It’s that time of the week when our thoughts stray from the work at hand to what we might do this Columbus Day weekend, but the tech industry is pushing through hump day with a variety of news items you’re sure to enjoy. Work off that post-keynote hangover by reading the latest news for Wednesday, October 5 starting… now!
We can’t preorder the new iPhone 4S let alone actually get our hands on one yet, but that isn’t stopping Samsung from throwing a bit of fecal matter in the punch bowl, as it were. The company announced this morning on their Samsung Tomorrow blog that they “will file separate preliminary injunction motions in Paris, France and Milano, Italy on October 5 local time requesting the courts block the sale of Apple’s iPhone 4S in the respective markets.” The fuss is all over two alleged patent infringements “related to wireless telecommunications technology” -- specifically the WDCMA standard used in 3G mobile handsets.
iLounge is reporting that the makers of Real Racing 2 are planning a major update to the game which coincides with next week’s release of iOS 5 and the iPhone 4S. Firemint will deliver full 720p AirPlay support for playing on the Apple TV from an iPad 2 or iPhone 4S, with a ton of visual improvements and a new “Party Play” mode which allows two or four players to join in the fun with a split-screen local multiplayer game over AirPlay. Sounds awesome to us!
Siri is undoubtedly the belle of the iPhone 4S ball, but do you remember Siri Assistant, the free iOS app that started it all? The app is gone from the App Store now, and MacRumors reports that the app itself will likewise close up shop on October 15 -- you know, the day after the iPhone 4S hits the streets and makes us forget all about the app anyway.
If you’re a Parallels Desktop 7 user who’s been holding out playing with Microsoft’s new Windows 8 Developer Preview, the virtualization company has some great news for you -- a build 7.0.14924 has just been released with experimental support for Redmond’s next operating system. The update also improves general performance, including optimized CPU usage when PD7 is idle, improved compatibility with Quicken 2011 and support for Autodesk 3DS Max 2012. Hit up the “Check for Update” option from the Parallels Desktop menu to get yours.
Cult of Mac is reporting that many potential iPhone 4S customers already on AT&T are using Apple’s online eligibility tool only to discover they’ll be forking over more for the handset starting this Friday. A customer service rep for the carrier is pointing the finger of blame squarely on Apple, claiming “upgrade eligibility dates and the pricing models are all dictated by Apple, Inc. and they cannot be changed.”
Sounds unpleasant, but remember, upgrade eligibility is based upon a lot of different factors that make no sense to us -- usually having to do with how long you’ve been a customer and how much money you fork over to the carrier each month. In any event, we’d recommend hitting up that convenient online eligibility tool on Apple’s website prior to Friday morning if you want to keep the disappointment monster at bay.
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
