Motorola Receives Backlash For Revealing a 'Shameless' Copy of the iPhone X as Its New Model (bbc.co.uk)

Smartphone brand Motorola has been criticised for revealing a "shameless" copy of the iPhone X as its new model. BBC: Many phone-makers have copied the look of the iPhone X, which has a smaller bezel around the screen and a "notch" at the top that houses a camera. However, reviewers said the new Motorola P30 was a "brazen" and "egregious" rip-off of Apple's flagship device. Lenovo, which owns the Motorola brand, has not yet responded to the criticism.

[...] Commenting on the similarity between the Motorola P30 and the iPhone X, technology blogger Marques Brownlee called it the "most shameless rip yet." News site Mashable said Motorola "even went so far as to adorn the screen with a wallpaper that's a dead ringer for Apple's default wallpaper." News and reviews site Technobuffalo said the design was an "egregious clone" that was "nearly impossible to distinguish" from the iPhone X. Tech news site The Verge pointed out that Google's image recognition algorithms described photos of the P30 as "iPhone."

Comments

Finally!

[LynnwoodRooster]

An iPhone for those who want a real OS!

Re:Finally!

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, I love you people who profess to be power cellphone users... because we all need a thousand dollar cellphone to post bullshit to Facebook...

Re:Finally!

[jellomizer]

Do you have any idea how bloated that Facebook App is?

Re:Finally!

[houstonbofh]

Did you know you can use FaceBook without the app?

Re:Finally!

[houstonbofh]

Just pick one you can root and strip out all the crap it preinstalls. Much like a Windows PC. :) At least with an Android you can still install software outside the Play Store walled garden.

Re:Finally!

[JackieBrown]

Yeah, I love you people who profess to be power cellphone users... because we all need a thousand dollar cellphone to post bullshit to Facebook...

The article said it will cost $350.

Re:Finally!

[aardvarkjoe]

The article said it will cost $350.

Then how can it be a shameless copy? They missed the iPhone's primary feature.

Re:Finally!

[DontBeAMoran]

Yes, of course! Using their bloated website!

Re:Finally!

[TheFakeTimCook]

An iPhone for those who want a real OS!

You mean a real INSECURE OS, right?

Re:Finally!

[TheFakeTimCook]

Do you have any idea how bloated that Facebook App is?

Good thing that Apple got rid of the automatic Facebook sign-ins!

Re:Finally!

[LordKronos]

An iPhone for those who want a real OS!

...and a headphone jack

Re:Finally!

[TheFakeTimCook]

Enjoy your 'real' OS. I'll enjoy my mobile OS which isn't spying on me.

Welcome back!

Re:Finally!

[TheFakeTimCook]

Just pick one you can root and strip out all the crap it preinstalls. Much like a Windows PC. :)
At least with an Android you can still install software outside the Play Store walled garden.

You shouldn't HAVE to "strip out" ANYTHING.

And you can install iOS Apps outside of the App Store ever since iOS 8.

Do try to keep up.

Re:Finally!

[MachineShedFred]

How about we just buy a phone that we don't have to go through all that bullshit on straight out of the box? Why is that a hard ask?

If the first thing you have to do to a brand new device in order to make it work properly is completely wipe it and install some third party software image, then it's broken from the factory, and a defective design.

Re:Finally!

[Anonymous Coward]

If the first thing you have to do to a brand new device in order to make it work properly is completely wipe it and install some third party software image, then it's broken from the factory, and a defective design.

True, but there exists no other kind of smartphone.

Re:Finally!

[rickb928]

They are power cellphone users.

Now place the emphasis where you think it should be, and then consider where the emphasis would be where THEY think ti should be.

I use my 'power cellphone' occasionally to reboot VMs, bounce mail services, reset passwords, and update WordPress sites. Does that make me a power user, or do I have a power cellphone I use? Nothing I mentioned as occasional tasks couldn't be handled with a whacked-up Raspberry Pi 'terminal' and any of several connectivity solutions, for $100-$200, depending on my comfort level.

Re:Finally!

[rickb928]

Try Facebook Keto for a few weeks and realize you've been lied to all these decades...

Re:Finally!

[rickb928]

If your mobile OS isn't spying on you, your apps are. It's their revenue generator, and you won't avoid it without paying some other way.

Not that paying for services and avoiding the intrusive spying wouldn't be good, but sooner or later demand for revenue growth will force them to spy again. And then offer you privacy-for-pay. And more pay. Repeat.

Re:Finally!

[Stormwatch]

Windows Phone is a stillborn piece of shit that will be forever hated for causing the untimely death of far superior MeeGo.

Re:Finally!

[TheFakeTimCook]

If your mobile OS isn't spying on you, your apps are. It's their revenue generator, and you won't avoid it without paying some other way.

Not that paying for services and avoiding the intrusive spying wouldn't be good, but sooner or later demand for revenue growth will force them to spy again. And then offer you privacy-for-pay. And more pay. Repeat.

If you're talking about Apple, their "revenue generator" is Device and App Sales.

Re:Finally!

[rickb928]

And app sales are driven by revenue, which they take a share of from the app sellers.

It's revenue all the way down.

Re:Finally!

[Plumpaquatsch]

Did you know you can use FaceBook without the app?

Do you even know how bloated the FaceBook web page is? Not to mention that it currently doesn't work right on anything but Chrome?

