The court find that it violated one patent. It also decided that all of the other patents Apple cited were either not violated, or were likely to be invalid. Early days but it's pretty heavy stuff.
Yes, frankly. The iPod Mini completely controlled the mid-range MP3 player market because Apple had a high-quality product ready to roll and left everyone else dicking around trying to figure out what their own copycat microdrive players should be like. By the time Creative et al got their act together Apple had consolidated their position.
With Android phones, manufacturers seem to be more aware that they need to get into the mid-range game before Apple does. Sony's had a budget Xperia range on the market since last year. HTC's now made a version of the Wildfire that doesn't suck. And people with a £25-a-month phone contract are getting used to looking for these phones, while Apple's just getting ready to release a really inexpensive iPhone. That means there's at least a chance that they won't all get washed away when the "iPhone 4 Lite" or whatever arrives.
The same thinking applies to tablets. If Apple keeps the iPad 2 around as a "budget" $300 iPad next year, then it's all over. Nobody's going to have a decent Android tablet at that price point at that time. If Apple doesn't bring out a budget model until 2013, then there's a window of opportunity for someone to come up with a decent $300 Android tablet and get people buying it.
As opposed to Android, where the hardware is built in but there's bugger-all software that you might want to use with your USB storage. It's kind of tragic really.
Interestingly enough, iOS5 includes an option to do its backups to iCloud, which finally cuts iTunes out of the iPhone ownership equation. I think they're starting to appreciate that the software is a barrier to customers, especially nontechnical ones.
This'll sound monstrously stupid, but that's actually where Android partners could have a long-term advantage. As components get cheaper, eventually they'll be able to put out a "good enough" tablet (the current Touchpad spec, for example) for something like $150. If they can beat Apple to that market - and Apple's historically been slow to reach the mid- and low-end consumer - then they have a game on their hands. I figure they probably have a window of a year or two between when a $150 tablet is feasible and when Apple steps in with its own take on that niche.
Nothing. In fact there already is an iOS app that does this. However there's an expectation that this function be integrated into the handset, and I believe it's mandatory for domestic manufacturers to include it.
Because people love copying other people's stories but can't be bothered to read them first, that's why. The originator of the story was quite clear that this was correcting a conspicuous omission rather than adding a novel function.
They're providing support for an SMS emergency alert standard that all 3G phones in Japan are expected to have. It's built into the OS at a low level. It's not a user-facing app.
You display an astounding lack of perspective. This is a home-made gizmo that runs off a 9V battery and is only a little bulkier than a fingerless glove with a cellphone stuck to it. I think that's a legitimate advance, in much the same way that the automobile was a significant progression from the steam wagon.
The article is wrong, frankly. Design patents don't work the way it describes (they've got more in common with trademarks) and the injunction was not granted on the basis it asserts.
My main point is that they're not - as the article implies - some obscure legal instrument dug up to attack Samsung. They're part of the design landscape that Samsung's lawyers will be intimately familiar with and well-equipped to defend against.
To put that in perspective, In the last 12 months alone, Samsung's lodged over 400 applications in the same register, including batches of dozens of designs for tablets and swathes of material claiming ownership of the appearance of their peculiarly iOS-esque flavour of Android. It's standard procedure in that business.
A design patent is like a trademark, infringement is a complex matter of judgement that will be settled by the court. It's not some magical legal instrument of overwhelming power. I'm sure Samsung has its own fair share of community design patents lodged in the EC.
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They don't use those particular gestures. There is more to a patent than its title, you know.
The court find that it violated one patent. It also decided that all of the other patents Apple cited were either not violated, or were likely to be invalid. Early days but it's pretty heavy stuff.
Both, smartass.
Err, he's right I'm afraid. Clicked wrong response.
You're right, I'm afraid. I just did a back of the envelope calculation and AT&T is making about the same amount of profit per square mile as O2.
