So Phil Schiller gave a second eve-of-Galaxy-S4-launch interview, this one to Reuters reporter Poornima Gupta. The headline (“Apple’s Schiller Blasts Android, Samsung on Galaxy’s Eve”) is spot-on, but here’s the second paragraph:

The marketing chief’s rare attack on a rival, on the eve of the Galaxy S4’s global premier in New York, underscores the extent of the pressure piled upon a company that once stood the undisputed leader of the smartphone arena, but ceded its crown to Samsung in 2012.

Before I got to that final clause, I thought Gupta was on the cusp of making a salient point with regard to what’s going on with Apple and the news media today. Like most first-generation Apple products, the original iPhone was greeted by much skepticism. Needs a keyboard. Needs a removable battery. Costs too much. Only on AT&T. Then, after a few years, it became obvious that the iPhone was in fact the way all modern smartphones should work — a touchscreen with very few hardware buttons and an app-based system, more computer-with-phone-features than phone-with-computer-features. And Apple had no serious competition. None. This is the period, from 2009-2011 or so, where Apple’s stock rose coincident with its profits, at a steady consistent pace. But as time goes on, I’m ever more convinced that many observers — including investors and reporters (especially those in the business press) — developed three bad assumptions:

More: Daring Fireball: Ceding the Crown

According to the latest research from our Handset Country Share Tracker (CST) service, Apple’s iPhone 5 overtook Samsung’s Galaxy S3 to become the world’s best-selling smartphone model for the first time ever in the fourth quarter of 2012. A rich touchscreen, extensive distribution and generous operator subsidies have propelled the iPhone 5 to the top spot.

Apple’s iPhone 5 smartphone model shipped an estimated 27.4 million units worldwide during the fourth quarter of 2012. The iPhone 5 captured an impressive 13 percent share of all smartphones shipped globally and it has become the world’s best-selling smartphone model for the first time ever. A rich touchscreen design, extensive distribution across dozens of countries, and generous operator subsidies have been among the main causes of the iPhone 5’s success. In addition to the iPhone 5, Apple shipped an estimated 17.4 million iPhone 4S units for 8 percent smartphone share globally in Q4 2012. Apple’s iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S are currently the world’s two most popular smartphone models.

More: Apple iPhone 5 Overtakes Samsung Galaxy S3 to Become World’s Best-Selling Smartphone Model in Q4 2012

Sounds like Apple is doomed. Doomed!

pcmag.com

Samsung is reportedly prepared to sue Apple over the iPhone 5 should the new smartphone include 4G LTE capability.

According to a report from the Korea Times, Samsung will sue Apple for infringing on a patent for 4G LTE connectivity. Citing industry sources, the paper said Samsung will target Apple in Europe and the U.S.

A Samsung spokesman declined to comment on the report.

Apple is scheduled to unveil its next-generation iPhone at a Wednesday press event in San Francisco. It’s very likely that the new device will have 4G LTE connectivity; Cupertino’s new iPad $629.00 at Walmart.com included the functionality when it was released in March.

Samsung, however, has had limited success when it comes to battling Apple on patents. Last month, Apple won a $1.05 billion judgment against Samsung in California court, where Samsung was found guilty of infringing on Apple utility and design patents with its smartphones and tablets.

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technewsworld.com

Despite the acrimony that has grown between Apple and Google over patent infringement allegations — mostly related to Android — the companies apparently are open to talking through some of their differences. Or perhaps they’re just setting up the appearance of good-faith negotiations in advance of a no-holds-barred legal slugfest.

The great patent showdown expected to eventually take place between Apple and Google in some courtroom, somewhere, may never happen. The two companies are in talks on a range of intellectual property issues, according to an exclusive report by Reuters that specifically cites the issues the two companies have with each other over mobile patents.

To date, the talks have consisted of a phone conversation between Google CEO Larry Page and Apple CEO Tim Cook, supplemented by lower-level executive discussions, according to Reuters.

Of course, the uber conglomerates may wind up in a courtroom despite the outreach. Certainly, neither company would be cowed by the prospect of huge legal fees if it comes to that.

Apple has just scored an unmitigated victory against Samsung and has many reasons to press forward, not the least of which is Steve Job’s legacy. Jobs was never one to shy away from a patent fight, especially against Google.

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pcmag.com

This is a disaster for Apple no matter what Samsung does to its interface and its rounded corners. The case and its results, because of Apple testimonies, make it sound as if Apple was suing because a better product evolved.

Will the public stick with the iPhone just to be loyal to the creator of the modern smartphone concepts? In a down economy where every penny counts, it’s doubtful. Samsung is not only a cheaper alternative but has many more models. Combine this with the scandals at Foxconn, Apple’s manufacturer, and Apple is in trouble.

