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Apple Can't Block US Sales of Samsung Devices

An anonymous reader snips this good news (for Samsung fans) from Edible Apple "In April of 2011, Apple kicked off what would soon become a global and complex series of litigation disputes when it sued Samsung in the U.S. claiming that its line of Galaxy smartphones and tablets infringed upon Apple's intellectual property and were nothing more than 'slavish' copies. As part of its suit, Apple requested a preliminary injunction that would bar Samsung from selling said products in the U.S. This past Friday, Judge Lucy Koh denied Apple's motion for a preliminary injunction."

213 comments

  1. Good to see. by xclr8r · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Finally some judges are realizing they are being used for judgements to enforce business ^H^H^H^H^H...monopoly by via litigation.

    --
    Beware of those who profit off the docile and persecute the unbelievers.
    1. Re:Good to see. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you read the decision? The judge actually agree with Apple on almost all points, except the one that they would suffer irreparable harm. Hence no preliminary injunction. All this means is it goes to trial where Apple is (per the court) likely to win.

    2. Re:Good to see. by tysonedwards · · Score: 5, Informative

      No judgement, but a denial of a preliminary injunction that would presumably prevent Samsung from "further irreparably damaging Apple's Brand, image, copyright and patents".

      Apple's contention within the case is that Samsung is misappropriating Apple's intellectual property, namely patents related to the design of the iPhone devices, user interface designs, icons, images, and methods of operation.

      Samsung's contention is that "there are only so many ways to build a smartphone", and that the elements that Apple is complaining about are either "too broad" or are obvious, and thereby not enforceable.

      The judge in this particular case has decided that Apple had not presented sufficient evidence in pre-trial proceedings that would show that Apple would be irreparably damaged through Samsung continuing to sell the products in question within the United States.

      --
      Thirty four characters live here.
    3. Re:Good to see. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      patents related to the design of the iPhone devices, user interface designs, icons, images, and methods of operation.

      Patents are supposed to be for inventions.
      The terrorists have won.

    4. Re:Good to see. by Runaway1956 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Maybe you didn't read all of the article either. The judge felt that Apple's patent was invalid. Meaning, the judge didn't "agree with Apple on almost all points, except the one . . . "

      Nice spin though.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    5. Re:Good to see. by russotto · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Maybe you didn't read all of the article either. The judge felt that Apple's patent was invalid. Meaning, the judge didn't "agree with Apple on almost all points, except the one . . . "

      The judge felt that the D'087 patent was likely invalid (too similar to previous designs), but not the D'677 patent. The D'677 patent covers the black transparent glass-like front surface. I think the judge was wrong in not dismissing that based on it being a functional component, but that's still to be litigated.

    6. Re:Good to see. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, just lawyers more experienced with this shit. That's the difference between the US and the rest of the world.

    7. Re:Good to see. by ozmanjusri · · Score: 4, Informative

      The judge actually agree with Apple on almost all points, except the one that they would suffer irreparable harm.

      Not really true.

      To quote TFA;

      "Nevertheless, Samsung raised questions of validity regarding Apple’s D’899 patent and Apple did not establish that it would likely to succeed at trial."

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    8. Re:Good to see. by Ken+Broadfoot · · Score: 1

      Hell yes! It is about time too...

      --
      Bitcoin pyramid: Join here: http://www.bitcoinpyramid.com/r/1427 it's FREE!
    9. Re:Good to see. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 0

      The judge actually agree with Apple on almost all points

      "Almost all" except the most important one: Apple's patent.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    10. Re:Good to see. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Interestingly, the judge who originally granted an injunction is white.

      (above is just to point out how irrelevant OP's comment is)

    11. Re:Good to see. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Reality Distortion Field is finally collapsing! Happy times, indeed!

    12. Re:Good to see. by sjames · · Score: 4, Funny

      Does he now or has he ever worn a turtleneck?

    13. Re:Good to see. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pretty fly for a fan guy!

    14. Re:Good to see. by rtb61 · · Score: 2

      In a world of craptastic approve anything US patents. Where the idea is to gain more revenue for the patents office and for US lawyers. I'd bet that lobbyists for US lawyers are sneaking around between those politicians who have connections to the patents office to ensure influence on the more craptastic the patent is, the more it should be approved. Craptastic patents guarantee civil court actions. so Apple's Craptastic patent, fixed it for you.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    15. Re:Good to see. by msobkow · · Score: 1

      I was surprised the judge thought that one might be novel enough to succeed, too. Using anti-glare and blackout glass was STANDARD for CRT monitors for many years. A backlit LCD with blackout glass seems kind of obvious to me. The dark glass improves contrast ratios, or at least looks like it does (it's probably an inaccurate picture, though.)

      But I think Sony was the one who had the patent on the dark glass tubes, which would beat Apple by a substantial margin. The fact that apple used it in a small form factor is NOT innovation; it's applying already existing standards for manufacturing to a new product. You shouldn't be able to patent USING something that already existed for substantially the same purpose: a high contrast screen.

      --
      I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    16. Re:Good to see. by Solandri · · Score: 2

      Patents are supposed to be for inventions.

      Except for the bouncing animation patent (which seems dubious to me, since bouncing when reaching a limit has been a staple of cartoon animation for decades, and of rubber balls for centuries), the patents in question are design patents. That's the main reason the judge denied the injunction. A design patent (in the U.S.) has to be purely ornamental - e.g. the distinctive shape of a Coca-Cola bottle is purely artistic and serves no function purpose.

      To paraphrase the judge, a handheld size, flat rectangular face, and rounded corners are all functional, and cannot be protected by a design patent. Apple might be able to get a design patent on rounded corners of one specific radius on a tablet, but they can't prevent other tablet makers from using any rounded corners at all. I'm not sure how design patents work in Germany (the Netherlands dismissed Apple's lawsuit for the EU in general). But if the current injunction against Samsung in Germany stands, expect everyone there to start taking out design patents on every shape and form you can imagine, and suing anyone making anything with basic shapes like polygons, rectangles, circles, etc. German industry will be crippled.

    17. Re:Good to see. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      'Black transparent glass-like surface', my Toshiba and Panasonic TV's have those as well. Hopefully I won't have to return them if Samsung loses!

    18. Re:Good to see. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The D'677 patent covers the black transparent glass-like front surface."

      I hope Apple paid Corning well for the exclusive right to use their invention? Oh they didn't?

  2. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 4, Informative

    Ok, I'll bite on the bait.

    A Samsung fan is just a regular person who doesn't have a deeply compelling brand loyalty. Or at least in the usage in this article summary on Slashdot that is the meaning.

    It means, anybody who isn't a Steve-fan.

  3. Seems fair... by Theaetetus · · Score: 4, Informative
    Preliminary injunctions are valid where irreparable harm will ensue if they're not issued, and injunctions generally are issued where monetary damages would be inadequate relief. But that's very rare.

    This is similar to the recent reversal of the Apple-Samsung injunction in Australia - there, the court said that an injunction was unwarranted, but that Samsung would have to keep detailed records of every penny earned on the products, because they could be on the hook for all of them. Same thing here - if the patents are found valid and Samsung is found to have infringed, they'll owe damages to Apple... but there's no reason to preemptively make those damages $0 by stopping the sale of the product.

    1. Re:Seems fair... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      This is similar to the recent reversal of the Apple-Samsung injunction in Australia - there, the court said that an injunction was unwarranted

      G'day, dingo! I herd yer like reversing, so I put a reversal on your reversal so yer can reverse while yer bloomin' well reversing.

      http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-02/apple-wins-extension-on-samsung-tablet-ban.html

      Agree with the rest 100%, certainly it's how it should be. But sometimes it seems the law and common sense nod when they pass each other on opposite sides of the street.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    2. Re:Seems fair... by Theaetetus · · Score: 1

      This is similar to the recent reversal of the Apple-Samsung injunction in Australia - there, the court said that an injunction was unwarranted

      G'day, dingo! I herd yer like reversing, so I put a reversal on your reversal so yer can reverse while yer bloomin' well reversing.

      http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-02/apple-wins-extension-on-samsung-tablet-ban.html

      That's just one week for the appeal. The injunction is still off the table. And since Samsung will get to sell in America, the Australian high court will consider that Apple's lost marketplace monopoly theory is already shot, so they won't reverse.

    3. Re:Seems fair... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Nonetheless, the current status is that it's in force.

      And even if it's only one week, it's a pretty important week as far as shopping goes. Which I'm sure is just a coincidence.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  4. Apple hates competition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Plain and simple.

    "Oh my god, their tablet is like ours! Ban it!"

    1. Re:Apple hates competition by PitaBred · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Apple steals liberally from competitors (iOS5 status bar and wireless updates and sync, anyone?), and then sues them when the opposite happens. How do you arrive at your conclusion?

    2. Re:Apple hates competition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I wonder if this patent war isn't going to eat into Apple's popularity. Apart from design and functionality, Apple fans also feel emotional about their products. Without Steve Jobs, they'll need to come up with something to keep that cult alive. If Apple continues this was against Android products, they're going to lose a lot more than just a bit of market share.

