Samsung Halts Galaxy Tablet Promotion In Germany 325
An anonymous reader writes "Samsung Electronics said Sunday it has pulled its latest Galaxy tablet from the IFA trade show in Berlin, after a German court approved an Apple-requested injunction — the latest move in a wide-reaching patent dispute between the two firms."
That backfired. (Score:4, Interesting)
Clever, Apple, clever. Today from the "How do i make my competitor look more important than he probably is"-department.
Attention for free. Show you tablet one day on a Exhibition, then get the free headlines that "It was pulled due to a court order from Apple".
This directly makes the tables an competitor to the ipad (which they are not, they have different audiences, different sizes, and different advantages/disadvantages; i could well imagine to buy both).
Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa (Score:5, Informative)
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That's disingenuous. Also before the iPad were things like the Nokia N700 (Maemo) and the SmartQ series (Ubuntu/Wince/Android). The SmartQ devices, in particular, look a lot like the Samsung design, yet predate the iPad by years.
I think you should read the actual filing. Apple isn't filing suit based upon the fact that the devices look very similar, but upon that fact coupled with the fact that the user interface is also very similar (and in fact violated both trademarks on the art and software patents on the interface), the packaging in very similar, and the hardware uses patented Apple designs. It's all these things in combination that Apple is claiming is misleading users (well and the regular patent claims). It's one thing to h
Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.designer-daily.com/android-device-design-before-and-after-the-iphone-ipad-18040
To deny the obvious design cloning is to reach an extreme level of Apple-hating that even I can't understand.
http://i.imgur.com/NbDRW.jpg [imgur.com]
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Interesting. graphic in that it showed the iPad is one in a line of tablets that have been around for about 10 years
Its not clear if that was the intent of the graphic, however.
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Did you even look at 2003?
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Yes, you can obviously make a tablet without fear getting sued by Apple - but Samsung decided they'd rather copy the design.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JooJoo [wikipedia.org]
Is this what you had in mind, when you talk about 'copying design'?
And, obviously, I am not talking about Samsung copying the design...
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Yes, you can obviously make a tablet without fear getting sued by Apple - but Samsung decided they'd rather copy the design.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JooJoo [wikipedia.org]
Is this what you had in mind, when you talk about 'copying design'?
And, obviously, I am not talking about Samsung copying the design...
First of all: until June 2009 the JooJoo/CrunchPad looked notably different: http://techcrunch.com/2009/04/09/crunchtablet-hits-the-net-a-little-early/ [techcrunch.com], even ignoring the color, the non-flat front is quite obvious. Further, as http://peanutbuttereggdirt.com/e/custom/Apple-vs-Samsung-1-Hardware-Design.html [peanutbuttereggdirt.com] shows, there are still a number of differences to Apple's claims: not only is the silver bezel missing that both the iPad and the Galaxy Tab have, the JooJoo's screen is also not centered - and its hard to
Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa (Score:4, Interesting)
The suit in Germany is based on the European Community-Design 000181607-0001 [scribd.com] - filed in May 2004
Any "prior art" prior to 2004 please.
An oft-overlooked - but crucial - point of CD filings: you must have your design registered AND start using it for it to be considered 'active'. Just like registered trademarks in the US - they are not considered live and enforceable until you start using them in commerce.
Was Apple using that design back in 2004? No? When did they start using that design in commerce? Until that date - the design was registered but not enforceable. And like trademarks, others who use your registered design before you start using it are indemnified from infringement issues (it's why you often have small local mom-and-pop stores using "registered names/trademarks" without problem - they were using them before the larger entity registered and/or used the mark).
Samsung was using that design back in 2006 [blogcdn.com], well before the iPhone existed or the iPad was even announced.
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And that's one reason why Apple didn't sue the JooJoo. So what's Samsung's excuse - that they actually copied the JooJoo, not the iPad? After the CD was enforcable?
No, the CD is no longer enforceable against Samsung - because they started using that design before it was enforceable.
