Apple Wins Europe-Wide Blockade Of Samsung Tablets; Guess Which Tablet Apple Is Scared Of Most?

from the best-advertising-ever dept

Tue, Aug 9th 2011 3:43pm — Mike Masnick

Man, is Apple ever freaked out by the Samsung Galaxy Tablet. We already pointed out that Apple succeeded in getting it banned in Australia, and now it's got an injunction blocking it in most of Europe as well. And, of course, the lawsuit in the US continues.

It's really sad that Apple simply doesn't want to compete in the marketplace. The thing is, I've used both the iPad and the Galaxy Tab, and the iPad is nicer. The Galaxy Tab is definitely the best Android tablet I've seen so far, but Apple has the ability to compete and win in the marketplace. So why is it going ballistic all over the world about the Galaxy? While it may be causing some pain for Samsung now, all it's really doing is screaming out to the world: "hey, if you want a more open tablet that we think is as good, if not better than, the iPad, check out what Samsung is working on!" In the past, Apple mostly let its own products stand on their own, and they clearly dominated in the marketplace. The fact that Apple is switching from that stance to aggressive litigation should be a warning sign for Apple's future.

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Filed Under: europe, ipad, patents, tablets
Companies: apple, samsung

96 Comments

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Richard (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 4:00pm

Bad News for European Retailers
But a bonanza for Hong Kong!
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Brad Hubbard (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 4:06pm

If you can't compete, litegate
Apple has shown that they're perfectly willing to use every questionably-legal technique to sell their products. Lie with your ads, "accidentally" misquote competitors numbers, snidely mock rival CEOs and make fun of their english in your product announcements, and now - taking out a competitor (and supplier) for a few months right when their product is gaining steam (and mindshare)?

Well, that's just Apple.

What's really upsetting is that there's no cost to Apple for this - if Samsung is later cleared of wrongdoing, the months of lost sales? The'll get no settlement for that. Knocking out a quarter of your competitors sales with bogus patent claims?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
gorehound (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 4:07pm

Apple is Big Brother or at least they want to be.And no one else is allowed to take that throne.

Bye Bye Apple..........
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Richard (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 4:08pm

Dusseldorf==East Texas
According to the comments on the Telegraph article Dusseldorf is the East Texas of Europe.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Grimmbob (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 4:13pm

Really?
Have you guys not read about the legal wrangling between Apple and Samsung, where Apple is concerned at Samsung abusing their early looks at Apple products? Do you seriously think that if Apple were in the wrong, AUSTRALIA and ALL of EUROPE would be siding with them legally?

Sounds like y'all got a case of sour grapes. Apple isn't saying they're afraid of the Galaxy, they're saying Samsung violated Apples patents to make a competing product. So far the courts agree.

Everyone loves to hate a winner.
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Martin Turner, 9 Aug 2011 @ 4:13pm

Not really
I've read this view online a number of times now: Apple's assertion of its patents against Samsung is a gesture of weakness. There are two reasons why I don't believe it's true. First, very few consumers are actually aware of the patent war, so it isn't screaming anything to them at all. Second, as any holder of patents knows, if patents are not defended then they are effectively valueless.

Apple took an enormous risk in bringing the iPad to market, investing large R&D costs. Samsung is not innovating by bringing the Galaxy Tab to market, it is copying � essentially attempting to clean up based on risks taken by Apple.

The true innovator here was clearly Apple, and the purpose of patents is to give innovators a limited period of protection from copyists. This gives them an opportunity to recoup their R&D costs, and also to cover them for all of the other innovations which failed to return a profit (the Cube, the Newton, and so on).

This is a very different situation from patents which Apple and Microsoft have allegedly bought from Novell and may (or may not) assert against Android.
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Nicedoggy, 9 Aug 2011 @ 4:15pm

Re: Really?
Patent on look and feel is just idiotic.
Is like patenting clothes.

More Samsung is the one who build the iPad in the first place and they do have better video quality than the iPad, what they don't have yet is a better OS.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jan Bilek (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 4:17pm

there's no cost to Apple for this?
Well... we - users - could create that cost. Boycott of Apple products would work... if only enough people cared. But my guess is that most of the people just don't care. Although I would love to be proven wrong.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Aug 2011 @ 4:20pm

Re: Really?
Do you seriously think that if Apple were in the wrong, AUSTRALIA and ALL of EUROPE would be siding with them legally?

Yes.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 9 Aug 2011 @ 4:23pm

So does anyone see a new black market of "banned" Android tablets becoming like prohibition in the US?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Chosen Reject (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 4:26pm

Re: Not really
Second, as any holder of patents knows, if patents are not defended then they are effectively valueless.
You are getting trademarks and patents mixed up. In fact, submarine patent holders used this very method, waiting until their patents are in use everywhere, and then suing everyone they possible can.
Apple took an enormous risk in bringing the iPad to market, investing large R&D costs. Samsung is not innovating by bringing the Galaxy Tab to market, it is copying � essentially attempting to clean up based on risks taken by Apple.
So does any business whether or not they have a patent. Risks are part and parcel of business. What you are saying is that all startups should have a monopoly in their market because they took a risk. I don't see why having invented something new should grant you that monopoly anymore than coming up with something new that isn't patentable. Why should we allow Settlers of Cataan to be copied, but not the iPad? Why should we allow AirBnB to be copied, but not the iPad?

