High-Tech Nova Weekly: Top five trends for 2/13-2/17
Here's what high-tech innovation trends and developments made the biggest waves this week!
Apple vs Samsung and its Galaxy Nexus Android 4.0
Well, the Apple vs Samsung patent war has finally reached US shores. The two smartphone kingpins are duking it out over four patents, as the Galaxy Nexus Android 4.0 begins threatening the dominance of the iPhone. Apple wants to ban sales of Android for being an alleged knock-off of their own iOS -- no one has forgotten the infamous declaration that they are willing to go "thermonuclear war on this." In dispute is a ‘data tapping’ patent, a universal interface information retrieval patent, a ‘slide-to-unlock’ patent and a word completion patent.
Other OS Wars
There was much ado (about nothing? about something?) in the world of OS besides the Apple vs Android shenanigans. HP's Meg Whitman played up their open source webOS while expressing concern that Google would use their Motorola purchase to close its OS -- which is a bit silly, since Google would only harm itself by not allowing others access to the OS. Then, the Mountain Lion, Apple's latest OS X, comes roaring out the gate, making enough noise to contest the upcoming rival Windows 8 OS. Lastly, Cisco is snapping its teeth at Microsoft's Skype merger by asking the European Commission to revise the conditions under which it approved the fusion -- they're worried that Skype's integration into Microsoft's Lync would limit interoperability for the much used program. Look for a deeper analysis of the OS wars next week!
Mobile Gadgetry, Apps and Upgrades
As the Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona draws ever closer (February 27 - March 1), smartphone and app developers have been hawking their wares and preaching their value. In case you missed it, take a look at our extensive Mobile World Congress 2012 Preview.
Apple vs Kodak -- Beating a Dead Horse
You know, Kodak's taken some hits lately with its bankruptcy woes, but to add insult to injury, Apple has decided to sue them! Yes, there has been some back and forth between the two companies, mainly over digital frames, printers and photos. As far as what happened to turn Kodak into a dead horse? Be sure to check out our analysis of what it takes to remain competitive and current these days and what we can learn from Kodak, Google and Amazon.
Tesla Motors and Tesla Charging
Tesla Motors has created some waves with its latest Model X. Look for some in-depth analysis next week of both the car, the car company and the man himself -- not Nikola Tesla, but Elon Musk! As far as Tesla-like charging, have you heard of inductive charging? There's a new tech in town called WiTricity and a company called Witricity -- no, you're not seeing double (talk about staking a claim with your company name!) -- that's making gadget and car charging technology wireless. No longer will you tangle or trip over those cords.