Samsung has been fined $340,000 by Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission for an Internet campaign against HTC that violated fair trade rules. The South Korean company paid students to praise its own smartphones in online reviews while slamming those of rival HTC.
Samsung has earned quite a name for itself copying Apple’s most successful products, but it’s not only in smartphones, tablets, computers, and accessories where the South Korean company sources its inspiration from its closest rivals. British manufacturer Dyson is suing Samsung for allegedly ripping off one of its inventions in a new vacuum cleaner that was unveiled at IFA in Berlin last week.
As of today, Samsung’s Android-powered 4G LTE/Wi-Fi enabled mirrorless camera, the Galaxy NX, is available to purchase in the U.K. from several high street independent electronics retailers.
Even without taking into account the unique, astonishing way it wirelessly connects with a smartphone, the Vaavud wind meter is pretty neat little gadget.
It will measure wind speeds up to 25 meters/second (the Vaavud is Danish, hence the metric measurements and strange name), can share recorded data with the world through its free app—and it’s been tested for accuracy in a wind tunnel.
But the real stunner about the Vaavud is that it doesn’t use Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or any other power-draining wireless radio to connect. Instead, it uses magnets.
Over the weekend, President Obama weighed in on the famous Apple vs. Samsung patent disputes by vetoing an import ban proposed by the International Trade Commission that would have prevented Apple from bringing iOS devices older than the iPhone 4S and iPad 3 into the country.
An avowed fan of Apple’s products, it was the first time a U.S. presidential administration had vetoed a product ban by the ITC since 1987, and seemed to signal that the Obama Administration was not going to penalize an American company like Apple in favor of a foreign company like Samsung.
Financial Markets took notice. Samsung’s market cap is down a billion dollars since the vetoing.
