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 Outside of the Apple/Samsung legal spat, both companies are readying a series of new products, with Samsung lining up a successor to its unique stylus-packing super-phone or micro-tablet, the Galaxy Note that will appear ahead of Apple's next line-up. 

Samsung on the Right Note

Having recently claimed a huge 10 million sales worldwide for the original Galaxy Note, Samsung is ready for the sequel, teasing a release for next week with an arty trailer fronted by director Wim Wenders. 

There is a clear focus on content creation, plus the usual waffle about magical inspiration. The event on 29 August and could include a raft of Samsung news, getting in ahead of Nokia and Microsoft's 5 September Windows Phone 8 event and Apple's (still unconfirmed) 12 September iPhone 5 and mini iPad launch. 

Learning Opportunities

Likely to come with a slightly bigger screen, more powerful processor and slimmer design, the Note 2 is likely to be just as successful as the first, although it could run into more competition now from Windows 8 tablets and other creation-focused devices. 

Back in Court

Meanwhile, the Apple vs. Samsung patent legal saga continues with both sides throwing more evidence and counter-claims at each other. If you're getting bored of the whole thing, you're not the only one. Harvard Business Review has an article entitled "Who Cares if Samsung Copied Apple?" and even the judge is getting fed up, asking one Apple lawyer last week if he was "smoking crack" based on some of their claims. 

Regardless of their posturing, the case is now in the hands of the jury, who have their own mother of all forms to fill in. This will decide who copied whom and how much damage was done. When that is decided upon, and ignoring the endless appeals. Both companies might be allowed to focus on actually making things again.