Samsung Electronics Co

Samsung Electronics Co. sued competitor Sharp Corp., Japan's largest maker of liquid-crystal displays, claiming that it infringed four U.S. patents for the technology used in televisions and computer monitors. Sharp is wrongly importing "products and processes" protected by patents awarded since 2004, Samsung, based in Suwon, South Korea, claimed in a complaint filed Dec. 21 in federal court in Wilmington, Del. The action is part of a continuing battle between the two companies.

Think of it as the digital camera for the lonely. Samsung unveiled a camera Thursday with a view screen on the front as well as on the back. And why would people want this DualView camera, as Samsung calls it? To take pictures of themselves. "The growing popularity of social networking sites has given rise to the self-portrait," Samsung said in its news release, "with many consumers turning their digital cameras on themselves." Many who have used social networking or dating sites can relate to holding a camera at arm's length in front of themselves while snapping a picture.

Walt Disney Co., Time Warner Inc. and three other movie studios sued Samsung Electronics Co., saying the company's DVD players allowed consumers to circumvent encryption features that prevent unauthorized duplication. The lawsuit demands a recall of all Samsung DVD players that allow copy-protection features to be disabled.

In its bid to keep pace with rivals, Blockbuster Inc. has reached a deal with Samsung Electronics America to offer its OnDemand movie rental service through Internet-connected TVs, Blu-ray players and home theater systems. The rental giant said the service, available this fall, would give Blockbuster customers the option of renting newly released movies without driving to the neighborhood video store or waiting for home delivery of a DVD through the mail.

Irvine-based AST Research Inc. signed a final agreement with Samsung Electronics Co. for a $200-million, two-year bank credit guarantee in exchange for 500,000 nonvoting preferred shares. The personal computer maker has been struggling with quarterly losses, declining market share and continuing executive turmoil as Seoul-based Samsung tries to save it. Samsung invested $378 million for a 40% stake in AST earlier this year and raised the stake to 46% in July.

Nintendo, Samsung Electronics Scrap Lawsuits: The two companies said they have dropped the suits they filed against each other after Nintendo alleged that Samsung made illegal copies of its video games. As part of a settlement, neither company will pay money to the other, they said. Nintendo Corp. a Japan-based maker of home video game players and games, filed suit in Seattle in January, alleging that Samsung Electronics Co.

AT&T Signs Five-Year Deal: Under the contract, the company could sell up to $1 billion worth of computers to the South Korean government and two of that country's largest electronics companies, it said. It's the largest contract AT&T's Global Information Solutions computer unit has signed in Asia. The renewable contract is worth $50 million in 1995, and can be expanded to $1 billion over five years, AT&T said. It plans to sell 500 systems to the Korean government and to Samsung Electronics Co.

Samsung Electronics Co. sued competitor Sharp Corp., Japan's largest maker of liquid-crystal displays, claiming that it infringed four U.S. patents for the technology used in televisions and computer monitors. Sharp is wrongly importing "products and processes" protected by patents awarded since 2004, Samsung, based in Suwon, South Korea, claimed in a complaint filed Dec. 21 in federal court in Wilmington, Del. The action is part of a continuing battle between the two companies.

Shares of Irvine-based Broadcom Corp., a maker of chips for wireless devices, climbed after analysts said a new contract with Samsung Electronics Co. could increase the company's share of the cellphone-chip market. Broadcom said Monday that it had expanded its relationship with Samsung and would provide processors for the South Korean company's third-generation, or 3G, phones. Samsung is the world's second-largest cellphone maker.

The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation of makers of the flash memory chips that go into cameras and music players, broadening its crackdown on possible price fixing in the semiconductor business. Samsung Electronics Co., the world's second-largest chip maker, and Toshiba Corp., Japan's biggest maker of semiconductors, said Friday that they were cooperating with the probe. The companies are the world's two biggest makers of flash memory chips.

An executive of Samsung Electronics Co. has agreed to plead guilty and serve 10 months in prison for participating in a conspiracy to fix the price of electronic memory chips used in computers and cellular phones, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Young Hwan Park, president of Samsung Semiconductor Inc., a U.S. subsidiary, also agreed to a $250,000 fine, prosecutors said.

Executives of two South Korean companies were indicted Wednesday as part of a U.S. investigation into price-fixing in the computer memory chip business, the Justice Department said. A federal grand jury in San Francisco handed down indictments against Il Ung Kim and Young Bae Rha of Samsung Electronics Co. and Gary Swanson of a U.S. subsidiary of Hynix Semiconductor Inc. The indictment charges that the three participated in the conspiracy during 2001 and 2002, the Justice Department said. The U.

Sony Corp. has regained its spot as the nation's top manufacturer of television sets, but the electronics and entertainment giant is finding that being No. 1 just isn't what it used to be. For 30 years, Sony's Trinitron sets defined the state of the art for color televisions, and Sony held as much as 50% of the high-end market some years.

Samsung Electronics Co., Hynix Semiconductor Inc. and Infineon Technologies agreed to pay $160 million to resolve claims that they conspired to drive up the price of computer memory chips. Samsung agreed to pay $67 million; Hynix, $73 million; and Infineon, $20 million, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said after a hearing Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco. "I think the settlements are very good," said Guido Saveri, an attorney for businesses that bought computer memory.