Mark Bridge writes:

I’m reminded of a sketch from BBC TV’s ‘The Young Ones’ in 1982. The four horsemen of the apocalypse are waiting around.

“What’s new?”, asks Pestilence. “Microchip technology”, replies one of the others. “That’s quite a new thing, isn’t it?”

Quite new. It’s probably the best description for much of last week’s mobile industry news.

As Cortado reveals a new HTML5 client for accessing cloud-based files, Mark Bridge talks to Cortado CEO Carsten Mickeleit about wireless printing and accessing the 'cloud desktop' on mobile devices.

Apple appears to have lost a patent infringement lawsuit against Motorola Mobility in Germany, although the effect of this legal case is still unclear.

The ruling says Apple owes damages for infringing two Motorola patents and bars Apple from selling any devices in Germany that infringe those patents.

The European Commission has asked Apple and Samsung to provide information about the patent infringement claims being made in their legal battle.

It appears the EC is concerned about so-called ‘standards-related’ patents. This refers to technology that forms part of internationally-recognised standards - and this type of technology is required to be licensed in a way that’s Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory.

CCS Insight has been looking at tablet usage across Europe, contacting 4,500 tablet owners in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the UK - and asking them to complete the survey on their tablet device.

Consumers in the UK were found to be the heaviest users, averaging 2.8 hours a day, with 95% of UK owners using their tablet for at least an hour a day.