Really? This article almost reads as if it were published by the Onion. Dvorak even mentions Foxconn, which is an especially salient point, because as we all know, Samsung has no manufacturing issues in China.

bbc.co.uk

Apple’s legal motion to have some Samsung mobile phones banned in the US will now be heard in court in December.

A jury on Friday ordered Samsung to pay Apple more than $1bn (£664m) after ruling it had infringed several of the iPhone maker’s patents.

The judge had originally suggested that Apple’s request would be heard next month, but now says that a hearing will take place on 6 December.

Shares in Samsung rose 3% on Tuesday on news of the delay of the hearing.

The South Korean firm had $12bn wiped off its market value on Monday as its shares suffered their biggest drop since October 2008.

sfgate.com

Apple Inc. is seeking a U.S. sales ban on eight models of Samsung Electronics Co. smartphones and the extension of a preliminary ban on a tablet computer after winning a patent trial against the South Korean company.

Apple, which won more than $1 billion Aug. 24 after a jury found Samsung infringed six of seven patents at stake in the trial, named the phones it wants barred in a filing yesterday with U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California. The list includes several devices in the bestselling Galaxy lineup.

The effect on Samsung’s sales will be negligible because Apple’s list only includes older devices that will account for less than 1.4 percent of the Korean company’s profits next year, said Mark Newman, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein who used to work at Samsung. The impact would be 6.3 percent if Apple manages to broaden a ban to newer devices and block 80 percent of all Samsung phones, he said.

hosted.ap.org

Apple Inc.’s $1 billion legal victory could mean fewer smartphone options for consumers to choose from, analysts said.

A federal jury’s verdict Friday that Samsung Electronic Co. stole Apple’s technology to make and market smartphones using Google’s Android software sends a warning to other companies manufacturing similar devices, the biggest marketplace threat to Apple.

“Some of these device makers might end up saying, `We love Android, but we really don’t want to fight with Apple anymore,’” said Christopher Marlett, CEO of MDB Capital Group, an investment bank specializing in intellectual property. “I think it may ultimately come down to Google having to indemnify these guys, if it wants them to continue using Android.”

androidpolice.com

A little over a year ago, before I was hired at AP, I wrote about the things I wanted my new Honeycomb tablet to be able to do in the next version of Android. Multitasking on tablets was (and still is) non-existent, and I wanted my tablet to be less of a big phone, and more of a small computer. I wanted split screen, and floating apps, and really, I wanted to just make use of this nice, big screen I had. One task at a time isn’t good enough. The big difference between a tablet and a phone should be the ability to multitask.

As it turns out, Samsung gets it. The Galaxy Note 10.1 is actually trying to make tablets useful, productive tools. They’ve added split screen and floating apps. I’ve actually got my email and a web browser open side by side right now, and it’s like a dream come true.

If that isn’t enough for you, this thing also has pen input. A pressure-sensitive pen stows away in the bottom-left corner of the tablet. You can take notes, and select an area of the screen to capture and draw on it.

On paper, it all sounds very good. Reality, however, is an entirely different story. It’s not enough to just have a good idea, you have to actually make it real, you need to build it.

I’m sad to report that Samsung failed at execution on all fronts.

A photo of the plastic back of the Galaxy Note 10.1

This thing sounds absolutely awful. I can’t even imagine charging $500 for a device that has a flimsy plastic back that flexes under the lightest touch. In the photo above, of you can see how warped the reflection the reviewer’s desktop display looks.

tech.fortune.cnn.com

FORTUNE — In early December 2010, dozens of reporters happily repeated Samsung’s claim that it had sold 1 million Galaxy Tab computers in the three and a half weeks since the tablet’s November 2010 U.S. debut. Seven weeks later Samsung was telling analysts that Tab sales had passed 2 million.

It’s hard to reconcile those numbers with court documents Samsung filed Thursday in a California federal court that show the company selling 262,000 Galaxy Tabs in the U.S. — the world’s largest tablet market —  in Q4 2010 and 77,000 in Q1 2011.

The discrepancy in the estimates of  independent market researchers is even greater. According to an IDC press release issued just last week, Samsung sold 2,391,000 tablet computers worldwide in Q2 2012, up 117.6% from the same quarter last year. According to Samsung’s court filing, it sold a total of 37,000 “accused” tablets (see UPDATE) in the U.S. last quarter, down 86% year over year.

While its possible that Samsung’s overseas sales made up the difference, it’s extremely unlikely. According to court documents Apple (AAPL) filed Thursday, revealing for the first time its domestic iPhone and iPad sales figures, the U.S. represented an average of 42% of its worldwide tablet unit sales over the past nine quarters. The U.S. share of iPad sales was never lower than 26%.

If Samsung really sold 2.4 million tablets last quarter, as IDC estimates, 1.5% were sold in the U.S. and 98.5% overseas. That’s pretty hard to believe.