. I really appreciated the convenience of Qi charging with my Droid Charge and have been hoping there would be another manufacturer using this standard so I could pull out my pad and use it again. Nokia showed off several accessories that take advantage of this wireless charging technology and I am excited to try some out. The partnership deals with coffee shops is excellent and I hope we see more of these moving forward too.

Reason six: Nokia Music
Nokia Music just launched late last week for US Lumia owners and I have been using it every day since then. I am working on an article comparing it to the Zune Pass and other subscription services, but the big deal here is that it is FREE for Lumia owners. If you enjoy music, then getting a free service like this can provide significant regular savings to your smartphone ownership costs.

Reason seven: Color selection
Again, this may not mean much to many people, but I personally like having color options for my devices and plan to purchase the yellow Lumia 920 as long as it is supported on one of my carriers. Even if Nokia doesn't sell a ton of the yellow models, I think bold colors like this will help get people into the stores and generate conversation around the device, which is exactly what Nokia needs to do to gain marketshare.

Nokia looks to be doing everything possible to help Windows Phone succeed and make sure they are around to compete in the smartphone space. I don't know what else people were expecting from Nokia or Windows Phone 8, but in my opinion they went above my expectations with unique features such as the amazing display and Qi wireless charging.

China's 274M microbloggers is highest in world

China, which is home to 538 million Internet users, has some 274 million microbloggers as of June this year, a massive jump from 63 million back in 2010.

Citing a report published by the Social Sciences Academic Press, Xinhua said on Monday the number is the highest in the world. It said microblogging has become an important channel for Chinese citizens to express themselves, especially on public issues.

The report's authors said the government has recognized the influence of microblog networks and have made more efforts to use them, since it is also an easy, low-cost communication channel. As of last October, there were 18,132 accounts on Sina Weibo's microblogging platform registered by government officials, it noted.

Between July and December last year, the authorities responded to about 71.9 percent of the issues widely discussed by microbloggers, and 50.4 percent were within 24 hours, according to the report.

It also said statistics from China Internet Network Information Center (CINIC) revealed that the number of Internet users in China rose 10.9 percent year on year to 538 million by June this year. That means four out of 10 Chinese access the Internet.

The number is expected to hit more than 800 million users by 2015.

Apart from microblogging, instant messaging (IM) also gained popularity with about 415 million users, overtaking online search, music and news as the most popular Web application, the report said.

However, legislation for these new Internet media has lagged, and a national strategy to manage the development of Internet is needed. There remains no specialized law for the Web, while many related articles in existing laws need revision, the report noted.

In China, where foreign social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are banned, government regulation of local Web services including microblogs, is not new.

In December last year, the government announced a real-name user registration rule. Later in April, two of the largest microblog sites, Weibo and Tencent's t.qq.com, were banned for three days after users posted comments that fanned complaints over censorship. It was unclear, though, whether the ban was ordered by government regulators or initiated by the companies.

DDoS attacks: 150Gb per second and rising

On this week's Patch Monday podcast (on Tuesday, thanks to yesterday's public holiday across most of Australia) you'll hear an overview of the current trends in DDoS.

"Certainly, attacks are on the increase, and the size of attacks are also increasing," said Alex Caro, Akamai Technologies' chief technology officer and vice-president of services for Asia Pacific and Japan.

Akamai saw DDoS attacks against their customers double in number between 2010 and 2011, and the company expects this trend to continue for 2012.

"The biggest attack that we've seen is around 150 gigabits per second, and we expect much larger attacks in the future," Caro said.

But even that level of malicious traffic is easily absorbed, he said.

"Today, we're probably serving eight, maybe ten terabits per second of traffic at peak, so a 150 gigabit per second denial of service attack is actually fairly small when all is said and done."

Other attacks seen by Akamai have continued for months.

According to information security vendor Imperva's Hacker Intelligence Initiative, Monthly Trend Report #12 (PDF), DDoS attacks are cheap and easy to conduct, because there's no need to penetrate the network — and so there's no need to identify vulnerabilities to disrupt a web application. Nevertheless, attackers are getting smarter.

"Attackers realise that, instead of firing a really ridiculous amount of traffic to take down a website, they could use some more clever traffic in order to shut it down [with] much less effort," said Tal Be'ery, web security research team leader at Imperva.

