Apple on trial this week e-book price-fixing case

Apple was accused by the United States of conspiring with five publishers to fix prices of electronic books, went to trial in a case that will feature evidence from the company’s late founder, Steve Jobs.

The rare antitrust trial that began yesterday in Manhattan federal court will determine whether Apple orchestrated an illegal price-fixing agreement when it entered the e-books market in 2010 with the introduction of the iPad.

The five publishers sued by the government have settled. But Apple denies wrongdoing and says it helped consumers by bringing competition to an e-books market dominated by Amazon.com.

The judge has scheduled closing arguments for June 20.

Samsung's Galaxy S4 Mini

Samsung has launched the Galaxy S4 Mini, a smaller, stripped down and cheaper version of its flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone on Thursday. They are aiming to grab a bigger share in the mid-tier segment as growth in the high-end market slows.

The Galaxy S4 mini, which follows the debut of the S4 just a month ago, will have a 4.3inch(10.9cm) screen that is still bigger than Apple's 4 inch iPhone 5 and a 8 mega pixel rear-facing camera.

By comparison, the original S4 phone, which was lauched in April and which hit the 10 million-sale mark last week to become Samsung's fastest selling smartphone, has a bigger 5 inch (12.5cm) full high-definition screen and a 13 mega pixel camera.

Samsung did not gave any information about the price, but the market estimates the smaller type will be priced at around $350.

The launch comes ahead of the widely speculated low-priced iPhone later this year and as Samsung, the world's top smartphone maker, looks to widen its lead with products spanning both the high and cheap-and-cheerful ends of the market.

Samsung is also expected to unveil more varieties of the S4 in the upcoming mobile event in London next month including a model with optical camera zoom functionality as well as a phone with water-proof features.