TECHNOLOGY

The next iPhone version, set to be unwrapped on Sept 12, will have less Samsung imprints compared to the previous editions, with reports indicating that Apple has rolled out a program that would slowly wean away its products from components manufactured by its South Korean rival.

U.S.-based China Labor Watch (CLW) has upgraded this week its scathing review on Samsung’s labour practices, highlighting what the activist group called as “illegal and inhumane treatment,” of young Chinese workers tasked to assemble a host of Samsung products.

It’s official. The Galaxy S3, which debuted in May 2012, is the bestselling Samsung and Android smartphone to date as the South Korean tech giant announce on Thursday that over 20 million units have been scooped up by global consumers so far.

A Japanese firm said on Wednesday that it has developed the world’s smallest ceramic capacitor, which is “so small you can barely see it.”

More risks are out there on the net as mobile computing continues to explode, according to a new report by internet security specialist McAfee Labs, with malware authors now training their attention to Android and iOS, currently the dominant platform in the mobile web universe.

A day before it lets loose new Windows-powered devices in New York, Nokia unleashed on Tuesday its free music streaming service, which the mobile phone maker touted as both “enjoyable and easy to use.”

Improvements are now underway on its Chinese production facilities, Samsung disclosed on Monday, following allegations that the Asian tech titan’s manufacturing partners in China were deliberately subjecting product assemblers to inhumane working conditions.

What Samsung has been up to since losing its U.S. legal battle with Apple last week? It appears the tech giant is far from licking its wound, opting instead to push out two new gadgets that it hopes would soon eclipse the court room disappointments it just absorbed.

A funny story is sweeping the internet. Samsung paid $1.05 billion to Apple by sending 30 trucks containing five cent coins.

Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has pledged to revisit the prohibition imposed by the Labor-led government on giant Chinese network specialist Huawei Technologies.

Samsung has vowed to fight Apple’s efforts to shove its gadgets out of the United States following last week’s jury verdict that labelled most of the South Korean tech giant’s products as less innovative.

The global smartphone market has become more ‘exciting’ as an American jury found Samsung actually infringed on a number of patents exclusively owned by Apple, tech experts said.

Apple’s iPad has provided much of the leg for the global tablet market to march through incredible growth in the June 2012 quarter, gaining 77 per cent from the overall shipments of the gadget over the past 12 months.

South Korea tech giant Samsung recently opened its electronics store in Sydney that bears resemblance to the Apple Store a few blocks away.

Former mobile phones leader Nokia remains a king on its own right, but its current fiefdom appears not large enough for the struggling firm to reverse flagging fortunes, reports said.

Chinese assemblers of iPhones and iPads now work a reduced average of 60 hours each week, according to the update report released Tuesday by Washington-based Fair Labor Association (FLA).

Eight months into year 2012, Apple continues to flex its shares market muscle as the tech giant gained 64 per cent in the year so far and closed its Monday exchanges at $US665.15, en route to an overall market value of $US623.5 billion.

Still in doubt that iPad Mini will be launched shortly after the anticipated issue of iPhone 5 later this year? Well investors do not have the same mindset and their firm conviction that Apple will unleash killer gadgets before 2012 ends further pushed up the tech giant’s share price.

No official confirmation from Apple is out yet, though it is widely rumoured that the next iPhone iteration will be out as early as Sept 21, at least in the North American market, sparking a frenetic race for current iPhone owners to dump their old units for some cash.

A U.S. report has cited leading tech firms, chief of them Apple, for active efforts in ensuring that products they issue in global markets were not laced with ‘blood money’.

Samsung has officially rolled out the new Galaxy Note tablet and this time around, it is a full-sized slate and in fact a tad larger than iPad with screen size of 10.1 inches.

It’s best for Apple and Samsung chiefs to sit down and attempt to reach an agreement before a trial jury deliberates on their legal disputes, a U.S. court presiding over the two’s patent contest said on Wednesday.

Nokia may just unveil new handsets by the first week of September, reports said, likely jumping the gun on Apple, which earlier has strongly indicated that the latest iPhone version would hit global markets no later than the mid-part of the same month.

Two prominent Microsoft OEM partners have expressed plans not to join the Windows RT tablet bandwagon, not yet at least, reportedly to focus their efforts on the more powerful Windows 8 slate that will hit the market in the early months of 2013.

Google has commenced reengineering efforts on Motorola Mobility, signalling serious intents on the part of the tech giant to turnaround at the soonest possible time an ailing firm it bought for more than $12 billion in May this year.

A permanent point man for Facebook in Australia should be appointed soon, the giant social media firm said on Monday following its confirmation that an interim head has been tapped to run the company’s local operations on daily basis.

Google intends to employ new search algorithm that would shore up the appearance of legitimate web content providers to the tech giant’s search pages, boosting what the company said chances by music, movie and software producers to lure more buyers away from bootleg sources.

What is it like working with Google? Benefits abound that employees not only enjoy work site freebies such as free foods and health services but also assurances that life after death for Googlers’ family members will not be too difficult.

Google's operating system Android dominates the world, while Apple's iOS maintained its dominance in the U.S. market.