Apple wins injunction to temporarily block Samsung tablet sales in Australia

SYDNEY: Samsung Electronics Co. lost a bid to sell its newest tablet computer in Australia until after a patent dispute with Apple Inc. is settled, a decision that means the product may never come to market in the country, according to Bloomberg.

Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett on Thursday granted Apple's request for an injunction barring the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia until the two companies' patent dispute is resolved following a trial.

Samsung had said it would scrap the release of the Galaxy 10.1 if the injunction were granted because missing the Christmas season would make the new tablet “dead” by the time it reached market, Neil Young, a lawyer representing the Suwon, South Korea-based company, told Bennett in Sydney on Oct. 4.

Apple claims the Samsung tablet infringes at least three patents, and its litigation had delayed the release of the Galaxy 10.1 for more than two months in Australia.

The dispute is part of a larger battle between the two companies that spans four continents and began in April, when Apple sued in the U.S. and claimed Samsung's Galaxy products “slavishly” copied the designs of iPhones and iPads.

A German court temporarily banned sales of Galaxy tablets in August, a ruling Samsung has appealed.

The two companies are also involved in legal disputes in South Korea, Japan and the Netherlands, Bloomberg reported.

Young said earlier this month that technology changes so quickly that even another month's delay in the release of the Galaxy 10.1 would threaten the product's sales prospects. Samsung had offered to agree to a quick trial on Apple's patent claim if Apple agreed to drop its demand for a ban on the sale of the Galaxy 10.1, Young said.

Apple rejected the proposal, he said.

Samsung said a trial can't be held until next year because it must collect evidence, Bloomberg reported

SPDP 5 say party president has failed to amicably resolve internal conflict

KUCHING: The quarrel in SPDP has taken a turn for the worse after five of its elected representatives declared that they had lost faith and confidence in their president Tan Sri William Mawan.

“This is World War III,” said Marudi assemblyman Datuk Sylvester Entri Muran, in capping off a press conference here yesterday with the five representatives dubbed the SPDP 5.

Tasik Biru assemblyman Datuk Peter Nansian, who is the SPDP senior vice-president, said earlier that they had lost faith and confidence in Mawan.

He said their president had failed to resolve the internal conflict amicably and peacefully, maintain the party’s unity and protect the Barisan Nasional’s interest.

“The straw that broke the camel’s back and forced us to make this decision is that if the president seriously wanted to resolve the current conflict, a reconciliation or unity committee should have been formed rather than the disciplinary committee to take action against us, which we feel is very unfair and done solely to chop us off,” said Nansian, who appeared to be the group’s main spokesman.

The other elected representatives invol- ved are Bekenu assemblyman Rosey Yunus, Batu Danau assemblyman Paulus Palu Gumbang and Mas Gading MP Datuk Dr Tiki Lafe, all supreme council members of the party.

Sylvester, Nansian and Rosey are also assistant ministers.

Mawan and the remaining SPDP supreme council members had on Sept 13 referred the five to the party’s disciplinary com- mittee after they failed to attend the council’s meetings since a walkout about two years ago.

The walkout happened when Mawan decided not to reappoint Sylvester as the party’s secretary-general without first consulting the council.

A show-cause letter was issued to Sylvester, which he has not replied. Although the rest of the group did not receive show-cause letters, they decided to stick together.

“Our stand today is our reply to the show-cause letter,” said Nansian. He said they no longer cared what action the committee would take against them, and that they would on their own find the “best solution” to ensure that they could continue to serve the people as well as the Barisan.

Asked if the best solution was for Mawan to step down, he retorted: “We never said that.”

He refused to divulge what their plans or options were should they be expelled from the party.

He also denied that they had informed or sought advice from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud on their move.

“We will cross the bridge when we come to it. Our interest is below that of the Barisan,” said Nansian, when pressed for an answer as to what they could do.

He pointed out that the group had met Mawan formally at least three times over the last two years to seek reconciliation.

According to him, they had agreed on many points to iron out their differences, but Mawan had not implemented them.

“While we urged him to run the party with principles, consistency, fairness and sincerity to maintain party unity and stability, we were labelled as the Rebel 5 and Group of 5. So, who started the friction and faction in the party?” he asked.

credit to sarawakstar@thestar

‘Good money in technical education’

Taib testing his driving skills at an exhibition booth put up at the ‘PPKS National Technical HRD Conference 2011’ yesterday. – Bernama photo

KUCHING: Children, especially those from the rural areas, should be encouraged to pursue technical education because the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) would require at least 217,000 semi-skilled workers by 2030, said the chief minister yesterday.

Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said efforts should now be made to help parents in the rural areas understand the situation so they would take proactive measures to spur their children to be technically skilful.

Speaking at ‘PPKS National Technical HRD Conference 2011’ here, Taib also spoke of the need for all the key players, especially those in technical and vocational institutions, to work together to ensure the level of technical education in the state was on par with that in countries such as Germany and Australia.

One area which needed serious attention is the bridging of the gap between those at the certificate, diploma and tertiary levels.