Re:Finally!

[TheRealQuestor]

Last I checked, Motorola wasn't selling Windows Phones.

I really like my 30 dollar Windows Phone [lumia 640 LTE]. Still going strong and I may be a minority but I prefer Windows Phone over android or ios. the app gap was/is not an issue for me because I use my phone mainly as a phone which also has a good camera AND enough apps that cover my usage needs. I'll miss it when it does eventually die. Oh I'm sure I'll be modded down in 30 seconds flat, but it's a great phone running a good os and that is good enough for me.

Re:Finally!

[Jerry]

No. I canceled my FB account five years ago and I prevent them from tracking me using my hosts file: ::1 www.facebook.com
127.0.0.1 www.facebook.com
127.0.0.1 www.basic.facebook.com
127.0.0.1 www.mtouch.facebook.com ::1 www.v6.facebook.com
127.0.0.1 www.newsroom.fb.com
127.0.0.1 vip-lb.wordpress.com
127.0.0.1 www.en-gb.facebook.com ::1 www.en-gb.facebook.com
127.0.0.1 .265.com

Those lines actually make my web browsing much faster because FB isn't loading its spyware and ads. (Yes, I know, there are about 1,400 FB domain names, but those other ad sites aren't loaded if FB can't load them. I do the same thing for Yahoo, Twitter and Google.

Re:Finally!

[lgw]

The UI and hardware quality (at the price) of Windows Phone was far above its competitors. None of that matters without apps (including, critically, apps to replace the keyboard).

Has MS made an android phone with the same hardware and UI, it would have been a contender. Sadly, easy C# on Android didn't occur to them until far too late.

Re: Finally!

[houstonbofh]

You do not need to root it to install software outside the play store...

Re:Finally!

[houstonbofh]

Do try to keep up.

With all the changes for the sake of change, it is getting damn hard! :)

Re:Finally!

[houstonbofh]

How about we just buy a phone that we don't have to go through all that bullshit on straight out of the box? Why is that a hard ask?

If the first thing you have to do to a brand new device in order to make it work properly is completely wipe it and install some third party software image, then it's broken from the factory, and a defective design.

You mean like Windows. (Google pcdecrapffier) But I do agree. Which is why I have tried to buya Linux phone. I am still trying. Bueller... Bueller...

Re:Finally!

[houstonbofh]

Really? You can click on a link in a webpage and download and install an app to an iPhone without jailbreaking? Because you can with Android.

Note: If you actually can now, I am impressed!

Re:Finally!

[Aaden42]

Is that a Ras-pi, monitor, and keyboard in your pocket, or are you just happy to be doing off the clock work on the go?

Re:Finally!

[TheFakeTimCook]

And app sales are driven by revenue, which they take a share of from the app sellers.

It's revenue all the way down.

...and of course Apple doesn't supply any services for that "share", right?

Re:Finally!

[thegarbz]

Actually Facebook is the smallest app on my phone. ... Well Facebook Lite is anyway. It's actually quite impressive in that it isn't just a portal to the website yet it has all the basic functionality you need in Facebook without the stupid fuckery like stories, marketplaces, games, and shit that no one ever uses.

Now I'm just trying to find a way to run Windows 10 IoT edition for my main desktop OS and I'll be sweet.

Re:Finally!

[thegarbz]

How about we just buy a phone that we don't have to go through all that bullshit on straight out of the box? Why is that a hard ask?

It's not a hard ask. People just seem oblivious to the fact you can hard disable the crapware and have been able to do so for several years.

Re: Finally!

[datavirtue]

I wish they would implement the Windows Phone interface on Android.

Re:Finally!

[Tough Love]

Seconded, I myself own a Motorola iphone.

Re:Finally!

[Tough Love]

Thanks, that was handy.

Re:Finally!

[strikethree]

You should not be modded down merely because you like something that is contrary to what others think.

I could see modding you down for lying... but maybe you have not had the same experience as the rest of us. My last, and only, Windows phone would do some wonky shit until it was rebooted. It was a VERY unpleasant experience. It is possible, however unlikely, that you may not have experienced those issues. *shrug*

Samsung all over again

[Tinsoldier314]

Now we get to see stupid articles about the Apple v Motorola lawsuit for the next 5 years.. uggghhh

Re:Samsung all over again

[Calydor]

Maybe SCO will sue them both.

If Motorola can do it well

[hcs_$reboot]

then the iPhone X was not so technically challenging.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[LynnwoodRooster]

The P30 is actually much more advanced and was a much bigger challenge than the iPhone X - because it actually included the technological innovation called a 3.5mm TRRS jack for your wired headphones!

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[jellomizer]

Did you finally stop complaining about how the iMac didn't have a floppy disk?

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[hcs_$reboot]

It has a jack!! This is (for me) a big ++.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[hcs_$reboot]

And we loved the 6502 so much :`(

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[Anonymous Coward]

The floppy disk was obsolete. Headphones are not obsolete, nor will they be.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[jellomizer]

Was is the keyword here.

Before the iPhone, Motorola Razor was to have phone, after the iPhone the Droid was well received as well. It actually started the Thin Electronic Craze that we have today.

Even though the Droid was a rectangle with a touch screen, it was different enough to have its own charm and style. You wern't pretending to have an iPhone if you had a Droid.

