Judge Marina Tavassi of the Tribunale di Milano has rejected Samsung’s request for a preliminary injunction against the sale of the iPhone 4S in Italy, reports ANSA. The decision on Thursday follows a similar ruling in France that Samsung lost as it attempted to block iPhone 4S sales there as well. Over the past year, Apple and Samsung have been caught up in a number of heated patent battles throughout the world, and Samsung’s requests to have the iPhone 4S banned has now been rejected three ti...

Italy’s Antitrust Authority has fined Apple Sales International, Apple Italia Srl and Apple Retail Italia a total of $1.2 million for “unfair commercial practices.” According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple’s Italy-based retail stores were fined €500,000 ($653,000) for not providing customers with adequate information about its AppleCare Protection Plan warranties, and an additional €400,000 ($523,00) for not being completely transparent about the length of product guarantees....

Yankee Group is set to release its European Mobile User Study next month and the research firm has just provided a quick glimpse into its early findings. Reportedly, 40% of European smartphone buyers plan to purchase an iPhone as their next device. 19% plan to purchase an Android powered device, 17% have their eye on a BlackBerry, and 15% plan to buy a Nokia smartphone. “These findings highlight the continued strength of Apple in the European smartphone market and, in particular, its phenomenal brand ap...

Nokia has announced that it will hold its annual Nokia World conference from October 26th through the 27th in London. Given Nokia’s recent announcement that it’s still on-track to launch a Windows Phone this year, it’s entirely plausible that Stephen Elop will take the stage during Nokia World and do just that. An October announcement could mean that the new phone will land on store shelves right in time for the holiday season, too. Nokia has listed France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, E...

According to AllAboutPhones, Nokia will launch its first Windows Phone handsets in six European countries this year. Oddly, Finland will not be one of them. The Finnish phone maker has said that it plans to launch the new devices by Q4 2011, and the first six countries named include France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands. If your country isn’t on that list, fear not. Nokia has said that it plans to launch as many as a dozen Windows Phones throughout 2012, some of which will pack dual-core processors. W...

We’ll be honest, we didn’t quite expect Ralph Lauren to be the company to introduce a useful solar-powered backpack to power our gadgets while on the move. The Ralph Lauren RLX backpack offers a pretty large solar panel built in to the back of the backpack, one that the company says can charge a phone in around two hours. The backpack itself is water-resistant, with a decent amount of pockets and storage space, and generates a 3.45 watt current which is enough for most any mobile device or handset...

If you’re a serious watch lover and collector, there’s a good chance you’ll want to keep your timepieces fully wound, especially if you own complicated movements, and the Orbita Bergamo looks to be a high-end built-to-order piece of furniture to show off and hide your watches. It’s capable of holding and winding 40 watches (each watch winder is able to be programmed independently), and the rear part of the cabinet that holds your timepieces can automatically lower into the cabinet to ...

Fresh off the wire, Apple is reminding everyone that their flagship product, the iPhone 4, will go on sale in 17 additional countries beginning July 30th. Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland to be exact. Hit the bounce for the full release. (more…)

We imagine that there will have been an inordinate number of sick days claimed yesterday in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, as the iPad went available for sale in the aforementioned nations. The price of the device, as well as data plans for the 3G model, vary greatly from country to country, so if you’ve not already done so, hit up your respective online Apple webstore to check out how much you’ll need to shell out to become the laughingstock envy ...

After a disappointing Q4 2009 performance, Blockbuster’s woes continue with the US video giant looking to pawn off its European operations as a means of generating some much needed cash. According to a report from the Sunday Times, Blockbuster has hired Winchester Capital to sell off its European division which includes 650 stores in the UK and an unknown number of stores in Denmark, Italy, and Ireland. Combined, these assets could net Blockbuster a respectable £50m ($76M USD) at a time when the movie ...

This is backwards. In 2006, several students from Turin, Italy filmed themselves bullying a classmate with Down’s Syndrome. The bullying students, clearly impressed with themselves, uploaded the video to Google Video for the world to see. Google explains: “The video was totally reprehensible and we took it down within hours of being notified by the Italian police. We also worked with the local police to help identify the person responsible for uploading it and she was subsequently sentenced to 10 ...

Good news for Android 2.0 hungry Europeans this early afternoon as Motorola has officially announced the European (read: GSM/UMTS) version of the DROID. Dubbed the Motorola MILESTONE, the two handsets appear to be identical spec wise save for the obvious differences in cellular radios. Oddly enough, the MILESTONE will feature one thing on every DROID lovers wish list — multitouch. The reason why the MILESTONE has multitouch while its American cousin does not isn’t clear, but the general feeling...

Vodafone and HTC came together today to announce the HTC Magic, the latest Android handset we named and outed yesterday. As the world’s first touchscreen-only Android phone, the Magic isn’t that much of an improvement over the G1 though it does have a nicer look to it and some spec improvements behind it. Details as to when the Magic will launch are hazy at best but the Vodafone UK website states it will be “Arriving in April.” Being a Vodafone exclusive, customers in the UK, Spain, Fr...