Chip design company Elan Microelectronics of Taiwan has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Fransisco. Through the claim, it has been listed that two of the companies patents have been infringed upon through the developments of the MacBook, iPhone and iPod Touch. Added to this includes two years worth of negotiations with Cupertino a Californian firm to work out a licensing arrangement, which have failed.

The same firm has brought forward claims before. In 2006 against Synaptics (who countersued) saw an agreement between both firms a cross-licensing deal after Elan had won a preliminary court injunction. The current patents in question involve a “multiple fingers contact sensing method for emulating mouse buttons and mouse operations on a touch sensor pad.” The Taiwanese firm has been referenced to saying that it wants to receive royalties and a licensing agreement that would also cover future offerings from Apple. Jill Tan, a spokeswoman for the American firm, said that Apple would not comment on the lawsuit.

[via The New York Times]

As a person, I like to think that I am open minded although very loyal when I find something that works (this contradicts to history with boys, more that I seem to have more luck finding a reliable phone than a person). I’m extremely active and one that tends to look after technological equipment, although if it cannot handle a random bump on the head, then it is just not tough enough for me. Without this sounding like an online dating profile, I would like to hear from users of iPhones whether I should jump the mobile phone ship. Realise this will be a tough battle to win.

Comments along the lines of “cause they are cool”, “just because” or “you’ll look cool” won’t count. What will be appreciated is an analytical response to the needs of me, a consumer and the functionality of the device. If there was a reason why I didn’t get an iPhone last year, convince me that the problem is no longer an issue. My needs are listed below as well as current considerations for why I haven’t gotten an iPhone already. The best comment will receive imaginary warm fuzzy feelings. Main hurdle is still having the idea in my head that in buying something, the more features it has on it, the more things that could break.

I use the phone for the following, all (but the last) are default options on the BlackBerry:

• Old school operations – making phone calls, sending SMS (Daily)
• Sending and receiving email (Daily)
• Instant chat (although this only recently, all I needed was another distraction)
• Taking occasional photos (Note: Professional photographer by trade, refuse to buy a phone ‘for’ the camera, it’s a nice to have)
• Calendar (Weekly)
• Note / Reminders (Daily)
• Maps / Directions (4 – 5 times a week)
• Calculator (Rare)
• Internet (Rare)
• Needed to download: MySpace and Facebook

I did not buy an iPhone last time because:

• No MMS
• Was easier to continue with a phone with buttons rather than touchscreen (previous phone to the BlackBerry was the flip Nokia model that takes over the World in Die Hard 4)
• A touchscreen and being a girl (i.e. having nails) didn’t work
• I have too many keys in my handbag
• I was worried about scratching it
• I was having trouble taking people seriously with some of the Apps they were downloading
• It didn’t fit in my back pocket
• Was more cost effective to get the BlackBerry (I’m a business customer, not a personal shopper, thus great deals and 12 month contracts)
• I was able to crack the screen of my BlackBerry with a nail polish bottle (how girlie is that) – can an iPhone withstand an enemy attack from beauty products?

Other factors and areas that no amount of convincing will effect:

• I have the Internet at home, so do not use the phone to ‘surf’, having the option is nice, although used rarely
• I do not use the phone for music, mainly as collections see tracks about 85MB each and an hour long
• Photography is done via my SLR Digital Camera and is not a factor for phone purchases

So, with all the modifications to the iPhone over the past 2 years, can it now rid me of the reasons why I didn’t buy one 12 months ago? Will I just need to buy a phone sock and bigger pants? Tell me, for reasons other than the ‘idea’ of an iPhone, when you break it down into the real facts of a phone – is the iPhone the model for me?

Please note: If you would like to comment, please be nice and constructive.

A thief in New York City made a major boo-boo when emailing a photo of himself through the iPhone he just stole. 18 year old Daquan Mathis and an accomplice grabbed 29 year old Sayaka Fukuda’s handbag and phone while she was waiting for a train.

Assuming she would never see her phone again, she went home via a call to police. Logging into the computer, she noticed that in the outbox was an email. The mugger (pictured) had emailed a picture of himself to his own email account using her iPhone. After passing the picture on to the police, Fukuda sent off an email to Mathis, telling him that she had sent it along and that he should expect to get arrested. His response was one on her life. The youngster was apparently already on file and was soon arrested. He also confessed to other robberies including the snatching of an Apple iPod. Lesson here – A) Don’t send emails via an iPhone you’ve just stolen B) Don’t steal (probably easier).

[via PhoneArena]