Samsung Halts Galaxy Tablet Promotion In Germany

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."

Comments

It just shows how stupid the patent law is.

[Chrisq]

Apple did not invent the tablet PC, but they want to ban anyone else from making anything resembling a tablet PC.

Re:It just shows how stupid the patent law is.

[webmistressrachel]

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.

[Chrisq]

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 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 so this is a well tried tactic by Apple

Re:Choice decided by courts

[galaad2]

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

Re:Will this bite Apple?

[bjourne]

Doubt it, those of us who value digital openess are already avoiding Apple products like the plague.

On the Engadget Blog...

[theolein]

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.

Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa

[TheRaven64]

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.

Re:Why the hell are they allowing this?

[cbope]

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?

Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa

[X.25]

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

Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa

[SnowZero]

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/

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:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa

[Anonymous Coward]

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/

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/

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

Sorry fanboys.

Re:Will this bite Apple?

[somersault]

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.