Here's an example. You are a nationwide restaurant called Fanboy Foods. You have a new slogan "Cheap Good Eats". You register that trademark - and it's accepted and granted.
A year later, my little store, Rooster's Grub, starts using the same slogan - "Cheap Good Eats".
A year after that you, Fanboy Foods, starts using your registered slogan. Guess what - I can still use the slogan
Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa (Score:5, Interesting)
So, if visual design is what matters, and not the software (which is different since the iOS is so superior as you would remind us), what do you think about this Samsung digital picture frame from 2006?:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/09/samsung-digital-picture-frame-stores-pics-movies-music/ [engadget.com]
Form follows function, which is why every TV and computing device is destined to look the same once a level of miniaturization is reached. That's why you see similar tablets in a 1970s TV show ("The Tomorrow People") and a movie from the 1960s ("2001 a Space Odyssey").
Apple certainly is a style trendsetter, but really it is more about bringing things to market that are the closest to what the visionaries have already described. There's a rather clear evolution from other mp3 players through to the ipod, iphone, and then ipad. And yes, along the way things came from non-Apple sources too.. the next iphone will have screen dimensions suspiciously like an HTC EVO, and a notification bar straight from Android. That's what happens in competition.
I'm sorry this conflicts with your worldview that all these nice Apple products were invented in a vacuum.
Re:Apple has no choice (Score:4, Insightful)
. It has become so complex and relies on so many differing pieces that it is getting increasingly difficult to differentiate between products. That leaves functionality and design as a product differentiator.
That makes no sense. If things are complicated, it's easy to differentiate. It's because the design of a tablet is so simple that all tablets look the same (barring colours, and whether to round off certain edges or not).
Here's another choice Apple had: not suing other companies for using a shape that was around before the iPad..
Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa (Score:5, Informative)
Did your linked page originally came from realitydistortionfield.com?
The LG Prada phone was winning design awards months before the Iphone was first announced. Note that this article on the Prada phone is dated before the Iphone was first announced: http://mobile.engadget.com/2006/12/15/the-lg-ke850-touchable-chocolate/ [engadget.com]
Likewise, the Ipad closely resembles prior tablets. Here's the Crunchpad prototype from six months before the Ipad was first announced: http://techcrunch.com/2009/06/03/crunchpad-the-launch-prototype/ [techcrunch.com]
Here's the Knight-Ridder concept tablet from 1994 (16 years before the Ipad was first announced): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBEtPQDQNcI&feature=player_embedded#at=139 [youtube.com]
Sorry fanboys.
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Are you insane? That looks nothing like an iPhone. It has TWO rectangles (the big outside one and the squashed slightly rounded silvery button thing). The iPhone has a rectangle and a circle.
Haters gotta hate, I guess.
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Yeah, that's some VERY selective choices of devices...
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Are you trying to say that the iPhone was the first touchscreen device..?
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i bought a first gen galaxy-tab and it has proven to be what i expected it to be:
-Universal e-book reader
-good device for viewing documents of all kind
-fits in the pocket of my hiking trouser
-reasonable web browser
-excellent software selection
-easy to develop your own small apps
i find the hickups which seem to be related to samsung using an own filesystem a little annoying, but overall the decision was right.
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The only way someone this late in the game is going to buy an Android tablet is one of three ways:
1) Integrated as part of an ereader (B&N, soon Amazon, etc)
2) Potential customer has never used an iPad before
3) Potential customer bought online without test driving one in a store first
*AHEM*
I bought a first gen 7" Tab, and will get one of the newer ones later this year/early next year.
To answer your three points one by one:
1) It isn't an integrated e-reader (obviously) but the Amazon Kindle app works fantastically on it.
2) I used iPad 1's extensively before making my buying devision - I was even given one to use for two days and reviewed it for my blog. I dislike it.
3) Further to my point above, I used the iPad 1, and since it came out the iPad 2 as well.
