iPhone users can sue Apple for allegedly operating a monopoly through its App Store, the Supreme Court ruled Monday. A majority of justices disagreed with Apple’s argument that app buyers aren’t direct customers of Apple. Instead, the court ruled in a 5-4 decision in Apple v. Pepper that the “iPhone owners were direct purchasers who …

Your next pair of earbuds may be a lot smarter — and cheaper — thanks to efforts by Qualcomm and Google. Qualcomm on Thursday said it has created a smart headset platform that works with the Google Assistant and Google Fast Pair. The company’s reference design, which uses Qualcomm’s low-power Bluetooth audio chips, is meant to make it fast and …

Consumers in the US are willing to pay much more for 5G than for current 4G service — and by 2025, 20% of us could be using 10 times as much data as we currently do.  Those are some findings from a consumer survey about 5G that was conducted by Ericsson. The networking gear giant polled 35,000 consumers in 22 …

The US Justice Department on Thursday asked for a hearing on Qualcomm’s possible punishment if a California judge agrees with the Federal Trade Commission and declares the chipmaker to be a monopoly — largely because it’s worried about competition in 5G. In a statement of interest filed in US District Court in San Jose, California, the DOJ’s antitrust division asked …

Qualcomm will make nearly $5 billion in the current quarter from the settlement of its licensing dispute with Apple. During its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday, the mobile chipmaker said it will record revenue of about $4.5 billion to $4.7 billion from Apple in its third fiscal quarter, which ends in June. That includes a cash payment from Apple and …

One of the parental-control apps removed from the App Store fired back on Wednesday at Apple’s explanation of why the app was banned. OurPact argued that its app should be reinstated and should be allowed to use technology that enables parents to control what their children access on their Apple devices.  A report in The New York Times from Saturday said that …

Apple on Sunday fired back at a New York Times report that said the company has been using its hold on the App Store to hurt competitors’ products. A Saturday report in the Times said that in the past year, Apple has targeted 11 of the 17 most downloaded third-party apps designed to help phone users limit screen time or oversee their children’s …

Before Apple ever filed suit against Qualcomm, the iPhone maker allegedly wanted to hurt the company. And it put those plans down in documents obtained by Qualcomm as the two companies prepared to meet in court.  Slides with details of those documents — viewed by reporters in court, including CNET — have now been made public. You can see the …

Apple and Qualcomm have resolved their legal battle, likely so iPhones get 5G chips sooner. But that doesn’t mean we’ll see a 5G iPhone this year. On Tuesday, the two sides announced a surprise ending to their patent licensing battle, resolving a two-year dispute over Qualcomm’s licensing fees. Apple had accused Qualcomm of anticompetitive practices that pushed chip prices higher, …

Lawyers for Apple, its contract manufacturers and Qualcomm made their pitches Tuesday morning to a jury about why their side was right in the licensing dispute. But before the opening arguments even finished, the parties had reached a settlement.  So marked the end of a battle that had the potential to change the mobile industry. Apple had accused Qualcomm of anticompetitive …