Apple's (AAPL) iPhone has finally slipped from its top position to third in customer satisfaction, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The new study of 10 top-selling smartphones for the past year found that Samsung's Galaxy S III ranked No. 1. In second place was the Galaxy Note II.

The Apple iPhone 5, 4S, and 4 took positions 3 to 5 respectively, followed closely by the Droid Razr Maxx HD and the Galaxy S II. The results offer two major conclusions: Apple has lost the brand lead it had enjoyed for years and Apple's own customers don't see much difference between the various iPhone models available. The latter has bad implications for Apple's product development, innovation efforts and profitability.

ACSI is a leading indicator of customer satisfaction across many categories of products. Conducting about 70,000 consumer surveys a year, ACSI rates each product on a 0 to 100 scale. Apple has traditionally done well, although for a long time it was judged only in the personal computer category, where it began to dominate in consumer satisfaction in 2004.

Last year, in mobile phones, Apple had a rating of 83. The next closest companies were Nokia, HTC and LG, all of which had scores of 75. The most recent numbers indicate a significant reversal for the maker of the iPhone.

The difference between the Samsung products and the iPhone 5 was only two points, but it still marks a a reshuffling of the ranks and a marked improvement for Samsung, which was at 71 in 2012. The change shows how Apple has lost its frontrunner status not just globally, but in the U.S., where its predominance was particularly strong.

As the ACSI points out in its press release, there is also significance in how close the iPhone 4S and 4 scores are to the iPhone 5:

 "Not only does Samsung edge ahead of all iPhones, Apple customers themselves don't see much difference between the iPhone 4, 4S or 5," says ACSI Director David VanAmburg. "The latest earnings report from Apple was better than expected, but the name of the game for Apple has always been innovation. Samsung, on the other hand, shows a strong upward ACSI trend from the Galaxy S II to the Galaxy S III. If the S4 performs as well -- or even better -- in the eyes of customers, Samsung could threaten Apple's dominance in overall customer satisfaction."

In its latest earnings report, although the company sold a record number of iPhones for a calendar second quarter, average sales price dropped sharply over the past six months, likely because many customers opted for the cheaper, older models, not seeing a compelling reason to buy the iPhone 5.

Apple wants to add the Galaxy S4 to a list of 22 Samsung devices its believes infringes on its patents.

Cupertino said it is willing to drop one of those 22 gadgets and swap in Samsung's newest flagship smartphone.

"Based on Apple's analysis of the Galaxy S 4, Apple has concluded that it is an infringing device and accordingly intends to move for leave to add the Galaxy S4 as an infringing product," Apple said in a Monday court filing posted online by The Verge.

If the California district court overseeing the case approves that request, "Apple will eliminate (without prejudice) one of the Accused Products named herein, so that it will continue to accuse only 22 products of infringement at this stage of the litigation," Apple said.

That list includes everything from the Samsung Admire and Dart to the Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note II, and various Samsung tablets.

Apple was advised to identify specific Samsung products that it believed infringed on its patents, rather than entire product lines. "For example, Apple separately accuses the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the Samsung Galaxy SII, and the Samsung Galaxy S III, rather than singularly accusing the Samsung Galaxy product line," Apple wrote.

The two sides have been fighting over how many products they can enter as evidence in the case. In this filing, for example, Apple argues that there is "no justification" for Samsung wanting to count different carrier versions of the same phone as two phones.

"According to Samsung, for example, the Galaxy Nexus activated on Sprint must be counted separately from the Galaxy Nexus activated on Verizon," Apple said.

The case is not scheduled to go to court until next year, so both sides are still hammering out the details. This is not the same case that resulted in a $1.05 billion judgment for Apple in Aug. 2012, though it is making its way through the same court. Apple was recently dealt a setback in that case, when the judge threw out a portion of the verdict (and millions in fines), and ordered a new trial on those points.

Given that the cases have gone on for so long (Apple first sued Samsung in April 2011), both sides have continually updated their lawsuits every time they release a new product. Last year, Apple added the Galaxy S III, for example, while Samsung took aim at the iPhone 5.

