Apple Blocks Samsung Sales in Germany; What Cook and Jobs Have in Common

Every week, makes news with technology developments, business deals and, more often than not, controversies.

That’s where our weekly "Core Bytes" column on Apple comes in. We’ll relay the past week’s news highlights from our favorite backyard tech giant.

Controversies
•The patent battle between Apple and Samsung continues, with 19 lawsuits between the two rivals in nine countries. The Big Apple struck some luck today, when it managed to block all Samsung Tablet 10.1 sales in Germany. Still, it was not successful in stopping sales in the entire European Union as it had hoped. It has also filed a lawsuit  this week to block Samsung phone sales in Japan, claiming that the Galaxy S and S II smartphones, as well as the Galaxy Tab 7 tablet, infringe an interface and design patent.

•HTC, Asia’s second-largest smartphone maker, is the latest company to engage in a patent war with Apple. They sued the company in court on Tuesday, and filed a complaint at the U.S. International Trade Commission, claiming that they infringed nine on patents obtained from Google.

New Products
•On Thursday, US Patent & Trademark Office published Apple's patent for a “Point-of-Sales System.” The device is capable of scanning multiple barcodes at once, and bringing relief to retail sales people on Black Friday.

Business Deals and Developments
•Soon Apple can say hello to the newest iProduct: the “Apple Campus 2”. The main spaceship-esque building is set to house upwards of 13,000 employees in 2.7 million square feet and four stories. The overall campus will encompass 176 acres over five properties, according to a feature in the San Jose Mercury News. But are Cupertino residents happy about the possible traffic the development will bring to their idyllic suburban space? , as a city council meeting last night reveals.

•Apple’s newest CEO Tim Cook is carrying on Steve Job’s tradition of philanthropy: he announced in a letter to employees on Thursday morning that he would match employee’s charitable contributions by upwards of $10,000 annually. “We are all really inspired by the generosity of our co-workers who give back to the community and this program is going to help that individual giving go even farther,” he wrote.

•iTunes U launched in 2007, bringing free downloads from educational programs to the public. Now it has hit a milestone of 600 million download, half of which occurred in the last year. The service is available in 123 countries, and 60 percent of its users come from outside the U.S.