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Samsung Tablet Ban Lifted For Most of EU
jkcity writes "The ban on sales of Samsung's 10.1 tablet in the EU has been lifted everywhere except Germany. The new ruling is in effect until August 25th while it is decided whether the original court had the power to enforce an EU wide ban. With allegations that submitted evidence was not 100% accurate, the case could be bogged down in the court for years."
So they accidentally resized the image of the 10.1 so that it looked identical to the iPad for a side-by-side comparison, it's a mistake anyone could have made on a key page of court-submitted legal documents...
so good apple tried to ban it!
you can't buy advertising that good!
disclaimer-very happy with the 7" tab
Yep. We're always being told how Apple is the best quality, best operating system and how they keep prices lower than everybody else by buying up massive amounts of chips for years in advance of production, etc.
Now they're saying they can't compete in a fair marketplace?
No sig today...
The problem with Android tablets is that they really aren't up to par with iPad. They look and feel clumsy, they don't have the same app economy that iPad has and most of all Android devices suffer from fragmentation. I really wish someone would come up with a better device. Microsoft's Courier looked great, so I hope they work on similar concept with Nokia.
Where have I heard that before?
Oh yeah.
Is there any other more natural feeling tablet? It would be much better than the usual ones. Since all the Android devices are quite much clones of each other, I hope someone uses this to their advantage and makes a device like Courier. Or Microsoft should continue their project. It's really interesting anyway.
I'm looking forward to discovering your next top-posting account, dumbass. How many new accounts is that now... 35?
Actually, there are two entities involved, Samsung Germany and their parent company in Korea. The latest ruling is that the court probably only has jurisdiction over the subsidiary. So, if a German person buys one through a retailer that in turn buys from Samsung Korea, no order is violated.
And then - explain why Apple really felt the need to attack Samsung using a lawsuit?
If a product is bad it will just result in the situation where nobody buys it.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
There are lots of reasons to *not* buy an iPad. The dubious recent behaviour of Apple is just one of them (and I speak as someone who only has Macs at home).
For example, I bought an EeePad Transformer yesterday.
I did not need to plug it into a computer capable of running the latest iTunes - I just turned it on and connected it to our wifi network and it updated itself. I did not need to sign up for an account and register my machine with Asus (or Google). I have a proper keyboard and USB ports. I can use a browser that is *not* based on WebKit if I want to (e.g. Opera).
The HP Touchpad has other issues though - primarily that it's a terrible clone of an iPad with an OS nobody wants except for novelty value. I can't imagine why anyone would want a Blackberry Playbook for much the same reason.
The following article has some very interesting information about Community Designs, which were used for getting the original injunction.
Community designs are basically unreviewed sketches of products which can be used to silently get an injunction for your competitors product.
No checks are done for obviousness, nor for prior art.
Apple is actually seeking a ban on all of the Galaxy products, including the original tab and the Galaxy S2 smartphone, in The Netherlands.
This is not just a ban from Samsung importing them. It's a ban on retailers to sell them (i.e. they need to recall them) and distributors distributing them (to other countries). So that 'good advertising' would only last for as long as they're still allowed to sell it - which might be until mid October if they're unlucky.
In addition Apple demand that in Samsung's recall notice to distributors and retailers, they make note that the product infringes on Apple IP.
It seems very much a "Let's demand the ridiculous - any toning down by the judge will then fall in our favor" type move, but I'm sure they're actually quite serious.
Source: http://webwereld.nl/nieuws/107630/apple--gehele-galaxy-lijn-moet-uit-de-schappen.html
Apple isn't scoring any brownie points with these demands, that's for sure. One major online news site's (nu.nl) comments are replete with negative comments toward Apple, even from avid Apple fans, and they're not doing much better over at the #1 tech news site for NL/BE (tweakers.net).
Not that I think it'll impact Apple's bottom line in any way. ha.
I have no doubt that they would extend this to the EU.
The problem with Android tablets is that they really aren't up to par with iPad. They look and feel clumsy, they don't have the same app economy that iPad has and most of all Android devices suffer from fragmentation. I really wish someone would come up with a better device. Microsoft's Courier looked great, so I hope they work on similar concept with Nokia.
Most of the top end Android tablets (i.e. those running Android 3.0) are easily on par with the iPad. The OS is far better thought out than the iPad and multitasking isn't some afterthought. The apps some way to go and from experience writing apps this is probably due to the greater diversity of form factors and the layout models you need to produce to make them work properly.
I think a larger problem is that their price is on par with the iPad and the iPad is expensive. Once tablet manufacturers start dropping their prices they're going to sell a lot better.
There is absolutely no reason at all that a 9-10" tablet with capacitive screen, wifi, 16GB flash, 1GB ram, dual core couldn't retail for less than €300 and still make a profit. Stuff like 3G, compass, GPS, even rear facing camera could all be jettisoned if necessary since it's largely superfluous for what most tablets will be used for in the first place.
Funny thing: One of Germany biggest retailers just started selling the Samsung Galaxy Tab. They argue that the injunction is only against Samsung.
Indeed.
If the customer actually had that ability all of the iPads in the world would be collecting dust on a shelf somewhere - unsold.
Aside from the lack of apps, which is true, I'd have to say, I find my Toshiba Thrive much less clunky than an iPad. Yes it's larger, but it has a higher screen resolution, USB (which works with a hub) that can connect to a keyboard and mouse if I like, I believe it can do the same with bluetooth, DVI, audio, and storage can be expanded both with USB drives and a /SD([XH]C)?/ card.
I have access to an excellent email client, good web browsers, flash (actually, I'd uninstall it if I could, for security reasons), quite a few excellent games, good calendar apps... This is without resorting to apps that I have to pay for.
It has also been stable, and high performance.
Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
I'll see your Occam's Razor and raise you one: Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_Popular_Delusions_and_the_Madness_of_Crowds
Given that Apple products have been found to spark a religious response in those that trumpet their benefits, I believe that Occam's Razor says that they're buying them due to a large delusional crowd movement.
Lets not forget that even with much proof to the opposite of what they claimed, snake oil salesmen could generally find someone local in a town to help them hawk their wares. These people often weren't in on the take. There is a reason selling odd concoctions was profitable.
A tablet is not a serious puter in most scenarios, it's an accessory.
Not so. It really depends on what you consider "serious." For most people, simply reading their friend's posts of, "Just drank coffee - mmmm", followed by, "just had my second sip - mmmm - even better - yummy", is about as serious as it gets.