Now to my buying decisions specif
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What's wrong with the built in Android desktop/launcher? o_0
Whenever I've used iPhones and iPads, I've hated them simply for the lack of a "back" button, which is my most used button on Android, both in 2.x when it was an actual button, and 3.x where it's a soft-button in the corner.
Re:That backfired. (Score:4, Insightful)
"The only way someone this late in the game is going to buy an Android tabletâ¦"
25 million tablets sold. 1.1 billion people in the industrialized world. About 2.3% of the developed world population owns a tablet. That's "late in the game"?
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I read a review of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 the other day, which stated it was currently the best consumer tablet out there, comparing it positively to the iPad 2 (Norwegian site amobil.no). Naturally, some asshat fanboy commented on it, stating outright that the reviewer was corrupt and that no other review had found the 10.1 remarkable at all, so I googled it and read some other reviews. Not one said the iPad 2 was lightyears ahead, most seemed to think they were about equal in quality, with some pros and cons
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after the Christmas retail season where retailers are sitting on mountains of unsold non-iPad tablet stock.
It is an ill wind that blows nobody good. Maybe I won't be too grumpy around Christmas season after all. By then the warmth of the soldering iron will be appreciated.
Off Topic much? (Score:2)
What does that have to do with Apple getting them banned then, unless you claim that it was a waste of Apple's time anyway? You might have noticed that Apple got samsung phones banned in Europe as well and they seem to sell very well.
Counter claim: 3, 2, 1 (Score:4, Interesting)
Apples claims will not stand up to reality.
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Apples claims will not stand up to reality.
Yet, so far, in numerous courts, around the world, their claims are standing up.
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What does your personal attack have to do with the fact that courts have been ruling in Apples favor? Does your personal attack change the fact that Apple registered a design that looks like exactly like the iPad in the 1990s...
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Will this bite Apple? (Score:4, Interesting)
I wonder if this will end up hurting Apple because it will start people thinking that if Apple is trying tactics like this to stop sales of the Galaxy Tab, then the Galaxy Tab must offer serious competition to the iPad. Apple normally don't resort to legal tactics to stop competitors since they can usually rely on producing a better product.
The fact that the display booth at IFA was hastily covered up [engadget.com] just smells of desperation on Apple's part. Of course it's more complicated than that, but most people won't see it that way. I suspect this battle will just result in bad PR for Apple, and extra publicity for Samsung.
Re:Will this bite Apple? (Score:5, Insightful)
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I don't think it's impossible (like all the smug other responders in this thread seem to think) that public opinion could hurt Apple in the long run.
Microsoft's bad behavior back in the 90's were arguably even more removed from the world of the average consumer than Apple's current behavior. However, given a few years, public opinion among even the average consumer on the street did sour against Microsoft.
Sure, it wasn't enough to break their monopoly on operating systems, but how much do you think it cost
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Maybe "digital openness" includes the ability to phisically open the device, replace a part, or install a custom OS on it. And just maybe he was referring to iOS devices.
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Maybe "digital openness" includes the ability to phisically open the device, replace a part, or install a custom OS on it. And just maybe he was referring to iOS devices.
That joke's on you - the Samsung tablets are just as closed as Apple products.
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That joke's on you - the Samsung tablets are just as closed as Apple products.
Nope, I own just as many Samsung tables as I do Apple products.
Re:Will this bite Apple? (Score:4, Interesting)
No.
1. Most consumers don't know and don't care.
2. Apple is still turning out high quality.
3. Most consumers feel good about choosing a winner.
Re:Will this bite Apple? (Score:5, Insightful)
Most consumers feel good about choosing a winner.
Thankyou. I've never heard this put quite so well before. You have succinctly defined what it is that I don't like about people who buy Windows or iDevices without ever seriously considering the alternatives.. and why the cycle can perpetuate such godawful products for so long.
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What proportion of the potential iPad market follows technology court cases, forms an opinion on them and then uses that opinion to influence their purchasing decisions? 0.1%? More? You think?