But this latest model, is making Motorola seem like a cheap ripoff phone. Like the genuine peniphonics or Sorney.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[Wycliffe]

Did you finally stop complaining about how the iMac didn't have a floppy disk?

The floppy disk was replaced by something better, faster, cheaper, more reliable and with more storage.
Computers stopped having floppy disk drives several years after people stopped using them.
Same with CD drives. People started rarely using the CD drives so companies started dropping them.
Bluetooth has been around for years but hasn't had a significant effect on the use of the 3.5 jack.
A large percentage of people still prefer the 3.5 jack. You drop a technology AFTER people stop
wanting it not to force people to stop using it.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[Luthair]

Remember how the USB floppy drive was the most popular peripheral for a long ass time?

Re: If Motorola can do it well

[hcs_$reboot]

It usually easier to improve something based on an original idea (while not everybody does it)

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

then the iPhone X was not so technically challenging.

1. It takes a LOT less effort to copy something than to create it in the first place.

2. Copying the look of something is not the same thing as copying the ABILITIES of something, as anyone who buys this disingenuous POS will soon find out when they start comparing it with the real thing...

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

Did you finally stop complaining about how the iMac didn't have a floppy disk?

No. No he didn't.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

The floppy disk was obsolete. Headphones are not obsolete, nor will they be.

If you are old enough to remember when the original iMac came out in 1998, you should also remember that the technorati bitched loud and hard about the absence of a floppy.

Headphones are not obsolete; just the wire between your head and the music.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[MightyYar]

Oh yeah, that RAZR flip phone wasn't marketed as a fashion accessory at all...

They also made real phones, like the v360. I could take a conference call walking down 1st Ave in NYC and the thing would automagically eliminate street noise - as far as I can tell, call quality on smart phones has never matched that phone model.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[MachineShedFred]

Everything is usually less challenging the second or third time, as opposed to the first.

Not saying anything about the iPhone X is that challenging to begin with - I've never used one, or care for that matter.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[MachineShedFred]

It would probably help if Bluetooth audio had a universal standard codec that didn't sound like shit. But it doesn't.

Devices and headphones usually support better codecs these days, but unless you get a device AND headphones that both support the better codec, you're stuck with the lowest common denominator, which is terrible.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[MachineShedFred]

Then they decided to make model after underwhelming model, with marketing schemes and network-exclusive tie-ins that made it impossible to get phones you actually wanted without a bunch of bullshit being attached, so nobody bought Motorola anymore. Thus, the mobile unit was sold to Google and stripped for parts, with the brand being sold to Lenovo so they could market shameless rip-off devices like this in North America under a brand that people don't hold their nose when they see.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

Did you finally stop complaining about how the iMac didn't have a floppy disk?

The floppy disk was replaced by something better, faster, cheaper, more reliable and with more storage.
Computers stopped having floppy disk drives several years after people stopped using them.
Same with CD drives. People started rarely using the CD drives so companies started dropping them.
Bluetooth has been around for years but hasn't had a significant effect on the use of the 3.5 jack.
A large percentage of people still prefer the 3.5 jack. You drop a technology AFTER people stop
wanting it not to force people to stop using it.

We'd still be setting 9600,N,8,1 for our Printers and using Parallel Ports for our Scanners if we lived in YOUR world.

Remember that Henry Ford quote about "If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said 'A faster horse' "? Same thing applies.

People want change ONLY if they feel no change.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

Motorola was a big player in the phone market long before Apple's Marketing department convinced urban youths that the iPhone is a symbol of wealth.

But THAT "Motorola" has been dead and gone about FOUR owners-ago.

Now, it's nothing but a brand-name. Period.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

But this latest model, is making Motorola seem like a cheap ripoff phone. Like the genuine peniphonics or Sorney.

But that just falls back into the trap that THIS "Motorola" has ANYTHING whatsoever to do with the venerable communications pioneer of yore.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[Fly Swatter]

Headphones are not obsolete; just the wire between your head and the music.

No they aren't, just because some company is too lazy or incompetent to incorporate it into their 'design philosophy' does not make it obsolete.

In an age where every wireless signal can be hacked, it is quite ironic that they are trying to abandon the 'wire'. Good headphones can last a decade, when the non replaceable battery starts to decline in three years you just throw them out? Stupid.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[squiggleslash]

The floppy disc was useless even in 1998. It held less than two megabytes of data, which even then was not much. The Internet was a "thing" even back then, and transferring files using a network connection was, in practice, more viable than having a stack of floppies and having to use an archiver to cut up files into pieces and copy them onto floppies.

The vast, vast, majority of audio devices have a 3.5mm jack. That includes both the ones you have, and the ones you'll ultimately connect to when you're away from home. Bluetooth is not ubiquitous, and the audio quality of Bluetooth is poor. Digital wired headphones are virtually non-existent, in part because of Apple's refusal to follow standards for a wired connector, and the Android's world's current split between uUSB and USB-C, with the Android world also not standardizing on common capabilities for USB, such as simultaneous charging plus communications.

In addition to the poor quality of Bluetooth, BT devices tend not to play nicely with one another. While I can plug my phone into my car radio to play music, and answer the phone with a bluetooth headset for actual phone calls, trying to do the same thing with both devices being bluetooth just never seems to work.

