Ready for your daily dose of “did that seriously just happen?” Thanks to a federal injunction filed by Apple in Australia, sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 have been put on hold until Apple’s patent suit has been taken care of in court.

Apple claims Samsung has infringed upon ten different patents–everything from touchscreen technology to the “look and feel” of the device. As such, both Vodafone and Optus are not legally allowed to sell the Tab 10.1 until further notice.

Personally, I don’t like it, but I can understand why companies would be so keen on these kinds of patent suits. While they may be bad for consumers and innovation, they are great for big manufacturers’ pocket-books. This is the first time Apple and Samsung’s suit has resulted in blocked sales of a product, and unfortunately it may not be the last.

The Complaint Department is once again open after a brief hiatus! This week, targets are locked on mobile cloud computing. The quantity and variety of things being stored in the cloud is increasing, but carriers are continually decreasing the amount of bandwidth mobile users are able to consume.  The end result will be a system in which tons of information is stored outside the normal channels — channels we may not be able to use on our mobile devices.

With the recent releases of Google Music, Amazon Cloud Storage and Apple’s iCloud, it’s clear cloud-based computing is becoming a big trend in the technology industry and will certainly become more prominent in the mobile arena. Experts suggest expandable storage devices (such as external hard drives and micro SD cards) are headed towards extinction, particularly when it comes to smartphones and tablets. Though we certainly hope the lack of expandable memory won’t soon become the norm, cloud computing pushes that notion within the realm of possibility — something that gets extremely problematic in light of carrier limitations on data usage.

Carriers

But one large piece of the puzzle is missing. In the telecom industry in particular, there’s a strong and significant movement towards tiered (or flat-out capped) data plans, where users incur expensive overage charges for exceeding a certain level of monthly data usage. This is true of phone and tablet plans alike, given current offerings. With these caps being set as low as a measly 2 GB with $10/GB overage charges, the costs of cloud computing from mobile devices could quickly become astronomical.

Sprint is boasting that it’s the only carrier left to offer a truly unlimited data plan; however, recent comments by CEO Dan Hesse lead us to believe that they, too, may succumb to capping mobile data in the not-too-distant future.

It gets really problematic considering how little bandwidth is actually allowed under these caps. Yes, I understand mobile is a different ballgame, but I have a 250 GB cap at home. Some hardcore users can easily exceed even those high broadband cap levels. With mobile broadband caps falling at 2-5 GB (a paltry 1-2% of broadband caps), we can and are seeing more and more users complaining about hefty data bills or abysmal dial-up throttled speeds.

Cloud Computing Requires More Data

With greater amounts of information being stored in the cloud, users who want to stream music or access files on the go are using more data than they ever have. But with heavy carrier restrictions on data usage, users will potentially be left out in the cold once they hit those data caps.

Aaron Baker from Phonedog said it best in this tweet from Apple’s iCloud launch:

So with AT&T's 2 GB data plan, you'll be able to take advantage of iCloud for approximately seven minutesAaron BakerPhonedog

Though the seven minute figure applies if you could achieve AT&T’s current ~6Mbps max download speeds, that we’re even talking minutes and not days to reach the cap really highlights the problem with carrier data plans. The amount of data we consume is growing at an exponential rate, while the amount of data telecom companies are allowing us to consume is ever-shrinking. I just don’t see mobile cloud computing taking off unless the carriers have a significant change of heart.

Unfortunately, the likeliness of this happening appears bleaker by the day. AT&T has recently announced that they will soon start throttling data speeds for the 5% of customers who use the largest amounts of data. Verizon and T-Mobile have both recently revamped their data packages, bringing either higher costs, lower bandwidth caps or both. All in all, it’s not looking like carriers are going to be on board with more progressive and lax data limitations anytime soon.

Solutions/Conclusions

Could Wi-Fi potentially be the answer? Several users will posit that most of us have constant access to Wi-Fi networks wherever we happen to be. Though in my opinion, that kind of defeats the purpose of “mobile.” I buy a smartphone because I want the ability to handle my basic computing needs. I don’t really want to worry about whether or not a Wi-Fi connection is readily available. I sign a contract with a carrier like T-Mobile or Verizon Wireless with the understanding that they should be able to deliver on all my mobile needs. Sadly, with hefty overage charges and data throttling, this just isn’t the case today.

There are several questions that remain unanswered and will play an instrumental role in the future of cloud computing.

1. How long will carriers be allowed to set such minimal data caps on their customers?
2. What actions can companies such as Google, Amazon and (dare I say it?) Apple take to ensure cloud computing takes off?
3. Is unlimited data truly a relic of the past, or will it rear its head again sometime soon?
4. Is the future made brighter with Wi-Fi and not cellular networks as we know them today?

Please keep in mind that these are my opinions and thoughts as I try to understand the future of cloud computing. These ideas are in no way meant to be construed as fact. Have a different opinion? Think I’m spot on? We definitely want to hear from all of you on this important issue. Sound off in the comments below, where you’ll earn double points.

