Samsung is fighting back against Apple by strengthening its partnerships with American mobile carriers to develop new technologies to get away from the U.S. firm’s claims on design, according to “The Korea Times” (http://macte.ch/oozJS).

Samsung is talking with major U.S. telecom carriers such as Verizon Wireless about modified designs in Samsung Galaxy devices, the article adds. It is also “closely partnering” with Microsoft (MS) to cut its dependency on Google’s Android operating system, claims “The Korea Times.”

Last week a California jury awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages for patent violations. As a result, Apple is seeking a ban on sales of some Samsung products.