Samsung's new flagship phone, the Galaxy S4, is packed with a ton of extras –– almost to a fault. 

When the phone first came out, reviewers criticized Samsung for shoving too many complex and glitchy extras in the phone. 

But there are some features in the Galaxy S4 that do work well and could be useful, and you won't find them in the Galaxy S4's chief rival, the iPhone.

Let's take a look at some of the best features in the Galaxy S4 that you won't find in the iPhone.

1. Built-in Infrared Blaster

It has a built-in infrared blaster that can be used as a universal remote to control your TV. (The IR blaster is that little black dot at the top of the phone.) The phone also has a special app that pulls in data from your cable or satellite provider and can suggest shows you may like to watch.

2. Near Field Communication (NFC) Chip

It has a near field communication (NFC) chip that lets your phone talk to other devices with NFC. This means you can use your phone to make mobile payments, swap content like photos between phones just by tapping them together, or pair your phone with a stereo with a tap.

3. Add Extra Storage

You can add extra storage to your Galaxy S4 if you insert a standard Micro SD card. They're pretty cheap too. You can add an extra 32 GB of storage for about $20.
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4. Replaceable Battery

 It has a replaceable battery, which is a major benefit for some people. No smartphone has a perfect battery, so it's nice to have the option to replace it if you're running low on power.

5. Play Full HD 1080p Videos

 It can play full 1080p HD video, something the iPhone and many other top-tier smartphones still can't do.

6. Large 5-inch display

 It has a 5-inch display, which is a full inch larger than the display on the iPhone 5. If you like a larger display, you're out of luck with the iPhone.

7. Share and Stream Wirelessly on Group Play

You can play games, share photos, and stream the same song with other Galaxy S4 phones wirelessly using an app called Group Play. The app connects you to other phones over a Wi-Fi connection.

8. Lots of Camera Tricks

Its camera app has a lot of neat tricks. For example, you can automatically erase a blurry figure from the background or make your own animated GIFs.

9. Smart Stay Keeps Screen Awake While Reading

A feature called Smart Stay keeps your Galaxy S4's display lit while you're looking at it. It can detect your eyes using the front-facing camera. This is a very useful feature because it can prevent your screen from going dark while you're reading something.

10. Micro USB Plug to Charge and Sync to PC

It uses a standard micro USB plug to charge and sync with your computer. These plugs are much easier to find than Apple's special Lightning port on the iPhone 5.

For the last few days, technology websites have been abuzz with reports suggesting that Samsung is planning to launch the Galaxy S4 Mini soon. Recently Technodify.com has posted leaked images of Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini.

The images suggest that the design of Samsung Galaxy S4 mini resembles that of Samsung Galaxy S4 .
The Technodify.com report says that Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini is likely to be 4.3-inch device with a qHD Super AMOLED display. The same report suggests that Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini will be powered by 1.6GHz dual core processor with 1GB of RAM. 

Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini is likely to run on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean Operating System, says the report.

Recent reports also suggest that Apple is working on a less expensive model of iPhone to take on the rising popularity of low-cost Android devices. 

The ongoing battle between Apple and Samsung has cost both technically in some ways, but it seems the market now sides with the latter’s wide ranges of Galaxy phones compared with Apple’s iPhones as they see the South Korean firm as “victim.”

But not all thing goes well with Samsung as reportedly Apple is set to move its CPU orders away from the Galaxy S3 maker to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, arguably the biggest chip maker in the world.

It is expected that Apple will consume 200 million mobile chips each year and such move would cost Samsung very dearly in terms of revenue in the manufacturing division.

According to Digitimes, they will move to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company from Samsung as soon as next year.

Does this mean the cost parts of iPhone 6 will be cheaper and Apple could release a much better version of their smartphone compared with last year’s disappointing unveiling?

Or you rather have an inferior smartphone from Samsung tipped to be Galaxy S4 and bear with another sarcastic marketing campaign directed towards the Cupertino-based company?