    3. Re:Apple hates competition by perryizgr8 · · Score: 1

      also, copy and paste.

      --
      Wealth is the gift that keeps on giving.
    4. Re:Apple hates competition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/what-android-can-learn-from-the-iphone-os-updated/6991 6. Copy & paste. Apple took forever to deliver it, but it works really well. Android has had it forever but it’s a kludge to the point that I don’t use it.

    5. Re:Apple hates competition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and unlock directly to camera

    6. Re:Apple hates competition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stop setting my fanboy-dar off!

  5. Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-patent by teh31337one · · Score: 5, Funny

    Phone Arena:

    Apple gives Samsung advice on non-patent infringing designs

    In order to disprove Samsung’s claim, Apple needed to provide alternate design options to prove that Samsung did, in fact, blatantly copy Apple’s design. Some samples from these suggestions include:

    Smartphones:
    * Front surface that isn't black.
    * Overall shape that isn't rectangular, or doesn't have rounded corners.
    * Display screens that aren't centered on the front face and have substantial lateral borders.
    * Non-horizontal speaker slots.
    * Front surfaces with substantial adornment.
    * No front bezel at all.

    Tablets:
    * Overall shape that isn't rectangular, or doesn't have rounded corners.
    * Thick frames rather than a thin rim around the front surface.
    * Front surface that isn't entirely flat.
    * Profiles that aren't thin.
    * Cluttered appearance.

    They also have a great depiction of what such a tablet may look like

  6. this is good for national security by decora · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't want some muslims ripping off American technology and implementing a Muslim Caliphate. Did you know that in the Muslim World, women are raped if they drive a car? That young girls cannot go to school or their heads are cut off and fed to dogs?

    This is what is at stake, when terrorist groups like Samsung attack our American values. We have to defend America first, and to hell with everyone else.

    1. Re:this is good for national security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      holy shit, you're fucking nuts.

    2. Re:this is good for national security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I for one, think GP is spot on.

      Also: Whoosh!

    3. Re:this is good for national security by Runaway1956 · · Score: 0

      You're worse than nuts. You're bug fucking crazy. Samsung selling a damned phone that resembles Apple's phone is going to cause more women to be raped? Bug fucking crazy.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    4. Re:this is good for national security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cripes. This post reminds me about one on alt.sysadmin.recovery back in 2005 about some AOL-er saying, "Linux is an OS made by foreign terrorists to take money from real American companies like Microsoft."

      Samsung is South Korea. Guys that have been our allies and manufacturing partners for decades. Definitely not terrorists.

    5. Re:this is good for national security by bmo · · Score: 1

      This is what's called "mods with no sense of humor at all. Nope."

      --
      BMO

    6. Re:this is good for national security by Issarlk · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Samsung is South Korea. Every tablet they sell are one less tablet manufactured by Apple in good old USA!
      Oh wait...

  7. They've created an Us and Them situation... by fostware · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The worst part of these preliminary injunctions is they kill the biggest sales time - pre-Christmas.

    While there may be merit on both sides, aborting the product in it's first large sales growth period is a sure-fire way of killing off a competitor.

    What Apple has done, is polarise a significant portion of people against them. It's almost as if they modelled themselves on Microsoft...

    --
    "We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over." - Aneurin Bevan
    1. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What Apple has done, is polarise a significant portion of people against them

      Dorks who read slashdot are not "significant".

    2. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Wow, you must live in some sort of Steve Jobs alternate world. iphones do indeed have malware, so does osx and any other os out there.

    3. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by fostware · · Score: 1

      Not all those that read /. live in their mum's basement.

      My wife doesn't read /., but she's an S2 owner and routinely evangelises her Samsung compared to her 3GS. When it came time to upgrade, she didn't want to go for a 4 (4S wasn't out) and even before asking me about it (didn't want to risk a nerd rant - gee thanks!) she had spoken to quite a lot of people and played with their phones - and made her decision before talking to a slashdotter.

      --
      "We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over." - Aneurin Bevan
    4. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Odd, we're using android phones with exchange at work with no issues, they are also locking them down pretty tight before a user touches them.

    5. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2, Funny

      So, this being the case, Apple is still the only game in town for tablets, and the only sensible game in town for smartphones.

      I think Apple products are very nice, attractive and pretty well-made (with some notable exceptions). That being said, I have an important question to ask here:

      Does loving Apple products too much make you stupid? Because I'm starting to get a little bit concerned. It seems to sort of go like this: First they get a MacBook, and they really like it. And then they get an iPhone and they really, really like it. Then they start smearing themselves with feces.

      Am I wrong about this? Just scan the Anonymous Coward's comments in this article. They start right at the top and then they continue beneath any comment that criticizes Apple for this frivolous lawsuit against Samsung. Clearly it's the same person, and I'm pretty sure that wherever that AC is, he's smeared with feces.

      Possibly not his own.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    6. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by erick99 · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure it could be demonstrated that Apple ". . is still five years ahead of everyone else." Five years is a great deal of time in the technology world.

      --
      http://www.busyweather.com/
    7. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by webnut77 · · Score: 2

      Apple still has the only OS on smartphones that can be touted as 100% secure, with absolutely zero instances of malware in the wild going on.

      Perhaps they should patent this and sue any other phone makers that are malware free.

    8. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by Waccoon · · Score: 1

      What Apple has done, is polarise a significant portion of people against them. It's almost as if they modelled themselves on Microsoft...

      With regards to this Christmas season, I doubt a significant portion of people even know Samsung makes a tablet, or that the Streisand Effect will kick in. Apple is still a media icon, and people don't even bother to check out what the competition has to offer.

      Even today, just about every advertisement on the radio reminds you that they have an app "for your iPod or iPad". Hearing someone mention Android (at least) is a rare occasion. I assume non-tech magazines are in that same boat.

    9. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by Osgeld · · Score: 1

      that would be funny if it were not true

    10. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Time to wake up... this is years ahead of iOS, especially since iOS 5 is still 80% the same as iOS 1.

      http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/27/windows-phone-7-5-mango-review/

    11. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by fostware · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Microsoft has revolutionised computing in general bringing standard UIs to an industry with so many disparate hardware and software vendors, APIs, and technologies. You may dislike the interface, but it is a common standard through sheer numbers.
      Apple does it with a handful of hand-picked "partners"

      Microsoft has revolutionised collaboration internally with things such as OLE, DDE and Office, and externally with Exchange & Sharepoint.

      Both companies have bought, lied, sued, or outright lifted others ideas to get ahead, and I despise what both have become, so I'd disagree with called ignorant.

      (BTW I have admin certs with Microsoft, Apple, Red Hat, and Cisco - nevertheless I'll put the boot into any of those companies should they require it.)

      --
      "We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over." - Aneurin Bevan
    12. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 3, Funny

      Does loving Apple products too much make you stupid?

      no; but it does give a head start.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    13. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope, one cell not covered. I don't have the board handy, but it must be either "innovative" or "visionary".

    14. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe I am sharing your delusion, but I'm using native Android functionality on my HTC Inspire 4G for my home Exchange E-mail, with another account in TouchDown for a contract I'm working on (am doing this to keep both contacts separate.)

      Can someone explain why we see these anti-Android posts over and over? At least the F word, fragmentation wasn't mentioned, which is the usual club I see used against Android.

      One of these days, I might get around to writing an app in Objective C, then Java, that does some basic I/O, number crunching, and other misc stuff, then when someone slams the Dalvik VM, show that there is little performance lost to this, especially in newer versions of Android with JIT.

      While people slam Android for Exchange support and encryption (both addressed in 2.3 and newer), I can happily slam iOS in the fact that I can't blacklist callers, or the fact that I buy an Android phone, and it most likely has a root for it, if not a complete root, unlock, S/OFF, oem unlock, and a Cyanogen ROM raring to go. If I buy an iPhone 4S right now, or restore one (no SHSH blobs anymore, so it will end up at iOS 5.0.1 or nothing), there is no unlock, and there is no jailbreak. If I buy a used iPhone 4, I can jailbreak it with the semi-tethered mechanism.

      The only thing Android really lacks are the amount of top tier games compared to iOS, and the ease of using iTunes to buy stuff and store it for remote download later.

    15. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by tsa · · Score: 1

      LOL, I haven't smeared myself with feces yet but I do like my Apple stuff. Then again, I think Apple is behaving like a little kid with their lawsuits against Samsung.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    16. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by tsa · · Score: 1

      Loving anything too much makes you stupid.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    17. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by sgunhouse · · Score: 1

      Both brands are currently available at Wal-mart stores. Originally our store had iPads (1 and 2), the HP tablet, both sizes of Acer, and Vizio. With HP withdrawing, they've added Samsung instead. Which sells more? Not my department so I really couldn't say.