And to make matters even worse, we're not even talking about patents. If you read the linked article, you'll find that this is really about community designs. So Apple is blocking the Galaxy Tab merely because they think it looks similar to an iPad. This is rich considering Apple sued Microsoft and lost in a very similar case.
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Adrian Lopez, 9 Aug 2011 @ 4:30pm

Apple owns rounded corners?
How exactly does Samsung's tablet infringe on Apple's designs? Is it the rounded corners? The rectangular screen? The arrangement of icons into a rectangular grid? The ability to move things using your fingers? The color black?

There's hardly anything original about any of that, and even if it were it's not the sort of thing any company should ever own. This only serves to highlight how ridiculous IP law has become around the world.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Aug 2011 @ 4:31pm

Re: Really?
All of Europe eh?

Based on what I've read here:

http://www.osnews.com/story/25048/Apple_Blocks_Sales_of_Samsung_Galaxy_Tab_10_1_in_EU

It sounds like a local German court is attempting to speak on behalf of "All of Europe" even though they don't very likely have jurisdiction to do so.

I guess we'll see.

As for your assertion that an entire country might side with Apple over Patent abuse and other such ilk? Sure! Apple isn't exactly a small corporation these days - they probably have a *lot* of sway.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Aug 2011 @ 4:44pm

I always was an Apple fan. Their products were good, stable, reliable and performant (wtf I right-clicked and added to dictionary.. damn United-Statsians English).

Now......... it's a completely different story. My brand new (3 months old) Macbook Pro has been repaired twice already. It still shows signs of problems. In those 3 months, I was a full month without it. Then the iPad 2... more hype than anything; a complete mockery of tablets. The thing plain sucks. Tons of problems, and Apple are not addressing any of them.

Now go on the Apple forums, and see how many 50+ page threads have been opened in the last year; then look how many were officially addressed by Apple. None. Whatsoever. Nada. Niet. Nothing.

Their products are CLEARLY going downhill (yeah yeah, so-called production problems etc) and they're sucking majorly in the support department. What does that leave them?

- Shitty overpriced product
- Shitty and almost non-existent online support
- Bad in-store support (we don't know so we'll ship it and call you eventually to pick it back up)
- Competitors getting better

So.. in conclusion... I would be scared too if my products/company that used to be synonymous with "great" were now attributed to "fail" more often then not.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Aug 2011 @ 4:46pm

Re: there's no cost to Apple for this?
I'm in. 2500$ to be an entire month without my work laptop? Unacceptable. I'm likely never to buy an Apple product again... now where's that Lion torrent... heh.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Aug 2011 @ 5:10pm

Re: Re: Really?
Apple had a higher market cap than Exxon today, making it the largest public company... if only for a minute. Hows that for sway. Oh, and like Mike was saying last week, Apple has more cash than the USG and this is both meaningful and important.
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NamelessOne, 9 Aug 2011 @ 5:11pm

Samsung - coming to ontario canada
16000 jobs to make solar arrays and maybe other "stuff"

IF apple don't like it put 17000 jobs in Ontario see how it works mister corporation?
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droslovinia (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 5:12pm

Good news
I'm just glad to hear that Samsung is totally renouncing all patents and trademakrs and is not going to support the copyright system in any way. What a great bunch of people!

Yes, given as how they are so completely innocent of ever, ever asserting rights to any sort of intellectual property, all their patents have been released to public domain, and they've renounced and paid back every court judgment that was ever found in their favor, those people at Samsung are true angels. How dare those evil parasites at Apple pick on such morally upright and kind-hearted people!

You just wait! The next thing we know, someone's going to find out that fewer than 100% of their products are perfect - again, evidently, unlike Samsung - and THEN where will we be? Someone needs to stop them now before it's too late. If we get much more of this, they might win out on a bid for patents over companies like Google, who will then suddenly discover that they don't like patents and copyrights as much as they used to (when they were bidding on them).
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blaktron (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 5:17pm

Can of worms
Apple is opening a can of worms that I don't think it will ever extricate from. They make MacOS, which is based on LOTS of code from other people, most of which is patented by Microsoft. MS doesn't really do the patent trolling thing, but as the Operating System patent wars start, guess who will end up the winner? Hint, its not Apple, Google, HP or RIM.
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out_of_the_blue, 9 Aug 2011 @ 5:31pm

Darn it, I can't boycott Apple any more than I've been doing.
But I used to have some SLIGHT respect for them as hardware manufacturers. Apple like all US manufacturing is now hollowed out and relies totally on Asians, mostly Chinese, and continues to run only on reputation. Their gadgets, like their computers, appeal to a certain segment yet can never be taken seriously. (No, I don't care how "successful" they are with phones and Ipads; only means that their gadgets are appealing, which I never deny; they simply lack utility and deliberately undercut that with hardware lock-in and lack of interoperability, though less so of late.)

