While most mobile devices rely on GPS for mapping and navigation, the system only works outdoors and in range of satellite timing signals. However, new technology from Apple could extend accurate positioning indoors without need for additional hardware aside from existing Wi-Fi infrastructure.

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Before and after versions of Google's internal "software functional requirements" documents released in the Apple vs Samsung trial this week show that prior to Apple's 2007 iPhone debut, Google's vision for Android was a simple button phone running Sun's Java.

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A prominent patent law blogger has again raised the argument that Apple's patented features have very little value, while stopping short of saying that Samsung should just stop using the infringing technology.

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Prominent patent buyer Intellectual Ventures won't be able to count Apple among the participants in its latest IP purchase, as the iPhone maker has apparently opted out of its latest investment.

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Apple's critics contend that it either doesn't have innovative inventions worthy of patents, or has grossly overestimated the commercial value of its patents. Apple Data Detectors is one example that proves both ideas are wrong.

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While the tech media has devoted lots of attention to Apple's concerned reaction to Samsung's 2012 marketing blitz, evidence likely to be presented during the Apple vs Samsung trial shows that it was Samsung that targeted its attention on "beating Apple" as its "#1 priority" for 2012.

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In the original Apple vs Samsung patent trial, Apple made the Galaxy a star witness by presenting a "copy cat" document that detailed every difference with Apple's iPhone paired with advice on how to more closely copy it. For the second trial, Apple has dug up several more Copy Cat docs detailing the evolution of Samsung's "slavish copying," particularly evident with Slide to Unlock.

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Apple has reached an out-of-court settlement with Intertrust Technologies, a holding company owned jointly by consumer electronics giants Sony and Philips, putting an end to a patent infringement lawsuit filed against the iPhone maker by Intertrust one year ago.

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Apple is looking to advance the design of its bundled iPhone EarPods by potentially implanting an accelerometer into the earbud portion that could recognize voice activity, which in turn would activate and tune beamforming microphone arrays.

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Using a combination of capacitive touch and infrared light sensing, Apple's newly revealed touchscreen technology concept allows users to accurately convey force applied to a touch surface without bulky physical hardware, opening new dimensions in GUI navigation and interaction.

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Apple is investigating the use of bayonet lens mounts -- one of the most common lens attachment mechanisms used in modern photography -- in its iOS device lineup, suggesting the company is mulling interchangeable lens accessories for its iOS device lineup.

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Apple's second patent infringement trial against Samsung begins today, outlining a battle that the two sides are waging in very different ways. Apple will be expanding upon its legal strategy outlined in the first trial, while Samsung is starting over with an entirely new tactic aimed at devaluating Apple's inventions so it can continue using them for virtually nothing.

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In 2011, the world's two most profitable mobile phone makers engaged in a global IP war that continues to this day. As Apple and Samsung prepare for their second trial, it's useful to review why many onlookers were so ill informed about the first one: Wikipedia.

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iPad owners might soon have a new, more compact option when choosing a keyboard to pair with their tablet as Apple is contemplating a redesigned iPad Smart Case with an integrated, multitouch keyboard.

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In 2007 Apple introduced iPhone, emphasizing that virtually every significant aspect of its entirely new experience and industrial design was protected by patents. Three years later a global patent war erupted. Who's to blame?

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While Apple remains coy about plans to incorporate sapphire into its product lineup, a new patent application published on Thursday suggests the company is at the least experimenting with the hard material for use in touch-capable displays.

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Apple is looking into technology that offers users an easier, safer, way to text and walk by making an iPhone's screen "transparent" during messaging operations through the clever use of live video.

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Future iPhones could be thinner and more secure thanks to technology outlined in two unique proposed inventions from Apple, covering adaptive security profiles and a new type of split-sensor camera.

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Apple has once again defeated rival Samsung in the courtroom, this time in Japan, where it was ruled that the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 and iPad 2 do not infringe on data communication patents owned by the South Korean electronics giant.

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iPhone owners may be able to go even longer between charges in the future, thanks to a new power management system Apple is exploring that would learn users' habits and dynamically adjust the handset's performance.

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