The Apple vs Samsung patent clash has been making the headlines the most in the past year or so, but that’s not the only seemingly endless legal dispute starring some of the big tech companies of today. Apple is involved in another such “thermonuclear” war, against Motorola (or shall we say Google?).

Unlike the Sammy conflict, where the Koreans have suffered quite a few bitter and massive defeats (not final, but still), this has seen the two parties splitting their wins. Hence, the two warriors are more or less tied so far, especially that their victories have been mostly minor, adding very few points on the overall scoreboard.

But that’s exactly what has caused the wrath of U.S. District Court Judge Robert Scola in Miami, who has issued an order accusing Apple and Google, among others, of using the courts as a “business strategy”. How come? Well, here’s the explanation in detail:

Most parties that come before the Court are trying to resolve their legal dispute as expeditiously, efficiently, and fairly as possible so that they can get on with their business or personal lives. But in the present case, the parties' obstreperous and cantankerous conduct ... makes it plain that the parties have no interest in efficiently and expeditiously resolving this dispute; they instead are using this and similar litigation worldwide as a business strategy that appears to have no end. That is not a proper use of this court.

Obstreperous and cantankerous? Ouch, that’s rough… I think. Let me check my dictionary. Yes, it is rough indeed. But is it unwarranted? Not at all. In fact, just the Florida Apple vs Google case apparently involves roughly 180 claims related to 12 patents and disputes over the meaning of more than 100 terms. And that’s not counting all the other ongoing patent trials in Illinois, Wisconsin and European courts.

Still, you’d think Apple and Google have shown good faith and willingness to resolve the Florida dispute, as both parties have agreed the case has to be narrowed down. But that’s not Judge Scola’s opinion, who says “The Court declines the invitation… of mopping up a mess they made by holding a hearing to reduce the size and complexity of the case”.

Instead, the lawyer armies of Cupertino and Mountain View have been given an ultimatum. Either they can agree on which claims to drop by August 5 without involving the court, or the case will be put on hold indefinitely. August 5 is when new briefs are apparently due, while a new hearing has been scheduled for September 30.

We have to mention, before you get a chance to go for Apple’s jugular in the comments section, that this particular suit was filed by Motorola back in January 2012. At the time, Moto was asking for injunctions against the iPhone 4S and the iCloud service, but right now there’s a lot more at stake than that.

You can get a better idea of the complexity of this case at this link here, but beware, headaches are a-coming.

Okay, now you can go all thermonuclear on Apple if you feel like it. Or on Google. Also, let us know what you think of Judge Scola’s claims. Do you agree that Apple and Google are making a mockery of courts and using these patent battles as business strategies?

Unveiled less than two months ago, the S Pen-toting Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 is already available in the US of A via a number of online retailers. That’s the good news, seeing as Sammy has kept its promise from a few days ago, but we also have some bad news for you.

The 8-incher is up for grabs for a pricey $399.99, as expected. And that’s with just 16 GB of on-board storage and no cellular connectivity, mind you. How steep is that price? Pretty steep, but then again the GNote 8.0 doesn’t exactly play in the same league as Google’s Nexus 7 or Apple’s iPad Mini.

Instead, this snazzy-looking slab of silicon ups the ante considerably in the hardware department, with a zippy quad-core 1.6 GHz Exynos 4412 CPU and 2 GB of RAM. The 4,600 mAh battery is pretty comfortable, while the 1,280 x 800 pix res panel is nothing to sneeze at. Oh, and did I mention the S Pen support?

Anyway, you probably know already if the Note 8.0 suits your needs and, if it does, you’re only a couple of clicks away from purchasing it. Some of the bigger online retailers that have it in stock are Amazon, Best Buy, Staples and Newegg, all of which offer the white Wi-Fi only version for the same $399.99 with free shipping.

A “charcoal black” model is to possibly come your way in the future too, but before that we should probably see the 3G-enabled and 32 GB variants up for sale. As for the 16 GB white model, none of the retailers currently selling it mention anything about the preloaded $200 worth extras Samsung promised.

Hopefully, you will still get all those advertised freebies, including the 50 GB of free Dropbox storage for 2 years and the $25 Google Play credit.