    18. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by perryizgr8 · · Score: 1

      While there may be merit on both sides...

      like what?? i fail to see this as anything but an underhanded act of a company that does not want to compete.

      --
      Wealth is the gift that keeps on giving.
    19. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      With regards to this Christmas season, I doubt a significant portion of people even know Samsung makes a tablet

      To provide you with some insight to how things worked in Australia. The Samsung Galaxy Tab was about the only tablet other than an iPad you could find at most Carrier stores. It was one of the few tablets you could actually buy on a plan like the iPad. The majority of the tablets sold here are sold at consumer electronic stores, many of which don't / can't actually carry Apple devices. On top of that actual Apple stores here are few and far between.

      The place where they managed to initially get the Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned is also the place where Samsung devices seem most prevalent. The general observation here is that the Galaxy S and the Galaxy S II are a close second in the smartphone market to Apple's own iPhone, and that can be likely due to the price premium the iPhone commands (~$10/month) over the Samsung. Additionally with a VERY large number of phones branded Galaxy I think you'll be hard pressed finding a person who hasn't heard of the Galaxy brand and tablet.

      My own experience is that I've put off and convinced my father not to buy a tablet this Christmas and wait for the Galaxy 10.1 or Galaxy 10.1N to come on sale here, but I'll admit I'm a fan of the Galaxy brand.

    20. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by Issarlk · · Score: 1

      I have a female coworker who does phone support and barelly know how to configure a POP mailbox in thunderbird and who knows Apples are jerks. Not only geeks talk about Apple. She owns an old iPhone, but finds Androids more convenient as they don't need iTunes to transfer files and musics.

    21. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by Issarlk · · Score: 1

      Enters Joe Average, browsing the Wallmart tablets: "Hey, look at all these iPads they have."
      To a non tech user, iPad is interchangeable for "Tablet". They'll buy Samsung or Apple or HTC or whatever as long as it has Youtube and Angrybirds.

    22. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

      Loving anything too much makes you stupid.

      Except your mother.

      Wait, not your mother specifically, but one's mother.

      (You have to be specific these days.)

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    23. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by Zaiff+Urgulbunger · · Score: 1

      To a non tech user, iPad is interchangeable for "Tablet".

      If this is true, and if Samsung were ballsy enough, they should market their tablet as the Samsung iPad.

    24. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by tsa · · Score: 1

      Your kid's mother?

      --

      -- Cheers!

    25. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by Garybaldy · · Score: 0

      This: I have had my touchpad referred to as a ipad too many times to count. if Apple is not careful. Apple may end up with an Aspirin of there own.

    26. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Samsung pAdi. That would be cool name.

    27. Re:They've created an Us and Them situation... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Huh? Android is still five years ahead of everyone else. Android still is the only OS on smartphones that can be touted as 100% secure, with absolutely zero instances of malware in the wild going on. We hear about iOS being compromised and pwned almost hourly.

      So, this being the case, Android is still the only game in town for tablets, and the only sensible game in town for smartphones. (Find actual games worth playing on iOS except for 1-2 names... good luck.)

      Oh, and Exchange support in iOS still is nonexistant, so there is no way to use these devices in a business environment due to that, and no on device encryption.

      Of course, the fact that the Objective C runtime slurps half the CPU cycles in overhead forces iOS devices to use far beefier CPUs and RAM stores than Android devices.

      Wake me up when Android actually stops being a leader in the industry with at least 3-5 years between their devices and the leading competitor.

  8. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by nightfell · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In other words "everyone who isn't like me is a fanboy".

  9. Apple knows Samsung is better... by Jackie_Chan_Fan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apple is scared to death, because they know Samsung is making a better product.

    Apple can control its sheeple users, but they have no right to control other companies or the right to block buyers from the competition.

    When will Apple be called out for doing all the horrible shit people think Microsoft does?

    1. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by erick99 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      And, Apple has lost Steve Jobs and when his legacy of ideas is used up, I don't see Apple doing well. Apple has not done well in the past with Jobs and they won't in the future. Jobs was Apple. Jobs is gone. Apple will not continue to innovate and bring out "game changer" products because they lost the guy who envisioned those products and knew how to bring them to market.

      --
      http://www.busyweather.com/
    2. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by erick99 · · Score: 1

      should have read "Apple has not done well in the past WITHOUT Jobs . . ."

      --
      http://www.busyweather.com/
    3. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by aeoo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      When will Apple be called out for doing all the horrible shit people think Microsoft does?

      I call them out all the time. But the problem is that ever since Apple adopted a Unix-y OS for its OS X, a large number of geeks have become fans and thereafter switched their brains entirely off. It's sad.

    4. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by erick99 · · Score: 1

      I have almost no idea what you are trying to say but I am sure you mean well.

      --
      http://www.busyweather.com/
    5. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by Bacon+Bits · · Score: 4, Funny

      Stop typing on an iPad touch screen and use something with a keyboard!

      --
      The road to tyranny has always been paved with claims of necessity.
    6. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by sonicmerlin · · Score: 3, Funny

      Every time an autistic freetard calls millions of users "sheeple" I want to pull their tongue out of their body and strangle them to death with it.

    7. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by Jackie_Chan_Fan · · Score: 1

      The sheeple never realize they're the sheep.

    8. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by blackraven14250 · · Score: 2

      Looks like the iOS spellcheck is pretty awesome too.

    9. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by tsa · · Score: 1

      I'm afraid you're right. I am very curious to how Apple will be doing in 5 years from now. That is what makes tech interesting: the stuff itself is fun but the policies and doings of the companies that make it are even more fun to watch.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    10. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by haploc · · Score: 1

      It's not as if HTML5 is only present on iOS. Android does both. I thought that Freedom of Choice was an ongoing general idea here at /.
      While I welcome the death of Flash, and better to have this yesterday than tomorrow, I surely don't mind to have at least the option to continue to view the sites during the transition period.

      Note: it IS possible to type on a touchscreen. At least, the few lines above were..

    11. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by jo_ham · · Score: 3, Informative

      "Firewire" (an IEE standard, like many common interfaces), "Airport" (Apple's name for it's totally standard implementation of 802.11a/b/g/n), and "no USB" (err, on what? All of Apple's devices support USB....) as "weird Apple standards"....

      I'm not really sure what you're driving at here, but the only way you could be more wrong is if you said Hydrogen was the least common element in the universe.

      Anyway, ignoring all your totally ignorant "truthiness" about that, there's plenty of customisation and choice. I take it you've never actually *used* an Apple product before, to actually test this out for yourself? You're just repeating the talking points and wishing really hard that it's true.

      If we're throwing around generalisations... have you ever met a Linux user who doesn't live in their mom's basement? I mean, all they do is troll Apple stories and crow about how everyone else are just "sheeple" because they don;t compile their own OS from scratch every weekend.

    12. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by Kartu · · Score: 1

      NeXT didn't do well with him either.
      And I'm not quite sure how losing PC market to IBM qualifies, a success?

    13. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by knarf · · Score: 1

      Every time an autistic freetard calls millions of users "sheeple" I want to pull their tongue out of their body and strangle them to death with it.

      Read your reaction again, please. Does it remind you of something? It does for me.

      That reaction sounds very much like the type of reaction you'll encounter when 'offending' some religion. And isn't that more or less what those 'autistic freetards' you talk about claim about the'sheeple'?

      I'd say your reaction is proof that the 'autistic freetard' is at least partly right in claiming that the 'sheeple' engage in more than just rational product comparison when they make their product choices.

      --
      --frank[at]unternet.org
    14. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by khipu · · Score: 1

      Is there any indication that the GP is a "freetard" (in your terminology)?

      With iPhone and iPad, Apple did what they have always done: they have ripped off other people's ideas, patented them, and then tried to sue over them. The legal system should put a stop to Apple's abuse of the patent system because it costs consumers a huge amount of money, and because it stifles innovation.

    15. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And, Apple has lost Steve Jobs and when his legacy of ideas is used up, I don't see Apple doing well.

      Dude had 300 patents according to National Inventors Hall of Fame and Museum in Alexandria maybe, just maybe, one of those might be useful to Apple going forward.

      Apple has not done well in the past with Jobs and they won't in the future.

      They did so badly under him that he had to be ousted by John Sculley to save the company.

      Jobs was Apple. Jobs is gone. Apple will not continue to innovate and bring out "game changer" products because they lost the guy who envisioned those products and knew how to bring them to market.

      What Johnathn Ive, CBE will suddenly lose his Midi-chlorians because The Master has gone?

    16. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by luther349 · · Score: 0

      oh i agree but flash was what android had over ios they do not have the apps.

    17. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by mjwx · · Score: 1

      And, Apple has lost Steve Jobs and when his legacy of ideas is used up

      How will Apple survive now they no longer have anyone to tell them which one of the competitors ideas to steal.

      Sorry, I mean which one of the competitors ideas to "innovate(TM)"

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    18. Re:Apple knows Samsung is better... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "and "no USB" (err, on what? All of Apple's devices support USB....)"

