week in review

Could patent peace be at hand?

As the tech world was focused on the Apple-Samsung patent trial, Apple and Google were talking to try to resolve the myriad intellectual property and patent disputes between the companies.

Apple's CEO Tim Cook and Google's Larry Page talked before last week's verdict in the Samsung-Apple trial and plan to talk in a few weeks, to a person familiar with dealings told CNET. Talks are also reportedly taking place between the companies at a lower echelon. Back to the future: Apple and Microsoft on collision course, again

When the Samsung decision got announced last Friday afternoon, … Read more

This week in Crave: The patented edition

It's election time! Too busy deciding who should make it into the Robot Hall of Fame to keep up with Crave all week? Put down your ballots for a moment and take a look back at the week that was.

- You might have heard of a verdict reached in an itty-bitty patent case? The result you expected?

- If Venus de Milo had an iPhone, she would look like this.

- Microsoft's logo got a makeover. What do you think of it?

- Note-taking app Evernote teams with... a paper company?

- Yee-haw! The west is getting even wilder in Grand Theft Auto V. … Read more

In Apple v. Samsung, the jury has spoken

Apple and Samsung both rested their cases this week in the ongoing billion-dollar patent infringement dispute, and the jury has found Apple the clear victor.

After 21 hours of deliberation, a nine-person jury Friday afternoon sided with Apple on a majority of its patent infringement claims against Samsung Electronics. The jury also awarded Apple more than $1 billion in damages.

Apple had originally sought $2.75 billion in damages and although it wasn't unanimous on all counts, the verdict was overwhelmingly in Apple's favor. Apple's $1,049,343,540 victory: Google, don't tread on me … Read more

This week in Crave: The toil and trouble edition

Been busy looking for places to buy genie manifestation potions now that eBay won't be selling them anymore? Slow down for a moment. We've got plenty of spells and hexes for you right here in our weekly Crave rundown.

- Oh. My. God. Churchill received history's first OMG?

- Darksiders II will brighten your summer, gamers.

- A Windows RT Surface tablet for $199? Don't bet on it quite yet. … Read more

Patience waning in Apple-Samsung patent fight

The Apple-Samsung patent infringement trial is on fire, with the presiding judge applying much of the heat.

Tension appeared to peak this week when U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh began yelling at Apple for trying to book too many witnesses in its last few hours.

"I am not going to be running around trying to get 75 pages of briefings for people who are not going to be testifying," Koh told Apple's lawyer Bill Lee.

"I mean come on. 75 pages! 75 pages! You want me to do an order on 75 pages, (and) unless … Read more

This week in Crave: The Mars-struck edition

Too busy professing your love to "NASA Mohawk Guy" this week to keep up with Crave? Look this way, starry-eyed Mars watchers, and catch up on what you missed.

- Mohawk man wasn't the only part of the Curiosity story that had us curious. Do you think the rover will find signs of life? And why on earth (and the Red Planet) does the rover have measly 2MP cameras?

- As Lego turns 80, it seems no major modern news event can escape being Lego-ized.

- Evolta stackable battery lets you build a tower of gadget power.

- Got home-networking questions? We got home-networking answers. … Read more

Apple calls Samsung a copycat in court

Apple is using Samsung's own words against it in their high-stakes patent-infringement trial.

Apple pointed to an internal Samsung document highlighting the weaknesses of the Galaxy S1 compared with the iPhone as further evidence that Samsung has copied its work. The document, a "relative evaluation report" on the Galaxy S1 and iPhone published in March 2010 and unearthed by Apple, highlights where Samsung's flagship phone fell short of the iPhone.

Apple will draw on this document as proof that Samsung actively compared its products against the iPhone, and made strides to better mimic the blockbuster device. … Read more

This week in Crave: The shipping-now edition

Too busy decorating your new disaster-zone shipping container to keep up with Crave this week? Have a seat on your Cat Tunnel Sofa and take a moment to catch up on what you missed.

- Google Nexus 7 teardown reveals more hits than misses.

- Stop-motion Batman video stars action figures as actors. Eerie.

- Even eerier? A 3D-printed replica of your fetus.

- Ever start a sentence by saying "hashtag"? Stop that right now, says Eric Mack.

- Our gold-medal comic Low Latency goes to the Olympics. … Read more

Another tough week for Facebook

It's been another brutal and busy week for Facebook, which saw its stock dip below $20 a share for the first time since its May IPO. And the bleeding just won't stop.

Facebook closed on Thursday just above $20 a share -- almost half the debut price. This despite Facebook's latest wave of selling, which began when Zynga spooked investors with its lousy earnings report last Wednesday and continued with Facebook's own unspectacular earnings. And word that some big boys have dumped the stock hasn't helped. The Wall Street Journal reported that Fidelity, one of … Read more