If you’ve already seen photos of the super-realistic 12-inch Steve Jobs action figure online, you may have already placed bets with your friends as to when Apple would come calling to squash it. If you guessed today, we have a winner! Cupertino is claiming ownership of the late co-founder’s likeness, but the defiant Chinese manufacturer plans to proceed anyway. Get out the popcorn, this one should be interesting! Meanwhile, here’s the rest of what’s making news for this Thursday, January 5, 2012.

Report: Google May Go Head-to-Head with Kindle Fire

Google’s Eric Schmidt recently sounded the alarms for companies making Android tablets, revealing that the search giant themselves are planning to launch their own branded tablet within the next six months -- presumably some sort of “Nexus” branded hardware in the tradition of their annual smartphones. While many rightfully assumed that the company had Apple’s iPad in their sights, a new report from DigiTimes is claiming that Amazon’s $199 Kindle Fire is what Google may actually be taking aim at. The idea is to introduce a seven-inch tablet priced at $199 (or less) to take advantage of their new Android 4.0, “confectionally” known as Ice Cream Sandwich. Of course, in less than six months they’ll have a new iPad to contend with as well, so… good luck, Mountain View.

Apple Clamps Down on Steve Jobs Action Figure Maker

If you’ve been waiting anxiously to pit your Steve Jobs action figure against the forces of evil (do they make action figures of Google CEOs?), you may want to grab one on eBay while you can. According to The Telegraph, a 12-inch action figure of the iconic Apple co-founder is set for release next month by Chinese manufacturer In Icons, but Cupertino will have none of it, claiming they own the likeness of Steve Jobs and they’ll sue if the company moves forward. The report claims “any toy that resembles the technology company's logo, person's name, appearance or likeness of its products is a criminal offence.” In Icons remains defiant and plans to proceed with selling the figure next month for $99, although units have already shown up on eBay for $135 each. The eerily realistic figure “comes with a pair of black socks, some glasses, a leather belt, two apples (one with a bite taken out of it), a bar stool and a ‘One More Thing’ backdrop.”

Google Translate App Goes Universal

Count us among those who frequently criticize Google for their often weak iOS apps, with bonus points taken away for how few of them include a universal build for native iPad support. If you frequently turn to the Google Translate app on your iPhone or iPod touch, you’ll be happy to know that the search giant pushed out a new version 1.3.0 update on Wednesday night which finally adds support for the iPad with a universal build. There’s nothing too fancy in the iPad edition, but at least now when we want to hear what some of our babbling nonsense sounds like in Mandarin, we won’t have to dig into our pocket to grab the iPhone anymore. (Yes, we’re that lazy…)

RIM May License BlackBerry OS to Samsung, HTC

It’s too bad there’s no technological equivalent of the Lifetime network, because we’re dying to see what kind of soapy TV movie they’d make about Research In Motion. According to BGR, the news keeps getting more interesting out of Waterloo, with Jeffries & Company analyst Peter Misek claiming that RIM may soon license their once-mighty BlackBerry software to other hardware makers -- specifically HTC and Samsung, who have been known to dabble in Android and Windows Phone of late. “We think some of this has already been started with RIM likely agreeing to license Blackberry 10 to Samsung, HTC, and possibly others,” the analyst writes. “This would help create a critical mass for the ecosystem and maintain RIM’s monthly service revenue.” Misek believes such a move would help get “people hooked on the RIM ecosystem,” something that could ultimately move more BlackBerry 10 handsets -- assuming they can ever release one.

Infinity Blade Racks Up $30 Million for Developer

“Epic” is definitely the word we’d use to describe a new report from Joystiq touting over $30 million in revenue for developer Epic Games from the Infinity Blade franchise. That includes the original launched in December, 2010 as well as last month’s Infinity Blade 2, which is some pretty good scratch for a mobile device game. "We have so much more in store for players, and will continue to make great content for Apple's evolving platforms,” explained Epic Games President Dr. Michael Capps. No word on expanding the company’s horizons to competing platforms such as Android, however.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

(Image courtesy of The Telegraph)