      Often via proprietary connector cables. I think he was referring to the iPod connector. Then you have the proprietary mini-HDMI or mini-DVI connectors on the laptops.

      Also Firewire was designed by Apple, it later became an IEEE standard, and good for them for doing so. It was a welcome break from a long history of proprietary interfaces, to the point where even the microphone in jacks were none standard. (The plug was longer so that Apple mics could only be used on Apple computers)

  10. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What a bunch of horseshit. It would be come immediately clear how stupid those guidelines were if Apple ang Samsung were both car designers squabbling over a car model. I mean, you don't see Bentley suing Chrysler.

    When you're pimping a Chrysler, people know it's a Chrysler. Despite the similarities, there's no way in hell anybody with half a brain would confuse a Chrysler with a Bentley. And Bentley, being classy, is aware of that and that suing Chrysler would be a very tacky and un-classy move.

    Apple could learn a few things from that little case study, but they want to be tacky and don't have enough faith in consumers to be able to distinguish the two.

    Oh, I just clicked preview and saw that you're now at +5 funny and I've been trolled. I may be too dumb to get sarcasm, but I'm still not dumb enough to confuse a Galaxy with an iPad.

  11. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Kenja · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Basically the claim is that all phones and tablets after the iPhone and ipad must look nothing like the phones and tablets that existed prior to the iPhone and iPad. Apple has retroactive inventors rights.

    Pity really, I like Apple products (other then iOS which is too restrictive for me) but they seem to have some crazy people working there these days.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
  12. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by JAlexoi · · Score: 1

    Shape that isn't rectangular and cluttered appearance :-D Brillant!!!!

  13. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Baloroth · · Score: 1

    The people at Apple aren't the crazy ones. No, the crazy people are a) the legistlators who made the laws that Samsung is (supposedly) infringing on, and b) the judges who allow the laws to stand. In the US, at least, judges can invalidate laws if they find them bad enough (not sure how bad they have to be) and I imagine they can in other countries was well.

    Apple is just using the system to get an advantage. Unfair, of course, but they don't care.

    --
    "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
  14. appeasement! by decora · · Score: 5, Funny

    this is how Hitler was allowed to invade the Sudetenland, annex Austria, and crash those planes into the Trade Towers.

    1. Re:appeasement! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whatever you're smoking... I don't want any

    2. Re:appeasement! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whatever you're smoking... I don't want any

      Whatever he's smoking... I don't think he left any!

  15. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by symbolset · · Score: 2

    Actually, yes they do. Samsung Group is a conglomerate that makes and buys and sells nearly every kind of thing imaginable.

    --
    Help stamp out iliturcy.
  16. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm waiting for Apple to produce its 'bigger' iPhone and then for all the other manufacturers to use litigation to argue that Apple has copied them. They won't happen of course but the idea is no less absurd than the current wave of Apple litigation which is an attempt at restricting trade.

  17. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by bmo · · Score: 5, Funny

    >do they make ceiling fans or something?

    They do make fans. And per ROK specifications, they come with timers.

    Because, you know, fan death is a leading killer of Koreans.

    --
    BMO

  18. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I will be filing patents tomorrow for:

    1) An electronic device who's case is made from black plastic.
    2) An electronic device who's case is made from aluminum.
    2) An electronic device in a rectangular case, with rounded corners.
    3) An electronic device with an entirely flat screen.

    Using these I will be able to sue every manufacturer of every laptop, tablet, smart phone, LCD display, and probably far more, and $$$PROFIT!!!

  19. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by gnasher719 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Shape that isn't rectangular and cluttered appearance :-D Brillant!!!!

    Stupid you. Google for "sony tablet" or for "toshiba tablet" and you will find two nice tablet designs that are rectangular and look nothing like an iPad. If Sony and Toshiba can do it, then surely Samsung can do it.

  20. Judge in an untenable position by wisebabo · · Score: 0, Troll

    As a fellow Korean American, I'm wondering what kind of position she would've been under; with her husband (assuming he's also of Korean extraction), her relatives, classmates (if she was educated in Korea), and perhaps church (if she had been going to, as is often the case, a Korean church); if she had blocked Samsung.

    Samsung is widely regarded (whether deserved or not) as a national treasure in Korea with a HUGE percentage of the ENTIRE ECONOMY (I think it's something crazy like 25%!). So I can guarantee that a decision against them would not be looked upon kindly by the average Korean.

    1. Re:Judge in an untenable position by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      I think people are taking this ruling for more than it means. If you've read through the details of the ruling, the judge essentially says that it's likely that Samsung infringes on Apple's patents, but that it's unlikely that allowing Samsung to continue to sell their products will cause any significant damage to Apple, hence that there's no need for an injunction.

      Even if an injunction were granted it wouldn't matter much. The ASUS Transformer Prime is dropping in a few weeks and it's superior in every way to Samsung's offering. It's unlikely that Samsung will see significant sales in the wake of a better product launching unless they decide to cut their prices. This lends even more credibility to the ruling in my opinion.

    2. Re:Judge in an untenable position by Rennt · · Score: 1

      If you've read through the details of the ruling, the judge essentially says that it's likely that Samsung infringes on Apple's patents, but that it's unlikely that allowing Samsung to continue to sell their products will cause any significant damage to Apple, hence that there's no need for an injunction.

      Even better then that: In sum, the Court found that Samsung was successful in raising substantial questions as to the validity of Apple’s D’087 patent and that Apple was unable to persuade the Court that it would likely succeed at trial in its efforts to uphold the validity of said patent.

    3. Re:Judge in an untenable position by QuasiSteve · · Score: 1

      Those are words with strong implications.

      You are essentially saying that the judge may have been under personal pressure to bias her findings. Which, if true, would imply that she should have recused herself from her duty in this case based on the determination that she could not act impartially.

      I would think it's wise that Apple's legal team did not make any such remarks.

    4. Re:Judge in an untenable position by icebraining · · Score: 4, Informative

      Her husband was born in Mexico and lives in the US since childhood, and she was raised in Mississippi and Oklahoma. And her mother is from North Korea, only the father is from South.

    5. Re:Judge in an untenable position by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      also in recent news, samsung khan beats woongjin stars. Stork remains the world's best protoss, Zero is a queen.

    6. Re:Judge in an untenable position by sonicmerlin · · Score: 0

      That's *exactly* what I was thinking. How fortuitous for Samsung to have acquired this judge. And how sad it would be politically incorrect for her to recuse herself on the basis of "racial discrimination".

    7. Re:Judge in an untenable position by sonicmerlin · · Score: 2

      And how exactly would she recuse herself? On the basis of being too prejudiced? Due to "racial discrimination"? Her career would be forever shot.

    8. Re:Judge in an untenable position by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yeah. And no white American judges either -- they can't be trusted considering that Apple was founded by two white Americans and is run by white Americans.

      Black, latino, middle eastern, or non-Korean Asian judges only for this case!

    9. Re:Judge in an untenable position by khipu · · Score: 1

      Come on, it's not hard to hand off a case. She could take off time for personal reasons, or she could just buy some Samsung stock.

    10. Re:Judge in an untenable position by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would hope that a wise Korean-American woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life.

  21. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Shape that isn't rectangular and cluttered appearance :-D Brillant!!!!

    Stupid you. Google for "sony tablet" or for "toshiba tablet" and you will find two nice tablet designs that are rectangular and look nothing like an iPad. If Sony and Toshiba can do it, then surely Samsung can do it.

    Actually, the iPad also doesn't look all that much like whatApple filed in its design patent paperwork either.

    But, anyway, many of the Toshiba tablets look similar to the iPad (because they iPad has a very generic design)

    http://www.reviewphones.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/toshiba-thrive-tablet-vs-ipad-21.jpg

    And here is one from Sony:

    http://www.gayakuman.com/uploads/2010/02/sony-tablet.jpg

  22. The US Justice Dept by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Should investigate Apple for monopolistic practices, then they should split the company into multiple smaller ones like they wanted to do to MS.

    Apple's OS business should be separated from its Hardware business. They should be forced to sell OSX and iOS to clone builders.

    1. Re:The US Justice Dept by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What you're saying is that OS X and iOS are vastly superior to Windows, Linux, Android, etc. and it's not fair to limit them to Apple's hardware?

    2. Re:The US Justice Dept by luther349 · · Score: 1

      no they should not be forced to sell os to clones. apple it just one of many company's abusing ip patents. there all going threw giant patents wars. we need to fix the underlying problem of letting corporations patent ideas. a patent on hardware that is being made is one matter or a os that's being sold. cloning a ipod and trying to sell it as a apple device of course that should not be allowed. making something simler and not even-using the same os or name should be just fine as its always been this is how this fucking nation survives and also why jobs are dieing because everyone is scared to make anything in the usa anymore. its like gateway using ibm because they make different desktop pcs and the case happens to be the same style of course with different names printed on them and both machine are specked different and don't even run the same os and are not even advertised as being remotely simler. any sane court would toss the case. but it seems everyone has lost there minds.