Apple did this too early. If they had:

1. Standardized on USB-C.
2. Waited for others to standardize on USB-C
3. Required pass-through capabilities on USB plugs (so making it easy to add chargers, etc)
4. Promoted USB headsets.

...then, yeah, dropping the 3.5mm jack might have made sense. But they didn't. Instead they charged ahead with a half assed, unreliable, poor quality, inferior alternative to a technology that is known, reliable, standardized, and "just works". And the technology they adopted literally does not have a single advantage, not one, to end users over the one they replaced.

You cannot seriously compare that to CDs vs floppies.

Re: If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

It usually easier to improve something based on an original idea (while not everybody does it)

While that is true; this is CERTAINLY not an "improvement" on ANYTHING.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

Headphones are not obsolete; just the wire between your head and the music.

No they aren't, just because some company is too lazy or incompetent to incorporate it into their 'design philosophy' does not make it obsolete.

In an age where every wireless signal can be hacked, it is quite ironic that they are trying to abandon the 'wire'. Good headphones can last a decade, when the non replaceable battery starts to decline in three years you just throw them out? Stupid.

Good headphones can last a decade; but their cables rarely do.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[rickb928]

Wired is Tired.

MultiMEME for your consideration.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[Stormwatch]

And you are The Fake Fake Steve Jobs.

Re: If Motorola can do it well

[hcs_$reboot]

A jack makes a big difference.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[rickb928]

"just because some company is too lazy or incompetent to incorporate it into their 'design philosophy'"

-wut? are you really that angry you're pretending it was an effort NOT to include a jack?

"In an age where every wireless signal can be hacked"

They can listen to my music. They already listen to my calls. They already know what I just asked Siri/Google Now/Alexa/Cortana. If they can get within about 100 feet (assuming Godly Bluetooth powers) they can read my lips. Your concern is already obsolete.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[rickb928]

"something better, faster, cheaper, more reliable and with more storage."

We know it as the Internet. Really, I know you thought it was something else, but Sun figured it out a while ago, and FedEx felt it immediately.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[rickb928]

You're not getting 320k streaming anyways unless you ask for it, so SBC is adequate with decent headsets. But...

aptX claims to be better, but I'm not hearing it, even with lossless source.

aptX HD? Feh. Better, just.

LDAC I heard in a Sony store. Impressive, but that was not in my car, the gym, or parking lot. When it's ubiquitous, I'll try to turn it on, but I don't see that coming.

AAC? You bought an iPhone. Go splurge on decent headphones. Apple does not manufacture any.

My own media server holds lossless (WAV and Ogg) and 320K, I choose depending on the situation. Since commercial radio seems to be 128k I need to swap out my cars radio for anything that streams, though cars are terrible audio environments and do not reward spending unless you just a thumper. I only have wired over-ear headphones right now, but I may yet spend money on my head, never know, most disappointed me.

I knew I was in for a long haul when I realized 128k MP3s sounded worse than my MiniDisc. Arg.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[rickb928]

No, I don't. I remember how modems were the most popular peripheral. USB sticks a close second.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

And you are The Fake Fake Steve Jobs.

That doesn't even make sense.

Re: If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

A jack makes a big difference.

An iPhone X has a jack.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[jellomizer]

Back in 1998 Floppy disks were the standard for transferring data back and forth. Networked computers were still rare. CD Burners were new technology and being write once made them expensive to use. Other formats were not popular. An IBM Formatted Floppy could go a long way.

USB was new then and often would mess up early OS's.

When the iMac came out with only a CD player, pure panic came from that idea.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[Anonymous Coward]

If you don't think the headphone jack is obsolete then you obviously have not tried airpods and current bluetooth. Both my car and home stereo have both bluetooth and a usb port. The latter for when I want higher fidelity.Unlike the 3.5 mm jack the usb port also charges it. Not having a cord to deal with is actually incredible liberating. Not only while you are using it, but almost even more so when you are taking out the head phones putting them away. The only downside to not having a 3mm jack is lack of some backwards compatibility. But there is the lightning port to 3.5 mm dongle which was free and included with the phone so that really isn't much of drawback. Especially if you have a charging pad so you can still charge it why you are using it if you need too. But since the battery on a iPhone X easily lasts more than 24hrs for most users, that rarely necessary anyway.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[rickb928]

Nothing about airpods nor any other usable earphone whatever can be stored within a current design phone by any manufacturer.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[samwichse]

Yup. Same.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[rickb928]

I remember when modems came in their own boxes, and you often got the wrong cable. Then of course they got all internal, but were optional for a while before they became expected.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[Wycliffe]

It would probably help if Bluetooth audio had a universal standard codec that didn't sound like shit. But it doesn't.

Another huge problem with bluetooth is that it is another device to keep charged.
Also, they cost considerably more than regular headphones for the same quality.
Also, the pairing adds a bunch of problems from failing to pair, needed to re-pair for each new device, not being able to quickly share, etc..

Bluetooth works ok for handsfree car units where you pair once, you don't have to worry about keeping it charged, etc... and some people like active joggers find it worth the hassle but for the average person who only occasionally needs headphones it is not worth the cost or headache.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[Wycliffe]

We'd still be setting 9600,N,8,1 for our Printers and using Parallel Ports for our Scanners if we lived in YOUR world.

Remember that Henry Ford quote about "If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said 'A faster horse' "? Same thing applies.

People want change ONLY if they feel no change.

