Five Companies That Came To Win This Week

Apple Wins Patent Cases Against Samsung, Adds Another $1 Billion To Coffers

Apple won a $1.05 billion court ruling in its patent infringement case against Samsung that began last April. Though the court awarded Apple less than half the damages it had been seeking, the ruling serves as an emphatic reminder to the rest of the wireless industry not to get too close to the look and feel of Apple products.

The jury found Samsung to have infringed on six of the seven patents at issue in the case and found willful infringement in five of those cases. The jury also ruled all seven Apple patents in question to be valid, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

VMware Drops vRAM, Rallies Troops Around New CEO

At VMworld 2012, VMware ended its unpopular vRAM licensing scheme, which was essentially a tax on customers that overprovisioned RAM on their servers.

This news, delivered by incoming CEO Pat Gelsinger (pictured), came as welcome news to attendees, who showed their appreciation with an extended round of applause.

VMware also revealed plans to bundle vSphere with several of its management, networking, security and storage products in a new integrated offering called vCloud Suite 5.1, which it will sell as a single product.

HP Goes After Microsoft Surface With Windows 8 Convertible

HP was quiet in the wake of Microsoft's unveiling of its Surface tablet in June, but now we're seeing it respond by launching a Windows 8 convertible PC that bears some similarities to Surface. HP's Envy x2 comes in a half-tablet, half-notebook form factor, complete with a magnetized and detachable keyboard. Customers can use the 11.6-inch HD touch display as a stand-alone tablet or use it with a keyboard.

Verizon Gets FCC Approval For $3.9 Billion Spectrum Deal

The Federal Communications Commission approved Verizon's bid to buy unused spectrum from cable television companies, including Cox Communications, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. Under the FCC ruling, Verizon won't be able to market its own competitive cable services and will be subject to a number of other conditions, but the deal gives Verizon an edge on rival AT&T, which is reportedly readying a huge spectrum purchase of its own.

IBM Adds To Social Portfolio With $1.3 Billion Kenexa Deal

IBM is expanding its cloud software portfolio with its $1.3 billion acquisition of Kenexa, a vendor of social networking applications that help businesses with recruiting and talent management.

IBM intends to integrate Kenexa's applications with its own business analytics, social media, human resource management and business process management software and services.

"It's all about changing the way people work," said Alistair Rennie, IBM general manager of social business, in a conference call. "We see this as a big, strategic growth area."