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It's going to hurt them in a much different way, at least to some degree. This trial convinced me that I don't want anything to do with these guys. previously, I was agnostic. I have an iPod Touch, and a G2 iPhone. I preferred the iPhone 4 to the phone I have now, but didn't plan to spend that much on plans, so I opted for an Android device. I also did not like how their restricted the devices to only AT&T, or Telmex in Mexico. I also didn't like the batteries running out. And that I didn't like to have
Choice decided by courts (Score:3)
Well, I for one am reassured, now that courts will be controlling the scope of choice for me, when I go shopping for gadgets.
The Galaxy is a copy? "Imitation is the highest form of flattery." Humans have been copying others' ideas since the invention of the wheel. What about the violation of the patent: "A Method and Process for Producing Fire by Rubbing Sticks Together" ?
Hey, let the market decide . . . do you want the real thing with a chic logo . . . ? Or some cheap rip-off . . . ? Check your wallet first.
Re:Choice decided by courts (Score:5, Interesting)
good artists copy, great artists steal. And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas
Source: Steve Jobs himself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW0DUg63lqU [youtube.com]
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Rules are for other people.
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So you freely admit that Samsung stole the design of their tablet. got it. I love these posts fm the android talking points. They scream, sure they are breaking the law, but Steve Jobs said it was a good idea. Of course most of the time younclaim Jobs is an evil moron. That does not stop you from trying to use his words as a justification for Samsungs complete lack of innovation.
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So you freely admit that Samsung stole the design of their tablet. got it. I love these posts fm the android talking points.
Samsung stole the design from Samsung's digital picture/photo frame?
Ok, this is an interesting one.
Apple != New Microsoft (Score:2)
When I saw Apple starting to make gains I thought it was fantastic. They were finally able to sell their products to the masses, rather than their fans and those who enjoyed paying a premium for their goods.
When the Apple Stores began to open, I joked to my brother: Hey, look at that - Apple has become the company that Microsoft always wanted to be.
I got that wrong. They're not the new Microsoft - they're much, much worse than that. They've started to throw their weight around like nothing else, seemin
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I wouldn't be surprised if Apple wanted to make a TV, BUT, they will face a world of patent lawsuits if they do, because none of the makers of TVs will quickly forget how Apple is currently treating competitors.
Not only that, but all of them will be watching with eagle eyes for any possible way to return the favour to Apple in any way they can.
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Financial times left the app store because theynwant your personal informatio. They pay affiliates a 35% commission on subscriptions... Those affiliates don't even process the credit card transaction. Do you believe Apple should allow them to market their app for free and not get anything in return?
This Apple behavior has become a mental burden (Score:2)
I am vexed, piqued, annoyed, frustrated, exasperated by Apple's behavior! Who do they think they are?
What can a small man really do to effect [positive] change in Apple's conduct?
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You could climb on the shoulders of another small man, hang a large coat over your shoulders and talk in a really deep voice. That might not be enough, but it would be a start.
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Don't forget to add a "get off my lawn", because you will sound like a ranting, bitter old man.
On the Engadget Blog... (Score:5, Interesting)
This was posted there last night, and I was pretty surprised at the anger towards Apple in the comments (The comments there have since degenerated into an Apple Fanboi vs. the rest of the world "ur mom" catfight). But the general tone is clear: Apple could not have done more or better marketing for Samsung's devices. Apple is also royally hurting its own sacred brand with these type of actions, as the perception of Apple as the feisty underdog becomes one of an abusive monopoly similar to the way Microsoft has long been perceived.
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Engadget and Slashdot might be a LITTLE bit biased towards geeks who would probably buy a Galaxy Tab over an iPad anyway.
I really doubt most of Apple's target market cares.
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Yet, despite the negative reputation, Windows remains the dominant OS. Not saying that this won't cause any harm to Apple, just that the thing that'll cause real damage is if people start looking at the Galaxy as a legitimate replace for the iPad. And to be honest, no matter how good Galaxy is, I think the Apple tablet like Windows have too much momentum for that to happen anytime soon.
