Apple has identified HTC as the next company that is stuck in their crosshairs and they again look like they’ll have a fight on their hands. Steve Jobs’ plaything is requesting an import ban on HTC products in the US. Apple claims that HTC products violate a number of Apple patents.
Like Samsung, HTC will not be taking Apple’s accusations lying down. The company released a statement saying, “HTC is dismayed that Apple has resorted to competition in the courts rather than the market place. HTC continues to vehemently deny all of Apple’s past and present claims against it and will continue to protect and defend its own intellectual property as it has already done this year.”
It’s similar to the case that has been brought against Samsung and all but confirms that Apple is getting increasingly more worried by Android’s legion on manufacturers.
Meanwhile Google’s latest project may be their fastest growing yet. Estimates put the number of users now signed up to Google+ at one billion as people flock to the online behemoth for the next generation of social networking. Paul Allen of Ancestry.com came up with a methodology to calculate the number using the sites by using US Census Bureau data.
He sampled a number of US surnames and then compared them with the surnames of Google+ users. By doing this he could guesstimate a percentage of the US population signed up to Google+. To finish he calculated the ratio of US to non-US users to generate a worldwide number. That led him to there being 9.5million users worldwide. These numbers are obviously far from official although they do suggest that Google is giving Facebook more than a run for its money.
