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Google Warned Samsung Galaxy Tab Was "Too Similar"

Posted by timothy on from the word-to-the-wise dept.

tlhIngan writes "Some interesting news has come out of Apple's filings against Samsung. First, Google warned Samsung that their 'P1' (Galaxy Tab) and 'P3' (Galaxy Tab 10.1) tablets were 'too similar' to the iPad. In addition, Samsung's own Product Design Group note it was 'regrettable' that the Galaxy S 'looks similar' to the iPhone. Finally, how designers at a Samsung-sponsored evaluation noted the Galaxy S 'copied the iPhone too much' and 'innovation is needed.' Of course, Samsung has some ammunition of its own, including how Apple copied Sony's designs. In unrelated news, Judge Grewal has sanctioned Samsung for not preserving emails from automatic deletion, even after litigation has begun."

24 of 251 comments (clear)

  1. Again? by neo8750 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Again and again and again.... Cant we just move on? Its an electronic tablet its going to be similar cause well its a tablet. I'm sick of this shit anyone else?

    1. Re:Again? by CodeHxr · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I'm sure that most of us are. It seems that our only recourse, though, is to simply not buy Apple products to show them we disapprove of their actions. Good luck getting the masses to part with their iToys though.

    2. Re:Again? by _KiTA_ · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm sure that most of us are. It seems that our only recourse, though, is to simply not buy Apple products to show them we disapprove of their actions. Good luck getting the masses to part with their iToys though.

      Similarly, those of us who think Samsung are in the wrong will avoid buying "iToy" ripoffs.

    3. Re:Again? by jkrise · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I would question the IQ of any customer buying a TV or a computer or a tablet device based on how it looks from 10 feet distance; and not bothering what's inside it. I would ban design patents for ALL electronic goods based on the above principle.

      --
      If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
  2. It's a rectangle. by serviscope_minor · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There were featureless rounded corner rectangle tablets before the iPad.

    There were touchscreen driven grid of icons phone user interfaces before it iPhone.

    Apparently the slide to unlock is so obvious that Apple have to publicly apologise for claiming otherwise.

    They're similar because it's an obvious idea which had been done before.

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
    1. Re:It's a rectangle. by SilenceBE · · Score: 5, Informative

      The problem is that people aren't aware that the discussions isn't about rectangles or even round corners. It is just a cheap trick to make ridicule about a "contender" or something/somebody that we hate, just to give the impression that they are the weaker party.

      The problem is that those lawsuits aren't about rectangles or corners and that it is a bit more detailed then that and also much broader.

      Really in all honestly I can't really look at the total package of Samsung tablet offering without having the feeling that they clearly looked for inspiration to some of Apple offerings. You can debate all day long about how stupid is that companies can "patent" designs, but you really must be blind what the source of inspiration was for some things. Look at Samsung Kies for example.

      If you take some steps backs and forget about the rectangle stuff and see it in more detail and especially as whole package, the fact that Google warned Samsung that it was to similar may be not that stupid after all.

      Then again this is slashdot an this may be the same like "cursing in a church" but hey... .

    2. Re:It's a rectangle. by russotto · · Score: 3, Informative

      The problem is that those lawsuits aren't about rectangles or corners and that it is a bit more detailed then that and also much broader.

      Look at the design patent Apple is suing over. It is exactly about rectangles and corners. There's not much else to it. Electronic device, flat, rounded corners, glass front, rectangular screen area.

  3. So they look alike. It's called "form factor." by sandytaru · · Score: 5, Insightful

    My Samsung 40" television looks exactly like a 40" Sony television. My LG washing machine and dryer looks suspiciously similar to a washing machine and dryer from Kenmore. And my Starbucks coffee tureen is the spitting image of the one I have from Seattle's Best! When you are talking about devices that perform similar tasks, they are going to look alike.

    There's only so many ways to build a computer, and when you're trying to stuff as many electronics in a slender LCD screen as you can, it's probably going to look like a plastic slab.