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But all they have to do is try one in the store to realize it is not true. We all see more tab ads on tv then iPad ads. We all have more opportunity to use one in the store. Their sales are still pitiful.
What if it were you? (Score:2)
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All inventions are ideas. All patents are patents on ideas. In other nes, this story is not about any patents. MIT is about a design Apple registered in the 1990s.
Android market 200% in 12 months, Apple panics (Score:3, Insightful)
Android market 200% in 12 months, Apple panics
According to http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2106625/android-market-share-doubles-apple-ios-falls-cent [theinquirer.net]
"Apple's IOS operating system (OS) has fallen eight per cent in popularity over the last year, while Google's Android OS market share has doubled"
Apple is a sore little pesky bastard. The iPad tablets they have produced have been around for decades as precursors, and for millennia (or millenniums, if you prefer) as design cues.
There must be some reason why Samsung decides not to fight back much harder, the initial arguments is on their side. There is a secret agenda or clue somewhere. For now, I have no idea.
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Good luck with that. Unfortunately it is based on extrapolations of data even Apple haters know is a load of crap.l
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Android has already made the world safe for smart phones that are not made by Apple.
No delusion you spout will change that.
Samsung would never (Score:3)
Apple is a Patent Troll now (Score:2)
The whole of American Industry is reliant on international manufacturers like Foxconn and millions of good American jobs have been outsourced to places like India, China, Brazil , Korea, Southeast Asia, Russia and the former East European countries. The manufacturing machinery that I built for my former employer has been ripped out and shipped to Poland because of cheaper labor. American companies have no choice but to try to protect its intellectual property or see its standard of living fall to an equil
or we could have a world-wide labor movement (Score:2)
that did not care about 20th century concepts like nationalism (since the corporations have long ago abandoned those ideas)
It just shows how stupid the patent law is. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:It just shows how stupid the patent law is. (Score:4, Informative)
There is NOTHING unique about the iPad, certainly nothing unique that other manufacturers do.
Shape and size? The natural results of designing a case around a screen, CPU, RAM, battery etc.
Material? Common in the Hi-Fi and A/V industry. Copied, blatantly, by Apple.
Software? OS? Walled garden? Unique, and UNWANTED by everyone that hasn't bought this tablet!! (and uncopied by any other maker!)
Re:It just shows how stupid the patent law is. (Score:5, Informative)
Shape and size? The natural results of designing a case around a screen, CPU, RAM, battery etc.
Don't forget that Apple actually lied in court [electronista.com] by showing distorted images making the sizes look the same when they are quite different. The previously did the same thing with the Galaxy Samsung S phone [webwereld.nl] so this is a well tried tactic by Apple
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Actually no they didn't. They present pictures of both (yes those picture aspects were changed to make them look more familiar) but they also had physical representations of the models in court. The decision wasn't made off the photo's alone.
Do you have a citation for that?
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Actually no they didn't. They present pictures of both (yes those picture aspects were changed to make them look more familiar) but they also had physical representations of the models in court. The decision wasn't made off the photo's alone.
Do you have a citation for that?
Apple themselves stated in the evidence that the Galaxy S was larger in dimensions and the photo in question was just one (I believe it one of the photos on page 28 of the evidence presented). It was the only photo with the 'bad' dimensions. It is believed by legal experts that the photo is actually a prototype photo similar to the mock ups released by Samsung prior to the actual product release showing it was 'thinner' than the iPad.
http://gadgetsheaven.n-ame.com/?p=2309 [n-ame.com]
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/08/is-apple-faking-evidence-to-crush-the-competition-not-likely.ars [arstechnica.com]
http://9to5mac.com/2011/08/19/samsung-claims-apple-doctored-galaxy-phone-images-in-netherlands-court/ [9to5mac.com] http://gadgetsheaven.n-ame.com/?p=2309 [n-ame.com]
The decision to ban was not made of off a single photo out of a series of photos. Would you, if you were a judge, base your decision off of an image when the relevant piece of hardware can simply be handed to you for inspection?