ANYWAY, fact is that similar gadgets can be made by almost anyone, so that when Asians compete on price (if ever do, as I'm sure that they like Apple setting the entry point high), then Apple's gadgetry game can quickly drop back down to their 90's barely getting by until Microsoft rescued them level.

Apple makes nothing /essential/; the business world wouldn't miss them except for ridiculously overpriced stock to speculate on.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Aug 2011 @ 5:32pm

All EU?
it's just a german local court, it doesn't have jurisdiction for all the EU...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
colony (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 6:09pm

they're just admitting
what is true (imo) the galaxy is FAR better than an ipad because it is open to so much owner tweaking that apple stop. want to use your ipad for mobile hacking, tough. with the galaxy it's a google away. lap up open sauce and learn to compete.
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Nicedoggy, 9 Aug 2011 @ 6:09pm

WTF?!
http://oami.europa.eu/bulletin/rcd/2009/2009_091/000672332_0009/images/000672332_0009_4_source.jpg

A rectangle is covered by Community Design?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
zzzzz, 9 Aug 2011 @ 6:20pm

Apple Wins Europe-Wide Blockade Of Samsung Tablets; Guess Which Tablet Apple Is Scared Of Most?
You are so full of crap. You are a Google-ite. Samsung is blatantly violating Apple's patented technology and trying to pull a Google by ignoring other companies patents for their own profit.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
zzzzz, 9 Aug 2011 @ 6:21pm

Apple Wins Europe-Wide Blockade Of Samsung Tablets; Guess Which Tablet Apple Is Scared Of Most?
You are so full of crap. You are a Google-ite. Samsung is blatantly violating Apple's patented technology and trying to pull a Google by ignoring other companies patents for their own profit.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
zzzzz, 9 Aug 2011 @ 6:21pm

Apple Wins Europe-Wide Blockade Of Samsung Tablets; Guess Which Tablet Apple Is Scared Of Most?
You are so full of crap. You are a Google-ite. Samsung is blatantly violating Apple's patented technology and trying to pull a Google by ignoring other companies patents for their own profit.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Some Guy, 9 Aug 2011 @ 6:25pm

Respect the Rectangle
That rectangle took billions in R&D to develop. If companies can't see a return on their investment in geometric shapes then what incentive is there to develop any shape? Without ridiculous patents you can kiss your circles and squares goodbye!
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blaktron (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 7:16pm

Re: Apple Wins Europe-Wide Blockade Of Samsung Tablets; Guess Which Tablet Apple Is Scared Of Most?
What in an iPad did Apple invent? The tablet? Sorry, Toshiba and MS did that 10 years ago. The Smart phone? Palm and MS 9 years ago. The mobile operating system based on icons and applications? Sorry, Palm and MS there too, 12 years ago. Capacitive touch screen? Again, HTC and Motorola did it first (WinMo6 Pro phones). MP3 player in a phone? Sony and Motorola. I could keep going. Basically, the iPhone/iPad platform are a culmination of the technology of the players in the market that actually mattered when they were invented. Apple was still struggling with NeXt at the time... So I ask, what, exactly, did Apple 'invent' that Samsung stole. Different CPU/GPU, different OS, different UI, different EVERYTHING. The only similarities existed before the first iPod shipped.
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Rekrul, 9 Aug 2011 @ 7:29pm

Re: Not really
But yet it was perfectly fine when Apple copied Xerox's GUI interface and used it for the Mac...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 9 Aug 2011 @ 7:36pm

Re: So does anyone see a new black market of "banned" Android tablets becoming like prohibition in the US?
Precisely.
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Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 9 Aug 2011 @ 7:37pm

Re: Can of worms
Have you noticed, Apple and Microsoft are putting the heavy on everyone else, but not each other?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
blaktron (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 7:39pm

Re: Re: Can of worms
Because thats the nuclear option, because of the Desktop OS market... but dont forget, for every 'scroll bar' patent that apple owns, MS owns a 'TCP/IP'...

Regardless, they both own so many its crazy, but if you boil it down, they arent non-obvious to anyone who understands... they just patented them when only a dozen people understood.
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Grimmbob (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 7:39pm

Re: Re: Re: Really?
Apple never had more cash than the US government. That was an inaccurate statement based on a poor understanding of the facts. It's an illustration of the difference between a blogger and a journalist that blogs.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Aug 2011 @ 7:42pm

Re: Apple Wins Europe-Wide Blockade Of Samsung Tablets; Guess Which Tablet Apple Is Scared Of Most?
You are so full of crap. You are a HITLER. Samsung is blatantly TRYING TO KILL SIX MILLION JEWS DURING THE HOLOCAUST because Apple is JESUS and Google is SATAN.

