MacDailyNews - Where Mac news comes first

Not so fast..

It appears that Apple might have lifted some patents from Palm too.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/28/apple-vs-palm-the-in-depth-analysis/

The patent is 358 pages long but 293 of those pages are drawing sheets. Someone needs an arithmetic lesson.

Those Palm patents are likely be far too general to be enforceable.

Jan 28, 09 - 04:05 pm Comment from: SirROM

Hey, wasn't Anderson the one involved in the backdating scandal at Apple and paid up rather than fess up?

Jan 28, 09 - 04:08 pm Comment from: TowerTone

I heard it was powered by a rechargeable battery....

Revenge? Likely.

In Oct 2005, Tim Cook was moved up to COO, and Jon Rubinstein announced his retirement slated for Mar 2006. (Passed over?) According to Steve Jobs, iPhone was already in development in 2005. However, Rubinstein is quoted as saying iPod should remain a media player. (Major disagreement?)

Then upon Rubinstein's retirement (which took place in Apr 2006), Apple locks him up for one year as a consultant to Jobs. (Sound familiar?; like IBM should've done with Papermaster??)

Then, Fred Anderson was thrown under the bus in Apr 2007. He and Rubinstein join Palm in June 2007, presumably to help Palm create a competitor to the already-announced iPhone. Around two years later, June 2009, the Palm Pre will be ready.

And if we doubt Apple's PR, we can surmise that Tony Fadell is on that same track. Fadell reportedly disagreed about the OS choice for iPhone. Now he's out, locked up for one year as a consultant to Jobs.

Jan 28, 09 - 04:12 pm Comment from: TowerTone

"'You just know that had to have irked Steve [Jobs] after he splashed Bono's image all over the [iPod],"

so does that mean he's Irish AND welch?.....

Is it just my opinion that this war goes way back -- once upon a time the Newton fell and Palm thought they'd rule the world forever? If this is the best Palm can do, then Apple has nothing to fear. Apple's OS and hardware advancements will be hard to catch up even if everyone else can copy or match the GUI look and feel. Apps? Apple will continue to stay ahead. The rest are split among confusing array of competing platforms - G phone, Flash/AIR, WinMo/Silverlight, WebOS, and any day now, Symbian. My guess is most developers' inclination will fall in the above order also.

Jan 28, 09 - 04:39 pm Comment from: Famous Grouse

Why would Bono's investment in a competitor be the motivation for Apple to protect it's Intellectual Property? Both are simply good business and entirely unrelated. Sad to see Bono's probably going to loose his investment, but hey, that's life. The Anderson + Rubenstein theory makes far more sense and there may be some truth to the Newton vs. Palm thing. IIRC, Steve killed the Newton soon after his return; we may never know the exact reasons.

As for the patent, all Apple needs right now is to sow enough uncertainty and doubt that Palm's remaining supporters fall away. Then, when it has it's ducks completely in a row, it can go after RIM, HTC, Samsung or whoever seems most likely to settle. Then the rest will be forced to license Apple's tech.

Jan 28, 09 - 04:46 pm Comment from: DRM sucks

Do Apple's patents pwn Palm's pre?

Jan 28, 09 - 04:50 pm Comment from: ken1w

If Apple actually violated any Palm patents, don't you think Palm would have taken action against Apple by now?

The answer could be gained with a question, who would name their kid bono... Mr and Mrs Bozo? Or some other clown family, perhaps

His name is actually Paul Heusen. he was given the nickname Bono from a music store called Bono Vox, meaning good voice.

The Palm Pre won't die, and it won't do too much of an impact to Apple's marketshare. Anyone who wants an iPhone will most likely not even bother caring about some copy cat.

But, those on Sprint or T-mobile and those who don't want to spend over $600 on a no-contract iPhone will consider a Palm Pre. The Pre will take marketshare from the G1, the Storm, and every other iPhone wannabe there is.

Aaquib - There are a lot of people who won't buy an iPhone until the AT&T;monopoly is over.

I wrote this on Phil Elmer Dewitt's Fortune blog a couple days ago, but, if you recall in the Papermaster lawsuit, John Gruber of Daring Fireball, reported that when Apple was deciding upon what OS to put on the iPhone, two execs were for Linux, and two for Mac OS X. The two execs for Mac OS X were Scott Forstall and Bertrand Serlet. Scott now runs the iPhone/iPod software side, while Bertrand runs the hardware side.

The two execs who wanted linux were Fadell, who's now on gardening leave, and Steve Sakoman, who left to work for GumStix. GumStix is interesting because they make mobos for tiny computers, the size of a cellphone, which use ARM processors running Linux. Hmmm.... I wonder if the Palm Pre is using a GumStix designed mobo? Sakoman also put together the hardware group that designed the Newton, left to start BeOS with Jean-Louis Gassee, and replaced Avie Tevanian when he came back to Apple in 03. And we all know who ended up with BeOS, right?

Jan 28, 09 - 08:59 pm Comment from: twilightmoon

Sarasota "There are a lot of people who won't buy an iPhone until the AT&T;monopoly is over."

I've heard this plenty of times, but I suspect the real number is slightly less than the total number of Linux users. In other words a very small but vocal minority.

Not a significant enough number to change iPhone sales by much.

Jan 28, 09 - 09:03 pm Comment from: twilightmoon

Of course I'm willing to be proven wrong if someone ever does some real market research that can prove there's a substantial number of people who will buy an iPhone if Apple was on a different carrier who won't buy one while they are with ATT. No one has done such research to date.

Jan 28, 09 - 11:06 pm Comment from: Roberto

Now that the Pre is dead, let's all celebrate at my place, with a little wine and a little spongecake.....

To the lumberyard!!!

Jan 29, 09 - 04:24 am Comment from: ken1w

> There are a lot of people who won't buy an iPhone until the AT&T;monopoly is over.

Those people may be in for a long wait. The exclusivity works as well for Apple as it does for ATT. As long as ATT and the other exclusive partners worldwide are willing to pay what Apple wants for the privilege and advantage of having the iPhone in their lineups, I think Apple will keep the exclusive arrangements with ATT and the others.

Why have the added complexity and inefficiency of having to deal with multiple wireless protocols, multiple network standards, and multiple distribution partners? ... when you can do it with ONE per market and meet or exceed your sales and profit goals.

I think Pre might have a fine OS, but it has some other major issues—Sprint, $$$, 6 more months until it arrives, MS & Google's cash hoard, etc.

To me, the Pre looks much more interesting than Winmobile, Symbian or even Android. It is certainly better than anything Verizon or Moto ever could develop.