The Samsung Galaxy S4 release is close, and Samsung’s first Samsung Galaxy S4 ads are already online, showing off how Samsung hopes to market the Galaxy S4 to potential buyers.

So far there are no in your face Samsung Galaxy S4 vs. iPhone 5 ads, but it may just be a matter of Samsung waiting on the iPhone 5S release to pull out those guns.

The collection of Samsung Galaxy S4 ads highlight three of the Galaxy S4′s unique features, which focus on photos and sharing, using the Galaxy S4′s Group Play feature and  travel help with the S Translator app.

While the commercials fail to call this out, most of these features will only work with other Samsung smartphones, and at least one will only work with other Samsung Galaxy S4 devices, so users will need to hope their friend’s buy a Galaxy S4 as well.

Samsung shows off how it plans to market the Samsung Galaxy S4.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 ads come from Samsung Mobile Netherlands, so we may see slightly different versions in the U.S., and we will most certainly

This evening in New York City, Samsung unveiled the new Galaxy S4 smartphone. Obvious questions arise. Is it a good option for business users? And, how does it compare to Apple's iPhone?

Here's a look at some of the most important features and how the Samsung Galaxy S4 stacks up:

Screen: The S4’s five-inch touchscreen is slightly larger than the Galaxy S3’s 4.8 inches. But it is substantially larger than the iPhone 5’s four inches.

The screen size alone will be a key benefit over the iPhone 5 for many business users. When you’re working with documents, databases, or taking notes, a larger screen is often easier to use -- especially for touchscreen typing.

Samsung Galaxy S4 set heart-beats racing and hands itching with their new flagship device: the Samsung Galaxy S4. While the mobile maker elaborated on the features of the new phone in detail, they conveniently left aside one of the most important aspects: the price. However, in what could be an erroneous slip, Samsung has revealed the price of the phone.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 will be approximately priced at 600 dollars. On the global Samsung website, there's a contest underway and the Samsung Galaxy S4 is up for grabs. At the time of writing this post, the website lists the approximate value of the phone to be $579! This price is still tentative and might be without taxes. So be set to shell out well over 600$ for your next Galaxy flagship. While we still can't say what the exact price will be, we are pretty sure it is nowhere less than 579$.

New Delhi: After Samsung unveiled its new flagship smartphone, Galaxy S4, Apple released a webpage explaining why the iPhone 5 is better than smartphones from its rivals. The webpage's banner says, "There's iPhone. And then there's everything else."

The Samsung Galaxy S4 may have powerful specs like an octa-core processor, full HD display, Android 4.2 OS, but Apple has its own reasons that why even then the iPhone 5 stands out in the crowd.

Here's Samsung's new Galaxy S4 next to an iPhone 5:

View all new pictures of most anticipated Smartphone of the Year.....

Just a few years ago Samsung was struggling to catch up in the smartphone market. Now it makes more of them than anybody else and has Apple on the back foot, in addition to being the world's largest technology company by revenue. The heavily hyped launch of its flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone is the latest step as it tries to overtake Apple, and they've gone all out with a massive screen and impressive new features. 

Here are some of the core pillars of Samsung's strategy.

The ultimate fast follower

Samsung is better than anybody else at learning from its competitors. "A market reader is sort of the classic fast follower," explains Barry Jaruzelski, senior partner at Booz & Co and the co-author of the Global Innovation 1000. "It doesn't mean they ignore their customers, but they're very attuned to what competitors are doing and what other people are bringing to market first and observing what seems to be gaining traction, then very rapidly coming up with their own version of that innovation."

Samsung's aggression has gotten it into trouble in the past, losing a high profile case to Apple for imitating its design. But the reputation hit and the fine were a small price to pay.

Apple answers Galaxy S4 launch with new iPhone campaign. New page on Apple's site provides a laundry list of things that supposedly set the iPhone apart.

Samsung's just-launched Galaxy S4 is nothing special -- it's simply another member of the wannabe-iPhone crowd. At least that's what Apple would have you believe by way of a new marketing effort for its storied handset.