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Appeals court nixes a Galaxy Nexus ban requested by Apple

Samsung got a much-needed break from the courts today, as an appellate court overturned a sales ban on its Galaxy Nexus phone.

Today's ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that the district court in California "abused its discretion" in imposing a preliminary injunction on Galaxy Nexus sales.

The appeals court decision means that the case will go back to the court in California to be reheard, according to Reuters.

The appeals court found several flaws in Apple's arguments for a Nexus ban.

In one example, Apple claimed that the … Read more

YouTube cedes to Turkey and uses local Web domain

Turkey and YouTube have a checkered past, so today's news isn't a big surprise -- the video-sharing site will now operate under a local Web domain -- "com.tr" -- and be subject to the country's content regulations and taxes.

According to Reuters, Turkey had been working to get YouTube to agree to this set-up for some time.

"This is an important development," Turkish Transport and Communications Minister Binali Yildirim told Reuters. "For a long time we have made a call to Internet firms in Turkey: 'You are operating in this country, … Read more

Apple: Expand the ban on Samsung's Galaxy Tab

In a filing earlier today, picked up by Bloomberg, Apple said it wants to extend an earlier injunction on Samsung's Wi-Fi-only 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet to encompass the cellular version as well.

Apple cites the jury verdict from last week, which found the Wi-Fi version of that tablet to infringe on three of Apple's "feature" (i.e., software) patents. The 4G version of the tablet was also on the verdict form, but the jury didn't find that it infringed any of Apple's design (i.e., hardware) patents. … Read more

eBay to ban sales of spells, hexes, magic services

Sorry, Harry Potter fans, you're going to have to double double toil and trouble somewhere else besides eBay. The online auction giant has just issued category changes and updates for the fall. Spells and potions are on the dump list.

Discontinued categories include Tarot readings, spells, and potions. Not only are some categories magically disappearing, but those items will go onto eBay's prohibited list along with hexing, curses, conjuring, blessings, psychic readings, and the catch-all "magic services."… Read more

Etsy cracks down on skulls, drugs, lighter fluid for sale

Just when it seemed like Etsy was the perfect place to pick up some human bones, poison, or drug paraphernalia, the online artisan e-commerce site announced it was banning these products and more.

It actually seems a bit laughable that Etsy had to earnestly state that it was forbidding these items, which include all smokeable products, human remains or body parts, hazardous materials, motor vehicles, and drugs -- but it did.

Here's what Etsy policy manager Lauren Engelhardt wrote in a blog post last week:

The Policy Team at Etsy is continually working to ensure that our rules balance … Read more

London says no to 3G hot spots for the Olympics

What do 3G hot spots and firearms have in common? They're both banned from the London 2012 Olympic games.

Personal wireless access points and 3G hot spots are among the list of restricted items for the games, which start Friday. Visitors are allowed to bring smartphones and tablets, but are not able to use them as a hot spot to connect other devices. Intomobile first reported on the ban.

"We're just two days away from the start of the first ever Olympic Games in the modern, digital era," said Tomas Mendoza, managing director of Tep Wireless, … Read more

Motorola: Looming product ban won't affect us

Motorola Mobility said it isn't worried about a looming import ban on many of its products that takes effect tomorrow.

"Motorola has taken proactive measures to ensure that our industry leading smartphones remain available to consumers in the U.S.," the company said in an e-mailed statement.

The ban, which takes effect tomorrow, comes from a U.S. International Trade Commission ruling that Motorola illegally used Microsoft's technology relating to meeting requests and group scheduling in its products. Motorola is now a unit of Google.

Motorola didn't provide specifics, but the company said it would … Read more

Galaxy Nexus pulled from Google Play store

Google today pulled the Galaxy Nexus smartphone from its Google Play store.

Customers can no longer buy the device from the store, which has replaced the purchase button with a note that says "coming soon." Below it is a form to sign up for e-mail alerts for when the phone becomes available. Electronista first spotted the change.

Google, however, confirmed that it would begin selling the Galaxy Nexus again next week. The phone will come with Android 4.1, or Jelly Bean.

The Galaxy Nexus is perhaps the most high-profile device affected by the legal squabbling between Apple … Read more

Apple fails in bid for emergency import ban of HTC phones

Imports of HTC phones into the United States will continue after a U.S. judge denied Apple's request for a sales ban on the devices in an ongoing patent dispute between the companies.

The U.S. International Trade Commission launched an investigation on Sunday into Apple's claim that HTC was continuing to infringe on one of its patents in violation of a December order to cease. The ITC, a federal agency with the power to ban imports of devices found to infringe on U.S. patents, today rejected Apple's request for an emergency order banning the importation … Read more

The 404 1,074: Where it's not you, it's us (podcast)

The new Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display announced earlier this week just got an Editors' Choice review on CNET, but some die-hard tinkerers are upset about the lack of upgradeable components inside. According to iFixit.org, the latest MacBook Pro is the least reparable Apple laptop to date.

For starters, users are locked into the amount of RAM they choose at the purchase date, as the memory is actually soldered to the logic board. The proprietary solid-state hard drive is staying put as well, and watch out for a couple of booby traps concealed underneath the lithium-polymer battery! The laptop certainly remains incomparable in terms of display, I/O ports, and chassis, but keep in mind that your upgrade options down the line are severely limited if you go with this model.… Read more