Again, parallel ports were dropped AFTER people switched to usb. For several years, most computers had both usb ports and parallel ports and even serial ports.
Bluetooth has been around for a decade but people aren't switching to it because it is more expensive, more clunky, and something else to charge.
If you want people to switch to wireless headphones then create something that people actually want to switch to.

Re: If Motorola can do it well

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure it can. We will invent wireless headphones that transmit the sound to your ears by modulating the frequency and amplitude of compression waves traveling through the air.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[TheRealQuestor]

The problem with not having a hardware parallel port is some new and modern things still require them :( My pals new plasma cutter requires a hardware parallel port [cant' use a usb to parallel dongle] I've installed a couple laser cutters that still require them as well. Pain in the ass having to also order a PCI Express Dual Profile Parallel Adapter Card because most modern PCs not only do not have a parallel port but also don't have PCI ports.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[squiggleslash]

We'd still be setting 9600,N,8,1 for our Printers and using Parallel Ports for our Scanners if we lived in YOUR world.

No, if we lived in your world we'd have replaced parallel and serial ports with IrDA, rather than waiting for USB, Ethernet, and Wi-fi to come along.

You are literally arguing for change for the sake of change, without any regard to whether something is actually an improvement or not. Do you work for Twitter perhaps?

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[zlives]

yes typically they last 9.5 years only.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[lgw]

What's that? You're breaking up again. Are you on Bluetooth?

Man, I freaking hate it when people call me using a bluetooth earpiece.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[Fly Swatter]

Wired earbuds always had built in storage, when you have a wire, you can wrap it around the phone, or any other device so you don't lose them.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[rickb928]

"If they did it right there would be a way to store the airpods in your phone."

Clearly not what you meant. But even wrapping makes your phone something it is not otherwise - bulkier.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[rickb928]

Make it as thin as an iPhone and we are on the same page.

If it could be sold Apple would have.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[PopeRatzo]

Remember that Henry Ford quote about "If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said 'A faster horse' "? Same thing applies.

Actually, a faster horse sounds awesome. And Henry Ford was a Nazi, so who gives a fuck what he thinks?

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[serviscope_minor]

The floppy disk was obsolete.

No it wasn't. It was long in the tooth and seriously in need of replacement, but when Apple junked it they did do without a viable replacement. I remember the first gen circa 2000. Obsolete kind of implies something has replaced it but nothing had.

USB sticks didn't exist. CD writers were expensive, CD-Rs were expensive and unreliable (due to crappy CD-ROM drives on many computers), zip disks were somwhat popular but by n means universal and the internet was not widespread.

The only thing you could rely on everyone having was a 3.5" floppy drive. Except for hapless iMac users of course.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

We'd still be setting 9600,N,8,1 for our Printers and using Parallel Ports for our Scanners if we lived in YOUR world.

No, if we lived in your world we'd have replaced parallel and serial ports with IrDA, rather than waiting for USB, Ethernet, and Wi-fi to come along.

You are literally arguing for change for the sake of change, without any regard to whether something is actually an improvement or not. Do you work for Twitter perhaps?

You don't think USB was an improvement of RS-232 Ports for the majority of regular users?

IrDA was shit. I did build it into one product; but it was pretty much the only thing that would have worked.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

yes typically they last 9.5 years only.

Only if they just sit on the shelf.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

What's that? You're breaking up again. Are you on Bluetooth?

Man, I freaking hate it when people call me using a bluetooth earpiece.

You mean a CRAPPY Bluetooth earpiece.

Like everything else, if you pay $10 for it, expect $10 worth of performance.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

Remember that Henry Ford quote about "If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said 'A faster horse' "? Same thing applies.

Actually, a faster horse sounds awesome. And Henry Ford was a Nazi, so who gives a fuck what he thinks?

Henry Ford was CERTAINLY an Anti-Semite and a Nazi Sympathizer; but as far as an actual Nazi, sorry, no.

And he was also an industrial visionary; so...?

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[Wycliffe]

About the charging: That can be done wirelessly. Just place your headpones on the charging mat while not in use.

One of the big problems with Apple is they assume a single use case. For example, their calendar only has a single option of the time to alert someone of an all day event the following day excluding night shift people and anyone else with a slightly different schedule. Like most people, I don't have a charging mat and I rarely use headphones. When I do need them though, I need them. I have some in the car for my kids so they don't disturb each other. I have some next to my bed so I can occasionally listen to something after they go to bed. The pair next to my bed is shared with my ipad, my iphone, and my laptop depending on which one I am wanting to use. It would be a royal pain to keep 3 pair next to my bed as well as to try to keep headphones all charged for my kids on road trips. It's hard enough to keep phones charged. For all the singles in silicon valley, not sure they have much of a concept of shared devices, shared headphones, shared space, budget constraints, or all the other factors that go into buying decisions.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[shilly]

Um. You can use AirPods with multiple devices. Obviously. You can use multiple AirPods with one device. Obviously.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[PopeRatzo]

Henry Ford was CERTAINLY an Anti-Semite and a Nazi Sympathizer; but as far as an actual Nazi, sorry, no.

Here's a photo of Henry Ford being awarded the Grand Cross of the Golden Eagle by Nazi officials in 1938. He looks pretty comfortable with those guys.

And he was also an industrial visionary; so...?

