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Ten days with the LTE iPad Mini

You might not think that adding cellular LTE onto an iPad Mini would be all that exciting. After all, the larger Retina Display iPad and iPhone 5 are both LTE devices. However, the Mini has something unique going for it in the world of Apple devices: it's the smallest contract-free iOS LTE gadget short of getting an unlocked iPhone.

I got the opportunity to try out a black Verizon LTE Mini and see how the experience differed from using the Wi-Fi only version. There really shouldn't be many surprises, right? Still, there are some use cases I realized were pretty compelling, and might even merit the idea that an LTE iPad Mini is more of an ideal purchase than the larger LTE iPad ever was.… Read more

Ceglia ordered to pay Facebook $90,000 in legal fees

In an effort to make billions of dollars by suing Facebook, Paul Ceglia is actually putting a large dent in his own wallet.

Federal Magistrate Leslie Foschio ordered Ceglia to pay the social network almost $90,000 in attorney fees today, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The order comes because of Ceglia's last-minute cancellation of legal depositions that Facebook had already paid its lawyers to do. Foschio also ordered Ceglia to reimburse an additional $7,000 in travel and lodging expenses for the social network's experts that were to be deposed.

Ceglia is suing Facebook with the … Read more

AT&T iPhone 4S now gets FaceTime over cellular

AT&T has loosened its grip on FaceTime availability.

FaceTime access has opened up to those who own the iPhone 4S and who have grandfathered unlimited data plans. Macrumors discovered the feature from users in forums.

An AT&T representative said "we're looking into it."

At one time, AT&T had banned FaceTime access via its cellular network, limiting use to Wi-Fi systems. But earlier this month the company announced that it would open it up to those who had an LTE-equipped device and a Mobile Share data plan. All others were left out. … Read more

Add troll faces to your photos with Trollolol

Troll + LOL = Trollolol. Dordev's free Android app detects faces and covers them with troll faces and other "rage faces," simple cartoons with exaggerated emotional expressions. As Internet memes, troll faces transcend their deliberately sketchy lameness by exposing the truth behind the image (ironically, by masking it). But troll faces are serious fun, too. Trollolol (like "tra-la-la") simply applies popular troll and rage-comic faces to your photos directly from your Android smartphone. No more uploading, desktop utilities, and other nuisances; a few quick thumb swipes and the picture that's worth a thousand words is ready … Read more

Some Surface covers are splitting seams

CNET Update is counting the cracks:

Friday's tech news roundup looks at Priceline's biggest deal yet. It negotiated to buy rival travel website Kayak for $1.8 billion.

Microsoft is replacing broken Touch Covers for the Surface tablet. Some customers have reported seams splitting where the keyboard cover connects to the tablet.

Verizon plans to roll out 4G LTE to all of its coverage areas in the U.S. by mid-2013.

GameFly, the Netflix for video games, has launched an online shop for PC game downloads. Subscribers of GameFly have unlimited access to play hundreds of Windows games. … Read more

In your FaceTime: Apple gets sued by VirnetX -- again

VirnetX, which has already won $368.2 million in damages, isn't quite done with Apple.

The patent holding and security software company, which earlier this week won an earlier suit against Apple in a Texas court, has now slapped the electronics giant with a new lawsuit. As in the prior complaint, VirnetX is accusing Apple of infringing four of its networking patents through the use of FaceTime.

Those patents, Nos. 6,502,135, 7,418,504, 7,921,211 and 7,490,151, cover advancements for secure communication over the Internet. That includes technology for creating a virtual private … Read more

AT&T opens access to FaceTime video calling...to some

AT&T relented to public pressure and opened up access to the FaceTime video calling feature found on Apple's iOS devices.

The latest version of iOS allowed iPhones and iPads to FaceTime chat over the cellular network -- it previously could only run on Wi-Fi -- but AT&T had restricted access to the feature to customers in its capped Mobile Share data plan.

But AT&T said today that it would open cellular access to any AT&T customer on a tiered plan with a 4G LTE device, which means just the iPhone 5 … Read more

Apple walloped with $368M in damages in VirnetX patent suit

A Texas court ordered Apple to pay $368.2 million in damages to the patent holding and security software company VirnetX today. According to Bloomberg, which broadcast the news on Twitter, Apple is being fined over infringement of VirnetX's network patents.

In the suit, VirnetX claimed that Apple integrated these network patents into its products like FaceTime, according to 9to5Mac. Originally VirnetX was asking for $900 million, but apparently the jury decided $368 million was enough.

VirnetX is well known for going after major tech companies for patent infringement. In its early days, the company aggressively patented technology that … Read more

Apple facing FaceTime patent suit

Apple is the latest company to feel the patent infringement pinch from a firm called Intercarrier Communications.

A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, contends that Apple's FaceTime and Messages apps violate ICC's Patent No. 6,985,748.

The patent in question refers to an "inter-carrier messaging service providing phone number only experience" and describes a method to send messages between different carriers using just a phone number.

ICC has been keeping the patent courts busy lately, according to PatentlyApple. In just the past five days, the company has … Read more