iPhone News Updated

Apple iPad, iPhone Hit with Multitouch Patent Lawsuit

Apple’s patent karma is balancing as one tech company sues to block the iPad and other multi-touch Apple products from the United States.

Elan Microelectronics, based in Taiwan, filed a lawsuit against Apple with the U.S. International Trade Commission on Tuesday, GigaOM reports. The lawsuit deals with the use of multiple fingers on a touch screen device — in other words, multitouch — and looks to prevent the import of any Apple multitouch product into the United States, including the iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, MacBook and Magic Mouse.

The lawsuit is similar to one that Elan filed against Apple with the U.S. District Court last year, but in a different venue. In the District Court case, Elan seeks triple damages and a “reasonable royalty,” but the ITC’s power is limited to injunctions, arguably a more severe penalty than monetary damages. As GigaOM points out, Elan is exploiting a loophole that essentially lets firms sue twice on a single patent. Apple used the same tactics its patent lawsuit against HTC, filing with both the ITC and the U.S. District Court.

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Steve Jobs promises universal inbox for mail app on the iPhone

Steve Jobs sure is putting his iPad through its paces. Over the past 2 weeks, Jobs has been responding to customer emails with unusual frequency, and while some of the aren’t terribly pressing, Jobs recently dropped some clues about what we can expect in the next iPhone OS.

Steve Jobs sure is putting his iPad through its paces. Over the past 2 weeks, Jobs has been responding to customer emails with unusual frequency, and while most of the questions raised aren’t terribly pressing, Jobs recently dropped some clues about what we can expect to see in the next iPhone OS which will most likely drop later this June.

Responding to a user email about whether or not the Mail app on the iPhone would ever receive a universal inbox (as it is on Mail on the Mac) Jobs simply responded, “Yep.”

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