    3. Re:The US Justice Dept by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1

      Why are you so stupid? Does it hurt when you think?

    4. Re:The US Justice Dept by ninetyninebottles · · Score: 1

      no they should not be forced to sell os to clones. apple it just one of many company's abusing ip patents.

      I'm sorry, but this abuse of your copyright by only including your comments from this post in this post is intolerable. You should be forced to write half your words on a topic in one comment on Slashdot and half on comment in a French language "My Little Pony" fan site.

    5. Re:The US Justice Dept by tsa · · Score: 1

      Spelling seems to hurt him. And his spelling hurts me, too!

      --

      -- Cheers!

  23. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by alvinrod · · Score: 2

    Maybe it's just me, but those two vehicles don't look similar. From a broad point of view, they might both be trying to convey the same ideas through their design, but they're different in so many individual aspects that I think it's a poor comparison for the point you're trying to make. Then again car analogies on Slashdot have never been good, so perhaps I'm judging too harshly.

  24. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I normally would assume you are kidding, but in this case I'm not sure. This is the perfect material for a satire, and there are certain authors (for some reason Phillip Roth comes to mind) who have made careers developing exactly this kind of humor. But I think you are serious -- but I'm just not sure. What a surreal world we live in!

    What if Henry Ford had complained that other cars had four wheels, claiming that they had infringed on his patent, even though everyone knew that he didn't invent the idea of cars that have four wheels and it was all but impossible to imagine a car that didn't run on four wheels?

    Square, black surfaces! I haven't a clue as to whether you are kidding or not, but I suppose that is the your point. At least I hope it is.

    - Charlie

  25. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by bidule · · Score: 1

    A Samsung fan is just a regular person who doesn't have a deeply compelling brand loyalty.

    Same as a Steelers fan is just a regular person who doesn't have a deeply compelling sport loyalty.
    Or a Saturn fan is just a regular person who doesn't have a deeply compelling car loyalty.

    You know that "fan" comes from "fanatic", yes?

    --
    ID: the nose did not occur naturally, how would we wear glasses otherwise? (apologies to Voltaire)
  26. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by Missing.Matter · · Score: 3, Informative

    You know that "fan" comes from "fanatic", yes?

    Actually according to Wikipedia it could come from the word fancy: "Paul Dickson, in his Dickson Baseball Dictionary, cites William Henry Nugent's work that claims it comes from fancy, a 19th century term from England that referred mainly to followers of boxing." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_(person)

    I'm a steelers fan, but I certainly wouldn't get into any arguments or flamewars about them. Does that mean I'm also a Steelers fanatic?

  27. thanks bmo by decora · · Score: 1

    im glad it half-way entertained one person

    although it was over the top and completely irresponsible

    1. Re:thanks bmo by bmo · · Score: 1

      I took it as probably the way you meant it...

      Making fun of the people who would agree with it.

      --
      BMO

    2. Re:thanks bmo by yahwotqa · · Score: 1

      Don't worry - I suspect most people are smart enough to get the joke, and merely chuckled without feeling a compulsive need to reply. :)

    3. Re:thanks bmo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      k, bro

  28. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by QuasiSteve · · Score: 2

    Stupid you. Google for "sony tablet" or for "toshiba tablet" and you will find two nice tablet designs that are rectangular and look nothing like an iPad. If Sony and Toshiba can do it, then surely Samsung can do it.

    I'll give you the SONY Tablet S - that's definitely quite different. At least, from the side. From the front it's just like most other tablets.

    Which brings me to the "Toshiba Tablet". You're saying it looks "nothing like an iPad".
    http://cdn.cbsi.com.au/story_media/339308309/toshiba-tablet-10-inch_12.jpg

    Looks pretty similar to me. Yes, it's a different aspect ratio - but Apple has already demonstrated in court that aspect ratio alone is not enough of a differentiation.

    You could say it's the sensors in the top right, or the buttons in the bottom... but the Galaxy S has much the same;
    http://www.2-soft.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/iPad-vs-Galaxy-tab.jpg

    And both also have that 'silver outline' along the edge of the case that Apple has also argued to be too similar to their designs.

    If the Toshiba Honeycomb tablet is nothing like an iPad, then, imho, the Galaxy Tab is nothing like an iPad. Conversely, if the Galaxy Tab looks too much like an iPad, then so does the Toshiba Honeycomb.

    That said, that's only regarding the visual look of the device, front-facing - while Apple's cases involve far more than just the aforementioned and includes things like icons, etc.
    ( Though I find most of their arguments there weak as well, it does all stack up. )

  29. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1, Troll

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  30. Only so many ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    When I was in university, I had a CS assignment in an assembly language course. The prof. accused about 15 people in the class of plagiarism. I got 100% on the assignment, but wasn't one of the ones accused. The assignment was quite specific about expectations, and the code size was small (about 15 lines of code). The prof. openly accused one guy, and the guy asked: is there another way of writing this code and getting a correct result? The prof. stopped and thought for a minute, then said 'no', at which point he stopped. There are lots of ways of making a cell phone. Round corners isn't proprietary. Colorful icons aren't proprietary. Clicking once or twice isn't proprietary. Apple is hoping for a judicial monopoly, but developing a market doesn't mean you get an instant monopoly on that market.

    1. Re:Only so many ways by luther349 · · Score: 1

      thats the underlying problem people are panting these basic functions or ideas and tieing up the courts for years in hopes of getting easy money. and are goverment is allowing it to happon.

    2. Re:Only so many ways by sonicmerlin · · Score: 2

      Ah yes, the "it's obvious!" argument. Where were these obvious implementations before the iPad and iPhone? Why didn't anyone try something remotely similar? Why did Android convert from a Blackberry ripoff to an iOS clone 9 months after the iPhone's release?

    3. Re:Only so many ways by PitaBred · · Score: 2

      Because fashion changes. That's how things go. Apple is a fashion leader, but having a monopoly on any "style" of design is just... stupid. Or should Ferrari be the only car company that can design supercars, because they were the first?

    4. Re:Only so many ways by ninetyninebottles · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Because fashion changes. That's how things go. Apple is a fashion leader, but having a monopoly on any "style" of design is just... stupid. Or should Ferrari be the only car company that can design supercars, because they were the first?

      Design patents are like trademarks. They are designed to prevent companies from making clone products that confuse consumers, even if they don't have the exact trademark of the company. A design patent (even were it granted) on rectangular black phones would be un-enforcable by itself. That said, Samsung's conduct goes well beyond that. They cloned the basic look of the iPhone, the layout of the GUI buttons, the color, gradient, and icons on some of the buttons (trademarked icons by the way), the packaging of the iPhone. They also seem to have infringed upon some basic, everyday hardware patents, like the new style of rocker switch Apple invented for the iPhone. It is this combination of patent and trademark infringement that may well show a pattern of behavior designed to mislead and confuse consumers. Samsung could have gone for a new look, with a different GUI or different physical appearance and different packaging. If they were interested in creating a distinct brand and selling it based upon having a better product, this is what they would have done. Instead they made an iPhone clone.

    5. Re:Only so many ways by tsa · · Score: 1

      They were not the first. Bugatti was there much much earlier (1909 vs 1929).

      --

      -- Cheers!

    6. Re:Only so many ways by X.25 · · Score: 1

      Ah yes, the "it's obvious!" argument. Where were these obvious implementations before the iPad and iPhone? Why didn't anyone try something remotely similar? Why did Android convert from a Blackberry ripoff to an iOS clone 9 months after the iPhone's release?

      The obvious implementations before iPad/iPhone have been mentioned so many times (on Slashdot and every other tech site), that I find it amusing you would even say something like this.

      Hell, even on this page you will find at least 1 reference to something that predates iPhone/iPad.

      I was an Amiga fan (zealot), and I though that was the worst kind imaginable, but Apple fans are way worse.

    7. Re:Only so many ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In their time, Amiga fans were off the charts when it came to zealotry. The bouncing ball while formatting a floppy disk became the staple of what was used to pound their way of life onto the Mac and PC crowd (both operating systems were not true multitasking at the time.) We UNIX guys smirked a bit, and quietly hid the fact that mtools would happily format a floppy while we played nettrek on our Suns and SGI boxes.

      After the drooling rabidness of the Amiga fans of yore, almost nothing comes close these days, except some trolls pretending to be Apple fans.

    8. Re:Only so many ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why didn't anyone try something remotely similar? Why did Android convert from a Blackberry ripoff to an iOS clone 9 months after the iPhone's release?

      Why did iOS go on to then implement so many of the features that Android had but that iOS lacked at the time? Oh i suppose it's ok for Apple to copy Android but not the other way around.

    9. Re:Only so many ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To a casual observer from a look and feel point of view, Android just ripped from Apple. WP7 is radically different and proves that there ARE so many ways of doing things if you put some effort in to it.

