Samsung to pay Apple damages for iPhone infringement: report

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has agreed to pay Apple Inc. more than $548 million US as determined in a court decision earlier this year related to an earlier ruling that Samsung infringed certain Apple patents for the iPhone in the design of its own smartphones, Reuters reported.

Global smartphones sales exceeded one billion in 2014: Gartner

Technology research company Gartner Inc. said Tuesday that annual smartphone sales surpassed one billion for the first time in 2014.

The company said in a press release that mobile-phone manufacturers sold 1.24 billion devices last year, up 28.4 per cent from 969.7 million in 2013. In the fourth quarter, sales were 367.5 million, a gain of 29.9 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

Documents show Samsung interested in BlackBerry: report

Documents indicate Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is still interested in buying device maker BlackBerry Ltd. despite denials from both companies that a deal was in the works, the Financial Post reported on Thursday.

The newspaper said it has obtained a report by U.S. investment bank Evercore Partners prepared for Samsung that outlines the case for making a BlackBerry purchase.

BlackBerry denies acquisition talks with Samsung

BlackBerry Ltd. has denied a report it has held talks with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. about an acquisition.

“BlackBerry has not engaged in discussions with Samsung with respect to any possible offer to purchase BlackBerry,” the company said in a press release Wednesday. “BlackBerry's policy is not to comment on rumours or speculation, and accordingly it does not intend to comment further.”

Samsung buying Ontario mobile printing company

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. announced Wednesday it is acquiring PrinterOn Inc., a Kitchener, Ont.-based mobile printing company that specializes in business-to-business.

The consumer products giant said in a news release that the purchase would “reinforce” its mobile ecosystem, improving its mobile printing for consumers and enterprise clients.

Android users expected to exceed a billion this year

Google Inc.’s Android operating system will reach 1.1 billion users in 2014, research company Gartner Inc. said.

That would mark a 26 per cent increase from 2013, Gartner said in a release Tuesday.

"Android holds the largest number of installed-base devices, with 1.9 billion in use in 2014, compared with 682 million iOS/Mac OS installed-base devices," Annette Zimmerman, principal analyst with the company, said in the release.

Apple, Samsung almost tied in Canadian mobile market

Nearly the same number of Canadians now use mobile devices made by Samsung Electronics Co. as use devices made by Apple Inc., Ipsos Reid said.

The company said in a release Tuesday that 33 per cent of Canadian smartphone owners use an Apple device, and 29 per cent use a Samsung mobile device.

BlackBerry's share was 19 per cent, Mary Beth Barbour, senior vice-president at Ipsos Reid, said in an emailed statement.

Samsung releases work-play smartphone feature

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. unveiled a new Samsung Knox smartphone business feature at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

In a release Monday, Samsung said it partnered with Centrify Corp. to provide enabling technology for Knox, which enables users to separate their work and personal information on their mobile devices.

“Samsung Knox is a new Android-based solution designed from the ground up with security in mind to address advanced security requirements for the Android platform,” the release said.

Samsung gains tablet market share on Apple

Apple Inc.’s growth in the tablet market slowed in the third quarter of 2012 as the company competed with devices made by Samsung Electronics Co. and Amazon Inc., the International Data Corporation (IDC) said.

The firm released new data Monday that said Apple's third quarter worldwide market share was 50.4 per cent, down from 59.7 in the same period a year earlier.