$1B for a rectangle with rounded corners

[TransformX]

Err... Do remember that the first 'iPhone' was made by LG. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_Prada
While I'm not a fan of either Samsung or LG, credit is due.

As for HTC, sorry man but HTC are true innovators. And just to prove the point, Google is going to use Motorola Mobility to rip Apple a new one, because you know, copiers and thieves deserve exactly that.

[Brian Ellis]

Ah who cares!

I hate Samsung with a passion. They are nothing but a company that produces copies and with no support what so ever.
Same goes for LG and HTC, they are in the same league.

Both Samsung and LG offer better service here than most other makes. Our TV is Samsung (and several other appliances) and was very avant-garde when we bought it 3 years ago. The only LG appliance we have is our clothes washer. AFAIK, LG is the only company with direct drive washers, all the motor functions being controlled optimally by electronics according to the weight and type of the clothes put in. It has AAA++ ratings on the EU scale of environmental friendliness; certainly uses about half the electricity and water that our old machine used to before it rendered its soul back to Siemens.

I feel that you are unfair, in that both Samsung and LG have very innovative products. Of course, I cannot answer for before- and after-sales service in Canada.

[gt40]

Brian, all three brands have a good reputation, with good support.
Sounds like someone pooped in Elie's corn flakes this morning.

[Evildead666]

Typed on my new sgh- i847 received this morning.

From Illinois.

[TransformX]

http://www.webpronews.com/galaxy-s-iii-gets-an-amazing-dragon-case-that-you-cant-have-2012-08

[dZeus]

Both Samsung and LG offer better service here than most other makes. Our TV is Samsung (and several other appliances) and was very avant-garde when we bought it 3 years ago. The only LG appliance we have is our clothes washer. AFAIK, LG is the only company with direct drive washers, all the motor functions being controlled optimally by electronics according to the weight and type of the clothes put in. It has AAA++ ratings on the EU scale of environmental friendliness; certainly uses about half the electricity and water that our old machine used to before it rendered its soul back to Siemens.

I feel that you are unfair, in that both Samsung and LG have very innovative products. Of course, I cannot answer for before- and after-sales service in Canada.

from what I understand on the AEG (Electrolux) website, (some of) their washing machines also offer direct drive.

PS it's high time the patent system gets reformed in the US.

[Umfriend]

The Woz believes Samsung will win the appeal.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-13/apple-s-wozniak-hopes-iphone-photos-beat-his-samsung-galaxy-s.html

[VJ]

While I initially thought the whole thing was quite exaggerated, a visit yesterday at a phone shop did change my point of view. Some Samsung models really are rip-offs of iPhone...
S7530
S5830
So while I still think the shape is not worthy of a patent, I feel that Samsung has crossed a line here.

[Dr Mordrid]

I like the larger screens on some non-iPhones, but with the dropouts & connection issues my daughter & her hubby have while I'm connecting reliably from the same place and using the same provider....

[cjolley]

Well well, what goes around comes around...

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/09/apple-apes-trademarked-swiss-railway-clock-for-ipads-new-clock-app/?utm_source=Ars+Technica+Newsletter&utm_campaign=34a8b7282f-September_02_2011_Newsletter&utm_medium=email

Apple added a Clock app to the iPad in iOS 6, but the company may get into trouble for the visual look of the app's analog-style clock face. According to Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger, Apple's designers copied the iconic—and trademarked—look of the Swiss Federal Railway (Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, or SBB) clocks used in train stations all over Switzerland. And the SBB wants Apple to pay up.
This isn't the first time Apple has used an iconic design for an iOS app. The original iOS calculator used a design that paid homage to the classic Braun ET44 calculator. Apple SVP of Industrial Design Jonathan Ive is well-known as an unabashed fan of Braun designer Dieter Rams.
However, SBB noted that it has a copyright and trademark on the design of its railway station clocks, which have become an icon of both SBB and Switzerland itself. "We enjoy the fact that the Swiss railway clock is being used by Apple. It once again proves that it's a real piece of design," SBB spokesperson Christian Ginsig said. "This act, however, is an unauthorized use [of the clock's design] by Apple."
SBB said that it is contacting Apple to work out a "legal and financial" resolution.
Using the SBB railway clock's design could be viewed as yet another homage to a classic, but it seems SBB isn't going to simply take the compliment. And catching Apple making unauthorized copies of any design is especially ironic in light of the company's repeated claims that Samsung "slavishly copied" its iPhone and iPad designs for its smartphones and tablets.

[Brian Ellis]

Well well, what goes around comes around...

I bet Apple's copy doesn't behave like the Swiss clocks. They advance to the 59th second of each minute in ~58 seconds and then stop. A sync pulse is sent exactly on the minute from the Neuchâtel Observatory standard time clock to every clock on every station and the red second hand jumps to the minute. They are therefore corrected to a thousanth of a picosecond every minute. This ridiculous accuracy for an analogue clock is a legacy from the mechanical clock days when synchronising thousand of clocks throughout the country was a challenge, the grid frequency of 50 Hz not being sufficiently accurate.

[VJ]

And on a related note:
In a hilarious court ruling, Apple got denied a trademark on its orange music icon (the one that's on iOS devices) because trademark judges said consumers might confuse the logo with one owned by MySpace.

[Rakido]

just a small update, as it seems that Apple is losing ground everywhere at the moment:

Dutch courts have just ruled in favour of Samsung concerning supposed infringement of a patent detailing ignoring multiple touch inputs, affirming last year's provisional ruling. Apple asked for a ban on loads of Galaxy devices. However, the courts ruled that Samsung and Android do not infringe this patent, also referring to similar rulings in the UK and Germany where Apple lost on similar grounds, while also affirming the British judge's ruling that the patent in itself isn't 'inventive'. Apple has been ordered to pay all legal proceedings, too. In case you're wondering, you're not alone when it comes to pattern recognition: Apple's only true win so far has been in a jury trial in the US. Make of that what you will.

http://www.osnews.com/comments/26495

"Samsung's got to be pretty happy right about now, after learning that the US Patent and Trademark Office has filed an initial ruling declaring Apple's rubber-banding patent invalid, as reported by FOSS Patents. The news was good enough that Samsung decided to share it with friends, that is, if US Federal Judge Lucy Koh can be considered a friend. According to the ruling, which Florian Mueller says isn't final, all 20 claims of Apple's patent (No. 7,469,381) are now invalid, including one that the iPhone maker had leveraged against Samsung in their recent legal showdown. The office found that Apple's invention was either anticipated by prior art (from Lira and Ording) or, in some cases, simply obvious." One down, 93485763827563856 to go.

http://www.osnews.com/story/26494/US...-scroll_patent

[Dr Mordrid]

Reviewers and analysts were also unimpressed with the price of the iPad Mini at $329 - all were expecting a price of $250 - $300. With most users of 7" devices using them as readers, players etc. with devices that have a higher resolution than the Mini but a good bit cheaper they goofed that one.