"In previous years, they've focused on really flooding the network ... with UDP packets and so forth. In order to do that, you need a lot of firepower. And now, they're going up the application stack and going to the HTTP, and even to the application layer."

Caro and Be'ery also outline the broad strategies for defending against DDoS.

To leave an audio comment on the program, Skype to stilgherrian, or phone Sydney +61 2 8011 3733.

Why the iPad Mini may go HD, like the iPhone 5

Assuming the photos and measurements recently posted at nowhereelse.fr (English translation) of a physical model of the iPad Mini from GizChina turn out to be real, the iPad mini won't have a 4:3 display like the full-size iPad.

DisplayMate's Dr. Raymond Soneira notes that Apple increased the iPhone's aspect ratio -- from 1.50 in the iPhone 4 to 1.78 in the iPhone 5 -- and concludes that the same thing could happen with the iPad Mini, especially if it is positioned for selling TV content, which has 16:9.

Soneira notes that 4:3 aspect ratio screens are great for reading because they have the same aspect ratio as content on 8.5 x 11-inch documents, but that smaller 7 to 8-inch screens with 4:3 aspect ratios will be noticeably letterboxed with 16:9 content, with reduced image size.

Keeping the 768 pixel height in the iPad mini will allow apps written for 1024 x 768 to be displayed with letterbox borders as they are on the iPhone 5. Based on this, Soneira thinks that there are four possible resolutions for the iPad mini, with 1152 x 768 being the most likely:

1024 x 768 is 4:3 = 1.33

1152 x 768 is 3:3 = 1.50

1228 x 768 is 16:10 = 1.60

1366 x 768 is 16:9 = 1.78

If you think about it, a 4:3 iPad Mini really doesn't make very good sense. This might even tie in with Steve Jobs' original objections to a smaller size. But for consuming content, which is how Google and Amazon are marketing their 7 inch Tablets, and how Apple will most likely market theirs as well, something closer to 16:9 makes a lot more sense...

The oft-rumored, 7.85-inch screen "mini" iPad is rumored to go on sales in early November -- November 2 to be exact. Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports that invitations for the Apple event are going out on October 10 for an event on October 17.

Bharti Airtel challenges 3G roaming ruling

Bharti Airtel has submitted a petition to the Delhi High Court challenging the Department of Telecommunications' (DoT) decision to end 3G roaming services outside operators' licensed areas, saying it adversely affects the interest of the customers.

The Times of India reported Monday that local operators had previously entered into 3G roaming agreements to offer services such as video calling, mobile TV and multimedia gaming amongst themselves so that 3G coverage can be extended beyond each operator's license area.

However, the DoT last December issued a statement saying such 3G roaming pacts were illegal and must be terminated immediately. It also said the government was losing revenue because of these agreements.

Responding to this directive, Bharti Airtel, in its petition on Monday, said the directive "adversely affects the interest of the customers and the subscribers who are benefiting from the 3G arrangements".

It added: "The impugned decision of the DoT [violates] Article 14 as it is arbitrary, has no rational basis, is illogical and contrary to the contract between the parties."

Bharti Airtel, together with Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular, had also responded to the directive by writing in to India's prime minister to demand a refund of their spectrum auction payment if such a regulation was to proceed.

Google reportedly buying AR, facial-recognition firm Viewdle

Google has reportedly purchased mobile facial-recognition and augmented-reality (AR) startup Viewdle.

A source familiar with the deal told ZDNet's sister site CNET that the deal has been in the works for more than a year, and is expected to close this week.

Details of the takeover have not been officially disclosed, and Google has declined to respond, stating that it does not comment on rumour or speculation. However, the source said that the price would be toward the high end in the US$30 million to US$45 million range, consistent with what a source told Forbes — that the deal is similar to Google's recent acquisitions of Neven Vision and PittPatt in terms of monetary value.

When ZDNet asked Viewdle to comment on the claims, CEO Jason Mitura said that the questions should be referred to a Motorola Mobility spokesperson. Motorola did not respond to requests for comment at the time of writing.

Google acquired Motorola Mobility earlier this year for US$12.5 billion.

What Google will use Viewdle's technology for is purely speculative at this point, but it appears as though it could go in any manner of directions. The company drew a large investment of US$10 million from Best Buy, BlackBerry Partners Fund, and Qualcomm in 2010, later developing an AR game called Third Eye for the Android platform. It also developed SocialCamera on Facebook.

