A war for smart phone supremacy is being waged between Samsung and Apple where the latest battle has just been lost by Apple, which failed to get Samsung’s Galaxy Tab off Dutch shelves.

Apple is accusing Samsung of blatantly copying of its own gadgets, alleging that the Galaxy Tab is just the same as the iPad.

However, Dutch courts disagreed, saying that they saw enough difference to deny the ban. This case is among a string of recent bouts and injunctions, including another in theUSlast year that saw Apple attempting to have the Samsung Galaxy tablets and smart phones banned in theUS.

The two firms have been vying for the smart phone crown with Samsung taking victory from Apple in the third quarter of 2011, quadrupling its sales from seven million in 2010 to 28m in 2011. Apple retaliated in the fourth quarter with sales up from 17.1m in Q3 to 37.04m.

While Apple and Samsung continue their squabble, it seems that Nokia is beginning to catch up from behind. Nokia is celebrating the sale of their 1.5 billionth phone running on Windows S40 also have a reported 45 per cent of Windows software market share.

Although the S40 software has far to go in order to be comparable to Android and Apple, it has other features. Designed to appeal to the young or to those who can’t afford smart phones, the S40 range is relatively cheap, but still has a range of apps, including the popular Angry Birds.

Some Apps that Nokia won’t be getting its hands on any time soon include those of the winners of the inaugural bada* Student Developer Challenge 2011, which drew to a close on January 23. First prize went to the University of Abertay in Dundee with its Ameoba app, second prize went to the University of York with its Don’t be Lazy app and third to Kings College London with Doodle Fight.

So the war rages on.

*bada is the Samsung smart phone operating system