Iphone | featured news

Poor Microsoft. People who use your search engine seem especially interested in ... Apple. Bing published its most-searched news stories for 2012, and topping the list -- ahead of the presidential election, Superstorm Sandy and the London Olympics -- was the iPhone 5, the newest version of Apple's iconic smartphone.

When the iPhone 5 was released, Samsung added it to the ever-growing list of devices that infringe on its patents. Now Samsung is making the list even longer. In a new court filing, the company has asked for a few more of Apple’s devices to be included in its patent lawsuit against Apple. These devices include the new iPad, the iPad mini, and new iPod touch.

Samsung sold more than 97 million mobile phones in the third quarter, besting Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone by more than 74 million units. According to Gartner (NYSE: IT), nearly 428 million mobile phones were sold during the quarter. Approximately 23.5 million of those phones were manufactured by Apple — 97.9 million were made by Samsung.

Samsung may have lost big to Apple in the courtroom, but it’s just scored a victory in the marketplace. The Samsung Galaxy S III has stolen the title of the world’s most popular smartphone from the iPhone for the third quarter of 2012, according to data from Strategy Analytics.

According to a report by the Verge today, Microsoft is planning to release Office for the iPhone, iPad and Android in early 2013. Relying on inside sources, the Verge reports that Office Mobile will be offered as free apps that allow Android and iOS users to view Microsoft Office documents on mobile devices. The Verge also notes that Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents will all be supported, but edit functionality will only be enabled with an Office 365 subscription, which can be purchased using the app.

The Librarian of Congress announced new exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Oct. 25 that will impact what consumers are and are not allowed to do with smartphones, tablets, game consoles and e-readers for the next three years. The new rules, which go into effect Oct. 28, will let consumers jailbreak or root their smartphones, but not tablet computers and home gaming consoles. Digital-rights activists had sought exemptions for the latter devices as well.

Apple Inc. regained some momentum in its fourth quarter, selling more iPhones than expected while triggering some concerns about the iPad. But the results ratcheted up the pressure on the company for the current holiday quarter. The company is preparing to market a new set of products and is grappling with making enough iPhones.

The phone once coveted by the elite and the powerful is becoming an object of ridicule as Androids and iPhones corner the smartphone market.

Thousands of workers went on strike Friday at a Foxconn plant in China that makes Apple Inc's iPhone 5, paralyzing production of the smartphone, rights advocate China Labor Watch reported.

Apple Inc. said Monday that it sold more than 5 million units of the iPhone 5 in the three days since its launch, less than analysts had expected. Apple shares were down $6.60, or 0.9 percent, at $693.49 in morning trading. The shares are still close to their all-time high of $705.07, hit Friday as the phone went on sale in the U.S., Germany, France, Japan and five other countries.