MIKE WHY DO YOU HATE FREEDUMB???????
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Adrian Lopez, 9 Aug 2011 @ 7:43pm

Re: Respect the Rectangle
Right on! Samsung should be ashamed of itself! They could easily have made the Galaxy a square tablet, given it sharp instead of rounded edges, made it purple instead of black and used an icon pyramid instead of a grid, but nooooo... they had to go and copy Apple's white rounded rectangle! Damn copycats!
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Prashanth (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 7:49pm

Re: Can of worms
"MS doesn't really do the patent trolling thing"
Hahahahahahaha. Take a look at Microsoft extracting money from Samsung and other companies over Android for unspecified patents. How ridiculous is that?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
blaktron (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 8:07pm

Re: Re: Can of worms
Yeah, they are getting into it which is sad too, but on a scale of the attack they could make on anyone moving information over a network or building an operating system, its hardly anything.
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Just John (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 8:09pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Really?
I believe it was a joke in reference to an earlier story Mike wrote about people claiming that Apple had more money then the US government.

Guess you missed that story.
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whatItSaid (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 8:23pm

Re:
I agree with it.

I crossed over on a fluke. OSX was UNIX with an UI that was polished, useful and intuitive. It's been downhill since 10.4.11 where +features == -polish. It's about as tight as.. well, imagine something loose.

Then the lock down began.

Apple... is now Ass.

That's my opinion and I don't give a fuck.
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G Thompson (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 8:39pm

Re: Really?
Do you seriously think that if Apple were in the wrong, AUSTRALIA and ALL of EUROPE would be siding with them legally?

Who said they are siding with them Legally???
All Apple Inc has obtained is a temporary injuction until such time as a court hears the full case.

And with the prior art problems that are now appearing with regards to the actual patents and the iPad itself it is absolutely not guaranteed that Apple will win at all. Even if they do win some or all of what they are asking, they have alreeady lost with other manufactures (acer etc) and even samsung innovating and designing better tablets that are not a part of this injunction.

As for your statement that Apple is Not afraid, ask yourself, if they were not afraid, why would they be so insistent to the court that this is damaging their profitability, market share, etc etc. That is the business definition of Afraid.
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whatItSaid (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 8:40pm

Re: Re:
Did I mention I traded my iPad for a new suspension? All it took was a forced upgrade to 10.5 and "plug me into itunes or I do nothing".. Fuck you.

Pads are a pathetic excuse for innovation to begin with much less fucking suing because it's almost but not quite as entirely pathetic as mine.

I do like my suspension though, very much.
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G Thompson (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 8:43pm

Re: Re: Not really
But But.. Think of the Jobs

*pun intended*
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G Thompson (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 8:48pm

Re: Apple Wins Europe-Wide Blockade Of Samsung Tablets; Guess Which Tablet Apple Is Scared Of Most?
Oh look you said the same thing three times...

TAG your a troll wannabee!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Just John (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 9:02pm

Re: Not really
Love how you refer to Apple as a "true" innovator.

Guess you missed all the others that were doing things before them.

MP3 players?
Was already being done. Just because they brought the best quality does not mean they are first.

Smart phones?
Guess you missed RIM in all the years before the iPhone came to market.

Touch input devices?
Do you really want me to point out all the other examples that came before Apple went into this industry?

Tablets?
You realise that tablets have been around much longer then iPad, right? I seem to remember Microsoft doing it way before Apple. Just because MS could not create the same quality experience on it again does not mean that Apple was first.

We can even go back to the first computers.
While Apple was probably the leader in bringing it to the masses and starting the whole PC revolution, you realise they purchased the idea from IBM who believed that PCs would never go anywhere.

While there is a common theme here, that Apple did execute the concepts in a way that brought a superior user experience, in no instance can you say they created something unique or even new. They merely took poorly implemented concepts and sold them based on good design.

Please do not mistake quality and enhanced experience for brand new "innovations". Their strategy is more based on quality then anything else.
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N3rrad (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 9:12pm

SJITD
Steve Jobs is the Devil. And hell is full of sheep.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
N3rrad (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 9:14pm

Re:
100% Amen
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The Groove Tiger (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 9:22pm

Re: Really?
Wow, what a stinky fanboy.

Apple are in the right? That's rich. Because they patented rounded corners and menus in a grid.

They'll probably go after Adobe now, since Photoshop also allows drawing squares with rounded corners.
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Hephaestus (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 9:33pm

Re: If you can't compete, litegate
Apple knows full well what closed systems lead to, the failure of apple. This has happened in the past, and is beginning to happen again with the galaxy tablet. The IBM PC wiped the floor with the apple machines because it reduced profit margins to about 7%. Apple can not work with such low profit margins. The market of open bus PC systems flourished and almost wiped out apple. Now history is repeating itself.
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Nicedoggy, 9 Aug 2011 @ 10:15pm

Re: Not really
Does the iPad has a super-AMOLED in it? nope
Did apple developed any of the hardware systems? nope

What R&D?