Yes, frankly. The iPod Mini completely controlled the mid-range MP3 player market because Apple had a high-quality product ready to roll and left everyone else dicking around trying to figure out what their own copycat microdrive players should be like. By the time Creative et al got their act together Apple had consolidated their position.
With Android phones, manufacturers seem to be more aware that they need to get into the mid-range game before Apple does. Sony's had a budget Xperia range on the market since last year. HTC's now made a version of the Wildfire that doesn't suck. And people with a £25-a-month phone contract are getting used to looking for these phones, while Apple's just getting ready to release a really inexpensive iPhone. That means there's at least a chance that they won't all get washed away when the "iPhone 4 Lite" or whatever arrives.
The same thinking applies to tablets. If Apple keeps the iPad 2 around as a "budget" $300 iPad next year, then it's all over. Nobody's going to have a decent Android tablet at that price point at that time. If Apple doesn't bring out a budget model until 2013, then there's a window of opportunity for someone to come up with a decent $300 Android tablet and get people buying it.
As opposed to Android, where the hardware is built in but there's bugger-all software that you might want to use with your USB storage. It's kind of tragic really.
My understanding is that the talent at Palm left when HP took over, so it's not exactly an attractive proposition.
Interestingly enough, iOS5 includes an option to do its backups to iCloud, which finally cuts iTunes out of the iPhone ownership equation. I think they're starting to appreciate that the software is a barrier to customers, especially nontechnical ones.
It works until you release version 2 of the product at twice the price in the hope that you'll start making money. Torch and pitchfork time.
This'll sound monstrously stupid, but that's actually where Android partners could have a long-term advantage. As components get cheaper, eventually they'll be able to put out a "good enough" tablet (the current Touchpad spec, for example) for something like $150. If they can beat Apple to that market - and Apple's historically been slow to reach the mid- and low-end consumer - then they have a game on their hands. I figure they probably have a window of a year or two between when a $150 tablet is feasible and when Apple steps in with its own take on that niche.
I think there was something like that in Hudson Hawk. The Bruce Willis bit, I mean, not panspermia.
I'm not sure that this feature is even in the release notes of the beta, much less marketing.
Nothing. In fact there already is an iOS app that does this. However there's an expectation that this function be integrated into the handset, and I believe it's mandatory for domestic manufacturers to include it.
It's not even an app, it's a notification with a toggle switch in Settings.
Everything you need to know.. It's based on SMS-CB, and is essentially a high-priority all-points SMS broadcast.
You're forgetting tsunami. If you detect an offshore earthquake and immediately sound the alert, people have valuable minutes to take shelter.
Because people love copying other people's stories but can't be bothered to read them first, that's why. The originator of the story was quite clear that this was correcting a conspicuous omission rather than adding a novel function.
They're providing support for an SMS emergency alert standard that all 3G phones in Japan are expected to have. It's built into the OS at a low level. It's not a user-facing app.
You display an astounding lack of perspective. This is a home-made gizmo that runs off a 9V battery and is only a little bulkier than a fingerless glove with a cellphone stuck to it. I think that's a legitimate advance, in much the same way that the automobile was a significant progression from the steam wagon.
The article is wrong, frankly. Design patents don't work the way it describes (they've got more in common with trademarks) and the injunction was not granted on the basis it asserts.
My main point is that they're not - as the article implies - some obscure legal instrument dug up to attack Samsung. They're part of the design landscape that Samsung's lawyers will be intimately familiar with and well-equipped to defend against.
Erm, no.
To put that in perspective, In the last 12 months alone, Samsung's lodged over 400 applications in the same register, including batches of dozens of designs for tablets and swathes of material claiming ownership of the appearance of their peculiarly iOS-esque flavour of Android. It's standard procedure in that business.
A design patent is like a trademark, infringement is a complex matter of judgement that will be settled by the court. It's not some magical legal instrument of overwhelming power. I'm sure Samsung has its own fair share of community design patents lodged in the EC.
In fact they hold the same sort of registration at the USPTO:
http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/10/apples-patented-the-tablet-mac/