If you’re still not sold on the idea of coughing up 400 bucks for an 8-inch tablet, maybe our first look video from MWC (embedded above) will help seal the deal. So how about it, guys, too expensive or too darn nice to look away?

It’s no longer a secret that HTC had to delay the initially planned One release because of component shortages, but thankfully it seems the Taiwanese have finally managed to iron out all the kinks and get the phone ready to fulfill its destiny. The splendid 4.7-incher is still available only for a handful of people around the world, but things are set to change by the end of this month.

US, Canada, India and now China are just some of the major mobile markets that are nearly guaranteed to have the One up for sale in April. As far as China is concerned though, nothing is yet set in stone, with the exact launch date likely to be revealed on the 24^th.

That’s when HTC plans to hold a special press conference in Beijing, but something tells me that the actual release will happen soon after, or maybe even during the exact same day. In fact, HTC did mention back in March that it will be looking to make the 4.7-incher available in China before May 1, though obviously a lot of things have changed in the meantime.

Mum’s the word for now on pricing, but we do know all of the nation’s important carriers – China Mobile, China Unicom and Telecom – will be offering the beast in a subsidized form. Also, at least one of the three versions, Unicom’s 802w, is to come with, let’s say, slightly upgraded specs compared with the international variant.

There will be a microSD card slot inside the One 802w for expanding the internal storage and dual SIM slots, while the back cover will be removable. Still, that last detail is not much of an upgrade, given the battery itself will be bolted and hence not user-removable.

Even though this isn’t confirmed news for now, Focus Taiwan says the One on the other two carriers will look the same as on China Unicom, which does sound logical.

Another thing we know (this one for sure) is that the 16 GB One flavor, released in Taiwan recently, won’t be coming to China. It remains to be seen if the 64 GB variant is headed that way or if the model packing 32 GB of on-board storage will be the sole One representative around those parts.

But before anything, let’s all take one more look at HTC One’s video review. All done? Good, now let’s hear it from the folks who are determined to purchase the 4.7-incher, in China or anywhere else. What exactly is it that seals the deal for you? And for all the others, an even more pertinent question – why are you not willing to give the thing a chance?

Samsung is busy, busy, busy lately and not just with Mega launches (pun intended). The Galaxy makers are also working hard on providing timely Jelly Bean updates for as many “stars” as possible.

The latest Sammy phone to get a taste of JB butter is Sprint’s Galaxy Victory 4G LTE, available with the carrier ever since September 2012. Aside from the winning name (ba dum tss!), the 4-incher has never been able to stand out from the crowd very much.

Until now that is, because the mid-range phone is starting to look like a bargain. Sprint is selling it for $49.99 with two-year contracts after rebate, which is not a lot to ask for a freshly jelly beaned device with a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM, LTE and 2,100 mAh battery.

The Victory can be had free of contract restrictions on prepaid plans too, via Virgin Mobile, for just $249.99. Virgin has offered the 4-incher with on-board Android 4.1 ever since February.

But back to Sprint’s version, which is apparently being updated to Android 4.1.2 OTA (over-the-air). Naturally, we advise you to be cautious and patient, meaning you’ll want to back up your data before trying to upgrade and refrain from torture-testing your phone if the new software pack is not yet up for grabs.

You can also try to force a manual update by heading over to Settings – About Phone – System Update, but, again, if nothing happens, keep calm. Google Now integration and Project Butter performance enhancements lead the way in terms of specific tweaks, but here are a few other new features, apps and alterations to your software:

Enjoy and let us know if everything goes smoothly when trying to update! Also, are you happy that Sprint and Samsung are bumping up Galaxy Victory’s software or pissed of how long you’ve had to make do with ICS?

While they’re no match for the record-breaking numbers posted by Samsung fiscal quarter after quarter, LG’s smartphone sales have been on the rise lately, mostly boosted by the Nexus 4 and Optimus G hits.

Very recently, we’ve seen LG’s UK market share grow from a terribly modest 0.3% in 2012’s opening months to 4.3% in the debut of 2013. Granted, that’s still not awfully impressive, but it is a progress.

But LG isn’t thriving only just due to N4’s awesome quality-price ratio. The L-series sales have topped 15 million units a couple of months ago, whereas the company’s LTE line-up has been met with a lot of enthusiasm especially in South Korea.

