The drama between Apple and Samsung continues outside the courtroom in latest Galaxy S3 ad

What? Did Apple really expect Samsung to sit quietly?

It's been a good week for Apple, what with its big reveal and overwhelming enthusiasm for the iPhone 5.

But, despite all the recent glory, Apple's got an enemy. And the thing about enemies is that, as much as they like to kick you when you're down, they're just dying to kick you when you're up too.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll know that the courtroom battle between Apple and Samsung has been raging for the better part of a year now.

Most recently, the dispute over intellectual property saw Apple win a ruling from the U.S. International Trade Commission.

But that last ruling is unlikely to put an end to the drama between the two smartphone makers, even if it means taking the fight out of the courtroom and into the streets. In fact, Samsung has done just that.

Just days after Apple's iPhone 5 unveiling, Samsung's latest ad for the Galaxy S3 takes direct aim at the newest iPhone incarnation.

The ad, which compares the two smartphones' capabilities, and calls out the iPhone 5 by name, bears the statement: “It doesn't take a genius.” Presumably, the “it” in question is figuring out the Galaxy S3 is "better."

Samsung's latest Galaxy S3 ad calls out the iPhone 5 by name

The timeliness of the ad, which must have been prepared based on specs obtained before Apple's September 12 unveiling, led 9to5Mac to quip: “you can say a lot of things about Samsung, but one thing you can’t say is that they are slow.”

Indeed, Samsung pumped that one out pretty quickly. But that's no surprise considering this isn't the first anti-Apple ad the company's run. Back when they were promoting the Galaxy S2, they slammed the iPhone with an ad making fun of Apple fanatics, claiming “the next big thing is already here.”

This time, however, Samsung's Apple-bashing is more delicately directed at the company, not its users, and that may just work. At the very least, the ad should make people feel smart for choosing a Galaxy, rather than stupid for standing in line at the Apple Store.

What do you think of Samsung's new ad? Is it tasteful? Accurate? Do you think it'll work? Leave your opinion in the comments section.

LifeProof's new Nüüd iPad case promises "barely there" waterproof protection

Humankind's fascination with gadgets can only be rivalled by our longstanding fascination with water.

So, even though we quake with fear at the thought of submerging our iPads, iPhones and other devices, it shouldn't really surprise us that, when people go swimming or surfing, they want to take their tablet or smartphone along.

We've already seen something of the waterproofing trend from LifeProof – the San Diego-based company boasts what's been called the slimmest waterproof case for iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.

LifeProof already claims the slimmest waterproof case for iPhone 4 and iphone 4S

But now, the New York Times' Gadgetwise blog is reporting on the company's latest in elemental shielding for Apple devices.

This time, LifeProof has taken its efforts to tablets, with the waterproof Nüüd iPad case. The product gets its name from the fact that there's actually no screen covering – your iPad's naked glass screen is already waterproof, and adding an extra film on top only reduces clarity.

Instead, the Nüüd case seals around the glass and provides a waterproof backing for the rest of the iPad. There's also access at the bottom for charging and syncing, so you don't have to constantly take the case off and put it back on again.

As Gadgetwise points out, you still may not want to do any serious snorkeling with your iPad, since it wasn't really designed for that. But the new iPad case is great for poolside, a day at the beach, or any other routine encounter with water.

You may swear to have never texted on the toilet, but show me the techie who says they've never brought their phone or tablet into the bathroom, and I'll show you a liar. In any case, waterproofing just makes solid sense.

Any survival expert will tell you that where there's life, there's water. But as we at Pure Mobile know, where there's life, there's also tech.

According to their latest campaign slogan, OIS is on. But Nokia's marketing team is way off in recent ads for the Lumia 920.

As Mashable reported the day of the device's September 5th unveiling, Nokia's been left with pants ablaze after two independent bloggers discovered that images and video used to promote the new Lumia 920 were misleading.

To clarify, the campaign's entire raison d'être was to pump up the Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) technology used for the new Nokia Lumia's “Pure View” camera. The argument here is that OIS makes for better pictures and video.

The campaign, shot in Helsinki, presents a model in different scenarios, with split screens labeled “OIS Off” and “OIS On.” Obviously, the images and video clips labelled “OIS On” are clearer, and even have a more artistic appeal. The only problem is, they're fakes.

Light diffractions in the Nokia Lumia 920 campaign images show they can't have been taken with the device

Neither the campaign photos nor the video were shot using the Lumia 920. Instead, a leaked picture of the photo shoot showed artificial lighting and professional equipment.

Since the story's emerged, Nokia has issued an apology, while still trying to cover its own ass. In an emailed statement, Nokia spokesperson Brett Young told Mashable:

“The video was produced while the Nokia Lumia 920 was in early prototype and still not ready to show the full benefits of the amazing innovation it contains.”