Other uses of Viewdle's technology include real-time facial recognition on Android to allow people in videos to be identified, and touch-free gesture recognition, so that users can operate mobile devices from a distance, such as while driving a car.

Philippine cybercrime law under fire, 6th petition filed

A group of petitioners in Philippines, consisting of lawmakers, bloggers and students, have sought a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the country's implementation of its Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012--making it the sixth filed against the controversial legislation.

According to GMA News Online on Monday, the petition centered on the definition of online libel stated in the law, specifically sections 4, 5 and 6, which the petitioners say are "unconstitutional due to vagueness". The law also curtails "constitutional rights to due process, speech, expression, free press and academic freedom", it stated.

The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 , signed by President Benigno Aquino III on Sep. 12, aims to fight online pornography, hacking, identity theft and spamming following local law enforcement agencies' complaints over the lack of legal tools to combat cybercrime.

However, the law came with tougher legal penalties for Internet defamation, compared to traditional media.

It also allows authorities to collect data from personal user accounts on social media and listen in on voice and video applications such as Skype, without a warrant. Users who post defamatory comments on Facebook or Twitter, for example, could be sentenced to up 12 years in jail.

Hacktivists take aim
The other five petitions filed with the Philippine Supreme Court, too, noted the law infringes on freedom of expression, due process, equal protection and privacy of communication, a separate report by GMA News Online on Saturday stated.

Senator Teofisto Guingona, the sole opponent when the bill was voted on by the Senate and who filed one of the petitions, told the Supreme Court: "Without a clear definition of the crime of libel and the persons liable, virtually any person can now be charged with a crime--even if you just retweet or comment on an online update or blog post."

Hacktivist group Anonymous Philippines also protested against the cybercrime law last week by striking down several government Web sites in the country, according to The Philippines Star. The hackers replaced the sites with an animated logo and statement against the Cybercrime Act, calling it "the most notorious act ever witnessed in the cyber history of the Philippines".

However, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda defended the cybercrime law last week. "The Cybercrime Act sought to attach responsibilities in cyberspace...freedom of expression is always recognized but freedom of expression is not absolute," he said.

Lacierda did say the law could be redefined, and called for critics to submit their concerns to a government panel, which will issue specific definitions of the law, such as who may be prosecuted, by the year's end.

Australia’s love affair with Apple

Share of web browsing by iOS and Android

According to web analytics company Statscounter, 69 percent of all mobile web browsing in Australia comes from iOS devices. That figure has moved little in the last two years; it is well above the world average of 24 percent, and quite a bit higher than the US' 50 percent.

The Statscounter data seems believable — it is gathered from a tracking code placed on 3 million websites around the world and the sample sizes are large — with more than 17 billion page views per month, 1.5 percent of them from Australia.

Why is Australia so different to the rest of the world? It's not because there has been a slow embrace of Android — it accounts for 28 percent of all traffic, about the same as the UK. Here, in Australia, expensive data plans before the arrival of the iPhone undoubtedly slowed take-up of the smartphones alternatives. In the US, Android adoption started much earlier, and usage is now up to 41 percent of all mobile traffic, but that doesn't mean the rest of the world will follow.

In fact, what makes Australia different is that mobile use has become a two horse race. After iOS and Android, all other platforms account for just 4 percent of the market; compared to 47 percent globally.

This is partially a reflection on slower turnover of models — some countries are still using Blackberry devices, for example — but, also, the influence of Nokia cannot be ignored. By the start of this year, Nokia had sold 1.5 billion such devices, and Statscounter shows that it has captured 15 percent of the world mobile browsing market; Nokia's Symbian OS currently accounts for 12 percent.

Series 40 took off in South America, Asia, and Africa — places where the iPhone is too expensive. Perhaps the real future, at least in emerging markets, is for lower costing and less feature-rich devices.

In last week's Twisted Wire podcast Alcatel Lucent's Jason Collins talked about how the intelligence found on our phones will eventually move into the cloud. We won't need the app-centric features of an iPhone, just a solidly built form factor, with the rich functionality offered through a web browser. If, and when, that happens, you have to wonder whether Aussies will still love their iPhone — and at what price?

URL vulnerability forces Australia Post service offline

Australia Post took its Click and Send service down today for several hours to rectify a security issue at the national postal service.

