Nokia 3310 given 41-megapixel camera upgrade on April Fools' Day

Just when one thought that Nokia will launch even more products in its Nokia X family running Android or new Lumia devices based on Windows Phone 8.1, April Fools' Day comes and Nokia announces its heritage 3310 in a new avatar.

The Nokia 3310, which was initially launched in 2000 and is one of the most successful phones ever released by Nokia, has made a modern-day comeback.

The Finnish giant has introduced its 3310 sporting a 41-megapixel PureView sensor with Zeiss optics and Xenon flash. Further, the 3310 is seen boasting a huge camera hump at the back panel, much like Nokia 808 PureView and Nokia Lumia 1020.

The company claims that the Nokia 3310 now runs a modified version of Windows 8 (yes, you heard it right) with a new 'ClearDiamond' 3-inch WXGA (768x1280) display.

The Nokia 3310 PureView will be available in Blue, Dark Blue, Green, Red and Yellow colour variants.

The revamped Nokia 3310 is a touchscreen device and also sports three soft-touch navigation buttons, alongside a Windows Phone 'home' button.

Other specifications of the Nokia 3310 include a 1.5GHz dual-core processor; 2GB of RAM; 1430mAh battery; 32GB inbuilt storage; Bluetooth 4.0; Wi-Fi and 3G.

The yesteryear device Nokia 3310 comes with pre-loaded with four games - Snake II, Pairs II, Space Impact and Bantumi. Other pre-installed apps include MS Office, Xbox Games, Outlook and OneDrive.

Nokia notes that the Nokia 3310 will be rolled out with 3G connectivity, while LTE-enabled devices will follow later this year.

Commenting on the Juha Alakarhu, Nokia's Head of Imaging Technologies said, "I'm really excited that we've found a way to marry our innovative PureView technology with such a beloved device. With its durable design and iconic look, we think even more people will enjoy our signature PureView magic."

Earlier on Tuesday, HTC and Samsung both showed off smart-gloves on April Fools' Day.

Samsung hit the hammer first, announcing its first 'all-over-hand' wearable device dubbed Samsung Fingers that features a flexible Super Emo-LED for the technology-sensitive consumer. HTC on the other hand teased its HTC Gluuv, which is also a smart-glove.

Google, despite being one of the biggest tech companies showed off its unique sense of humour and that's most apparent on April 1 every year. The Mountain View giant has a long list of gags that include Google Pokemon Maps, Gmail Shelfie, Emoji Translate in Chrome, Auto Awesome Photobombs, Google Magic Hand, Nest Total Temperature Contro and WazeDates.

Apple loses bid for permanent ban on Samsung smartphone sales in the US

A U.S. judge on Thursday rejected Apple's request for a permanent sales ban in the United States against some older Samsung smartphones, a key setback for the iPhone maker in its global patent battle.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, ruled that Apple Inc had not presented enough evidence to show that its patented features were a significant enough driver of consumer demand to warrant an injunction.

Apple and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd have been litigating for nearly three years over various smartphone features patented by Apple, such as the use of fingers to pinch and zoom on the screen, as well as design elements such as the phone's flat, black glass screen.

Apple was awarded more than $900 million by U.S. juries but the iPhone maker has failed to sustain a permanent sales ban against its rival, a far more serious threat to Samsung, which earned $7.7 billion last quarter.

The ruling on Thursday comes ahead of another patent trial set to begin later this month involving newer Samsung phones, and could frustrate any further attempt by Apple to bar the sales of those models as well.

(Also see: Apple wins $1 billion in patent case against Samsung)

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on the order.

In a statement, Samsung said it was pleased with the ruling. "We ... agree with its observation that a few software features alone don't drive consumer demand for Samsung products - rather consumers value a multitude of features," the company said.

Even though Samsung no longer sells the older-model phones targeted by the injunction request, Apple has argued in court documents that such an order is important to prevent Samsung from future copying with new products "not more colorably different" than the defunct models.

Samsung, meanwhile, argued that Apple was trying to target new Samsung phones in order to instill fear and uncertainty among carriers and retailers.

Samsung's phones use the Android operating system, developed by Google Inc .

A Northern California jury found that Samsung infringed several Apple patents after a widely watched 2012 trial. Following the trial, Koh rejected Apple's request for a sales ban, but in November, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ordered her to reconsider Apple's evidence of market demand.

(Also see: Apple seeks ban on Samsung phones, tablets in the US)

In her ruling on Thursday, Koh wrote that a consumer survey by Apple likely inflated the value that customers place on the patented smartphone features in dispute.

"A multitude of other survey evidence not prepared for the purpose of litigation," Koh wrote, "indicates that numerous features that were not tested - such as battery life, MP3 player functionality, operating system, text messaging options, GPS, and processor speed - are highly important to consumers."

Apple must demonstrate more than an insignificant amount of lost sales due to Samsung's copying, Koh wrote, and Apple's survey is "unpersuasive" evidence on that point.

In a separate order, Koh entered final judgment against Samsung for about $930 million in damages stemming the 2012 jury finding of patent infringement. Samsung said it would appeal that decision.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Apple Inc vs Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, 11-1846