Pro-tip: being a Nazi pretty much trumps everything else. You can love dogs and be good to your mother, but if you're also a Nazi...you're just a Nazi.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[thegarbz]

Good headphones can last a decade; but their cables rarely do.

They are headphones, not a lasso. You must be using them wrong. May I suggest you buy my headphones? Firstly the headphone cable is replaceable, and secondly you'll quickly realise you can't use them as a lasso when they go flying away while you mistreat your shit.

Mind you as an Apple fan you probably don't know what strain relief is since the fruity nutcases decided they didn't look good leading to http://cdn.iphonehacks.com/wp-...

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[Nico3d3]

To be fair, removing the jack simply because it was an old technology (like the floppy disk) is a lot like removing the steering wheel on a car because it has been there on every cars since the last century. You don't remove something if it is working great and the newer alternative are weaker.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

But with apple ; pay $150 and get $10 worth of performance.

Not according to only every review I've read.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

The problem with not having a hardware parallel port is some new and modern things still require them :( My pals new plasma cutter requires a hardware parallel port [cant' use a usb to parallel dongle] I've installed a couple laser cutters that still require them as well. Pain in the ass having to also order a PCI Express Dual Profile Parallel Adapter Card because most modern PCs not only do not have a parallel port but also don't have PCI ports.

Well, the plasma cutter company needs to hire a new embedded designer and stop using the same controller that someone designed in 1989. Maybe the planet will get lucky and the CPU/microcontroller that that ancient controller uses will go obsolete, and they'll be FORCED to design a new controller. MAYBE then, they can put in a USB port!!!

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

By the way if you want to plug a plasma cutter on Mac Pro, iMac Pro or Macbookpro...

...or about 95% of the pre-built computers in the world produced in the past 20 years...

Your point being?

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[LynnwoodRooster]

Five to Zero. I win.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[Waccoon]

Back in my college days, people did still want floppy disks. Floppies were so disposable you could just give them to people without worrying if they returned them. That wasn't the case with a $30 ZIP disk. Burning CDs was an expensive PITA, Internet was too slow and was usually metered, networking was a nightmare on campus and the PCs and Macs wouldn't connect to each other, and solid state didn't even exist in a practical form.

Floppy disks were among the first of the genuinely useful computer products that were forcibly obsoleted before its time was up. It's one thing to not ship a computer with a floppy drive built-in, it's something else to intentionally remove the connector to make sure you can't have one (unless you were willing to fork over a ridiculous $150 for the USB model, which didn't always work properly).

Things should be left to die on their own. When companies go out of their way to kill things, it's always bad.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[Plumpaquatsch]

If they did it right there would be a way to store the airpods in your phone. Instead of a wire you get to keep them in a case, I guess that is what charges them? So instead of a phone with a wired headset, you get to keep track of a phone, two airpods, and a case/charger for the airpods. Haha.

Well, if that is too mentally challenging for you, don't buy one. And keep your fingers nimble by constantly untangling your headphone cord.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[Plumpaquatsch]

There was a Game Boy add-on that plugged into the headphone jack on the bottom and stored (wired) earphones in it!

Making your phone useless while you use it, because it turns off the speaker.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[Plumpaquatsch]

Wired earbuds always had built in storage, when you have a wire, you can wrap it around the phone, or any other device so you don't lose them.

So how exactly do you use your phone when your headphones are wrapped around it? And how do you fix the ends? And how long does it take to untangle them?

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[lgw]

$10 wired headphone sound perfectly fine on a call.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[TheFakeTimCook]

Five to Zero. I win.

You forgot the [Nelson Voice] tag.

Re: If Motorola can do it well

[rickb928]

Not worth it to me. Ogg serves, and I would actually encode ATRAC if I could get a decent player for it

Re: If Motorola can do it well

[rickb928]

In 1998 FLAC was useless, as in did not exist. That was my first complete rip and load. A refresh in 2002, but both FLAC and Vorbis were not well supported. Today I would probably rip WSAV for compatibility and Vorbis for lightweight use, but MP3 was still ubiquitous, and phones were not good players until wyat, 2006/2007?

You use what works.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[Plumpaquatsch]

You 've already lost it.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[Plumpaquatsch]

Motorola was a big player in the phone market long before Apple's Marketing department convinced urban youths that the iPhone is a symbol of wealth.

Yeah. And then they build a couple of really crappy phones, lost marketshare, and the remainders of the once proud phone company were bought by Lenovo for pennies. THE END.

Re:If Motorola can do it well

[MachineShedFred]

There is definite fidelity difference between SBC and plugged in. When using Bluetooth in my car, the factory subwoofer may as well not be there. Plug into a USB port, and there it is.

SBC is fucking horrible.

Trademark dispute?

[jeromef]

Huawei has registered "P30" for use in the European Union (at least): https://euipo.europa.eu/eSearc....

Re:Trademark dispute?

[MachineShedFred]

Lenovo has a different name for this in China - the Lenovo Z5 - they're using the Motorola brand in North America because it's probably worth more in market awareness than "Lenovo."

They can't and didn't

[SuperKendall]

It has face unlocking - based on cameras. Cramming two cameras in the front of a phone is not very technically challenging, even less so when you consider as someone else said the device doesn't have an edge to edge screen (screen does not extend to bottom edge).

People accuse Apple all the time of valuing style over substance. But here's a phone that did not have to have a notch, it just did it because the iPhone X made everyone think notches looked cool, ignoring the functional reasons WHY the iPhone X has a notch to begin with.