An independent blogger posted this photo of the proffessional lighting and camera equipment at Nokia's shoot for the new Lumia

That's like McDonald's saying the Big Mac in their ads only looks so big and juicy because the squashed sandwich you received with your order wasn't ready to display yet.

Nevertheless, says Young, “while there was no intention to mislead, the failure to add a disclaimer to the video was obviously a mistake.”

Apology aside, the campaign video now also contains a disclaimer that clarifies the footage is a “simulation of OIS technology.”

Nokia posted genuine photos on their site taken in low light with the latest Lumia 

Meanwhile, Nokia has posted some real photos on their site that were shot in low light with the Lumia 920 and without “artificial lighting or stands.” These are compared with similar images shot with competitors' devices. Assuming the new Lumia's pictures are the real deal, they do look quite good.

A third party manufacturer compared the sizes of upcoming devices to an iPhone 4S case and an iPad 3 case

We love a good rumor, and the big news on everyone's lips this week surrounded some leaked photos that may reveal the dimensions of the upcoming iPhone 5 and iPhone mini.

MacRumors reported September 10^th on pictures released by a third party iPhone and iPad case manufacturer that compare tentative cases for the new devices to an iPhone 4S case and iPad 3 case.

“The cases were created by case manufacturers in anticipation of the upcoming models. Designs are based on leaked specs coming out of Foxconn factories,” says MacRumors.

While the new iPhone 5 case is taller than the iPhone 4S, the case for the iPad mini is smaller than the current iPad 3 case

If the specs are right, those who believe bigger is better will be happy to know that the new iPhone 5 will in fact be larger than the current iPhone 4S, though it'll just be taller, not wider, with a 4” diagonal screen.

As for those who think less is more, the case designed for the new iPad Mini is smaller than the iPad 3 case shown in the image, but not significantly. The new device is rumored to have a 7.85” screen.

The size comparison as outlined by MacRumors 

As Gizmodo noted, “ if that iPad Mini shell is accurate, the realization that it's not a total dwarf next to the 10-inch iPad, kinda makes the idea of one all the more tantalizing.”

For now, it's all just speculation, but we're likely to have at least part of the truth on September 12^th, when Apple's expected to unveil the iPhone 5 at a press conference. However, we'll have to wait a little longer to see the new iPad Mini, which is expected to be unveiled at some point in October.

During last weekend’s Disrupt SF Hackathon events, 147 teams had 24 hours to design, build, test and present their products to judges. Only three teams had the chance to demo their projects in front of the crowd. The first place team was awarded a $5,000 grand prize.

Techcrunch, the sponsor of the event, invited hardware hackers to “Build toys, robots, Arduino cases, or whatever you want and enter the Disrupt Hackathon as an inaugural hardware hacker. We dare you.” 400 hackers took TechCrunch up on their challenge.

While the Sirious Margarita Maker “a highly complex system that allows you to tell Siri to make you a margarita, and the Memstash app “that helps you memorize anything” gave the winners a run for their money, three other teams beat them and everyone else out of the top prize.

First Prize: Livebolt

Livebolt is a cloud-based identity management system. It consists of a metal block that slides on the back of a physical lock. The block responds to an order from an iPhone app. Once a user passes authentication, the iPhone app can authorize the metal block to lock or unlock the user's door.

Runner-up #1: Autopus

Autopus is an app that lets sellers on sites like Craigslist to conduct auctions on their own listings. As bids are placed on their stuff, sellers gets notified and can monitor activity in almost real-time.

Runner-up #2: HeatData

HeatData provides a way to track the gestures of mobile website users. Knowing how users interact with pages helps vendors determine how to improve the design and UI for their mobile app.

Many of the other teams didn’t go home empty handed. Sponsors like AT&T, Evernote, dotCloud, Ford, Locu, Microsoft Bizspark, Dropbox, New Relic, Pearson, Qualcomm Innovation Center, Qualcomm Labs, SAP HANA, SkyDrive, TokBox, Twilio, and Zypr all awarded prizes to the teams that made the best use of their services.

TechCrunch Disrupt is one of the most anticipated technology conferences of the year, and it's underway this week through Wednesday.

Hold onto your smartphones, tablets and any other device with a broadband connection. There's a lot of innovation going on out there.

There’s no doubt that Flipboard, the iPad app that displays content from Facebook (FB), Twitter, magazines, and newspapers in a consolidated interface, made a huge splash two years ago. Its design became a techie and fan favorite. For one thing, just like reading a magazine, you could turn pages with the swipe of a finger. Apple named it the best iPad app of 2010. As of July, 20 million users had signed up.

Now comes the next hurdle for the company. Just like Facebook, Flipboard cannot live on investor funds alone. It has to figure out how to make money through advertising. Co-founder and CEO Mike McCue has been pitching to major brands that ads on Flipboard generate more revenue for advertisers than the tired old banner ads on websites and mobile apps. Flipboard’s design requires readers to engage with an ad as they swipe to turn pages. McCue’s position is that people are ignoring the ads running down the right panel on a website. A Flipboard ad is more like a full-page print ad. In order to get to a magazine's stories, you have to flip through the pages.