The last time we heard anything about the Motorola MB865, most the information we had was pieced together from rumors and several leaked pictures. The leaked pictures showed the MB865 sports some sort of 4-inch screen, an 8MP 1080p camera and runs on AT&T. We speculated that, because of the 1080p camera, the MB865 will be running some sort of dual-core processor. And, since a Qualcomm employee’s Picasa was home to some pictures taken by the device, it may be a Snapdragon MSM8x60. Because of the relation in model number to the Bionic and the timing of the launch, we figured there’s a good chance the MB865 would launch with AT&T LTE compatibility. Well, today more information on the MB865 has been leaked and posted by PhoneArena. This time the information comes from AT&T’s XDM support system, usually considered an accurate source for information.

According to XDM, field test units with the model number MB865 have been deployed to areas AT&T has designated as launch sites for their LTE network. What’s more, it’s been confirmed that the MB865 has been “provisioned with an LTE tracking code in the [AT&T's] billing system.”

Back in late May of this year, AT&T released a press statement that outlined their plans on the initial roll-out of LTE. The first five cities slated to land the network “this summer” include Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta and San Antonio. By the end of the year, AT&T plans to add another ten to that list, blanketing a total of 70 million customers with LTE.

Considering the pictures that have leaked, an appearance in XDM and AT&T’s given timeframe for the introduction of LTE, there’s a very good chance the MB865 will be released by this fall at the latest. We’ll be keeping an eye out for any more information as it continues to leak.

Since the very first Android apps made their debut on the Android Market, Android users have had to put up with in-app advertisements. Over nearly three years, we’ve seen ads take many sizes and shapes. Standard banner ads, full screen ads between game levels, video clips and even incentivized ads that encourage you to download new apps or third party services in exchange for unlocking new app or game features.  While ads themselves are not evil, the way they’re implemented can cause a lot of frustration for handset users.

We’ve come to terms with the advertisement deployment methods listed above. But what if app developers started putting ads in your notification bar?  SlingLabs offers an SDK for app developers that allows them to quickly and easily add notification bar advertisements in addition to their regular ad placement. SlingLabs claims app developers can achieve click through rates as high as 40% with this type of ad placement, but we have a feeling those high rates won’t last long.

While it’s nice to see SlingLabs thinking of new ways to help developers monetize their application, I have a feeling this type of ad deployment will actually do more harm than good for the developers who actually use it.  You wouldn’t put up with an app on your PC that launched pop-up ads eveyr time you used it, would you? If I started seeing advertisements pop up in my notification bar next to my Tweets, emails and other updates, I’d track down and uninstall the offending app. I wouldn’t even think twice about how good the app was.

We’re sure many of you probably feel the same way. What would your reaction be if you ads started showing up in your notification bar? I know we have quite a few developers who read our site on a regular basis.  Would any of you even consider implementing notification bar advertisements in your apps?

T-Mobile is now supplying more than 170 million Americans with HSPA+ 42 speeds, but they have yet to launch a smartphone that takes full advantage of their lightning-fast 4G network. It looks like T-Mobile will launch several 42 Mbps smartphones this year, but the one we are most excited about is the rumored Samsung Hercules.

Several sites have speculated that the Hercules might launch in late September and now TmoNews has leaked a T-Mobile roadmap which says a new smartphone is coming September 21st. Could this be the date that Samsung’s mythical device hits stores?

There are many reasons to get hyped up for the Samsung Hercules. According to Chris Ziegler of Thisismynext, the rumored specs of the device include:

• 4.5-inch 480 x 800 Super AMOLED Plus display
• Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
• NFC support, though compatibility with the forthcoming ISIS mobile payment standard is “to be determined”
• Category 24 HSDPA (42Mbps) and Category 6 HSUPA (5.76Mbps) for extremely fast HSPA+ support — faster than any HSPA+ phone currently sold in the US
• AWS plus 850 / 1900MHz compatibility for support on AT&T’s “4G” network if the merger succeeds
• Preliminary measurements place it at 5.16 x 2.76 x 0.37 inches — within a few hundredths of an inch of the Infuse
• 16GB internal ROM, 1GB internal RAM, external microSD up to 32GB
• Here’s where it outdoes the Infuse: it’s quoted with a Qualcomm 1.2GHz dual-core APQ8060 application processor, which is extraordinarily unusual for a Samsung — particularly considering the availability of Samsung’s own multi-core Exynos line; it’s paired with an MDM8220 modem processor
• 8 megapixel primary camera with flash and 1080p video capture, secondary front-facing camera
• Like the Galaxy S II, the Hercules won’t have a dedicated HDMI port — it’ll move high-def video over Micro USB using MHL

Basically, the Hercules sounds like a close relative of the Samsung Galaxy S II (SGS2), but it features a slightly larger display and includes a Qualcomm processor instead of Samsung’s own Exynos. We know that the SGS2 is coming soon to the US, but it’s still a mystery if it will be available on every carrier.

The rumored Hercules specs above were first published in May, so they might have been tweaked since that time. Qualcomm’s dual-core Snapdragon has already debuted in several devices (like the HTC Sensation) clocked at 1.2 GHz, but a faster 1.5 GHz version is going to be available by late summer.

The T-Mobile HTC Sensation 4G and myTouch 4G Slide are excellent Android smartphones for those looking to upgrade right now, but if you have the need for 42 Mbps speed then I’d suggest holding out a couple more months.

Does this Roman work of art sound worth the wait?