Planned Google tablet to rival Amazon: Asustek exec

Amazon's Kindle Fire, which runs a version of Google's Android operating system, sells for $199. Through it users can access Amazon content including books, music and video.

"It's targeting Amazon. The Kindle is based on Google's platform but with its own service, so Google has to launch its own service, too," said the executive of the device.

Google has its own store for apps called Google Play, but does not have anything like Amazon's service.

Bloomberg earlier reported that Google would launch a tablet at its developer conference this week, taking direct aim at Apple Inc's iPad, citing two people familiar with the matter. One of the sources said the 7-inch tablet would showcase new features of Android.

The Asustek executive, who did not want to be named as the planned device has not yet been made public, declined to give details on its price, specifications or launch timetable. Rumors that the search engine giant planned to launch a tablet at its annual developer conference have circulated on tech blogs for weeks.

Google declined to comment.

Apple's iPad had a 68 percent share of the market in January-March, according to data from IDC. Amazon had a little over 4 percent, lagging Samsung Electronics and Lenovo. Microsoft last week introduced its own line of tablet computers, marking a major strategic shift for the software giant as it struggles to compete with Apple and re-invent its aging Windows franchise.

Google has previously worked with hardware manufacturers HTC and Samsung to produce co-branded Android mobile phones under the Nexus brand. This would be its first such tablet device.

Asustek shares gained 2.6 percent in Taipei, outperforming a 0.6 percent gain on the benchmark stock index.

(Reporting by Clare Jim in TAIPEI and Chandni Doulatramani in BANGALORE; Writing by Jeremy Wagstaff; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)

Apple wins US ban on Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1

Her Californian court had already found that the Tab 10.1 and Apple's iPad were "virtually indistinguishable" so the only question was the balance of harm.

"While Samsung will certainly suffer lost sales from the issuance of an injunction, the hardship to Apple of having to directly compete with Samsung s infringing products outweighs Samsung s harm in light of the previous findings by the Court," Koh said in her order.

Many critics of the technology patent battles argue that letting either side win would be bad for Joe Public, who will end up with less choices when he wants to buy his next mobile, but the judge didn't buy that idea for this case.

"Although Samsung has a right to compete, it does not have a right to compete unfairly, by flooding the market with infringing products," she said.

Apple needs to hand over $2.6m for a bond to cover a potential damages payment to Samsung if the court eventually finds that the ban was wrongly granted. Once the fruity firm hands over the cash, the injunction will come into effect.

It's been swings and roundabouts for the Apple v Android-phone-makers patent war, with the company losing out in its dispute against Motorola Mobility earlier this week when the judge threw the case out. But this is a big win for the firm against its closest competitor in both smartphones and tablets.

Of course, Samsung has the right to appeal the decision to the appeals court in Washington, which it has already done, filing the motion practically before the ink was dry on the preliminary injunction order.

The company told The Register that it was disappointed with the decision.

"Apple sought a preliminary injunction of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1, based on a single design patent that addressed just one aspect of the product's overall design," Samsung said.

"Should Apple continue to make legal claims based on such a generic design patent, design innovation and progress in the industry could be restricted."

The company also said it's not that bothered by the ban anyway because it sells lots of Galaxy Tab products in the US, not just the 10.1.

Apple reiterated its usual stance that Samsung was "blatantly copying" its products.

"It's no coincidence that Samsung's latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging," a spokesperson said.

"This kind of blatant copying is wrong and, as we've said many times before, we need to protect Apple's intellectual property when companies steal our ideas."

The Guardian Microsoft Seals Deal for Social Site Yammer

BY SHIRA OVIDE

Microsoft Corp. struck a deal to buy Yammer Inc. for $1.2 billion in cash, a transaction that highlights a new trend in business software and perceived shortcomings in Microsoft's own products.

Yammer is often called Facebook for the workplace, offering companies a kind of social network that is designed to be more appealing to employees. Microsoft said Monday it will continue Yammer as a standalone service, and it is looking for ways to weave Yammer functions into its Microsoft Office suite of desktop applications.

"The acquisition of Yammer underscores our commitment ...