Samsung Electronics and Apple are locked in an international patent battle in Europe, the U.S., Asia and Australia that has lasted for months and resulted in some sales bans of Samsung phones and tablets.
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Netheads build, run and protect the internet. They often profit from it too. More than 2,000 of them from more than 100 countries descended on Nairobi this week for the latest Internet Governance Forum (IGF), a conference organised under United Nations auspices. The ponderous official theme was the internet “as a catalyst for change”, with a lot of nodding to WikiLeaks and the Arab spring. The reality outside the conference hall, the UN headquarters in the Kenyan capital, was more striking. Kenyans nowadays often go online on their mobile phones. Surfing the web is getting faster and cheaper by the day. The internet is no longer a geeks’ affair in the rich world, but woven into the fabric of business and life even in the poor one.
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For something so central to the modern world, the internet is shambolically governed. It is run by a hotch-potch of organisations with three- to five-letter acronyms. Many of their meetings, both online and offline, are open to the public. Some — like the Internet Governance Forum, which held its annual meeting in Nairobi this week — are just talking shops. Decision-making is slow and often unpredictable.
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As Research In Motion Ltd. executives prepared early this year for the launch of their first tablet, the PlayBook, one big question loomed: Who was the device for?
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The U.S. Justice Department is taking a closer look at Google’s proposed $12.5 billion acquisition of cellphone maker Motorola Mobility, raising the hurdle that must be cleared before the deal can be completed.
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Labor’s $36 billion National Broadband Network is officially open for business.
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ISPs face changes to the way they advertise broadband services.

From April next year, providers will no longer be able to advertise maximum speeds for net packages unless 10% of customers can actually get them.
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Apple and Samsung Electronics will have to simplify their cases if the Federal Court is to rule by next week on a temporary injunction on Samsung’s tablet release in Australia.
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Samsung has agreed to pay Microsoft what could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties after it settled a bitter dispute over the Korean manufacturer’s Android smartphones and tablets.
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A US trade watchdog will investigate a claim by Taiwanese phone firm HTC that its rival Apple has infringed its patents.
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