According to FierceWireless, Apple has begun proceedings against rival smartphone maker HTC for infringing 20 of its patents related to the iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.

“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

Apple did not immediately respond to questions about which patents and technologies are covered under its disagreement with HTC. HTC makes a range of smartphones, including Google’s Android-based Nexus One. Upon launch, the iPhone’s unique interface forced many competing companies to rethink stylus-based interfaces, and HTC are among one of the companies offering gesture based UI’s for their windows and Android based handsets.

Link: www.fiercewireless.com

Unless you’ve been living in some form of black hole, you’ll no doubt be aware that Apple has now launched the fantastic new iPad Tablet. The device features a 10 hour battery life and the netbook rival is essentially a large iPod touch/ eBook reader.

Of the 140,000 applications already available for the device, one subtle yet important change to the software development kit (SDK) has been observed by several commentators. It appears that Apple – and to some extent AT&T in the USA – have yielded to the demands of the FCC over the restriction of VoIP calls via 3G networks. In simple terms, this means we should all be able to make calls using VoIP clients such as Fring or Skype without having to be in a WiFi area.

We’ll have to wait and see if Europe benefits from the change but the chances certainly look good.

Link: www.wired.com

Want an iPhone app for mining, agriculture and other industries ? LoadOut creates a uniform means of process control that can be integrated into the most advanced sites.

In use on farms, mines, quarries and port the system will let you safely monitor and control the process from your iPhone from inside the cab. This is probably best seen and you can view the video below..

Link – LoadOutTechnologies.com

Becoming a better photographer or even taking slightly better pictures is being made easier thanks to a new app from the Institute of Professional Photography. A free application is now available which covers all the aspects of taking a good shot and making money from your pictures.

Updates will be rolled out soon and you’ll be notified within the app when they’re ready. Kit Sadgrove, Director of the Institute of Professional Photography stated..

“I realised that there was a huge potential to promote new skills through the iPhone. And there was absolutely nothing out there to help photographers hone the professional skills vital to establishing and maintaining a successful business.”

Get the app from the link below and give it a try yourself.

Link – ProPhoto

According to Macrumors.com, the imminent Apple Media Event on the 27th is expected to include the introduction of Apple’s much-anticipated tablet device and iPhone OS 4.0, as well as a touchscreen version of iLife 2010 (Apples version of MS Office). According to the report, no iPhone hardware is expected to be shown although we may gather some interesting hints as to the future of iPhone!

We’ll continue to update our site with more information as we get it!

Link: www.macrumors.com

Although this little gem of an app has been out for a while now, I thought it was worth mentioning.

The Amazon Mobile App has many features including:

- Amazon Remembers – Take a photo of something you like, add it to your amazon app, and it will search for all items that it can find that look similar!
- Search & Buy Products
- Track Orders – I love this feature, you can track any order from amazon.
-Wish List

Overall I find this app very useful, as I use Amazon a lot. It has an easy interface to use and does just about all I could ever want it to do. Check it our if you use Amazon and see if you like it.

Avaiable free from the iTunes Store: here

One of the most anticipated gadgets of 2010 has been announced and I’m definitely going to get one… (provided it’s reasonably priced!) The Parrot AR.Drone is a small quadrotor drone that’s controlled by a wifi enabled iPhone or iPod Touch. The small drone can be flown inside or outside and uses a small video camera to transmit a real-time view back to the operator. Interestingly, the manufacturer is also using Augmented Reality games that allow users to ‘fight’ against other drones or invisible enemies. We can’t wait!

Link: www.Parrot.com

ITProPortal have a great run-down of all the iPhone plans and networks for us here in the UK. The table can be seen below, but do hit their site for more. The total cost of ownership is always a good thing to look at, even if the phone seems cheap now, you may be paying more in the long run…

Link – ITProPortal

The iPhone is now expected to arrive on Vodafone on January 14th. The BBC is carrying the story and the cheapest prices are coming out at £30 per month on a 24 month contract. There’s a 1GB limit on data, which is slightly higher than the Orange cap (750MB).

So, who’s going to be buying the Vodafone version ? Any existing customers out there hopping onto the iPhone ? Let us know!

Links – Vodafone Shop – BBC News
Credit – Jamie Webb