  31. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by teh31337one · · Score: 1

    These were actually some of the design options Apple said Samsung had to make their products more differentiated, and not infringe on their design products. While some of them are just crazy, others aren't too bad. Here's the original article: http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/2/2596527/apple-samsung-design-patent-iphone-ipad-work-around

  32. Dumb by infinite+jester · · Score: 1

    ...I'm still not dumb enough to confuse a Galaxy with an iPad.

    Looks like you've got Samsung's lawyers beat, then: Even Samsung’s Lawyers Can’t Tell the Difference Between Its Tablet and an iPad

    --
    i thought, therefore i was...
    1. Re:Dumb by VGPowerlord · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Looks like you've got Samsung's lawyers beat, then: Even Samsungâ(TM)s Lawyers Can't Tell the Difference Between Its Tablet and an iPad

      You act like that's Samsung's problem.

      I wonder if they (or Apple's lawyers) could tell this apart from the front of the Galaxy Tab... because if not, Apple has a serious problem, because that's a Samsung Digital Photo Frame from 2006, predating the iPad by 4 years.

      Now, the back looks nothing like a Galaxy Tab, but that's not likely to be the part the court was showing when asking the question.

      Here's a tip: If you rip off someone's design, don't sue the person you ripped off for ripping off said design in a different product.

      --
      GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011
    2. Re:Dumb by exomondo · · Score: 1

      ...I'm still not dumb enough to confuse a Galaxy with an iPad.

      Looks like you've got Samsung's lawyers beat, then: Even Samsung’s Lawyers Can’t Tell the Difference Between Its Tablet and an iPad

      From the linked article:
      "Can any of Samsung's lawyers tell me which one is Samsung and which one is Apple?" Koh asked. A moment later, one of the lawyers supplied the right answer.

      I mean come on, you really can't tell the difference between the device on the left and the one on the right in the heading image of that article?

  33. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by larry+bagina · · Score: 1

    DaimlerChrylser (Jeep) sued GM over the Hummer's 7-slot front grill design.

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  34. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe it's just me, but those two vehicles don't look similar.

    Really? Not similiar? Hell, they're almost IDENTICAL! Both have windshields of clear glass trimmed with chrome.
    Both have round steering wheels. Both have the driver's seat facing forward. They even both have four round wheels in diametrically opposite corners. I could go on and on...

  35. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That's because I was in a hurry and couldn't readily find a picture of an older, boxier Bentley. Here are the obvious similarities:

    - The headlights are recessed from the Grille. Think of the center grille section as kind of a "nose" between the "eyes."
    - The fender areas are tightly "wrapped" around the wheel wells and there is a small distance between the top of the wheel and the hood. Also note that both vehicles have big, spoked rims and small street-tires, all contributing to both models' "low-slung" appearance.
    - On both vehicles, the angle of the front windshield is larger than the angle of the back windshield, and the roof itself is sloping downward toward the rear.
    - Both vehicles are black with silver trim, and are generally intended to evoke a luxury appearance. Chrysler is obviously paying homage to Bentley.
    - An obvious difference between the two pics I provided is that the Chrysler's grille extends to the bottom, and there are fog lights on its bumper. However, using this bentley pic as a reference, once again there is more similarity.
    - While we're talking about the fronts, take into consideration the logos of the Bentley and the Chrysler here. Both logos are encapsulated in an oval, adorned with wings, and located on the top center of the grille.

    I was saying earlier that Apple should appreciate that others are paying homage to them instead of trying to stop their shipments. It is apparent to anybody with half a brain which is which, especially when the GUIs are visible.

    If Apple still wanted to stop Samsung, they could have at least compared the radius of the corners rather than just saying, "rounded corners," for example.

  36. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Missing.Matter · · Score: 1

    It's just you. The chrysler 300 is widely regarded to be a bentley lookalike. There are even logo conversion kits out there people put on ther 300s.

  37. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by bidule · · Score: 1, Insightful

    You know that "fan" comes from "fanatic", yes?

    Actually according to Wikipedia it could come from the word fancy: "Paul Dickson, in his Dickson Baseball Dictionary, cites William Henry Nugent's work that claims it comes from fancy, a 19th century term from England that referred mainly to followers of boxing." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_(person)

    "According to that unsupported explanation", yes. But most dictionaries only mention "fanatic" and very few would link it to "fancy" or "fantasy". But I agree with you that fans are more restrained than fanatics. It's just that the irony of hiding fanatism behind that snide remark cracked me up.

    --
    ID: the nose did not occur naturally, how would we wear glasses otherwise? (apologies to Voltaire)
  38. Luxury by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am on the sidelines, therefore I have the luxury of conviction.

  39. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1

    Uh what tablets and phones looked and behaved like an iPhone/iPad before the two devices came out?

  40. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ok, I'll bite on the bait.

    A Samsung fan is just a regular person who doesn't have a deeply compelling brand loyalty.

    I THINK the colloquial definition of the term "fan" in this context disagrees quite strongly with, to the point of being the very antithesis of, your assertion that "Samsung fans" don't have a deeply compelling brand loyalty.

    Of course, maybe that's just me and my high-falutin' book-learnin' and word-smarts.

  41. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Those are some great suggestions. Display screens that aren't centered. Cluttered appearance. Not so thin. If Apple actually suggested those changes in any official manner it is hard for me take anything else they say seriously.

  42. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the leapfrog design is infringing
    it has rounded corners

  43. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only someone who has never seen a Bentley could possibly confuse the two. Samsung's own lawyer couldn't tell the difference.

  44. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the compaq ipaq ( note the "i" in its name ) running opie linux
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPIE_user_interface

  45. Boy was I wrong :( by wisebabo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You know, one of the great things about the Internet (and the slashdot posting system) is the relative anonymity it provides.

    I'm glad because it has limited my embarrassment for making such an ill-considered statement without doing the most cursory investigation. (If you Google "Lucy Koh", the very first listing is the Wikipedia entry with her bio.). At least I don't have to face up to my mistakes in my "real" public life.

    However, the other nice thing about the anonymity the Internet provides is that it helps keep one's ego from getting in the way of an admission of being wrong.

    So, boy I was wrong to imagine that Ms. Koh might have been unduly influenced; with her upbringing, education and qualifications, it is very unlikely that this would've happened. My apologies to all the other posters who wasted their time on this thread.

    1. Re:Boy was I wrong :( by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Kudos to you, Sir. You are a wise person indeed

  46. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by spire3661 · · Score: 1

    I see Bentleys almost every day in Newport Beach. While not exactly alike they are VERY similar and could easily be confused by non-car people.

    --
    Good-bye
  47. Obvious to whom? by reve_etrange · · Score: 1
    TFA says:

    Next, the Court considers whether Samsung’s products, in the eyes of an ordinary observer, would likely be deemed substantially the same as Apple’s iPhone.
    To this end, the Court finds that an ordinary observer would, in fact, find the Samsung Galaxy S 4G to be substantially the same as the iPhone.

    But I thought the criterion was obviousness to one skilled in the art?

    --
    .: Semper Absurda :.
    1. Re:Obvious to whom? by ninetyninebottles · · Score: 3, Informative

      Next, the Court considers whether Samsung’s products, in the eyes of an ordinary observer, would likely be deemed substantially the same as Apple’s iPhone. To this end, the Court finds that an ordinary observer would, in fact, find the Samsung Galaxy S 4G to be substantially the same as the iPhone.

      But I thought the criterion was obviousness to one skilled in the art?

      You're confusing the obviousness clause for granting utility patents with the consumer discernment criteria for design patents. To be granted a utility patent it cannot be obvious to a normal person skilled in the relevant art. To be granted a design patent you have to have a combination of appearance features distinct to your product which, if copied significantly, could confuse a normal consumer about which product was which.

    2. Re:Obvious to whom? by reve_etrange · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the clarification. It makes sense I guess (given the purpose of the "design patent").
      Too bad it doesn't make good sense. I'd say tech designs turn over almost as fast as fashion designs.

      --
      .: Semper Absurda :.
    3. Re:Obvious to whom? by ninetyninebottles · · Score: 1

      Too bad it doesn't make good sense. I'd say tech designs turn over almost as fast as fashion designs.

      This is mostly true, but not so much for companies that file and use design patents as intended. For example, the latest iPhone is the 5th revision of a product released four years ago and the design has intentionally not changed in order to promote the brand and recognition. Other similar examples might include the VW beetle, and the Coca-cola bottle. Because the point of design patents is to build recognition few companies are willing to walk away from the marketing and effort they have put into building a strong recognizable product.

      P.S. Please don't confuse my comments for an endorsement of our current, very broken patent system. I'm just explaining the intent of the laws and the reasoning behind them. They can be used appropriately and Apple may have even done so, but it is still a very messed up system in general with a great deal of room for abuse which discourages innovation.

    4. Re:Obvious to whom? by reve_etrange · · Score: 1

      P.S. Please don't confuse my comments for an endorsement of our current, very broken patent system.

      Wouldn't dream of it. I appreciate the explanations.