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/apple-accused-of-doctoring-image-to-sink-galaxy-tab-101-in-europe-update/14246 [zdnet.com]
So you don't have any citation that they had physical representations in court then.
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Shape and size? The natural results of designing a case around a screen, CPU, RAM, battery etc.
The fanbois seem to think this is "informative". Pictures of eight tablets looking distinctively different from an iPad are apparently not informative.
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There is NOTHING unique about the iPad, certainly nothing unique that other manufacturers do. Shape and size? The natural results of designing a case around a screen, CPU, RAM, battery etc.
Yes, clearly if you use off the shelf batteries your icons will be the same color foreground and background, have the same image and the same color gradient in the background. That's obvious; surely no one at Samsung looked at an iPhone/iPad and copied it without considering the copyright ramifications.
Seriously though, if you actually read the text of the claims and go through them (here's a link [thisismynext.com] to an analysis of the phone claims) there is a whole lot of very similar design and styling and advertising an
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They'd be much more convincing if Apple wasn't out there suing everybody else as the 'creator' and 20-year owner of the 'pinch to zoom' gesture...
Which would be a valid argument if they were, but Apple doesn't have a patent on "pinch to zoom". They have a patent on a very specific function where "pinch to zoom" is applied multiple times sequentially on a touchscreen and the first one clues the OS into the fact that other gestures within a preset amount of time are likely to be the same UI input even if the normal algorithm for determining it is a "pinch to zoom" would not have detected it as such. That was a real innovation and it was an innovation t
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What, a curved black rectangle?
That isnt "design"
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MediaMarkt sales people (EU electronics store chain) were instructed to sell "Samsung iPads" to the clueless customers. When my non-technie cousin tried to buy a iPad the sales guy told him: "Get the Samsung iPad - it's better, it has flash". The fact that the Galaxy looks a lot like the iPad to the untrained eye, helps a lot with this scam.
Re:Why the hell are they allowing this? (Score:4, Insightful)
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For crying out loud, you're bashing Apple for going back on a promise they made 30 years ago . "Music industry" back then meant selling vinyl records. How is that lying anyway? 30 years passed before they decided to start producing MP3 playback devices in a totally different music and technology landscape.
Re:Why the hell are they allowing this? (Score:5, Insightful)
Are you serious? How much time has to pass, in your opinion, in order for it NOT to be a lie? Are your wedding vows still valid after 30 years?
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Yeah, you owe me a keyboard for that one.
Very well pulled.
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Enter the music business under a different brand name, so that you're not stepping on someone else's trademark? Come to an agreement with the holder of that trademark?
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There is famboi then there is just being a hater.
What will happen is there going to be some arguements and probably an agreement to share their patents.
Re:epic backfire (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Doesn't make sense (Score:4, Informative)
Apple has no injunction against any Samsung 7" tablet, and hasn't tried to get one
Samsung itself [yonhapnews.co.kr], along with hundreds of news outlets [google.com], would no doubt be interested in hearing your theory. Do you have the slightest shred of evidence to back it up?
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That's because they know that all court decisions have an element of randomness.
Imagine if they win: They'll have a legally enforced monopoly on tablets!
If they lose...no biggie when you've got billions in cash.
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Imagine if they win: They'll have a legally enforced monopoly on tablets!
Not so. They'll have a legally enforced monopoly on a very particular design of tablets.
Like the judge said: “There are a lot of alternative ways to design a tablet device, as the market amply shows.” Doesn't sound like he has any interest in stopping others from making tablets.
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Why can't this same judge see all the devices which were designed prior to the iPad and see that Samsung could just as easily be copying those?