    --
    Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
  4. Re:So they look alike. It's called "form factor." by alen · · Score: 4, Informative

    that's because seatle's best is owned by starbucks. they are a wholesale brand of starbucks

  5. Re:and everyone copied microsoft by binarylarry · · Score: 4, Funny

    Those bastards! Next thing you know, someone going to start building phones based on Linux!

    --
    Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
  6. Why are people obsessing with rounded corners? by ilsaloving · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's not just rounded corners.

    As the summary and article state plainly, Samsung made what amounts to a copy of the iPad. If you have difficulty telling the products apart after covering up the brand logos, then they are too similar. It's that simple. From there, it's not a large leap for the original manufacturer to claim the subsequent manufacturer was riding on the firsts success. Hell, didn't that exactly happen in court a few months ago? Samsung's lawyer was asked to tell the court which tablet was which, and he couldn't.

    And when that original manufacturer happens to be Apple... well... That's like pissing off someone high on bath salts and PCP, and then crying foul because they start beating the crap out of you and eating your face.

    There are SO many ways that Samsung could have differentiated their products, but they chose to make it as similar to the iPad as they thought they could get away with. Other manufacturers havn't had any difficulty doing so. There are tablets in various colours, with textured non-slip backs, varying kinds of frontal designs. There were an almost limitless number of ways Samsung could have avoided this right from there start. But they chose not to. And now they're paying the price.

    1. Re:Why are people obsessing with rounded corners? by chrb · · Score: 3, Informative

      As the summary and article state plainly, Samsung made what amounts to a copy of the iPad.

      The article and summary also point out that Apple's internal emails apparently show that they copied Sony's designs. If that is true, it will be interesting to see how Sony respond.

      Also interesting to note that Samsung have produced their own before and after graphic for the court, which disproves the Apple fan claims that "all Samsung phones look like the iPhone".

    2. Re:Why are people obsessing with rounded corners? by chrb · · Score: 3, Informative

      Samsung made what amounts to a copy of the iPad.

      The British courts disagree: Apple must run "Samsung did not copy iPad" ads.

    3. Re:Why are people obsessing with rounded corners? by ilsaloving · · Score: 4, Funny

      LOL! Reminds of when everyone jumped on the "translucent plastic" bandwagon. I recall seeing microwaves, and even irons, in blueberry iMac colours. I was amused.

      The best though, was when I was flipping through a department store catalogue (in the late 90s) and came across a wooden breadcutting board that was advertised as "Y2K compliant." To this day I regret not having cut out that item and saved it somewhere.

    4. Re:Why are people obsessing with rounded corners? by tom17 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Someone familiar with the two products could tell easily. Sure, someone unfamiliar could not.

      With the logos obscured, I doubt someone unfamiliar with the latest Corollas & Civics could tell the difference either...

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CVC2012aaa.jpg

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2011_Toyota_Corolla_--_NHTSA.jpg

      Shocking new: Similar product looks similar!

    5. Re:Why are people obsessing with rounded corners? by russotto · · Score: 3, Insightful

      As the summary and article state plainly, Samsung made what amounts to a copy of the iPad. If you have difficulty telling the products apart after covering up the brand logos, then they are too similar. It's that simple.

      Simple and wrong. LCD displays, keyboards, laptops, cardboard boxes, polo shirts, blue jeans, soda cans, bicycles, heck, even many cars look similar once you cover up the logos.

    6. Re:Why are people obsessing with rounded corners? by chrb · · Score: 5, Informative

      Apple's internal emails apparently show that they copied Sony's designs.

      Found the details. Apple’s iPhone Has Sony Style, Says Samsung (Full Trial Brief). The emails show an iPhone designer being instructed to create a "Sony-like" design, the initial CAD drawings he created even had the Sony logo on. The emails then show the existing iPhone design being abandoned for the new "Sony" design, and the Apple designer has given sworn testimony that his "Sony-style" design changed the course of the project and led to the final iPhone design.