For design?

Who the frak spend billions in design research that doesn't target improving the hardware but just the appearance of something?

LG Prada means something to you?

Quote:
LG Electronics has claimed the iPhone's design was copied from the LG Prada. Woo-Young Kwak, head of LG Mobile Handset R&D Center, said at a press conference, �We consider that Apple copied the Prada phone after the design was unveiled when it was presented in the iF Design Award and won the prize in September 2006.�

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_Prada_(KE850)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 9 Aug 2011 @ 10:35pm

As jobs slowly descends into the morass of hepatic disease so does Apple.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
G Thompson (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 10:48pm

Re: Re: Respect the Rectangle
personally I think Samsung should just shape up

I'm thinking parallelogram's ;P
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Rikuo (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 11:40pm

Re: Re: Re: Really?
"Like Mike was saying last week" I take it then you simply can't read, because Mike released an article that said the exact OPPOSITE.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110801/10562015345/apple-does-not-have-more-cash-than- us-govt-stop-saying-that-it-does.shtml
[ link to this | view in thread ]
MrRJC, 9 Aug 2011 @ 11:55pm

Software Patents
Isn't this a software patent? I could've sworn that they weren't recognised in the EU... or am I remembering that wrong?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Casey Bouch (profile), 9 Aug 2011 @ 11:57pm

Re: Re: Really?
Did all of Australia and all of Europe take a vote? Seems more likely that a judge sided with them legally.
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Psychic octopus, 10 Aug 2011 @ 12:48am

Some years ago, Audi dominated all the European touring car race championships with their four wheel drive A4. Then all the championships banned four wheel drive, ending Audi dominance. Audi made a publicity campaign going "This car has won every racing championship it ever raced in. What was its prize? To be banned from every racing championship it ever raced in." implying that this car was so much superior than its competitors. Now if I was Samsung, I would be making a campaign in a similar tone: "this is the best tablet in the world. It has been rewarded with a sales ban in Australia and the EU..." Apple might be just giving a great weapon to Samsung there.

(posted from a Samsung, too)
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indieThing (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 2:51am

Re: Re: Not really
Ahh, beat me to it. Yeah I had a LG Prada before the iPhone was released. The interface was a bit clumsy, but a nice phone.
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LJSeinfeld (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 3:23am

Re: Re: Apple Wins Europe-Wide Blockade Of Samsung Tablets; Guess Which Tablet Apple Is Scared Of Most?
Yeah... you forgot about the Apple Newton that pre-dates all of that stuff.
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Just John (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 3:51am

Re: Apple Wins Europe-Wide Blockade Of Samsung Tablets; Guess Which Tablet Apple Is Scared Of Most?
I like that, Just John the Google-ite.

Why?
I hate being stuck with draconian, controlling applications that lock me into a single eco system (looking at you iTunes).

I hate companies that dictate what I want instead of letting me pick what I want (your tablet comes in every color you want, as long as you want silver).

I hate any company telling me what I can't have (or did you already forget about the Apple vs. Adobe issues)?

I hate it when a company decides to try to take away my right to choose by trying to kill competition through questionable means (not saying I have not used other companies products who do this, but if they did, they weren't so blatant it called my attention to it like this).

So if that makes me a Google-ite, then I will proudly be so until they fuck up too.

Just John, Google-ite out.
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jip, 10 Aug 2011 @ 3:52am

Re: Not really ? ? ?
People KNOW NOW.
It has been all over the mainstream news in Europe.

now the patent argument.

Apple did NOT invent the touch screen.
Apple did NOT invent the handheld computer.
Apple did NOT invent the tablet.
Apple did NOT invent ARM cpu's.

Apple ARE PC system builders.
Components from desperate sources , combined is what an iPad is.

********

This case is about the overall LOOK of a device.

Community Design http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_design

A registered Community design lasts for up to 25 years

Let's look at some of these ""designs"". (Shapes)

The apple tablet (actual Certificate of Registration )
http://www.scribd.com/doc/61944044/Community-Design-000181607-0001

some pics of other APPLE registered ""designs""

http://oami.europa.eu/bulletin/rcd/2006/2006_030/000465109_0009/images/000465109_0009 _1_source.jpg
http://oami.europa.eu/bulletin/rcd/2008/2008_041/000839469_0019/images/000839469_0019 _1_source.jpg
http://oami.europa.eu/bulletin/rcd/2007/2007_098/000748314_0001/images/000748314_0001 _1_source.jpg
http://oami.europa.eu/bulletin/rcd/2006/2006_030/000465109_0006/images/000465109_0006 _1_source.jpg
http://oami.europa.eu/bulletin/rcd/2007/2007_115/000748280_0005/images/000748280_0005 _1_source.jpg

best ever ( a rectangle )
http://oami.europa.eu/bulletin/rcd/2009/2009_091/000672332_0009/images/000672332_0009_4_source.jpg

and a FOLDER icon
http://oami.europa.eu/bulletin/rcd/2008/2008_041/000839469_0019/images/000839469_0019_1_source .jpg

thanks to Thom Holwerda for the info.... @ http://www.osnews.com/
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2011 @ 4:02am