It replaced the website for the service with a notice that said it had been temporarily suspended due to a "system error."

"The site has been temporarily deactivated, as our team works to ensure the security of the system for all customers," it read during the outage.

The service allows customers to prepare all the necessary documentation to have parcels sent through the mail, such as printing labels, booking a courier, and managing different addresses for items.

HTC announces One X+ with faster processor, more storage, and larger battery

Back in May I wrote that the HTC One X was the best HTC device I have ever used and I still think it is one of the best choices for Android devices today. The display is better than what Samsung offers and is the best large screen you can find on a phone today. The One X was released to rave reviews and now six months after the One X international release we see HTC announce the HTC One X+. In addition, HTC will be releasing HTC Sense 4+ and Android Jelly Bean to current HTC One X and One S owners starting this month (highly dependent on carrier roll out in the US).

The new international version of the HTC One X+ takes the awesome design of the One X and bumps up the internals with a 1.7 GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, 64GB of internal storage, and 2100 mAh battery. The battery and updated processor provide a reported increase of up to 50% in talk time. Other specifications of the international HTC One X+ include:

4.7 inch Super LCD 2 display with Gorilla Glass 2
Android 4.1 with HTC Sense 4+
1GB RAM
8 megapixel camera with ImageSense processor and F2.0 aperature
Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX technology
NFC with support for Tap and Go (think Nokia and NFC speakers)
802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, DLNA, and HDMI out with MHL adapter
Dimensions of 134.36 x 69.9 x 8.9 mm and 135 grams
I had a chance to see HTC Sense 4+ in action and look forward to the speed enhancements and other tweaks that may seem small at first, but together make the entire experience better. For example, a new video hub puts all the video you can watch into a single place rather than having multiple video apps to jump in an out of.

The HTC One X+ will be available in Europe and North Asia from October and in South Asia from November 2012. North America will make a separate announcement regarding availability of the HTC One X+. The Android Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 4+ update is scheduled to begin rolling out for the HTC One S and HTC One X in October.

For new customers, HTC is also launching a cool new web service where you can go through the setup and personalization process from a desktop web browser. HTC purchased Dashwire last year and they helped with this new setup service that will be available at start.htc.com. It is much easier to enter all of your passwords and settings while also customizing your home screens from a desktop computer.

Samsung takes on Apple's iPhone 5 as Galaxy Tab 10.1 ban scrapped

Samsung has launched legal action against Apple's iPhone 5 in the US, and has also succeeded in getting a temporary ban against its Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android tablet lifted.

The moves mark the latest chapter in the long-running global battle between the two companies, which saw Apple win more than $1bn in compensation from the Korean manufacturer in August.

In that verdict, the jury found Samsung was infringing on Apple's intellectual property in its Android smartphones but not its tablets. Judge Lucy Koh had previously granted Apple a preliminary injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and late on Monday — with Samsung pointing out that more than a month had passed since the verdict — she agreed to scrap that ban.

However, that was a relatively small event compared to Samsung taking on the iPhone 5, Apple's flagship iOS device as of September.

In a filing made on Monday, Samsung's lawyers added the iPhone 5 to a previous filing they had submitted in June. They said the alleged infringements were the same in the iPhone 5 as in previous iterations of the smartphone, and they had clearly been unable to include it in the original suit as it had not yet been launched at the time.

According to Samsung, Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch all infringe on two mobile broadband standards patents and/or six feature patents held by the Korean company.

The company has also claimed that the iPhone 5's 4G/LTE functionality infringes on its patents, but has not yet sued over those patents.

The US patents involved in this suit are:

No. 7,756,087: Method and apparatus for performing non-scheduled transmission in a mobile communication system for supporting an enhanced uplink data channel
No. 7,551,596: Method and apparatus for signaling control information of uplink packet data service in mobile communication system
No. 7,672,470: Audio/video device having a volume control function for an external audio reproduction unit by using volume control buttons of a remote controller and volume control method therefor
No. 7,577,757: Multimedia synchronisation method and device
No. 7,232,058: Data displaying apparatus and method
No. 6,292,179: Software keyboard system using trace of stylus on a touch screen and method for recognising key code using the same
No. 6,226,449: Apparatus for recording and reproducing digital image and speech
No. 5,579,239: Remote video transmission system