Last year, Samsung Electronics Inc. sought -- albeit failed to obtain -- a ban of Apple Inc.'s iPhone 4S in a number of countries on grounds that the device is infringing on Samsung's wireless patents. Before that, the company founded by Steve Jobs sought injunctions against the sale of the Galaxy S smartphones and Galaxy tab 10.1 tablets on claims that they are imitating the iPhone and the iPad.

Apple was able to stop sales of the Galaxy 10.1 tab in Australia and Germany and the Samsung Galaxy S 2 smartphones in Germany and the Netherlands. And it appears that the war between the world's two largest smartphone will continue in 2012.

Apple Inc. has recently filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Jose, Calif., to block sales of Samsung's new Galaxy Nexus. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company claims that the smartphone jointly developed by Google Inc. and Samsung violates four of its patents.

In a blog post, patent blogger Florian Mueller said the patents in question "are the patent equivalent of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" The patents are (1) the "data tapping" patent based on which the ITC ordered an import ban against HTC; (2) a patent related to Siri and unified search, which must be of huge concern to Google with a view to its core business; (3) a new slide-to-unlock patent that even had the head of the Taiwanese government profoundly worried; and (4) a word completion patent that provides major speed improvements for touchscreen text entry.

The Wall Street Journal notes that Apple's new arguments contrast with its original case against Samsung by concentrating on patents covering technical features of its products rather than aspects of their overall design. In suits last year, Apple was arguing that Samsung devices are "slavishly" imitating the design and functionality of the iPad and iPhone.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, Apple had 23.5% of global smartphone shipment, beating out Samsung's 22.8%, according to market research firm IDC. In the third quarter, Apple's share was 14%, compared with Samsung's 23%. The iPhone 4S was launched in the fourth quarter.

The Galaxy Nexus has been tagged as one of finest Android handsets to date. The Galaxy Nexus is the first device to run Google's just-released Android 4.0, a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich and an HD ready display. The latest Android update gives users complete control over the amount of mobile data used and offers state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to unlock the device.

Aside from software, the Galaxy Nexus has a bold new design -- it has no physical buttons on the front, and instead features on-screen soft keys embedded into the system software.

The iPhone 4S has the same design and form factor as the 4th generation iPhone that was released in 2010. The phone though claims to be "all new inside", now having an A5 dual-core processor, a more advanced camera and a virtual assistant, and "world phone" capability.