    7. Re:Why are people obsessing with rounded corners? by fzammett · · Score: 3, Interesting

      But we DON'T cover up the brand logos. This, right here, points to the REAL problem:

      PEOPLE DON'T LIKE TO, OR INCAPABLE OF, BASIC THOUGHT.

      If you walk into a Best Buy, and you intend to buy an iPad but you walk out with a Galaxy Tab because you couldn't tell them apart, then you, sir, are a FUCKING IDIOT. If you can't turn them on and tell the difference, you deserve what you get. I mean, what happens? Do you hold them up side-by-side, can't tell them apart, so, what, just fucking randomly pick one?!? Do you not read the damned info cards below them and compare and contrast them? Do you not ask a sales person some questions? I mean, come on already, this is nuts!

      This ISN'T about two admittedly very similarly-designed products (and ok, maybe one is a flat-out copy of the other, I might be willing to stipulate to that) that people can't physically tell apart (And you know what? They're different enough physically anyway that *I* as a not-stupid person, wouldn't be fooled anyway, but I digress). This is about a world full of stupid people that can't be bothered to, you know, GET INFORMATION and make an INFORMED DECISION with it. It's either stupidity or laziness, you're choice (and probably a bit of both). Either you are incapable of basic thought or you just don't like to do it and so when you get "fooled" you get mad because, damn it, SOMEONE should have been PROTECTING YOU from your own fucked-upedness!!

      See, instead of tackling the real problem head-on we want someone to protect us from ourselves. We want the legal system to say "oh no, you can't BOTH have rounded corners because all these GRADE-A FUCKING MORONS out there won't be able to tell them apart and will wind up buying something they didn't want. No, we have to do the thinking FOR them and make sure they don't have to be bothered actually making an informed decision."

      It's utterly ridiculous. If people weren't so God-damned braindead and/or lazy as shit this wouldn't be an issue- even if you legitimately can't physically tell them apart, actually doing some research and actually using them would differentiate them for you quickly if you had half a brain in your head. I am *SO* sick of living in a society of stupid people because this is the kind of bullshit legal wrangling that results. It's inevitable and almost HAS to occur because we're not equipped as a species anymore to have it otherwise.

      It's fucking sad is what it is. Think about the basic situation we find ourselves in here: we have one company that probably did flat-out copy another getting sued by another company who is insecure and afraid to compete on the merits of their products because God forbid the exorbitant profits drop even A LITTLE...

      AND THE LEGAL SYSTEM SAYS THIS IS THE WAY IT SHOULD BE GIVEN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES!

      And it's all because people are too stupid and/or lazy to give us a choice of being otherwise.

      Our best bet at this point is that the Mayans are right and Nibiru or some shit really does collide with the Earth in December... maybe in a few million years we'll crawl out of the primordial ooze again and maybe the next time we'll get it right because we sure as shit aren't getting it right this go-round.

      --
      If a pion (n-) collides with a proton in the woods & noone is there to hear it, does lamdba decay into the source pa
  7. My Mac sucks! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't want to start a holy war here, but what is the deal with you Mac fanatics? I've been sitting here at my freelance gig in front of a Mac (a 8600/300 w/64 Megs of RAM) for about 20 minutes now while it attempts to copy a 17 Meg file from one folder on the hard drive to another folder. 20 minutes. At home, on my Pentium Pro 200 running NT 4, which by all standards should be a lot slower than this Mac, the same operation would take about 2 minutes. If that.

    In addition, during this file transfer, Netscape will not work. And everything else has ground to a halt. Even BBEdit Lite is straining to keep up as I type this.

    I won't bore you with the laundry list of other problems that I've encountered while working on various Macs, but suffice it to say there have been many, not the least of which is I've never seen a Mac that has run faster than its Wintel counterpart, despite the Macs' faster chip architecture. My 486/66 with 8 megs of ram runs faster than this 300 mhz machine at times. From a productivity standpoint, I don't get how people can claim that the Macintosh is a superior machine.

