Samsung Electronics celebrates another victory as the Munich Regional Court rejected Apple Inc.’s request to ban sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1N tablet and the Galaxy Nexus smartphone in Germany.

Last week,  the Mannheim Regional Court in Germany also denied Apple’s request to ban the Samsung products from being sold in Germany.

Samsung is pleased with the new court ruling, but Apple is adamant in protecting their intellectual property, showing no signs of stopping until they get what they want.

Though Samsung may be in a celebratory mode, they still have to face the anti-trust probe presented by the European Union for allegedly abusing  licensing of patents to other mobile-phone manufacturers.

Symantec Retraction

Symantec, the maker of security software for computers such as Norton, recently identified that a number of apps in the Android Market were malicious and can receive commands to carry out certain actions, as well as steal information from infected devices.  But Lookout Mobile Security disagreed with Symantec’s findings and stated that the Apperhand SDK is an aggressive form of ad network and not malware.

Lookout was right to disagree as Symantec retracted their previous findings.

“We have determined the code in the Tonclank and Counterclank applications comes from the same vendor. The vendor is a company who distributes a SDK (software development kit) to third parties to help them monetize their applications, primarily through search,” Symantec stated on their post.

Symantec wasn’t straightforward in admitting their mistake, but instead told consumers that labeling wasn’t the important thing, but rather keeping the people safe.

“We hope to avoid the pitfalls of labels such as malicious, spyware, and adware, and instead provide methods to automatically inform users of undesired applications based on their personal preferences. We hope this future technology will encourage a vibrant mobile ecosystem and, at the same time, keeps users safe.”

Mobile World Congress 2012

The stage is set for the quad-core smartphone showdown at the Mobile World Congress 2012 happening in Barcelona on February 27-March 1.

HTC is said to be unveiling the HTC EDGE which features Quad-core 1.5 GHz Tegra 3 processor, Android 4.0 with Sense UI 4.0, 4.7-inch display with 720p resolution,1 GB RAM, Backlit 8 MP camera with 28-millimeter, f/2.2 lens, Beats Audio, 32 GB internal storage, HSPA+ 21 Mbps support, Bluetooth 4.0 and is Slightly over 10 mm thick.

Fujitsu is said to be showcasing a redesigned Arrow, their smartphone that first appeared at the CES which features Quad-core 1.2GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, Android 4.0, 4.6″ 1280 X 720 TFT-LCD, 13.1-megapixel camera capable of ISO 25,600 sensitivity, 1 GB RAM (prototype had 4 GB RAM), LTE support, and Waterproof and dustproof.  The LG X3 which features Quad-core Tegra processor, Android 4.0, 4.7-inch 1280×720 display, 8 megapixel rear camera, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, 16GB of expandable storage, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, HSPA+ 21 Mbps support, 2,000mAh battery and Under 9mm thin is also expected to make an appearance at the MWC2012.

Since everyone wants their smartphones to perform as well as their laptops or computers, quad-core smartphones are the next hottest things in the mobile sector.

Cell Phone For The Blind

A group of Computer Engineering students from the Mapua Institute of Technology in the Philippines created the Wearable Obstacle Detection System and Braille Cell Phone for the Blind.  The device promises to help the visually impaired detect objects within five meters, send and receive text messages, and answer calls.

Creators Janiena Roxanne Dirain, Kristine Emy Matabang and Girly Perando explained that  the gadget can be worn on the wrist or as a belt.

“We had many layouts for this device and even tried to hear suggestions from the blind until we came out with the final design of the Braille cell phone, which is placed in a box case. The sensor is connected far from the device through long wires for the blind to move it flexibly,” Perando said in statement.

The Wearable Obstacle Detection System and Braille Cell Phone for the Blind is one of the top ten finalists in the 8th Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP) Innovations and Excellence Awards.