Taib told those present that the supply of manpower, especially those at the lower skill level, ought to be pondered seriously because there was likely to be a shortage when countries in the South East Asian region, especially Malaysia, hit the high-income economy status in the near future.

“The competition will be tough and the best solution is to train more people now as we cannot just fight the situation by `buying’ people to work here,” Taib said.

He said he foresee technical education mushrooming into a rewarding one for the people in the future.

“The view that working in the technical field is not prestigious would no longer be relevant in future as it is a potential source of high income,” he said.

Taib revealed that to get more people to become interested in technical education, efforts to explain job opportunities related to technical education would be organised.

“Awareness campaigns (on technical education) would be implemented in the rural areas for the benefit of the youths there,” he said.

On PPKS, Taib advised them to proceed with what they were doing until some kind of cooperation and coordination could be etched out between them and University College Laila Taib in Sibu.

“The government is trying to get these two entities together not only to hasten the pace of training but also to make such trainings more practical and match the requirements of SCORE,” Taib revealed.

credit to Borneo Post

Sarawakians and Sabahans, including rural folk, to benefit from gas pipeline initiative

KUCHING: The massive Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline (SSGP) will create many positive economic spin-offs for the people of both states.

Dr Shahren Ahmad Zaidi Adruce, a Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) academician conducted a social impact study on the communities living within the vicinity of the pipeline, and he said the gas pipeline development would also create new economic activities in the rural areas.

Built by Petronas at a cost of RM4.6bil, the 512km pipeline will transport gas from Kimanis in Sabah to the liquefied natural gas complex in Bintulu by end of 2013.

Dr Shahren, who is Cognitive Sciences and Human Development Faculty dean, said its construction would mean that communities living along the pipeline would have more employment opportunities.

At the same time, the project would bring infrastructure amenities such as roads and telecommunications to these rural areas.

The spillover effect of the gas pipeline will be similar to the North-South Expressway in Peninsular Malaysia in bringing economic growth, development in infrastructure and technology to improve the people’s lives.

“Communities who live within a 3km radius of the pipeline are those who will benefit most from this project.

“The project brings a lot of changes to the interior, especially in terms of infrastructure, to support the population’s basic needs and raise their standard of living,” said Dr Shahren, who led the social impact research on communities living within the vicinity of the pipeline, stretching from Bintulu through Miri, Limbang and Lawas to Kimanis in Sabah.

The study, which started in 2007, had a sample size of 48 settlements and included focus group interviews with the settlement’s population as well as non-governmental organisations.

Dr Shahren said some indigenous groups were at one time not supportive of the gas pipeline but later changed their mind when they “discovered that Petronas was not encroaching directly into some of the sensitive areas”.

“Some of the areas in the pipeline project are very sacred to local communities. I am sure Petronas and the state government will look into this and solve the problem with the local communities.

“But, all in all, the local communities are giving positive support to this project,” he said.

The gas pipeline is part of the Petronas Sabah-Sarawak Integrated Oil and Gas Project to harness oil and gas resources in the offshore areas of Sabah and Sarawak. 

credit to Bernama

TYT awards Datukship to national hero Kanang

KUCHING: Temenggong Kanang Langkau, 67, the last surviving holder of the Sri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa (SP) received the prestigious ‘Panglima Gemilang Bintang Kenyalang’ which carries the title “Datuk” from Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin Abang Barieng in conjunction with his 90th birthday yesterday.

Kanang, born in 1945 is a famous Malaysian hero and soldier from the Iban Dayak community in Sarawak.

He was in the Royal Ranger Regiment and Regimental Sergeant Major of 8 Renjer (8th Rangers) of the Malaysian Army.

He was awarded the ‘Panglima Gagah Berani’ and ‘Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa’ medals by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ahmad Shah on June 3, 1981.

“This is indeed an honour for lower ranked soldiers like me. This is not an award for me alone but for people like me who had sacrificed for the nation,” he told Bernama when met at the Dewan Lapau Kompleks Dewan Undangan Negeri where the investiture ceremony was held

Kanang who led Unit Combat Intelligence Platoon of 8th Battalion Royal Rangers to track down communists was shot three times during the battle with communist on Feb 19, 1980 but survived the ordeal and his battalion managed to kill five communists.

Meanwhile, State Assembly Speaker Datuk Seri Mohamad Asfia Awang Nasar headed the list of 909 other recipients.

Asfia received the Datuk Amar Bintang Kenyalang award which carries the title “Datuk Amar” while Muara Tuang state assemblyman Datuk Mohamad Ali Mahmud was the sole recipient of the ‘Panglima Negara Bintang Sarawak’ which carries the title “Dato Sri”.

Head of the Brunei History Centre Pehin Jawatan Dalam Seri Maharaja Datuk Seri Utama Dr Awang Mohd Jamil Al-Sufri was conferred an honorary PNBS, which carries the title Dato Sri.

Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department Datin Fatimah Abdullah heads nine recipients of the Panglima Gemilang Bintang Kenyalang (PGBK), which carries the title Datuk. —

credit to Bernama