According to official claims, LG’s LTE-enabled smartphones have recently surpassed sales of 5 million units in the company’s homeland. That’s 5 million sold in 18 months, or an average of close to 280 thousand each month.

I know, the average is not mind-blowing, but we have to take into account the fact that LG’s LTE portfolio has not been very diversified from the get-go. The Optimus LTE has been the first 4G phone to see daylight in Korea in October 2011, followed by the LTE Tag, View, LTE 2, Optimus G, View 2, Optimus G Pro and LTE 3.

The last two have only been available for a little over a month, with the Optimus G Pro already performing exceptionally – 500,000 units sold in the first 40 days on the market.

Unfortunately for LG, its LTE portfolio is not crazy popular outside Korea, with global sales reaching 10 million units just last month. That means the company has likely moved less than 6 million such handhelds in total in countries like US, Canada, Japan, France or Germany.

True, many European countries have very young LTE networks, but 6 million is still a minuscule number when we think how many 4G-enabled smartphones are sold stateside every day.

On the bright side, the trend does seem to be favorable in terms of global LTE sales too, with 5 million turning into 10 in the space of just seven months (August 2012 – March 2013). But if LG wants Huawei’s overall bronze at the end of this year, that growing pace is probably not enough.

Can LG boost its sales enough to reach the 2013 smartphone manufacturer podium? Will the Optimus G Pro be the one to accelerate the company’s rise to glory? Make your predictions below.

Although it’s not exactly a household name in the global mobile industry, Pantech is extremely popular in South Korea. In fact, believe it or not, Pantech has been the second best-selling handset maker in its homeland in 2012, behind Samsung, but ahead of LG, Apple and all the others.

But why not believe it, when the company has sensational phones like the Vega No.6 or Vega R3 in its portfolio? Also, if we are to trust existing rumors, Pantech has great plans for the future – a mystery IM-A870 device targeted against Samsung’s Galaxy S4.

The near future, that is, because apparently the company’s next flagship will go on sale as soon as the end of April. Based on the model number, this is surely set to up the ante of the Vega No.6, aka the IM-A860.

Details on the exact specs are still slim, but if Korean website ET News is to be trusted (and something tells me it is), the A870 will come with a 5-inch bezel-less display, a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 CPU and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

Hold on, bezel-less display? As in truly borderless and not just the kind of edge-to-edge display that Motorola and Intel teased last year, but failed to deliver after all? That would be huge! I mean, we’ve all been waiting and dreaming and craving for something like that for God knows how long, only to hear from everyone that it’s virtually impossible to design a functional phone that’s all screen.

And Pantech could make that happen? Sign me up for a dozen of these already! Unless, you know, the report is not legit or the whole thing will turn out to be just a cheap marketing ploy.

Also, even if the IM-A870 does happen to be the world’s first true bezel-less phone, the issue of potential limited availability remains in place. But hey, let’s not be negative and hope Pantech will be looking to go for gold worldwide for a change.

Back to the 5-incher’s rumored spec sheet for a second, I have to mention that, after doing some digging, I’ve discovered an older AnTuTu benchmark of the IM-A870L, the version for Korea’s LG U+. This “confirms” there will be on-board Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, but shows a 1.7 GHz S4 Pro CPU inside and not a Snapdragon 600.

That makes the IM-A870 score lower than Samsung’s GS4, although 24,000 points is still rather zippy. For comparison, the HTC One scored about as much in our AnTuTu test, while Sony’s Xperia Z lagged behind, at a little over 20,000 points.

Now how could you not get excited about Pantech’s rumored next spearhead? No, seriously, I want to know how I can make the wait bearable, because I feel like I’m going to explode!

It’s still early days in the 2013 battle for Android smartphone supremacy, but the names of the heavyweight title contenders are no longer a secret. There’s the Samsung Galaxy S4, which analysts predict will sell in 80 million units this year, HTC’s One (and only), Sony’s Xperia Z and LG’s Optimus G Pro.

The last name on that list might have been ignored by many so far, but the latest rumor around the block should confirm once and for all the G Pro has what it takes to be one of the greats.

According to sources “familiar with launch plans”, quoted by Android Central, the Optimus G Pro is to make its grand American debut on May 10 on AT&T. That’s mere days after the planned Samsung Galaxy S4 US launch, so on paper LG’s 5.5-incher should prove to be very solid competition for “the next big thing”.

