Apple Car Has a Flat and Samsung Must Pay Up

A few years ago, excitement was high for Apple’s car ambitions. But now that project is starting to look rather dull.

A report this week said that Apple has partnered with Volkswagen on self-driving car technology. It’s the latest bit of news suggesting that Apple isn’t making its own car and will instead build the technology that will power vehicles made by other companies.

This is Fortune’s latest weekly roundup of the biggest Apple news. Here’s last week’s roundup.

But that wasn’t the only news of the week. A jury awarded Apple hundreds of millions of dollars in its protracted legal battle with Samsung, and the company mysteriously removed a game-streaming app from its App Store. A report even said Apple knew more about the so-called “bendgate” controversy than it had let on.

Read on for more from this week’s biggest Apple headlines:

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1. Apple and Volkswagen have been working together since last year to build a self-driving shuttle, The New York Times reported this week. The companies had hoped to get the shuttle on the road by the end of this year, but they now believe it won’t be ready until 2019. Volkswagen will handle the shuttle’s chassis, frame, and wheels, while Apple will supply the battery, sensors, seats, dashboard, and other components, according to the report. It also suggests Apple has all but given up building its own car—for now.
2. A jury decided this week that Samsung must pay $539 million to Apple for copying a variety of features used in iPhones. The companies have been suing each other since 2011 over patent infringement and alleged copying. The damages were decided after Apple and Samsung spent the last week litigating the case. After the decision, Samsung hinted that it may appeal and once again extend the never-ending case.
3. New details have emerged in a lawsuit against Apple that suggest the company may have known that its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were more likely to bend than earlier models. The claims were revealed in a decision by U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh, who said that Apple performed tests on the iPhone 6 handsets and found that they were far more likely to bend than the previous model, iPhone 5S. The iPhone 6 phones, which debuted in 2014, were the subject of “bendgate” and “touch disease,” terms coined by critics who said they could be easily bent, causing damage. Touch disease referred to the iPhone’s touchscreen malfunctioning after the handsets were bent too much. Apple has said that its iPhones don’t have a defective design.
4. This week, Apple removed gaming company Valve’s Steam Link app from its App Store, just days after the iPhone maker had approved it. According to Valve, Apple said that Steam Link, which allows users to stream video games from one computer to another, violates Apple’s app guidelines. Valve petitioned Apple’s decision, but Apple again denied its entry in the App Store. As of this writing, Steam Link is still unavailable.

One more thing…It was a big week here at Fortune, with the launch of our annual Fortune 500. Apple took the fourth spot in this year’s list. Click hereto check out the full list.

SOURCE:-fortune.