samsung

Samsung is up against a slew of labor abuse accusations in China, according to a report from China Labor Watch.

An investigation conducted by the watchdog group in October and November uncovered worker violations at several factories, those owned directly by Samsung as well as by its suppliers.

The report is in contrast to the one that Samsung itself released this week. Samsung's own internal audit of suppliers found no child labor violations, a key concern among watchdog groups and Samsung itself. However, Samsung's own audit did discover other issues at supplier factories in China, including overtime hours … Read more

Ericsson has filed a suit against Samsung for patent infringement.

The Swedish telecommunications equipment maker said today that it launched the lawsuit after the two companies were unable to reach an agreement about renewing patent licensing deals.

Samsung previously licensed Ericsson's patents in 2001 and renewed terms in 2007, but licenses have now expired. According to Ericsson, Samsung refused to renew the licensing agreements for its patents on FRAND terms. FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms are used by industry groups to set standards for technology and products, and are aimed at encouraging competitiveness without allowing rights holders to … Read more

You won't have any trouble finding rock-bottom prices on no-name TVs from sketchy online vendors this Cyber Monday, but if buying a good television from a trustworthy retailer is your priority, Dell's site has a couple of very good prices on big-screen TVs I can actually recommend.

Samsung 51-inch plasma, $578 with free shipping. Judging from the published specifications, the PN51E530 has the same picture quality as the PN51E550 that we really liked. Yeah it's missing Smart TV and 3D, but you could always just add a $40 Roku if you want streaming apps.

Samsung 60-inch plasma, $848 with free shipping. … Read more

Samsung has released the results of a four-week audit of 105 suppliers involved in the production of its devices across China.

According to the company, the Samsung audit team was comprised of 121 employees tasked with ensuring that the company's suppliers were compliant with local laws and its own regulations. The company's auditors found no instances of child labor -- a major concern of watchdogs -- but did discover instances where rules and regulations were violated.

"The audit identified several instances of inadequate practices at the facilities, including overtime hours in excess of local regulations, management of … Read more

Samsung said today it has sold more than 5 million Galaxy Note 2 devices worldwide, just two months after the product was first released.

The Korean technology giant said in a statement (Google Translate) that sales of the part-phone, part-tablet -- a so-called "phablet" -- hit the milestone around a month after Samsung sold 3 million of the devices in the first 30 days after its release.

The 5.5-inch device is selling at roughly three times faster than its predecessor, the original Galaxy Note, which took three months to hit the 3 million mark.

Earlier predictions by … Read more

Apple and Samsung continue to hurl gadgets at each other in their seemingly never-ending patent battle.

Midweek, Samsung filed a request that the iPad Mini, the fourth-generation iPad, and the fifth-generation iPod Touch be included in a California case set to go to trial in 2014. Not to be outdone, Apple responded last night by asking that several more Samsung devices, including the Galaxy Note 2, the Galaxy S3 with Android 4.1, and the Galaxy S3 Mini, be covered by the case.

The last round of tit-for-tat additions to the list of gadgets covered by the case included Apple'… Read more

week in review After public criticism of a proposal that would let government agencies warrantlessly access Americans' e-mail, a prominent senator says he will "not support" such an idea.

Sen. Patrick Leahy has abandoned his controversial proposal that would grant government agencies more surveillance power -- including warrantless access to Americans' e-mail accounts -- than they possess under current law. The Vermont Democrat said on Twitter that he would "not support such an exception" for warrantless access, a few hours after a CNET article disclosed the existence of the measure.

Leahy's about-face comes in response … Read more

Happy Black Friday, cheeps! (That's "cheapskates" plus "peeps" in case you're new around here.)

In honor of this crazy day of shopping madness, and to cap off the celebration of my fifth anniversary writing the Cheapskate blog, I've got one seriously killer contest for you.

Because it's a fifth anniversary, I decided one prize wouldn't do -- I needed five. And thanks to some very generous companies, that's what I ended up with. I'm overjoyed with this roster of goodies, which you can easily enter to win by following … Read more

Samsung charged Wednesday that Apple's iPad Mini, fourth-generation iPad and fifth-generation iPod Touch violate its patents. The company asked a federal district court to add the products to its latest patent fight with the Cupertino, Calif., computer giant.

The Samsung complaint, which we've embedded below, alleges that Apple's latest products infringe the same patent as previous versions of its devices. Samsung essentially claims that "all Apple products including a built-in speaker and an external audio output port" infringe this particular patent, and thus argues that the newest Apple products should be included in the case. … Read more