Re: Re: Not really
Apple never innovated... at least hasn't for a long time. They simply polish the hell out of everything.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2011 @ 4:16am

Re: Re: Re: Can of worms
M$ may "own TCP/IP" (I couldn't find anything relating to that) but they were not the ones who invented it, and plenty of other OSes used it before them... they hardly have a case.
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David Liu (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 4:19am

Re: Re: If you can't compete, litegate
I'm not seeing what you're seeing. Apple has the lion's share of the market at the moment, and will probably command the market in terms of profit share. There's no signs of any such repeat happening at the moment.
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Just John (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 4:48am

Re: Respect the Rectangle
As I have said before, Apple should just try to patent shapes, they may do a better job.

Speaking of which, I seem to recall there is something called an apple in nature. I think mother nature should get a lawyer.
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2011 @ 5:24am

Re: Really?
How much of Jobs money does it take to buy 1 German judge?
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ITWARZ, 10 Aug 2011 @ 5:40am

Why Buy An Ipad?...
Closed achetecture products are foolish investments. I own nothing from Apple. The future has already had it's dye caste. It's ultra light, ultra thin notebooks. - ITWARZ
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Nicedoggy, 10 Aug 2011 @ 6:11am

Re: Re: Re: Apple Wins Europe-Wide Blockade Of Samsung Tablets; Guess Which Tablet Apple Is Scared Of Most?
Psion put out the first PDA in history(the Organizer II) in 1986 before Apple.
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Steve R. (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 6:15am

Free Enterprise
So wonderful.
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Nicedoggy, 10 Aug 2011 @ 6:28am

Re: Re: Re: If you can't compete, litegate
http://www.pcworld.com/article/226339/android_market_share_growth_accelerating_nielsen_finds.html

http://gadgetbox.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/09/6820706-android-market-share-to-surpass-40-percent- this-year
Depends of what you mean by lions share.

According to other people Android have surpassed Apple's market share already. Deja vu?(Apple II vs PC)

Apple is the biggest single producer, but it is not the market leader as a whole, they were supplanted by Android some time ago, the Android market is more vibrant and churning out more devices in total then Apple ever could, Android also has the biggest variety of models, accessories and prices.

The Android eco-system will not create any one company to big to fail and so it is healthier than the Apple thing.
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Grimmbob (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 6:57am

A shame.
I feel badly for the few intelligent commenters here whose contributions get lost amongst the barking cacophony of mindless jackals, rolling in their own feces and running in circles.
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Dlove67, 10 Aug 2011 @ 7:29am

Re: Really?
Courts have many times shown that they have no idea what they are talking about. There was a lawsuit won by the parents of kids with autism over inoculations recently, for instance.
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jackn, 10 Aug 2011 @ 8:07am

I am hoping it is as good as apple says because I just ordered the Samsung Galaxy Tablet based on their recommendation
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haiku, 10 Aug 2011 @ 8:32am

Re: Re: If you can't compete, litegate
I gave up on Apple when they started litigating over the Apple II clone made by Orange Computer ...
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John Fenderson (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 9:03am

Re: there's no cost to Apple for this?
I've been boycotting Apple since the introduction of the Mac, when they spit on then turned their back on computer geeks as a whole. The last straw for me was that "1984" commercial. Even at the time, Apple was already very Big Brotherish and here they were accusing everyone else of it as if their hands were clean.

For decades, the only thing that made Apple less obnoxious than Microsoft was that Apple had a relatively insignificant market share. In philosophy and actions, they are of the same school.
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John Fenderson (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 9:11am

Re: Re: Re: Apple Wins Europe-Wide Blockade Of Samsung Tablets; Guess Which Tablet Apple Is Scared Of Most?
The Newton wasn't first, that honor goes to the Sharp Zaurus, which predated the Newton by at least five years (albeit in Japan only).
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2011 @ 9:18am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Really?
Just John got it, but I will spell it out for you and Grimmbob... sarcasm

Have a nice day
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Hephaestus (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 10:33am

Re: Re: Re: If you can't compete, litegate
What nicedoggy said. Android is bigger that apple, and growing larger every day. Price competition will cause apple to slide, and they will see a reduction in the number of units sold. It is only a matter of time.
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JEDIDIAH, 10 Aug 2011 @ 10:55am

Blindered fanboy
Then you are simply blindered.

Android has already caught up with Apple in the phone market. It is now set to do that in the tablet space. Except Apple has decided to sabotage it's rivals through bogus patent lawsuits.

I really like SMS features that don't suck, better video decoders, a means to side load apps, being able to treat my android device as a simple storage device when connected to a PC, and to connect another storage device to my Android.

