Apple filed suit against Samsung over earlier this week alleging patent infringements. Samsung vowed to fight back, and has made its first move: a countersuit against Apple.

Just as Apple alleged that the Galaxy devices infringe on its patents, Samsung claims that Apple products infringe on Samsung patents.

In other words, Apple said: "Stop copying us," and Samsung said: "No, you stop copying us."

Sound familiar? It should. Apple and Nokia did the same thing a couple of years ago when they fought over mobile phone patents.

One of the many topics in today's Apple quarterly earnings call was how the disaster in Japan and its aftermath might effect the company.

It seems that Apple's outlook on the situation is very optimistic. The company told reporters and analysts that it does not expect problems with its majufacturing partners in Japan to slow down its operations in the next few months.

According to chief operating officer Tim Cook, Apple's manufacturers have been able to adjust its operations and secure enough hardware to get through any shutdowns with manufacturers in the country.

Reports in the months prior to the disaster did indicate that Apple had been stockpiling hardware. In fact, the company was said to be so intent on acquiring large amounts of components that other vendors have been reported to have delayed their own tablets due to hardware shortages.

Could Apple really be able to avoid a hit on its operations? V3.co.uk spoke with Gartner analyst Van Baker, who noted that in addition to its stockpiles, Apple also has a favourable position with manufacturers. Baker noted that Apple is lilkely at the top of the list for many vendors, and they will be the first to get available supplies of vital components.

Perhaps Apple could see minimal impact from the disaster, at least in the short term.

One thing to note amongst all this business talk, however, is Apple's concern for the humanitarian crisis. While it may sound like the company is only looking at the bottom line, that is not the case. Before even discussing manufacturing and supplies in Japan, Tim Cook took time to express his condolences and best wishes. More importantly, Apple's actions since the disaster hsow that the company is offering its full backing to both employees and partners in the impacted regions.

Apple posted updates for iOS, Safari and OS X last week, and now it seems that Windows users are also getting a reason to patch up their systems.

Apple has posted the iOS 10.2.2 release and security groups including US-Cert are advising users to update in order to shore up security vulnerabilities. Among the flaws addressed are vulnerabilities in WebKit which can lead to denial-of-service errors and possibly a remote code execution attack.

So, if you're using a Windows PC as your 'other' system, running a Windows partition on your Mac, or simply have friends and family that use an XP, Vista or Windows 7 system, make sure your copy of iTunes (and all other Apple products for Windows) are up to date.

Apple's arguably most important legal case came in the early 1990s when the company battled Microsoft over similarities in Mac OS and Windows. While that case didn't turn out as well as Apple had hoped, the company is once again accusing a rival of copying its platforms.

Samsung is the target this time, but the end result of the case could extend far beyond just one vendor.

Apple's complaint alleges that Samsung is copying Apple's iOS platform as well as its iPhone and iPad hardware with the Galaxy line of Android tablets and handsets. Given the spread of Android devices, a favorable outcome for Apple could open the door for additional cases and/or settlements with Android vendors.

Of course, just as Apple's case with Microsoft was undercut by legal claims from Xerox PARC over the first graphical user interface, so too could early vendors lob claims against Apple. If Apple's claims against Samsung are too vague, vendors such as RIM and Palm (now HP) could jump into the case.

One case that smartphone developers have made recently is that, by nature, smartphone interfaces are going to resemble one another as developers adopt best practices for interface design and layout.

The results of this case could be very interesting for any number of vendors.

It seems that Apple has once again found itself in court. This time, a Pennsylvania man has the company in his legal crosshairs over the practice of in-application transactions.

Greg Meguerian is filing suit against Apple after his child racked up a hefty bill through in-game purchases on iOS apps. The suit alleges that the company is unlawfully allowing minors to make purchases within applications without their parents' permission.

The suit contends that the company leaves a 15-minute window after in-app purchases in which further transactions can be made without entering a password. This, it seems, could allow minors to make in-app purchases without parental approval.

This one seems a bit of a stretch, even by overly-litigous American standards. First, Apple gives the option for parents to disable in-app purchases. If a parent doesn't want to use that option, it is not Apple's fault.

And then, of course, there's the fact that the purchase is being made within a third-party application. Apple is not the company that facilitated the transaction, the developer is. Of course, small independent developers don't have lots of money to pay an out-of-court settlement, so Apple is the one getting targeted here.

Apple has added a new executive to its fold, and he's coming to the company from a familliar foe.

Data Center Knowledge is reporting that Apple has hired Kevin Timmons, a former general manager for datacentre services at Microsoft. The position Timmons will be taking at Apple is not yet known, but speculation is that a cloud computing service could be the aim.

The blog notes that Timmons has a reputation for working with large-scale datacentres and internet services. Additionally, Apple is said to be looking to bring in people for work on a datacentre in North Carolina to run a cloud computing service.

Could this be another move towards the reported iTunes cloud service? Reports have indicated that Apple is looking to develop a service to host and stream media files, and it would appear that Timmons's expertise would play right into such a plan.

The mythical white iPhone may soon be a reality. After months of waiting for the model, which was supposed to hit the shelves in the summer of 2010, users may actually be able to purchase the white iPhone 4.

Rumours from manufacturers in Asia have made their way across the Pacific, and the latest word is that the handset may hit the market in less than a month's time.

This is a bit of a consolation in the wake of reports earlier this week suggesting that the iPhone 5 is not slated to begin production until the end of the summer, pointing to a release in early autumn at the soonest.

If you can't get a spiffy new handset, at least you can get one that better matches your wardrobe.

Those of you who fall into the 'creative professional' category will want to take note: Apple is unveiling the new version of its Final Cut Pro software.

With so much focus on mobile devices and the consumer end of things, it can be easy to forget that there are many people in the music, video and graphic arts sectors who have for decades relied on the Mac OS platform and its major applications to make a living.

The Final Cut Pro X release is said to be a major rewrite of the platform, not just a simple update. Several major improvements have been made to speed up performance for the professional video editing tool. The update will also be 64-bit, allowing users to take advantage of the power afforded by newer systems.

The release is set for June at the relatively low prive of $299.