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Pocket PCs Masquerade as iPods
agwadude writes "Wired News has a story about a British software firm called StarBrite that is selling a virtual iPod that runs on Microsoft's PocketPC operating system. It mimics the iPod interface exactly, including the unique scroll wheel. It's a mere $20 but this seems right considering it's only software, and it only supports MP3. MacDailyNews has a shorter story."
A Clie's scroll wheel would nice for this type of app. In this software the scroll wheel is emulated on the screen itself.
Casual Games/Downloads
MacCentral is reporting that "pBop's resemblance to the iPod was unmistakable, especially when the product first launched: It was originally called pPod, and featured an interface that was practically identical to third-generation iPods."
it was so similar, in fact, that Apple asked them to make some changes, including the name.
Starbrite has "cooperated fully to address Apple's concerns" but, if you ask me, it is still pretty much a rip off of the iPod interface (GUI and physical). Isn't this kind of thing legally protectable?
Tuus crepidae innexilis sunt.
MacSlash had this item on March 01st. See it: here.
Anyway, I'm fairly certain Apple's relevant patents on the iPod are for the actual hardware design, and it'd be hard to sue for a software ripoff that doesn't even have all of the iPod's features (like non-MP3 sound file compatibility)
Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.
buy one here (with screenshot).
And the Google cache
pictures
You've got it backward ^^
They make money on the hardware, not the music. Therefore the harm.
GPL Deconstructed
You're right. But the point is since this "virtual software player" mimics the iPod. So it's supposed to have the ability to play aacs that you purchased(or won from the pepsi bottles) or that's what i'd assumed. But now it's just another mp3 software player with the looks of ipods THAT COSTS 20 bucks.
Well, you are correct in more ways than you realise.
Apple had their way with these guys and forced the renaming of the product (to pBop) and slight modifications to the interface.
Slashdot is behind the times. This story would have been meaningful a couple days ago.
-- Fighting mediocrity one bad post at a time.
If Apple's legal team was ok with it and has cooperated with Apple fully, what is your problem?
Do you have some information that Apple's legal team doesn't?
All bow to his Noodliness!! His Noodle Appendage has touched me!
Wrong. Apple makes next to no money on the iTunes store, they make their money on the hardware. And this is a pretty blatant rip off.
I thought it was pretty common knowledge that Apple didn't make money on iTMS?
Also, this isn't even reverse engineering. It is a poorly mimicked interface, no actual reverse engineering of the iPod occured I'm sure.
Actually it wasn't as fast as you think. The story was on MacSlash a week ago and most likely someplace else before that.
I'm pretty sure you can sue for infringement on any of the claims in a patent. That said, the only thing Apple obviously mention as being patent-pending (that I can see) is their Auto-Sync technology.
In any case, the design would be covered by industrial design law - it was on this basis that Apple successfully sued Emachines over their iMac lookalike PCs.
Apple lost the notorious touch-n-feel lawsuit over a decade ago. Thank goodness, or we'd all be licencees of Apple right now, instead of just some of us.
---
- "So our philosophy is that traffic to the music store will lead to iPod sales and iPod sales will lead to the sale of Macs."
And the Seattle Times noted last October:Try using it. The touchscreen is very reactive to a thumb and works just like an iPod wheel: perfectly.
Wow.
Hundreds of doomsayers predicting the demise of this, and not one mention (modded up at least) of Windows ripping off the Mac interface...and Apple LOSING the subsequent lawsuit.
According to one legal analysis, Microsoft's legal strategy was that of "breaking Apple's nebulous 'gestalt' and 'look-and-feel' theory into specific identifiable elements and then knocking each one down like uncopyrightable bowling pins...demonstrating nearly two dozen windowing systems...that used elements Apple claimed to own.
Doesn't sound much different here, I doubt they'd waste their time on it.
The FONT is stolen and that's not nebulous. It's called CHICAGO.
If you want to get audio books, of say periodicals like The Harvard Business Review, or Science, you can't play them on this, or most MP3 players. It's acctully one of the reasons I'm considering an iPod rather than a soild state player.
Spyder
I just started playing with Clutter last night to get the album art for my 350 CDs into my iTunes database. Very cool app. And it occurred to me then that if the iPod had a color screen, it could display the album graphic while playing. Of course, this alone is not a good reason to increase the price and add a color screen, but if color LCDs at that size become similar in price to the current monochrome ones, then why not? Maybe in a few iPod revs?
