Apple is notoriously secretive about the developments of the company’s latest devices, but if Samsung has their way they will be getting a sneak preview before anyone else.
Samsung requested the privilege in court Friday as part of a lawsuit Apple filed against the company in April, and subsequent lawsuits filed by Samsung against Apple over patent and trademark disputes. Each is claiming to have developed identical key technology present in both company’s tablet and mobile phone devices.
Samsung requested that U.S. District Court Judge Koh order Apple to give them "a sample of the final, commercial version of the next generation iPhone that Apple will release, whether that product will be known as the 'iPhone 4S,' 'iPhone 5,' or some other name," as well as "the next generation iPad that Apple will release, whether that product will be known as the 'iPad 3,' 'Third Generation iPad,' or some other name."
If Koh agrees, Apple will have to hand over the samples by June 17th. Samsung claims that the products will only be examined by outside counsel, not by company employees.
The last four years Apple has released a new iPhone in June or July, but this year the company has broken that cycle by delaying the release of their 5th generation model until September.
