Samsung has explained the design elements of its upcoming Galaxy Alpha.
The Galaxy Alpha’s metal body and curved corners makes it look like a slightly larger and thinner iPhone 5, a point that Samsung probably is aware of and has tried to disprove via a recent blog post.
Samsung notes that it has a history of making metal devices, and did not just jump onto the bandwagon with the Galaxy Alpha.In fact, it was only after exhaustive researching that Samsung designers settle on metal as the “optimal choice.”
Still, Samsung is unclear about whether the phone is an entirely metal construct, or if other materials are used.
Samsung claims that a “calm matte finish” was used for the back of the phone for a “smoother and warmer touch,” but do not elaborate on the material of the back cover.
The Galaxy Alpha’s design is apparently derived from the Samsung Card Phone from 2006.
As for the iPhone-quese “curved corners,” Samsung claims that the “curvature of the corner is carved smoothly at an exact angle to balance the straight lines on each side to give the premium look,” and that “curved corners” are functionally better at absorbing shocks if the phone is dropped.
Samsung has gone to court with Apple for allegedly coping the Cupertino company’s phone technology and designs, even paid $930 million worth of damages in a 2012 trial.
The Korean tech giant has said that it will launch the Galaxy Alpha some time in September. The United Kingdom dates are confirmed as September 10 for pre-orders and September 12 online and in shops.
Check out some of the official phone specs below.
Display: 4.7-inch HD Super AMOLED
Processor: Octa Core (Quard 1.8Ghz +Quad 1.3Ghz)
Memory: 2GB RAM
Storage: 32GB (no micro SD slot)
Battery: 1,860 mAh
OS: Android 4.4.4 KitKat
Features: Ultra-Power Saving Mode, S Health, Finger Print Scanner, Private Mode, connectivity with the Samsung Gear Fit, Gear Live and Gear 2 wearables.
AP: Apple Loses Bid to Block Sales of 9 Samsung Phones
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge has rejected Apple’s attempt to block the sale of several older Samsung smartphones that copied features in the iPhone.
Wednesday’s rebuff comes nearly four months after a jury awarded Apple Inc. $119 million in damages for Samsung’s infringements on technology used in the trend-setting iPhone. The amount was well below the $2.2 billion in damages that Apple had been seeking in the latest round of legal wrangling between the world’s two leading smartphone makers since the tussle began four years ago.
Apple wanted U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, to issue an order that would have prevented future U.S. sales of nine Samsung phone models that infringed on the iPhone technology.
Koh refused, saying Apple hadn’t adequately proven Samsung’s intellectual theft had hurt its sales or diminished its reputation for innovation. She noted that Apple had previously licensed some of the features that Samsung infringed upon to the makers of other smartphones that competed against the iPhone, too.
Apple, which is based in Cupertino, California, declined to comment on Koh’s decision.
Samsung welcomed the ruling in a statement. “We remain committed to providing American consumers with a wide choice of innovative products,” Samsung said.
In its arguments, the South Korean electronics maker had argued the damages awarded to Apple amounted to a royalty payment for its past and future infringements on the patents at issue.
The patents covered the auto-correction feature in the iPhone’s keyboard, the method to create links for email addresses and phone numbers appearing in text and the swiping gesture for unlocking the phone’s display screen.
In a reminder of technology’s relentless pace, Apple is expected to unveil the eighth generation of the iPhone early next month. The first model revolutionized the mobile computing market when it came out in 2007, prompting a frantic scramble among Samsung and other electronics makers to come up with competing products.
Apple had wanted to ban the U.S. sale of these Samsung models: the Admire, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy S II, Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy S II Skyrocket, Galaxy S III, and Stratosphere. All of those devices are powered by Google’s free Android operating system, a piece of software that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had lambasted as a blatant rip-off of the iPhone before his death in October 2011.
After Jobs died, Apple escalated its attacks on Samsung and won $930 million in damages in a separate trial completed in 2012.
Samsung also has sued Apple, and prevailed in one of its patent claims in the most recent trial. The jury awarded Samsung just $158,400 for Apple’s infringement.
The two companies recently settled all their patent disputes outside the U.S., but are still bickering here. The verdicts from May and 2012 are still under appeal.
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