Amazon Building a Phone and Two Other Stories You Need To Know

Welcome to our Second Episode of Stories You Need To Know. So what is going on today in the Tech World, today we are looking at three particular stories that caught our interest.

Amazon building an iPhone competitor

Bloomberg reports that Amazon is in the process of building an iPhone competitor. Surprisingly, the hardware, cloud computing and e-commerce juggernaut is said to be working with Foxconn which is Apple’s iPhone manufacturer.

Amazon is also reportedly seeking to acquire a wide range of smartphone-related patents to guard against infringement accusations. A smartphone would give Amazon a wider range of low-priced hardware devices that bolster its strategy of making money from digital books, songs and movies.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire has been a very popular tablet for the juggernaut so we will have to see how this plan pans out and how Amazon plans to market the device and which carrier will have the exclusivity if any!!

Facebook Planning Mobile Ad System That Tracks Users’ Apps

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Facebook is planning to roll out a new mobile advertising strategy that targets users based on which apps are installed on their phones. The Journal  writes this is a way for Facebook to increase mobile revenue and tap into the potential profits to be made from the many apps that connect to its site.

Facebook may also track what people do on the apps, though it hasn’t made a final decision. The new ads are going to bring privacy concerns because they let Facebook go a step further than mobile-ad networks, which track what ads people have clicked on through a phone’s Web browser.

Facebook’s been focusing on the potential of mobile ads, especially after its IPO when investors and Facebook said mobile could get in the way of the company’s growth.

Galaxy Nexus ban, back and forth game

Recently Apple’s legal team paid a $95.6 million dollar bond to halt the sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus which is Google’s next flagship device. U.S. Ditrict Court Judge Lucy Koh denied Samsung’s request for a stay in the sales ban Apple imposed.

The Verge then reported that Google removed the Galaxy Nexus device from their online store and confirmed the reason it was removed was because of the injunction.  Samsung was quick to react and requested the ban be lifted awaiting a formal response from Apple. The court’s decision to suspend (or “stay”) the ban will last only until Apple can respond and the court decides whether or not the ban should be in effect throughout the rest of the patent infringement trial.

Since the court decided to lift the ban temporarily on the Galaxy Nexus, Google was quick at putting up the device once again up for sale at the Google Play store but the device has possible 1 week to 2 week shipping delay. Google is promising the device will get the Jelly Bean update before the end of July which should make the device not infringe on Apple’s patent that has to do with a Universal Search feature.