    Mac addicts, flame me if you'd like, but I'd rather hear some intelligent reasons why anyone would choose to use a Mac over other faster, cheaper, more stable systems.

  8. Re:So they look alike. It's called "form factor." by cyber-vandal · · Score: 5, Informative

    Apart from LG who announced this blatant iPhone ripoff in December 2006, a month before the first iPhone was announced.

  9. Re:Lots of good reasons not to buy Apple by Deorus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apple products are way over-priced, and Apple's "control freakery" is a constant annoyance.

    Feel free to not buy from them. Other consumers clearly disagree with you, and so does the competition, which is selling products at the same price.

    In terms of features, and performance, Apple often lags behind the competition.

    What competition? What features? What performance?

    Then there is the distastfulness of Apple's business practices. In this regard, Apple is worse than Microsoft by miles. From Apple's slave labor, to Apple's lack of environmental concerns, to Apple constant litigious scams.

    Apple is pretty open about their business practices. What exactly is it that you don't trust about them? You may dislike their business practices, but that doesn't mean they can't be trusted.

    Regarding the rest of your comment, can you provide evidence regarding that slave labor, lack of environmental concerns, and litigious scams you talk about? Do you even know what you're talking about? Are you aware that it has been shown that none of that is actually true? Please provide evidence so that I can provide counter-evidence.

  10. Re:Lots of good reasons not to buy Apple by jedidiah · · Score: 3, Informative

    Not quite.

    Samsung's alternative options cost HALF of what the Apple version does. That is, I can choose a different set of tradeoffs and spend less. It's rather similar to how I use ION nettops in the place of Mac Minis.

    A diversity of options is nice this way. I get what I want rather than the singular package deal that some monopoly wannabe wants to offer me.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  11. Not Really by zifn4b · · Score: 4, Informative

    That's the beautiful thing about capitalism and the free market.

    The peasantry is in control rather than a few Robber Barons.

    With all due respect, you are just flat wrong. Laissez-faire Capitalism puts control primarily in the hands of the people who have the wealth (AKA "capital"). I assume you are referring to the United States. In this country the "peasantry" doesn't have much of a voice because we do not have a real democracy. Some may say we have a Republic but I think it's closer to an Oligarchy at this point. Here the most wealthy 1% control 35.6% of the wealth while the top 10% control 75% of it. The Forbes Top 400 has a combined wealth of $1.37 trillion dollars. That's who is primarily in control not the "peasantry".

    --
    We'll make great pets
  12. Re:So they look alike. It's called "form factor." by tooyoung · · Score: 3, Informative

    Which doesn't really look that similar to the first generation iPhone apart from the fact that it is a rectangular touch screen phone. It doesn't have a curved metal back like the first gen-iPhone, doesn't have similar side buttons, doesn't have a similar front panel design. The side and back appearance of the two phones are night and day different. The experience when turning on and interacting with the device is not similar to the iPhone.

    Of course, you're insinuating that Apple scrambled with one month before announcement and redid their entire design to rip off the Prada, which I'm taking from you involves redoing the iPhone to be a touch screen based product. And, of course, this was a blatant copy, but LG never bothered to sue.

    Although it is an oft repeated meme on slashdot, Apple did not sue over a curved rectangular design. I know that you've read that here a number of times in highly moderated comments, but that doesn't make it the case. I also know that you've read a number of times that the iPhone was ripped off from the LG Prada, but if you look at front, back, and side profiles, plus screen shots of the GUI, it will be obvious that this wasn't the case.

    What Apple sued Samsung for was the fact that the Galaxy lineup copied the iPhone experience as a whole - the appearance of the device beyond a simple front profile, the user interactions, the general feel of screen layouts and icons. Any of these items on their own wouldn't be worth suing over. It is the combination of all of these elements together to create a user experience that is essentially identical to the iPhone that Apple is suing over.

    Of course, why wouldn't you make a comment about the iPhone copying the Prada, or Apple suing Samsung over black rounded rectangles? The first visible comment in any story mentioning these items is guaranteed a +5 mod.