Android vendors are more than willing to distinguish themselves from Apple. That's a good thing. That's a handy thing. The free market should not be sabotaged just because the current state of the law allow you to.

It's simply contrary to the cultural mythology surrounding the founding of Apple.
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Vincent Clement (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 11:34am

Re: Re: Re: If you can't compete, litegate
There's no signs of any such repeat happening at the moment.

I'm sure that Motorola and Nokia thought the same thing too in the cellphone sector or Sandisk in the mp3 player sector. Being the initial leader doesn't mean perpetual success.
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psychic octopus, 10 Aug 2011 @ 11:43am

Re: Re: there's no cost to Apple for this?
For decades, the only thing that made Apple less obnoxious than Microsoft was that Apple had a relatively insignificant market share. In philosophy and actions, they are of the same school.

^^This^^
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Grimmbob (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 12:01pm

"For decades, the only thing that made Apple less obnoxious than Microsoft was that Apple had a relatively insignificant market share. In philosophy and actions, they are of the same school.

^^This^^"

Um yeah except MS makes products most people use because it's either their only choice or they HAVE no choice (corporate) or don't know any better. Apple makes products that people CHOOSE over other products. And if you think MS and Apple have the same philosophy... Then brother you know even less than it appears. Seriously, think deeply on it for a minute.
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Vincent Clement (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 12:03pm

Re: Not really
Samsung is not innovating by bringing the Galaxy Tab to market, it is copying � essentially attempting to clean up based on risks taken by Apple.

Wait a minute. You said it took "large R&D costs" and "enormous risk" on Apple's part to bring the iPad, which would imply that developing a tablet is a long and expensive process. Then you said Samsung is copying it, which implies that developing a tablet is not a long and expensive process. Which is it?
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Grimmbob (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 12:04pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: If you can't compete, litegate
"What nicedoggy said. Android is bigger that apple, and growing larger every day. Price competition will cause apple to slide, and they will see a reduction in the number of units sold. It is only a matter of time."

Hahahaha!! Price competition will cause Apple to slide!? Seriously? Does no one think before they seek to slam? It's Apple that no one else can compete with on price, with the pads man.
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ltlw0lf (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 1:20pm

Re: Re: Re: If you can't compete, litegate
I'm not seeing what you're seeing. Apple has the lion's share of the market at the moment, and will probably command the market in terms of profit share. There's no signs of any such repeat happening at the moment.

Most of my friends have iPhones. I have family with iPhones, and I was genuinely interested in one. But two things kept me away from it...closed architecture which Apple vigorously defends, and no sideloading of applications, even though the SDK is "open", getting the application on the phone requires Apple and their whim is notorious. Sure, you can root an iPhone, until Apple comes up with the next patch and kills you off. I've had friends who have rooted their phone only to have the rugs pulled out from under them and have heard the sob stories.

After the discussion of Samsung here, and that Samsung sent the developers of an unofficial mod of Android (cyanogenmod) free phones to allow them to provide more support for their phones, I ditched my old phone and bought a Samsung Captivate, rooted it and installed cyanogenmod. Downloaded the SDK and started playing, and after having so much fun with the phone, I found out that Nooks ran android and went out and bought one of those too (I like reading books and was looking at a kindle to begin with.)

At this point, a Samsung 10.1 tablet is a little too expensive to justify, but I suspect sooner or later I'll have one of those too.

So, at least for me, I can understand why people are heading to Android in droves. 5 people I know personally have gone out and bought new android phones...I cannot think of anyone off-hand who has bought an iphone recently.
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Hephaestus (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 3:37pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: If you can't compete, litegate
"Hahahaha!! Price competition will cause Apple to slide!? Seriously? Does no one think before they seek to slam? It's Apple that no one else can compete with on price, with the pads man."

I understand you are probably an apple fanboi, with an iPhone and iPad, that doesn't change the fact that history will repeat itself. Price competition, a inconsistent maniacal control freak attitude over the app store, and a better product in the form of android, will destroy apple.
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John Fenderson (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 4:18pm

Re:
Seriously, think deeply on it for a minute.

I have, over decades. Have you?

I've been in this business from back before the Apple II existed, back when Microsoft was a tiny nobody player in the business of selling BASIC interpreters to OEMs.

Both of them strive to lock users into their proprietary systems. Both of them unfairly leverage monopoly positions. Both of them "embrace and extend" as a way of gaining more locked-in users. I could go on at length.

They even started the same way: scrappy startups going toe-to-toe with established "evil" behemoths and overtly promising to free us from them, and both of them ended up the same way: behaving exactly like the behemoths they displaced.

There is a more recent difference -- Microsoft has been behaving a bit better over the last few years, and Apple has been behaving worse.

The nature and quality of their products is not relevant to this discussion. I'm talking about business ethics, and both are heavily challenged in that department.

But if we're comparing products, there is another similarity: both are used either by people who have no other choice, don't know any better, or are unwilling/unable to use an actually powerful system.