      --
      .: Semper Absurda :.
  48. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by ppanon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Hmm. I looked at a whole bunch of flat screen monitors and generally preferred the picture from the Samsungs, so I bought one. I looked at a whole bunch of Android phones August of last year, and wound up buying a Galaxy S because I liked the AMOLED screen and disliked Motorola's policy on requiring signed kernels on their droids. I since haven't been too thrilled with how long it's taken to get Android updates, but now that the warranty is expired, I'll probably switch to Cyanogen soon when it supports Android 4 for the Galaxy.

    So technology wise, they seem to be above average, although their update support leaves something to be desired. When I next have to buy home electronics, I'll probably take a close look at anything Samsung has to offer, keeping in mind their supposed limitations. You could call me a Samsung fan because I have bought two of their products and would consider buying more, or you could call me a careful shopper. I'm willing to give the other guy the benefit of the doubt that he just appreciates the good qualities of their products.

    --
    Laissez lire, et laissez danser; ces deux amusements ne feront jamais de mal au monde. - Voltaire
  49. Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Good, Because you know, I don't need Apple devices or Samsung devices. They're a distraction from you know, that perfectly rendered and beautiful life outside of that small screen.

  50. No kidding by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Particularly since the "design patent" they are whining about it violating is stupidly broad. More or less it is "A black rectangle with rounded corners." Oh wow. What an amazing design. I haven't seen that anywhere before except TVs, computer monitors, computer cases, picture frames, speakers, furniture, and so on.

    I think Apple is really scared right now because Android is a major threat. It has been making big inroads on their iToy market and that is where all their money has come from. I mean they have a computer market, don't get me wrong, but their were a smaller company when that was what they did. Consumer electronics are where they've risen to massive profitability. Android is threatening that and I don't think they have a "what's next" a different market to move in to that they can try and dominate.

    So instead they try and shut down competition.

  51. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm glad they don't design cars. Soon they would patent the usage of round wheels.....

  52. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by symbolset · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've got two of their LED TV's (47 and 55 inch), four PC monitors, two Blu-ray players, an Epic (Galaxy S) phone, and a home theater. They all go great together, and updates seem reasonable to me. The home theater could be a little easier to use, and using the phone as a remote for the TV could use a little work, but overall it's good stuff and has been quite reliable. Way better than that Sony nonsense - the stuff just plugs together. Recommended them to Mom, and when she got it she was like "Oh. Wow."

    About half of the HDTVs you can buy now actually have Samsung displays, as well as all the iPhones and iPads. It's getting hard to get away from their products because more and more if you don't buy the gear from them, the people who made it buy their parts from Samsung.

    Asus is totally kicking their ass on the Android tablet front with the Transformer, and now the Transformer Prime, but everything else looks like good gear so far.

    We'll see if the lifecycle holds up. I expect a TV or monitor to last ten years or more. That's why I bought LED rather than plasma or LCD. It will take a while before I know if it was a good bet. For now I'm happy, so I guess I'm a Samsung fan too.

    Quite as an aside, the prevalence of inexpensive LED displays in 1080p resolution has degraded the availability of higher-resolution displays that used to be common. It's nice that movies look nice, but sometimes we want to do wide spreadsheets or other stuff that calls for more pixels and setting up 4 monitors in a grid is really a pain.

    --
    Help stamp out iliturcy.
  53. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by kaizokuace · · Score: 1

    I still can't believe that fan shit is real. Every time I hear it, I just cant believe it.

    --
    Balderdash!
  54. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by X.25 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Stupid you. Google for "sony tablet" or for "toshiba tablet" and you will find two nice tablet designs that are rectangular and look nothing like an iPad. If Sony and Toshiba can do it, then surely Samsung can do it.

    Then why did Apple feel like they should copy the design of tablets/phones that existed before iPhone/iPad?

    They could have invented some new design too.

  55. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by pecosdave · · Score: 1

    I found their BluRay player to border on false advertising.

    Crappiest DLNA support I've ever seen, tech support that doesn't care, and yes it will support your MPEG4 encoded file from a USB port (not DLNA), but only if it has an MP4 extension, not if it has the more common M4V extension. I bought it because it said DLNA on the box. The thing was slow to respond to every button push on the remote and I even had it lock up a few times. I gave it away, bought an LG and I've been happy with it every since.

    Samsung screens over have a bad habit of having a vertical section of screen go gray, usually about 1/3. We've had to replace many of those.

    I used to be a Samsung fan, their mobile phones were great, their monitors were beautiful, but not reliable. Their CRT TV's were great, I finally quit buying their products, five years ago they were a top pick, but three years ago they start a slow downward slide in quality.

    --
    The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
  56. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by sound+vision · · Score: 0

    To me, it looks more like a Rolls-Royce Phantom. To compare:

    http://www.worldcarsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Rolls-Royce-Phantom.jpg

    http://chryforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Black-300.jpg

    The front of the car, especially. This particular comparison was immortalized in Katt Williams' "The Pimp Chronicles".

  57. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by syockit · · Score: 2

    but only if it has an MP4 extension, not if it has the more common M4V extension.

    You're joking, aren't you? M4V would only be common among those who have been using Apple's software and devices. All AVC+AAC videos I got from the internet are either in MP4 or MKV containers.

    --
    Democracy is for the people; you only vote once per season and we'll do the rest of the work for you don't have to.
  58. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Uh what tablets and phones looked and behaved like an iPhone/iPad before the two devices came out?

    The LG Prada.

  59. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    I read it as a dig at Samsung, implying that they're not a brand, or at least not in the same league as Apple.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  60. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    The first time I saw one I went "Huh? A Bentley station wagon?"

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  61. I'm a "non-Apple fan" by khipu · · Score: 2

    It really pisses me off that Apple is trying to monopolize the market for thin, rectangular tablets and phones. They didn't invent that form factor, they weren't the first to produce devices in it, and they should not have a design patent on it.

    So, I'm supporting anybody who fights Apple, including Samsung and HTC.

  62. tie up Apple in court by khipu · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The law doesn't and can't define where the line is between patentable and unpatentable designs; that is for the courts to sort out, and they are trying to sort it out.

    The reasons this is coming up now and is such a problem are twofold. First, product cycles and market opportunities are very short lived. Samsung had a few months to turn a profit on the 10.1 and Apple killed that. Now, the Transformer Prime is coming out and the lawsuit doesn't matter anymore. Second, most companies focus on making good products and don't, as a habit, go around suing each other over trivialities--it wastes everybody's time.

    The last point may also be the solution to this problem: Samsung and everybody else being sued by Apple should tie up Apple's designers and executives in court, for years. Given how marginal Apple's claims are, the court should grant wide latitude to the defense to depose and question these people. When Apple's employees spend more time in court than doing work, maybe they'll figure out that these kinds of lawsuits are not productive for anybody.

  63. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by pecosdave · · Score: 1

    It's what Handbrake rips to by default, I generally don't download from the Internet and it's a format supported by my PSP, leftover old iPhone I gave my daughter, my Android phone, every PC I have and my LG BluRay player. I wouldn't call Handbrake, the PSP, or my Android phone Apple centric products. Besides, everything else I've tested it with (granted, not everything on the list) is fine with either extension. Only the Samsung player forced me to rename the files, and Handbrake fought my efforts to rip directly to the MP4 extension, and my LG player doesn't care if it's coming over the USB or Ethernet port it's going to play it.

    Why are you criticizing the format itself, that's way beside the point. //note - I do have some cool movies from the various Blender movie projects downloaded, but I don't violate copyrights and I have the Case Logic DVD albums to prove it.

    --
    The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
  64. unintentionally appropriate spam - a+! by decora · · Score: 1

    i dont know who i should congratulate... the spambot?

    but what you have here is a spam post that is somehow, bizarrely, appropriate.

  65. "new style of rocker switch apple invented" by decora · · Score: 2

    also they invented the mouse, the GUI, the same-look-across-product-line, the idea that computers should be white, the educational computer, the floppy disk, bresenham's algorithm, microkernels, ..

    1. Re:"new style of rocker switch apple invented" by Lisias · · Score: 1

      Since I failed to understand if I'm dealing with a Apple fanboy, or a informed and ironic slashdotter, some random facts:

      Xerox invented the Mouse and GUI.

      I may be wrong, but AFAIK BBC and Acorn are the ones that first talked about this educational computers thing in early 80's. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro

      Floppy disks were in use since the 60's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk - but granted, Apple managed to kill it.

      Bresenham worked at IBM when invented the algorithm : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bresenham's_line_algorithm

      The MACH, the Apple's microkernel of choice, was developed by the Carnegie Mellon University starting in the 80’s http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mach_(kernel)

      I may be silly, but the increasing population of applefags is comparable of the microserfs related phenomena on the 90's: I remember a weird musical ad claiming Bill Gates as the "inventor of the Internet" that used to appears in Brazil on... DISCOVERY KIDS.