Then again, we can’t confirm the story just yet and the release date is not set in stone, so caution is advised. AT&T has been the first American carrier to sell LG’s previous flagship device, the Optimus G, starting on November 2 2012, followed closely by Sprint.

Hopefully, AT&T won’t draw the short straw again and leave Optimus G Pro’s sensational spec sheet untouched. The first-gen Optimus G came to Ma Bell with an 8 MP rear-facing camera, unlike the Sprint and “international” models, which had 13 MP snappers slapped on their backs.

As far as Sprint goes, there’s nothing to signal an imminent Optimus G Pro, but you might remember we reported on a rumor of that nature less than two weeks ago. The original G is still alive, well and in stock with the carrier, so chances are that, even if Sprint is to release the G Pro, AT&T will be the first to do so.

It remains to be seen also if Verizon and/or T-Mobile will be looking to get a piece of the Optimus G Pro pie, given that both have passed on the big guy’s predecessor. The most impressive LG phone in Big Red’s line-up is the Intuition, a special version of the Optimus Vu, while T-Mo has just the Optimus L9 available.

Getting back to the rumored AT&T-bound version of the G Pro, let’s not forget to underline this is due to sport a 5.5-inch Full HD panel, unlike the recently released Japanese 5-inch model. The spec sheet should include a 1.7 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 CPU, 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory, microSD support, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and a 3,140 mAh battery.

While we’re waiting to see if the rumors prove legit, let’s all check out G Pro’s video review once again. And while we’re at it, why not look over the comparisons with Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2 and HTC Droid DNA? Now, is this or is it not a force to be reckoned with?

Intel had a timid debut in the Android décor, with its first mobile chips powering only a handful of entry-level phones from small manufacturers in 2012. But then the Lenovo IdeaPhone K900 got introduced during January 2013’s CES, and it seemed like the world’s largest PC processor maker was determined to turn the page.

The high-end K900 breathed style from every one of its pores in our first face-to-face encounter with it and then the impressive benchmark results boosted the hype level even more. Only we’re yet to see the 5.5-incher go up for sale anywhere in the world and there’s probably a limit to the public’s patience.

But fret not, Intel fans, as there’s a new kid around the block with “Intel Inside”. This one is called the Geek (no, really), and has been unveiled rather quietly by ZTE at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in Beijing.

I know, owning a Geek doesn’t sound very appealing, but maybe owning a phone powered by a dual-core 2 GHz Intel Atom Z2580 (aka Clover Trail+) does. For comparison, Lenovo’s K900 has the same chip beneath its hood, but clocked slightly lower, at 1.8 GHz.

Then again, I’m not sure the Jelly Bean-running ZTE Geek is really better than the K900. After all, processing power is not everything, is it? And if we look away from Geek’s CPU, we’ll see only unexciting specs. Decent, but certainly not impressive.

Like 1 GB of RAM, which is half of what the K900 has to offer. Or a modest 8 GB of storage space, an 8 MP rear-facing camera (vs. a 13 MP unit on Lenovo’s Intel phone), and a 1 MP front shooter.

The display is not great either, measuring 5 inches in diagonal and boasting a 720p resolution (293 ppi pixel density). Finally, I have mixed feelings about the 2,300 mAh battery, though that’s probably going to be enough to get you through a full day of use considering the screen is not Full HD.

According to Engadget, the Geek exhibited at IDF was a pre-production unit and some slight design tweaks might be operated before the actual release. That’s not to say the phone is ugly, being fairly slim and definitely more elegant than the Grand X In, ZTE’s previous Intel-powered handheld.

No words on a release date yet, but hopefully ZTE will move a little faster than Lenovo. Fingers crossed for seeing the Geek outside China at some point too. As for pricing, there’s nothing official yet and I’d rather not speculate. But if you want to, be my guests.

And while you’re at it, let the whole world hear what you think of Intel’s future in the Android world. Will it be a long and succesful one? Is ARM in danger? Should more Android manufacturers consider using Intel’s mobile chips?

The race for the world’s thinnest smartphone title used to be extremely heated not long ago, but lately it seems like manufacturers don’t care as much about this crown as they used to.

