Apple sues Samsung over Galaxy S' "similarities" to iPhone

[hanoverphist]

Too funny. A while ago a friend of mine bought the Samsung F700. I didn't like the phone's keyboard and look. Eventually he returned it because of buggy software. However, few months later the iphone was launched and the first image of the iphone reminded me of the F700. Go figure.

I'm not allowed to post attachments but google the image and you'll see the resemblance.

I think the lawsuit will be dismissed but I am intrigued by it's timing.

holy crap, i never saw that before. heres the image

that was in feb 2007 and the first iphone dropped in june, right?


edit: dammit! beat to it with a better pic.

 

[Capt Caveman]

holy crap, i never saw that before. heres the image


that was in feb 2007 and the first iphone dropped in june, right?


edit: dammit! beat to it with a better pic.

First iphone announced in Jan 2007.

 

[hanoverphist]

Apple has a good reason for throwing this at Samsung. Just because they buy a ton of stuff does NOT mean that Samsung can turn around and steal Apple's design. If Apple does not protect their patents they lose them.

Did anyone in this thread read the paper work behind this?

im not an apple hater, but they really could have gone with this before with the omnia series. it is in essence everything listed in the suit, physically. the samsung today home page they overlaid on winmo is a grid of icons, same as the iphone. im betting they didnt bring the suit up then because that phone series never made it big here in the US. was a great phone tho.

(i didnt like the "today" thing, so i enabled the "today 2" one instead. much better interface layout)


edit:
oops, that is the programs interface. here is the options originally available for the omnia

the left was touchwiz1 the right is today1. the today2 made it much better, touchwiz never worked well and never had enough widget support to go anywhere. the omnia2 improved a lot on the interface, as well as having winmo6.5 on it

 

[foghorn67]

First iphone announced in Jan 2007.

Announced doesn't mean anything. Samsung had a press release the year before.

 

[Kabob]

Samsung Countersues Apple for 10 patent infringements.
from Phandroid

Oh you didn’t think Samsung would take this court beating lying down, would you? Nope. Just a couple of days after we learned Apple may have gotten a bit of their inspiration from Samsung, the folks at Samsung have announced a countersuit against Apple for patent infringement.

These patents have nothing to do with hardware and software design as Apple are suing them for, though. They have more to deal with the underlying technology inside the iPhone. Things such as reduced battery consumption during data transmission, reduced errors during 3G data transmission, and more.

In a statement, Samsung said they are ”responding actively to the legal action taken against us in order to protect our intellectual property and to ensure our continued innovation and growth in the mobile communications business.”

This whole battle is as interesting as interesting will get in this industry. Although, yes, Samsung clearly draws inspiration from Apple for their flagship products, Apple relies on Samsung for many things inside their phones.

Samsung’s leverage as a semiconductor vendor and a supplier of many different components for many different companies – Apple included – might ultimately help them in this battle. At the end of the day, Apple may have no choice but to stand down if Samsung ever threatens to cut their partnership with the Curpertino giant.

And I’m not saying things will definitely get that extreme and I’m not saying it would spell doom for the iPhone and iPad if Samsung were to do that, but it’d definitely put them in check before sending their hounds out to sue the pants off of everyone who poses a threat.

 

[akugami]

holy crap, i never saw that before. heres the image

<Snipped Image>

that was in feb 2007 and the first iphone dropped in june, right?


edit: dammit! beat to it with a better pic.

The problem with the June release of the iPhone is that the iPhone debuted in January 2007. Here's a CNN article with coverage of the event. The Samsung F700 didn't actually go on sale until the second half of 2007 either.

The Samsung F700, contrary to some user's beliefs, did not debut before the iPhone. Samsung is reported to have announced plans for a Samsung F700 phone in 2006 but the only news I've been able to dig up of an official announcement and showing is on Feb'07 for the F700. At the very least, no public showing of the phone was available until Feb'07. That much is for certain. So the first official public unveiling of the Samsung F700 occurred after the first official public unveiling of the original iPhone.

Furthermore, here is a blog article from androidcommunity.com that further corroborates what I've written. They even have a posted copy of the confidentiality letter from Apple telling the FCC to keep the details of the iPhone secret dating back to October of 2006. Apple also has been filing for the iPhone name as early as 2002 in some territories such as Singapore and the UK.

 

[hanoverphist]

ah, didnt know all that. i dont follow all this stuff, and my memory is about as long as im awake. hence, my signature.

 

[akugami]

ah, didnt know all that. i dont follow all this stuff, and my memory is about as long as im awake. hence, my signature.

NP. Just pointing out the info and how some Android users are bringing the nerd rage about how the iPhone is a Samsung F700 knockoff. At worst, you can say both developed similar interfaces independently from the information we publicly have. I mean, Samsung clearly had plans for a F700 as early as 2006 (though we don't really know in what form) but we also have evidence of Apple planning a phone as early as 2002 and the rumors started to seriously hit of an Apple phone in 2005 and 2006. That's not even counting the ill fated Moto iTunes phone.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Announced doesn't mean anything. Samsung had a press release the year before.

Posted earlier in the thread:

Here you go...

Sad that Applehaters have to lie - Android fans accuse Apple of copying Samsung first

Apple iPhone vs. Samsung F700: Which is Touchscreenier?

Apple's iPhone may have been announced first, but Samsung's Ultra Smart F700 (announced yesterda) seems to be one-up Apple's effort in a few feature categories.

Samsung F700 Smartphone Looks Awfully Familiar

From Samsung's own website - SAMSUNG Unveils Revolutionary Ultra Smart F700
on Feb 08, 2007

Seoul, February 8th, 2007: Samsung today announced a new addition to its Ultra portfolio with the introduction of Ultra Smart F700