Re:They can't and didn't

[JaredOfEuropa]

I really can’t get my head around the fact that manufacturers are copying the notch. It’s an ugly workaround, and as someone who develops apps every once in a while, it’s a really annoying exception to have to take into account.

If you have to have a bezel-less phone, do what one Chinese did in their flagship phone: make the front facing camera pop up out of the top of the screen. This has the added benefit that you know when the thing is watching you. Of course that means no Face ID but they could have added a fingerprint scanner on the back or whatever.

Re:They can't and didn't

[MachineShedFred]

Even better - if you go for the version that isn't a 100% shameless dupe of an iPhone because it has a different colored back, that color is a shameless dupe of the Huawei P20.

Good to see that Lenovo is doing good things with the Motorola brand.

Re:They can't and didn't

[TheFakeTimCook]

I really can’t get my head around the fact that manufacturers are copying the notch. It’s an ugly workaround, and as someone who develops apps every once in a while, it’s a really annoying exception to have to take into account.

If you have to have a bezel-less phone, do what one Chinese did in their flagship phone: make the front facing camera pop up out of the top of the screen. This has the added benefit that you know when the thing is watching you. Of course that means no Face ID but they could have added a fingerprint scanner on the back or whatever.

And just how long do you think that "popup" mechanism will last in a cheapshit Chinese phone? Not to mention the HUGE water-intrusion hole that creates, no matter how much you try to seal it up...

Re:Sharp Aquos was first, not iPhone X

[houstonbofh]

And ergonomics will converge. All cars now have a steering wheel, a horn in the middle, wipers on a stalk on the right and turn signals on the left. And Lamborghini also makes red cars, and Ferrari is not suing. If they copied IOS, I could see it, but this is just a stupid waste of time and money.

***GASP** ALL PHONES LOOK THE SAME

[plague911]

Put any phone side by side at they all look like an iphone, or a galaxy etc etc. The only surefire way to tell the difference and see whom the phone is attached to. If its attendant is a hipster whom is technologically illiterate the phone is an iphone, if its attendant is a neck-beard it is an android. Anyone else its all just shades of grey.

Another Chinese-owned firm stole someone's tech

[bjdevil66]

And makes a clear-cut knockoff.

Is anyone here really that surprised? I'm surprised they didn't call it the P10 (or PX).

Bad Thing?

[sqorbit]

Why is this bad thing? Do you like the look and feel of an iPhone but don't like iOS, now you have an option. They were obviously very deliberate in creating a phone they thought would attract iPhone fans. Maybe it's because it doesn't cost more since there's no Apple logo on it that people are upset. Every damn SUV out there looks the same now. No one complains when calls Kia shameless when they make their SUVs look like Lexus.

Re:Bad Thing?

[TheFakeTimCook]

Why is this bad thing? Do you like the look and feel of an iPhone but don't like iOS, now you have an option. They were obviously very deliberate in creating a phone they thought would attract iPhone fans. Maybe it's because it doesn't cost more since there's no Apple logo on it that people are upset.

Every damn SUV out there looks the same now. No one complains when calls Kia shameless when they make their SUVs look like Lexus.

It might attract SOME iPhone fans... Until they start using it.

Re:Bad Thing?

[lgw]

Yuppies? If your bag phone is ringing, it's the 80s calling.

The Yuppies are still around, they've just grown up and are Muppies now.

Re:Bad Thing?

[demonlapin]

I bought a Lexus because it's a Toyota Camry under the hood. Can be fixed by any decent mechanic. Nicer interior, nothing more.

Re:Folks do realize they're all made

[quenda]

Yep, all phones look the same now. Boring.
I remember when Nokia alone made 20 different phones at once, ranging from square to banana shape.
Slide-out keyboards, clamshells, circular keypads, ...

Well, the notch isn't decorative

[SlaveToTheGrind]

It's functional. So how many ways are there to efficiently implement a notched screen?

I'll leave the rounded rectangle part as an exercise for the reader.

Re:Well, the notch isn't decorative

[MachineShedFred]

I'd rather not have the notch, and go for something like the Vivo Nex or the Oppo Find X. Now only if they didn't charge so damn much for them, and only in China / Southeast Asia.

Re:Well, the notch isn't decorative

[jimbo]

Well, a large number of notched phones are out now and they all look noticeably different. Notches are wide, narrow, thick, thin, rounded, square, screens are different sizes, bezels differing, etc. etc.

If you read TFA you'd see that this is not just about rough similarity. It's every detail carefully copied, all the way from the hardware down to the wallpaper style.

"egregious clone"

[Tailhook]

The entire PC / laptop market had its origins in "clones." We used to celebrate this, even as the lawsuits flew every which way. Now we get media hit pieces and angry apple fanbois demanding explanations.

Re:"egregious clone"

[thegarbz]

The entire PC / laptop market had its origins in "clones."

Not at all even remotely on point. "Clones" were defined by their functionality. The capability of running the same software or being able to perform in the same way.

What it wasn't was a visual copy. If anything the "clones" were the ones that started driving changing styles and innovation, the exact opposite of what is happening in this case.

Looks are irrelevant

[gTsiros]

don't care one bit how it looks

i only care how it works

and considering it runs android... xD

Ugh... Let's not pay attention to any facts...