Which is understandable, seeing as a new contender pops out of nowhere every couple of months, boasting a thinner profile by a hundredth of an inch than the current champion, only to disappear soon after without leaving a mark on anybody.

And let’s face it, why would you need to have the thinnest smartphone when there are heaps of perfectly fine, super-slim, but not record-breaking devices out there? Do one or two mm make such a big difference?

Probably not, but if you’re still keen on owning the slimmest handheld around, you might want to hold off for a little while. That’s because, according to rumors, Oppo is prepping a mystery device, known only as the R809T, with a 6.13 mm (0.24 inches) thin profile.

That’s about 0.4 mm thinner than Alcatel’s One Touch Idol Ultra, a 4.65-inch phone unveiled at CES back in January and expected to make its debut sometime in Q2. Even if it’s not yet official, Oppo’s R809T is almost definitely legit and headed towards us in just two weeks.

More like headed towards China in two weeks, but you get the idea. The launch is allegedly slated for April 26, and, even if you don’t care too much about owning the thinnest smartphone in the world, you might want to give this fellow a shot.

The skinny phone is not a powerhouse by any standards, but it sounds like it could have a decent quality-price ratio. Expected to go for around 2,500 Yuan ($399) outright, it packs a quad-core Mediatek MT6589 CPU and 1 GB of RAM inside a body whose display measures 4.5 inches in diagonal and boasts a 1,280 x 720 pixels resolution.

Unfortunately, all the other specs and features are kept secret, including the battery’s capacity, so it remains to be seen what kind of ticker can Oppo pack inside such a thin gadget.

Do you think there’s any way the R809T will also feature a decently sized battery? Would you still be interested in the phone if that turns out to be feeble? Should Oppo think about releasing this outside China as well? We’re all ears.

They say it’s easier to reach the top than remain there, but when it comes to an ever-changing and always competitive smartphone market, I think it’s tough to become king and equally as hard to keep your crown.

So, even if Samsung’s mobile division broke every financial and sales record in the company’s history during 2012, there were no guarantees going into 2013. But it seems Sammy has played its cards right again, and, boosted by an impressive Galaxy S4, the company can hope not only to keep its sensational financial run, but set new records.

That’s at least according to JPMorgan financial analysts, quoted by the French journal Les Echos. JPMorgan predicts that, are you ready for this?, Samsung will ship a total of 320 million smartphones in 2013, a quarter of which should be Galaxy S4 units.

That’s 80 million projected shipments for the GS4, which is such a huge number that I can’t really wrap my head around it. Granted, I’ve heard even more optimistic forecasts a while back, but 80 mil would still be double the S3 sales from 2012.

Or, to put things in further perspective, 80 million is 35 million more than all of LG’s estimated handheld sales from last year. And when I say all handhelds, I mean both smart and feature phones. Un-be-liev-a-ble!

Of course, just because JPMorgan says the S4 will be such a blockbuster, it doesn’t mean it has to be so. After all, compared with its predecessor, the current “big thing” seems to have much stronger competition – HTC’s critically acclaimed One, Sony’s waterproof Xperia Z, LG’s ginormous Optimus G Pro and even BlackBerry’s Z10.

But the signs are all there and the stars seem to align for Samsung once again. GS4’s manufacturing rate sits at a cool 10 million units per month, while recent reports from IHS Research and Gartner predict great things for the Galaxy makers going ahead.

It can’t hurt the S4 that HTC has bumped into severe production issues with the One or that Sony’s Xperia Z is likely to never hit a single US carrier.

But what about the other number predicted by JPMorgan – 320 million total smartphone shipments in 2013? Is that also doable? Well, I’m no professional analyst, but, judging by Gartner’s numbers and Samsung’s recent growing trend, I’m inclined to say yes.

If Sammy manages to push 500 million mobile phones by the end of the year, 320 million would mean around 64%. In 2012, only 53.5% of the Samsung handhelds sold were smartphones, but “dumb” devices are in a free fall around the world for a while now.

Now let’s hear it from you, our dear readers, on Samsung’s and Galaxy S4′s future. Do you think the S4 will become a bigger hit than the S3? Does it deserve to be? Could it sell in 100 million units? 80? 70? And can total smartphone sales top 320 million units? Sound off below.