That last bit is the entire goal of all Apple products, according to Apple itself: they are aimed at people who don't want to/don't understand how to use computers. Which means the training wheels can never come off.
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David Liu (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 4:56pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: If you can't compete, litegate
This is a tablet thread.
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David Liu (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 5:23pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: If you can't compete, litegate
I guess I assumed people would understand that I'm talking about tablets, since this IS about tablets after all.

Apple offers a competitive tablet at prices other brands are struggling to meet. They have a commanding share of the tablet market share (28mil iPads vs. ~1.2 mil Android tablets across all brands).

If you want to talk about Android phones, then you need to actually look at the profit share:
http://www.asymco.com/2011/01/31/fourth-quarter-mobile-phone-industry-overview/

Having the lions share of a market doesn't mean much if you're not making huge profits off of it. Google is essentially using its profits from search to spread Android as hard as possible, but Apple's the one making money hand over fist here, and the profits keep on growing. If that's a sign of failure, I'll take that any day of the week.
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David Liu (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 5:32pm

Re: Blindered fanboy
And you simply can't read.

Did I say that I agreed with Apple's decision to sabotage the free market? Did I position myself such that I didn't like any sort of competition in the mobile phone market?

No. I only pointed out that Apple currently holds the marketshare (in terms of tablets anyways), and commands the entire market in terms of profits. This is to disprove the myth that Apple's suddenly headed towards another repeat just because they don't have the command of the market share in phones.
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David Liu (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 5:35pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: If you can't compete, litegate
Actually the iPhone never was the leader. Throughout its lifetime, iPhone was behind its competitors, Nokia/Symbian/BlackBerry, and now Android. Motorola and Nokia got screwed because they became increasingly irrelevant to consumers.

There's no sign of that happening with iPhones because the common folk know nothing BUT iPhones.
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David Liu (profile), 10 Aug 2011 @ 5:40pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: If you can't compete, litegate
Out of those 5 people, how many people actively use market apps?

How many of those people use non-market apps?

How many of those people have rooted their phone?

How many of those people have loaded a custom ROM?

How many of those people have touched a single line of code in the Android codebase?

The reason why I ask these things is because although these issues may be relevant to techies like you and me and your friends, the unwashed masses hardly know a thing. They only know one thing: iPhones are the sweetest thing out there. They don't even know what Android is.
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jenningsthecat (profile), 11 Aug 2011 @ 5:06am

Way to go Mike...
...now Apple's going after the Motorola Xoom:

http://fosspatents.blogspot.com/2011/08/apple-is-also-suing-motorola-in-europe.html

Sure ly they're doing this because you called them out for picking on the Galaxy specifically.

How's it feel to be such a mover and shaker?
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Grimmbob (profile), 11 Aug 2011 @ 3:05pm

What I don't get...
is why people are attacking Apple for doing what the US is famous for: litigation. Sue sue sue! There is no other nation as litigious as the USA. Don't blame Apple, blame the US culture. It's a disease down there.

Oh and for the no-mind that decided rather than share valid opinions he'd just call me a "fanboi" (what are you, 12?), I use whatever meets my needs with the best combination of features, quality, and price. I don't care what brand label it carries. I think it's as mindless and simple to blindly consume products because of their label as it is to bash products for the same reason. Only simpletons lionize or demonize in such broad swaths.
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Grimmbob (profile), 11 Aug 2011 @ 3:07pm

And btw...
I'm not demonizing the US, just commenting on how rampant litigation is in that culture. Just to head off the haters...
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Aug 2011 @ 4:41am

Re: Re: Apple Wins Europe-Wide Blockade Of Samsung Tablets; Guess Which Tablet Apple Is Scared Of Most?
Eco system lol.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Aug 2011 @ 8:12am

The Samasung tablet is vastly superior. I've used a prototype model of the 10.1, and that was vastly better than the iPad - and the release version might be better. Apple won't bother taking an injuction if they're product was better. They're going after the Motorola Xoom and Acer Iconia now. Looks like 2 more tablets are better than the iPad.

Apple didn't invent the tablet. There was a touchscreen tablet device around in 1997 running some strange OS. The device never took off, but if Apple claim anyone that makes a device with no keyboard and a touchscreen infringes the iPad, then the iPad infringes on the 14 year old device.

Anyway good times ahead. There's already one company that is suing Apple for preventing the release of the Galaxy Tab. They developed an App and signed a 6-month exclusivity deal with the Galaxy Tab. The lack of the device will cost them a significant amount on money in advertising revenue during the month of September.
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Rainbird, 14 Aug 2011 @ 12:48am

BUT....
Two problems here.
1. I seem to be able to order the Galaxy tab 10.1 from both UK and European suppliers as of 14 August, although it does seem a bit expensive for a gadget.
and
2. It's not banned in Holland and in the free market we have I can always order from there and have it delivered to the UK. I do that with my contact lens to avoid UK laws.
Who cares how much fuss Apple make. It's free advertising for Samsung and if I want a product I can always get it some how.
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