[spafbi]

I wish ignorant reporters would do a little fact checking and stop going on about Android phones blatantly copying the iPhone X notch. The Essential phone (an Android device) was released with a notch (albeit a smaller one) six months before the iPhone X, so it's not exactly an original "Apple" idea. As for the other aesthetics of the devices, there's not much variation you can do on a flat rectangular device that's mostly/all screen on one side and mostly flat on the other.

Re:Ugh... Let's not pay attention to any facts...

[jimbo]

True: Sharp, Essential and Apple came out with notched phones at the same time, that they'd probably all spent a year working on, independently. This is not about copying the idea of a notch or rough similarity; it's about the Motorola looking identical, down to the very wallpaper.

Read TFA linked.

I have a notched Essential phone right here and it looks and feels very different from the iPhone X, they all look their own way, the P30 does not.

It's like the much ridiculed rounded corners case, it's was actually about much more: the phone looking the same, the icons on the screen, the box it came in and even internal Samsung emails discussing how to do it. But in front of a judge you can't just hold up a device in each hand and and say "your honor, what do you think?", you have to laboriously discuss each detail, thus the rounded corners case.

Re:Ugh... Let's not pay attention to any facts...

[MoralCharacter]

So what if they have similar wallpapers? 'Smears of bright colors' isn't exactly a novel or brand new wallpaper design that Apple came up with. Calculated to emulate the iPhone? Sure. But it's not like it's some 'exclusive iPhone feature' - it's a damn wallpaper. It's also fairly obvious that and the notch is what's supposed to 'convince' us in the article - so if Motorola ever launches this phone in the west, it's a wallpaper change away from escaping most scrutiny it would seem.

The notch thing is also in no way an 'Apple Innovation' as you said. Hell, the style of notch Motorola used isn't even an Apple exclusive design - there were already several other phones with that specific shape of notch out there - the only difference between any of them being how wide that notch is. Your Essential is the most extreme - but it's also the only one with a notch like that. Every other notched phone looks like the iPhone X's notch, but different widths.
But more importantly, as of right now the P30 was made in China for the Chinese market. Wish Apple good luck in suing a Chinese company in China - they'll need it. (Especially seeing as they apparently hold no patents on the notch in the first place.)

Yawn...

[BoFo]

Are we back discussing whether or not rounded corners on a frikkin' phone qualifies as patent infringement? Bore me to tears, this is another tempest in a very similar teapot.

Re:SamePhone

[TheFakeTimCook]

LG Prada came out before the iPhone.

Yeah, it was SHOWN about a MONTH before. Kinda fast for Apple to be copying it, eh?

Re:SamePhone

[TheFakeTimCook]

To be fair, phones didn't start looking like the iPhone until the iPhone came out. Check out what the first Android phone looked like (the HTC Dream) that came out a bit after the release of the iPhone, then check out the second model that came out a year later (The MyTouch 3G) They dropped the keyboard *real* fast after the iPhone came out.

WHY are we STILL having this argument?

It has been proven time and again that EVERYONE copied the first iPhone.

Re:Sharp Aquos was first, not iPhone X

[jimbo]

All three notched phones (Sharp, Essential, iPhone) came out within the same year or maybe even within half a year. I think it's safe to say that since development of a new phone typically takes a year; they were all working on it at the same time, independently.

You can't "copy it" and put out an entire new phone in a few months. So I'd credit this idea to all three, rather that waffle on about who copied who, also because it really doesn't matter anyway.

Re:Major difference

[hcs_$reboot]

$999? You mean a used one?

Re:Prada

[samwichse]

Thereby proving his exact point.

Shameless?

[nospam007]

Shame died in 2016. RIP.

Aha!

[Locke2005]

Competitors are falling for Apple's ingenious trap, and building copycat phones with frickin' HOLES in the middle of the SCREEN! Wahahahaha!

OMG! A rectangle!

[in10se]

How dare they create a rectangular device with rounded corners, full screen, and front/rear facing cameras!

Copycats? Us?

[Provocateur]

We are not Samsung. In fact, our latest is called the Y-fone

Re:SamePhone

[lgw]

Apple copied everything good from Xerox Parc.

Um, really?

[Ayanami_R]

There are only so many ways to make a flat slab with a screen notch, so um.. I don't see it.

Re:SamePhone

[TheFakeTimCook]

Apple copied everything good from Xerox Parc.

No, they PAID for the privilege. Essentially, a "Licensing" deal.

And they MUCH improved upon Xerox' clumsy first attempts at a workable GUI.

Here: Get your history straight, and stop embarrassing yourself in public:

https://www.mac-history.net/co...

See the M on the back?

[Tough Love]

See the M on the back? Kind of gives the game away. Otherwise it's another of a hundred similar looking slabphones.

Does it fit in an iPhone case

[virtualXTC]

If the phone fits inside those mass produced iphone cases - THIS IS FRICKIN' BRILLIANT! When prices are close, of the major things that makes me hesitant to buy anything other than an iPhone, galaxy, or pixel is the cost of the extra's. Especially since I tend to prefer those wallet-style cases. Right now all phones are so similar in size and shape, it's a shame there isn't a common case format.

From Who?

[theshowmecanuck]

Tell them to fuck off.

If nothing else...

[sad_]

... this should show Apple-sheep how overpriced their products are.