Hasta La Gadget!

Following comments in Apple’s recent earnings call, gadget bloggers and reporters are speculating that Apple could be preparing to sue Palm for copying the iPhone’s touchscreen.

"Don’t want to talk about any specific company, just making a general statement," Apple chief operating officer (and acting CEO) Tim Cook said in response to a reporter’s question about the Palm Pre, Palm’s yet-to-be-released handset. "We are ready to suit up and go against anyone. However, we will not stand for having our [intellectual property] ripped off and will use whatever weapons we have at our disposal."

Palm announced the Pre during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The handset features a multi-touchscreen and a slide-out keyboard. Given the multi-touch interface, it’s possible that the Pre has similarities to Apple’s patented, multi-touch iPhone interface.

Also, Palm hired former Apple engineer Jon Rubinstein as CEO prior to the Pre’s launch. Rubinstein was instrumental to the launch of the iPod—which could explain why the Pre evokes Apple’s design ethos.

Together, those facts are leading some bloggers to believe Cook’s statement suggests Palm will be the target of a lawsuit filed by Apple to protect the intellectual property of the iPhone.

And it’s not just bloggers who think that: Palm took the suggestion seriously enough to respond to it publicly.

Palm said it has a "robust product portfolio" to back its long history of innovation.

“If faced with legal action, we are confident that we have the tools necessary to defend ourselves," a Palm spokeswoman told All Things Digital.

That said, several other companies — including HTC, Hewlett-Packard, RIM, and others — have released multi-touch-enabled devices in the past year, and none so far have run afoul of Apple’s patent lawyers.

Whether the Pre becomes fodder for Apple’s notoriously aggressive IP legal team will be hard to answer until later this year, when Palm lets people actually get their hands on the phone. Until then, all we have is speculation.

See Also:

• Can Apple Patent the Pinch? Experts Say It’s Possible
• 6 Reasons Why the Palm Pre Is Special
• Palm Unveils Its Long-Awaited Smartphone, the Pre
• Palm Pre Could Have Centro-Like Battery
• Up Close and Personal With the Palm Pre
• Video: Hands On Off With the Palm Pre

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Dell's upcoming Mini 10 Netbook.

When 9-inch Netbooks started to replace the original 7-inch models, we got firmly behind that trend. When 10-inch Netbooks started to appear, we declared that we liked them better than the 9-inch versions, but many PC makers didn’t immediately follow suit.

Now …

Reflections on our reflections contest, why depth of field varies deeply, and digitizing Mom’s photos.

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Episode 34

Too many good choices this week for a definite runner-up!

…

Originally posted at Indecent Exposure Podcast

Although the swoopy Aptera electric went up for pre-orders back in October of 2007, we haven’t really seen much of the futuristic car outside of the odd Star Trek cameo. Hopefully that’s about to change, though — the company just rolled out the first pre-production example its flagship model, the 2e. The three-wheeled car gets the equivalent of 200mpg, and the company claims the lithium-ion battery pack will last for 100 miles on a single charge. Aptera isn’t giving out final pricing information apart from “between $25,000 and $45,000” but it says over 4,000 potential customers have already signed up for a planned California-only October release. We’ll see how it goes — and we’d bet the folks at the Automotive X-Prize are keeping a sharp eye as well.

Filed under: Transportation

Aptera rolls out first pre-production vehicle, promises shipments in October originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just as we condemned the worst app genre last week, today we signal the pinnacle of another App Store standby, the soundboard app. There will never be a better soundboard made, ever. WHAT!?

Lil’ Jon: The Soundboard: Yes, this is it. It can’t go any higher. Thank you, Gabe Jacobs Productions—I’m looking the other way on the fart app you already have in the store. $1 Update: For some reason it’s been pulled. Nooo!

Multi-Photo Email: Does exactly what the title says—lets you send more than one image per email. Much, much needed default functionality that unfortunately costs a $1 to add via third-party, but if you email a lot of photos this is really handy.

Hot or Not: Yeah, I can’t believe this company is still going either. Remember what 2001 felt like by scrolling through the sad parade in line at the DMV. Give them a 1-10 rating. Get your license renewed. Go home. A day well spent. It’s free.

eMees Avatar Generator: If the Wii’s Miis are more PlayMobil, Emees for iPhone is more Boondock Saints. There are a couple apps like this, but Emees looks like it has enough options to make reasonably accurate portraits of your friends and celebrity contacts alike. It’s $3

JetSet Airport: Airport Security is one of the best flash games I’ve ever played, and now it’s on the iPhone. You watch people going through security, and deny those trying to bring on dangerous items (like Spray Cheese). The iPhone adds a neat location-based feature by letting you unlock special unique prizes for over 100 international airports if you play in that actual airport. Great stuff. $5

Zombie Chav Hunt: Chavs are kind of like England’s version of white trash, kind of like hillbilly + Ali G + fake tans + fake Burberry. Here they have taken a further step into terribleness by turning into zombies, and you can shoot them with a variety of weapons. Looks like a good way to blow a few minutes. It’s a buck.

Chop Sushi: Picture a Bejewelled-like puzzle game, but with different types of sushi. Wasabi hurts your opponent (yes it’s multiplayer too), and other types do other things. Fantastic for waiting in line at Japanese restaurants.

This week’s App News on Giz:

• iPhone Twitter App Battlemodo: Best and Worst Twitter Apps for iPhone (if you are a Twitterer even half as hardcore as our own Matt Buchanan, this is essential.)

• Come Up With Some iPhone Apps Apple Would Never, Ever Allow (Adam’s Photoshop contest this week—file your entries now!)

• We Now Interrupt Pandora Radio For This Brief Message, Every So Often

• The SniPod Touch: When Apps Go Deadly

• Ustream’s iPhone Viewer App Now Live In Time For the Inauguration

Tron For iPhone’s Multitouch Multiplayer Mode is Awesome: Four Hands, One iPhone

NSFW: Wobble iPhone App Adds Boob Jiggle To Real Boobs, IS Approved

• BBQ Pro: iPhone Meat Management Simulator

This list is in no way definitive. If you’ve spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our previous weekly roundups here, our top apps directory, and check out our original iPhone App Review Marathon. Have a good weekend everybody.