Daily Cuppa: cool $60m iPads, Microsoft signs patent deal

In this Tuesday issue of Technolatte, we catch you up on what happened while you were sleeping.

It seems to be a happy coincidence that the US$75 million in dividends that Tim Cook refused in May is close to the US$60 million that Apple has been forced to pay to get hold of the iPad name in China. Or is it?

Also in iPad news, the UK High Court ruled that Samsung's Galaxy Tab isn't as "cool" as Apple's iPad, and therefore it does not infringe on its patents. That's a bit of a backhanded compliment.

Salesforce.com is reportedly looking to buy a company called GoInstant for US$70 million. GoInstant allows people to browse websites together from different locations, which will be handy for customer-service problem solving and tech support.

Mozilla will keep pushing out security updates for its Thunderbird email client, but that's about it. The organisation said late last week that its users seem happy with the email client the way it is, and so there's no reason to change it. That said, Mozilla promised that it would make it possible for open-source developers to develop the application further, if they wish.

Microsoft's making a bit of cash from its patent portfolio, licensing patents to Coby and Aluratek for products that are running Chrome or Android platforms.

The FBI has turned off the DNSChanger servers, but the world hasn't ended. Of course, we wouldn't know whether anyone was offline, because, well, they'd be offline — except in the case of Telstra, which has provided a bypass for its customers.

And finally, Amazon is planning a counter-attack to the Nexus 7, with the release of the Kindle Fire 2 in August, according to reports. The existing Kindle Fire will have its price cut to US$149, and there will be two models of the Kindle Fire 2, both 7 inches, but one with a 1024x600 display and no camera, and another with a 1280x800 display with a camera. Do you think this version will make it to Australia?