Flipboard is targeting their efforts on magazines like Vogue and Elle whose readers prefer the glossy, full-screen ads typical of those magazines. To encourage companies to advertise through Flipboard and get in front of the readers of these publications, ads of similar quality to those in the print versions are showing up in the Flipboard portfolio. Ads from companies like Verizon, Levi’s, and Universal Pictures are appearing within articles of publications like Vanity Fair and tech websites like Engadget and GigaOM. “They have figured out a way to make print ads look beautiful in a digital environment,” says Alan Cohen, OMD USA’s CEO.

What do you think? Is Flipboard on the right track with their advertising strategy? The bottom line is whether the print ad format will cause people to buy their advertisers’ products. Would these kinds of ads make you want to go out and spend money any more than a banner ad would? Let us know!

A couple of weeks ago a jury agreed with Apple in their latest lawsuit against Samsung, awarding Apple over $1 billion supporting its claim that Samsung infringed on their patents in the design of eight Samsung mobile phones and one tablet. But, there is method to Apple’s madness, and it isn’t putting Samsung out of business.

What this verdict does give Apple is the upper hand in “negotiations” that are being conducted through the courts all over the world. Apple’s opponents include five of their largest competitors in the global war for smartphone and tablet dominance. It’s not just Apple claiming patent violations. Most of the mobile behemoths are fighting amongst themselves over license agreements.

Apple big beef with its device-making rivals like Samsung, it that they use the Android operating system that Google gives away for free. According to Bloomberg Industries, Android accounts for about 60 percent of the mobile market, three times as large as Apple’s iOS. The big prize Apple has its sights on is having the dominant operating system in the device market. The problem many consumers, app designers and device manufacturers should have with Apple’s OS is that it’s a closed-garden operating system while Google’s (and Microsoft’s) is an open system. This means that Apple controls everything. (This was a point that Steve Jobs was always fanatical about.)

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh will probably deny a request by Samsung to throw out the verdict. Samsung’s lawyers will file an appeal in a higher court.

Koh will still have to decide whether to issue an injunction blocking the sale in the U.S. of the nine Samsung devices in the latest lawsuit. If she decides in favor of Apple, Samsung will have to make some design changes, eliminating the offending features or pull them from the market. Samsung probably won’t expend too much effort on this since the nine devices are older ones, and they can still sell them outside the U.S. The hit to their bottom line should be minimal.

Once the competitors get some legal satisfaction, they’ll make their financial deals over supplying products and components to one another. Even Apple will play nice. (Apple is Samsung’s biggest customer for mobile-device components).In the meantime, the companies are still doing business as usual with one another while they keep their lawyers busy in court.

Telecom companies and consumers aren’t going to put up with a clearing out of the competition by Apple. Many of us like Android devices like Samsung’s, and Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS is a welcome addition to the competition. Bottom line: what ultimately happens from all this bickering is up to us.

Think you’re pretty good with an iPad? Can you draw like this? An 84 year-old woman created this incredible self-portrait in the first thirty minutes of having an iPad in her hands.

According to her grandson’s Reddit thread, “She’s 84 and never had a tablet, and wanted it for ‘art’.”

As his story goes, he installed the app ArtRage and left his grandmother for thirty minutes. When he came back, she had created this work of art. The image was posted to Reddit and quickly shot to the front page.

For the second time in a week there are rumblings about a RadioShack-branded wireless carrier. The latest rumor pins a launch date on September 5th for their new no-contract cellular service.

It’s being called the “RadioShack No Contract Wireless” (or the “RadioShack No Contract Wireless powered by Cricket") and will be operated on the Cricket Wireless network. Details are few at this point, but the latest leak reveals a few of the devices that will be available.

The selection could include the HTC One V, Huawei Mercury and an unnamed 4.3-inch handset from Alcatel. Many of the devices on RadioShack’s network will feature Muve Music which offers unlimited song downloads, ringback tones and ringtones. All of the Muve Music phones will be equipped with an 8GB microSD card.

There are no hints as of yet about pricing for the devices or the service. At the rate the rumors are coming, there should be a few more circulating before September 5th.

1. Texting on the toilet.
2. Reaching for our cell phones as soon as we wake up.
3. Spending too much money in the app store.
4. Taking photos of everything.
5. Our continuing addiction to Angry Birds.
6. The compulsion to reach for our charger whenever we see an outlet.
7. Never removing our earbuds.
8. Sending texts laden with typos.
9. Staring at the screen while eating alone.
10. Aimless app scrolling whenever we’re standing around waiting.

What are the worst cell phone habits you are willing to admit to?