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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."

15 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 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... .

  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. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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!

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. 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.

  12. 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