(eg. http://techcrunch.com/2009/06/03/crunchpad-the-launch-prototype/ [techcrunch.com] )
I don't get it ... hence my comment about the outcome of all lawsuits has a random/human element to them and no matter how "obvious" things are the court might still make the wrong decision.
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Because Apple registered the design in Europe in the mid-90s.... Nice try though. Why don't you try and look up things relevant to this case instead of irrelevant distractions.
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Whoosh!
a) Which part of the "Samsung could just as easily be copying..." did you miss?
(If they're copying anything at all)
b) Which one of the similar 1980s...1970s...1960s... gadgets posted here did you fail to see?
Unless Apple has an email from the CEO of Samsung telling the engineers to "copy the iPad" then this is pure bullshit.
And let's face it, once you decide to make a "pad device using the Android operating system" then it's a pretty generic design. I'd be really amazed if it DIDN'T look like that.
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> Like the judge said: âoeThere are a lot of alternative ways to design a
> tablet device, as the market amply shows.â
Exactly. I mean, you could make it cube-shaped, or design it for dual-use as a soccer ball. But a flat device with a screen? No way! Only Apple could ever design something as innovative...
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Not so. They'll have a legally enforced monopoly on a very particular design of tablets.
Like the judge said: âoeThere are a lot of alternative ways to design a tablet device, as the market amply shows.â Doesn't sound like he has any interest in stopping others from making tablets.
Then, why did Apple choose to steal other peoples' design, when they could have design their own tablet?
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The registered the design in the 90s. I kowthis when you post some picture of the Knight-rider newspaper reader prototype you think looks like an iPad. Go ahead if you want to make an ass of yourself, who am I to stop you.
Apple: trolling justice for decades (Score:2)
Apple is well known [wikipedia.org] for abusing justice with frivolous court actions. No one can complain if people assume Apple to be guilty by default.
They think they have the monopoly rights to all the concepts they copied from Xerox [wikipedia.org].
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they copied from Xerox [wikipedia.org].
I see what you did there...
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Statistically speaking, I don't think 1 event is a trend.
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Letting your whole food production wander off to cheaper workers is a terrible idea for the stability of the country (a trade problem could cause mass starvation and Germany has always been limited in long range trade as our navies could never stand up to more seafaring nations like Britain and France). Just because our farmers need to have enough money to buy TVs and other luxury goods they aren't somehow inefficient money eaters. Everything costs more when made here but that's only cost to the consumer. O
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Who do you think suffers from higher food costs, by the way? The rich? ?
Didn't you just claim that the food was artificially cheaper in Germany? Could you make up your mind instead of stuff?
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Now, according [fudzilla.com] to Apple's lawyers, if you ever worked for Apple, then your subsequent inventions for other companies may also very well belong to Apple:
As so often happens, you are either accidentally or on purpose misrepresenting what is actually happen. In a patent dispute, some company said that Andy Rubin had nothing whatsoever to do with Apple's patent, and Apple then showed that the same Andy Rubin worked directly under the two people who actually received the patent at that time.
In a patent dispute, _if_ there is infringement then it can be important for the amount of damages whether the infringement was intentional or by accident. If Andy Rubin
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Here in Germany we believe that an unfettered free market is going to be significantly worse for us than the current government.
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There wouldn't be enough government workers in Germany to carry a majority in any election, so apparently this is not the case.
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roman:
Give it a break already. If batshit insane libertarianism was at all a possibility for any human society larger than a bunch of proto monkeys on the Serengeti, somebody would have tried it.
It's OK to have meaningful relationships with other humans. It really is. Try it sometime.
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How is anyone who hasn't seen an iPad before to know how big the thing is? I had people asking me if my 5 inch Dell Streak and 7 inch Android 1.x devices were iPads..
You're right that the whole who-copied-who's design thing is stupid though. For one thing, Samsung has had digital photo-frames with the same gloss-flat-black-with-curved-corners design as an iPad long before the iPad was announced, and second.. how many fucking ways are there to make a "tablet" shape?