I installed the pPod demo last Friday mainly to piss off my roommate (big iPod fan) and I must say that besides looking kinda cool it doesn't do much else. Using a stylus as in place of your fingers worked haphazardly at best, and I am certainly not going to run out and buy a microdrive for it. It's mainly just a fancy skin for a MP3 only player (if it had support for alternate formats, then I'd reconsider). If I want to compete with my friend's iPod, I find it much easier to use programs like Net Use to create a network drive and stream the MP3 wirelessly to my PDA. Sure this limits me to staying within my network, but if I want to go out, a 256MB CF card has more than enough storage for any short trip.
Sadly, PS/2 was yet another victim of USB, which doesn't care what you plug into it, the electrical slut.
Won't be long until iPod is emulating whatever the hell it can, too ...
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
Here is an obligatory link to remind the moderators why this isn't +1, Funny.
Hey freaks: now you're ju
iRiver iHP-120
Practically the same size (2-3mm thicker), exactly the same weight and capacity. about GBP40 cheaper than the 20GB iPod here in the UK and it comes with a built in FM radio and a great LCD remote.
It plays OGGs and WMVs but not AAC (plus MP3s obviously).
One of the specifics that you don't remember (and I don't entirely remember either) is that Apple and MS had license agreements.
MS claimed the license agreement covered what they were doing. Apple disagreed.
MS won.
SteveM
While I agree with you completely, I could easily see Apple using a kind of inexpensive in-between technology to introduce some colour to the display, if for purely aesthetic reasons (this is Apple we're talking about).
Some of the newer low-cost Nokias have pseudo-colour screens that look like the real deal, until you try to put some graphics on them and realize how chunky they come out. It's nice for coloured text though, and doesn't seem to impact battery life.
The iPod is not going to be screening photos or videos anytime soon but it would be nice to have a coloured calendar on there, to match all my iCals, for instance.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
>This is a troll right?
No. Do Apple zealots always use ad-hominem attacks like that one right off the bat? Pathetic.
>I didn't even mention Quality
Good idea not to when you're lucky to get a 2 years from an iPod battery (which is sealed, and therefore renders the unit defective and non-user-serviceable -- ie: Broken).
>Surely you can do better than that?
Okay, here's one that is lighter and within a few percent of the iPod's size. With more space, a metal case, removable li-ion battery, and WMA support, to boot. Did I mention the nicely backlit display? Wow!
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
Actually, Atari is doing quite well these days... as a software publisher. Go look at the recent crop of PC game titles and see if you can count how many have the Atari logo on them.
It's a bag, afaik.
Saw the story on macslash last week and downloaded it this morning. the site was already down but I googled and found another place to download it from. usable enough, I guess. cute little PPC-demo app, I guess. I just got this iPaq a while ago from work and besides the fact that it has no easy-to-find battery level indicator (grr, my ancient Palm has that) I wouldn't use a PDA for music, anyway, but that's just me. mostly I just downloaded it to check it out and play with it some.
:-)
I don't see it in my programs folder but it's in the start menu. without a physical groove, it's almost impossible to use your finger to "scroll" songs but it's not too bad with the stylus. no exit, either, just choose 'hide' from the main menu. not sure if that means it's still running and taking cpu cycles/battery life. plays music just fine, but took a million years to move 27 mb worth of music to it over USB.
summary: kinda cute, kinda neat, I don't plan to use it so I don't care about the outcome of the lawsuit.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
after some research, I came to the conclusion that the author of the article is either a woman or a gay man, because apparently a Fendi is some kind of bag, purse, or whatever are called those things women carry their stuff on.
It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
Actually this is old news. They have already had talks with Apple and they have already changed a few things. You can read about it here. Basically they changed the layout some and changed the name to pBop.
Sapere aude!
Ah, that's because iriver isn't `cool' enough. It's actually quite easy to use once you get used to it.
:-).
Another major problem is that folks hear of `iPod' all the time, but nobody hears of iriver (or others). When I show some ipod lovers my iriver, they `wow' at how small and light it is (and the fact that my battery lasts for close to 30 or so hours on a single charge [single 2200 mAh AA]; or that I can play Ogg files
Basically I view iPods as really cool toys (like them italian sports cars), but if you want something more practical (fuel economy/street safe, etc.) then get something else.
"If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy
Apple licensed from Xerox the elements they incorporated. The lawsuit with Microsoft was that, having licensed Apple IP for earlier version(s) of Windows, Microsoft chose not to do so in a later version but continued to use Apple's IP. The judge in the case just didn't get it and sided with Microsoft.
Wonder if he works in the Patent Office these days?