      (I found the spanish version on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZhA6m5CK98 - I don't know if the spanish version did such claim, but I clearly remember the portuguese version claiming Bill Gates as the guy that invented Internet!)

      --
      Lisias@Earth.SolarSystem.OrionArm.MilkyWay.Local.Virgo.Universe.org
    2. Re:"new style of rocker switch apple invented" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Irish Times technology section insists that Apple invented MIDI. In 1984.

      Indeed the history of UNIX story linked to on ./ even suggests that Steve Jobs was not the originator of the "64K is enough" statement but that he borrowed it, polished it, and improved the statement from a designer of a UNIX using machine.

    3. Re:"new style of rocker switch apple invented" by Lisias · · Score: 1

      Steve Jobs was not the originator of the "64K is enough"

      I think you mean Bill Gates.

      I failed (again) to see the joke or just made a mistake? =]

      --
      Lisias@Earth.SolarSystem.OrionArm.MilkyWay.Local.Virgo.Universe.org
  66. so their OS and hw business would sue people again by decora · · Score: 1

    like the other poster said below, the 'monopolism' in this case does not come from their size, it comes from their abuse of the court system and the patent system.

    the AT&T splitup was supposed to promote competition. it wasnt just about 'breaking up a big company'.

    if you split Apple into an 'OS' and 'hardware' busines, you arent really busting a monopoly. your action has to help competitors to have a level playing field. otherwise you aren't really 'busting' anything, nor are you helping to promote the fairness of the marketplace.

  67. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    >They do make fans. And per ROK specifications, they come with timers.

    Because, you know, fan death is a leading killer of Koreans.

    --
    BMO

    Nu-uh. Fan death isn't a leading killer, I think only a couple of dozen people died last year of fan death...

    <ducks>

  68. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm a steelers fan, but I certainly wouldn't get into any arguments or flamewars about them.

    Good plan considering they were swept by the Ravens.

  69. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  70. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Those are some great suggestions. Display screens that aren't centered. Cluttered appearance. Not so thin. If Apple actually suggested those changes in any official manner it is hard for me take anything else they say seriously.

    For years tablets were build that way, and many still are. But because Apple build their's like that, Samsung can only build their's that way?

  71. Re:Relevant: Apple gives Samsung advice on non-pat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why can Samsung (let alone others) still make phones (Android even) that don't like iPhones if there is no way to do it? http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6119/6351394329_549cd8a502_o.png?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1321492746269

  72. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by Ecuador · · Score: 1

    You wouldn't say things like that if you had lost a member of your family this way.
    I remember one time several patients had died in the terminal cancer ward of a Korean hospital over the span of a few weeks. They foolishly attributed the deaths to "cancer" (yeah, right, what are the chances), until they realized a fan timer had been malfunctioning!

    --
    Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
  73. Summary of 90% of comment here: by VJmes · · Score: 1

    Apple is the new Microsoft.

    Samsung > Apple and thus Samsung

    Ignore all the articles! and say Apple are trying to copyright a rectangle.

  74. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by mjwx · · Score: 2

    Ok, I'll bite on the bait.

    A Samsung fan is a device consisting of several oscillating blades to direct air flow made by Samsung.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  75. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by jedidiah · · Score: 1

    This is all just a lame attempt to paint anyone that doesn't want to use the products of a certain corporation as a "hater" or some other term that makes them seem irrational and easy to denigrate.

    What you likely have are Samsung USERS rather than "fans" that simply want to be free to buy what they want free from outside interference. You may also have judges that don't see any reason to hand Apple a monopoly on a silver platter.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  76. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by nobodie · · Score: 1

    My wife: we went to the ATT store (I needed a GSM SIM card for my Chinese made phone) and she spent two hours looking, comparing features and etc on the Samsung, an HTC and the iPhone 4. The Samsung won hands down. I wanted her to buy the HTC, but she wasn't impressed. The salesman was pitching the iPhone, but she wasn't impressed. She just plain loves that phone.Case closed, she is a Samsung fan boy.

    BTW, I used to teach some lessons to the managers at the Samsung screen (monitor, etc) factory in China. These folks were really top notch and the system in place was quite exceptional.

    --
    Subversion of spatial scale luxury decoration ideas.
  77. "everyone who isn't like me is a fanboy" by Lisias · · Score: 1

    ergo everybody is a fanboy!

    --
    Lisias@Earth.SolarSystem.OrionArm.MilkyWay.Local.Virgo.Universe.org
  78. We need a patent office; not a rubber stamp beareu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not a rubber stamp office.
    I looked over the article. The issue about hand held 'ness', bezel, speakers. You have to be kidding!
    I have a twenty year old HP 32S II calculator. Short of the speaker, the device is as obvious as can be by design
    1) Size. Fits the palm of an adult hand. That's about 3.5 to 4.5 inches wide. Wider is better (larger buttons and working surface).
    Button pad. Question Top, bottom, side or middle?
    OK
    Top. No. My hand is over the display.
    Left. .... very limited. Right handers (the majority of humans) will hold the device, likely, in their right. Buttons bezel, left would have to be used by the left hand. Not human intuitive choice.
    Right ... limited. See left. Now your only going after right handed people.
    But left or right. There is a drawback. Wasted space. The left or right hand defines the width. Now you are wasting it on buttons on the bezel face? No. That's not going to happen. Engineers are smarter than that (lawyers ... I'm not so sure).
    So, button are left with bottom. So, not an 'ecstatics' choice. Just a functional one. Zing! On Apple and Sharp patent gone. You just need to hold up an old calculator in court to figure that one out.

    Now onto speakers.
    Why more then one? Stereo is the only reason. OK. So I think stereo on a device under five feet is probably pointless, from a sound quality point of view (excepting ear plugs where separation is about infinite). But for selling creeds ... it's a point. So if my neighbor has stereo on his phone, I need it too. Stereo is not patentable.
    Therefore I look at my 3.5 to 4.5 wide handled 'widget' see the fingering end is the bottom. Where to but the two speakers.

    Again let's look at the possible locations. (Top, Bottom), (Left, Right), (Upper, Lower).
    OK. The idea behind stereo is to 'address' my ears. (Top, Bottom) is perpendicular to my ears. That might be considered 'ecstatics', but it would be a sales failure.
    Again, addressing my ears. Let's look at (Upper, Lower). This should be an obvious failure. Speaker on the bottom? How is that stereo? Again, some fool might sell this as 'ecstatics', but it wouldn't sell.
    So we are left with ... you guessed it, the obvious. (Left, Right). Just like ever stereo device sold on Earth.

    Now that we have the only practicable location, how about where on the (Left, Right)?
    OK. Side. Left and Right.
    So at the base, midway or the top?
    base, that would be where your hand is holding the device. So my hand is masking the speakers?
    That would be a no.
    Mid body. Thumbs are here. Besides covering the speaker with the thumb, there is the loss of utility of the thumb. So, not so bright. A reasonable engineer would say no. An 'ecstatics' professional, I would hope, would say no too.
    So we are left with the upper corners. What Apple says is a 'design' choice from the 'ecstatics', not the practical point of view.

    OK. Rounded corners. Sharp corners hurt! I'm looking at the devices before me. HP Printer (Office Jet), brother printer (inexpensive laserwriter) DVR, cisco router, monitor (the computer is on the floor), computer and Sony receiver. The two components (DVR and receiver) are meant to be in a cabinet. Only their front edges ever touched, if that. The remotes are the most common surface to touch. I haven't touched the receiver in many, many months. Printers ... every day, or few days As I pick printouts up. There smooth rounded surface never hurt my hand. I see that as an obvious selling point. Not an original idea.

    Don't get me on a jury Apple. You are going to loose. I just need that old calculator to see you are lying about these 'design' choices as being 'ecstatics' not functional.

  79. Damages by phorm · · Score: 1

    However, if it's proven that Apple's patents were invalid and their claim was frivolous, won't they be on the hook for $$big damages$$ to Samsung?

    1. Re:Damages by khipu · · Score: 1

      The threshold for damages in these kinds of lawsuits is pretty high. For patents, if it has been issued, it is presumed to be valid and you have reasonable cause to sue others for infringement. Therefore, a court would not consider it "frivolous" if you sue over that. I assume it's similar for design patents (even though the patent office does even less checking on them).

      A fix for the patent mess would be, however, to put this responsibility on the patent holder. That is, patents would not be automatically presumed valid. People affected by a patent could sue and you would have to prove in court that it is valid. Furthermore, licensees of patents found invalid should be able to recover their licensing costs plus damages. Again, that's how it should be, not how it is.

  80. what kind of sellout would by samsung anyways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Choice between top quality American product or shitty korean piss, who would even pick the samsung bullshit anyways?

  81. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You do know those LED TVs are LCDs with a LED backlight right?

  82. Re:What's a Samsung fan? by symbolset · · Score: 1

    Yeah. Then non-LED backlights are the commonest failure mode in an LCD TV or laptop monitor. You're lucky to get five years out of them.

    --
    Help stamp out iliturcy.