Apple exec notes Samsung 'shenanigans'

SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple executive Phil Schiller took a jab at Samsung on Twitter Tuesday, highlighting what he called "shenanigans" by the company's arch rival in the booming smartphone market.

The tweet included a link to a review of the new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 smartphone by blog Ars Technica.

Samsung appears to be artificially boosting the Note 3's performance in so-called benchmark tests with a special, high-power mode for its central processing unit that kicks in when the device runs a lot of popular benchmarking apps, the blog reported.

Samsung has done this before outside the U.S., but Ars Technica said this was the first time it spotted the activity with a device for the U.S. market.

"Samsung does it again: rigs its Note phone to cheat when running benchmark apps. Deceptive and shameful," New York Times gadget reviewer David Pogue wrote on Twitter.

Samsung did not respond to an email requesting comment on Tuesday.