Tag: apple lawsuit

Apple Worked on Support for Apple Watch on Android Smartphones for Three Years: Report

Apple spent a few years attempting to bring support for its Apple Watch to Android smartphone, the company reportedly stated in its response to the US Department of Justice (DoJ) lawsuit filed against the firm on Wednesday. Previous reports shed some light on the company’s efforts to introduce support for its smartwatches on phones running on Google’s smartphone operating system, but this is the first confirmation from Apple that the company previously wanted to launch an Apple Watch that worked with Android phones.

The company’s response (via 9to5Mac) to the US DoJ lawsuit states that the company considered supporting the Apple Watch on Android handsets. Owing to technical limitations discovered over a three-year period, the company reportedly decided to drop its plans to expand support for its smartwatches beyond the iPhone.

The 88-page US DoJ lawsuit accuses Apple of violating US antitrust laws (federal and state) including allegedly reducing the quality of cross platform messaging (iMessage exclusivity), diminishing functionality of non-Apple smartwatches (limiting Apple Watch to iPhone), supressing cloud streaming for games on iOS, and blocking third-party apps from offering Apple Pay’s tap-to-pay functionality.

Apple told the publication that the lawsuit “threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets”, adding that it plans to “vigorously defend” against the US DoJ’s lawsuit, which it believes is “wrong on the facts and the law”.

Last year, Bloomberg reported that Apple’s engineers were “deeply engaged” in an effort called “Project Fennel” that aimed at bringing both the Apple Watch and the company’s Health app to Android smartphones. The project was cancelled when the work was about to be completed, to allow the wearable to continue to push Apple’s iPhone sales, as per the report.

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Apple to Settle Trade Secrets Lawsuit With Chip Startup Rivos

Apple plans to settle a lawsuit that accused tech startup Rivos of stealing its trade secrets related to computer-chip technology, according to a joint court filing on Friday in California federal court.

The companies told the US District Court for the Northern District of California that they had “signed an agreement that potentially settles the case,” and that the agreement allows Apple to examine Rivos’ systems and recover any confidential information.

Representatives for Apple and Rivos did not immediately respond to requests for comment and more information about the settlement.

Apple sued “stealth” startup Rivos in 2022. It said Mountain View, California-based Rivos had hired away dozens of its engineers and used its confidential information to develop competing “system-on-chip” (SoC) technology.

SoCs are integrated circuits with several computer components in a single chip, including central processing units and graphic processing units. Apple said in the lawsuit that it spent billions of dollars and more than a decade of research on its SoC designs and that they have “revolutionized the personal and mobile computing worlds.”

Rivos denied the allegations and claimed that Apple had “sought to punish Rivos and any Apple employees who may seek to work there since the moment Apple learned about the promising startup.” It countersued Apple last September for unfair competition.

Apple settled related claims in the case last month against six former employees who left the company to join Rivos.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

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Apple Beats AliveCor Lawsuit Over Heart-Rate Apps for Apple Watch

Apple persuaded a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit by a Silicon Valley startup accusing it of illegally monopolizing the US market for heart rate monitoring apps for its Apple Watch.

US District Judge Jeffrey White in Oakland, California, ruled on Tuesday against AliveCor, which had developed an app for detecting irregular heartbeats.

It accused Apple of violating the federal Sherman antitrust law and a California unfair competition law.

The decision explaining White’s reasoning is temporarily being kept under seal because of confidentiality concerns.

“AliveCor is deeply disappointed and strongly disagrees with the court’s decision to dismiss our anti-competition case and we plan to appeal,” the company said in a statement.

Apple said in a statement that the lawsuit challenged its ability to make improvements to the Apple Watch that consumers and developers rely on. “Today’s outcome confirms that is not anticompetitive,” it said.

In an amended complaint, AliveCor said Apple had led it to believe it would collaborate on heart-monitoring technology for the Apple Watch, only to then copy its ideas and embark on a “concentrated campaign to corner the market for heartrate analysis.”

The complaint also accused Apple of “updating” the heartrate algorithm for its watches, to prevent third parties from identifying irregular heartbeats and offering competing apps.

AliveCor had developed KardiaBand, a wristband for the Apple Watch capable of recording an electrocardiogram, or ECG.

The Mountain View, California-based company also developed the Kardia app for analyzing ECG readings on Apple Watches, and a SmartRhythm heartrate analysis app powered by artificial intelligence.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, has denied wrongdoing, and said competitors have no right to dictate its design decisions.

AliveCor is still litigating separate patent infringement claims against Apple.

The case is AliveCor Inc v Apple Inc, US District Court, Northern District of California, No. 21-03958.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

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