Size matters, and in this case, the goal is tiny. The new Diana Baby 110, a descendant from a line of already small cameras, is the tiniest yet. It’ll fit just nicely in the palm of your hands. Also it takes pictures. More »
Republican officials delayed the start of the Republican Convention in Tampa on Saturday as Florida braced for Tropical Storm Isaac.
Republican convention officials reiterated their concern for the safety of convention delegates on Saturday on a last-minute conference call with reporters. The delegates would have been bused into downtown Tampa on Monday for a procedural roll call vote.
Bridges linking places like Clearwater and St. Petersburg to downtown Tampa are expected to flood if heavy rains hit the city, making passage extremely dangerous. Officials said the roll call vote would be moved to Tuesday, at approximately the same time.
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With a keyboard that doubles
as a dock and a protective cover, Archos is providing another option
for consumers looking for a tablet with a dedicated keyboard dock.
A death-blow to Samsung; a free patent ride for Apple; a surprise window of opportunity for Microsoft: so the $1bn Apple vs. Samsung trial has been summed up as, and more. A US jury’s decision this week that Samsung had “willfully” infringed Apple patents and should be vigorously punished for it has already scored deep the Android versus iOS battle lines. Yet, for all the huge sums and the outraged cries for patent reform – not to mention whispers that this finally could be Windows Phone’s chance to shine – it’s unclear exactly what will change.
Apple’s successes came both in the functionality of Samsung’s devices and the way they look. Not only was the South Korean company’s line-up slapped for how things like lists bounce in scrolling and how touchscreen zooming works, but in overstepping the line in trade dress, or the visual distinctiveness of the iPhone 3G and how closely devices like the Galaxy S resemble them. Cue the hyperbolic statements.
Neither Samsung nor Apple’s post-verdict comments sit entirely comfortably. Samsung’s attempts to paint the decision as bad news for consumers and its own actions as solely those of an innovator stand at odds with the fact that, seen side by side with iOS, some iterations of TouchWiz have looked more than a little similar.
Apple’s stance, however, that it was “thrilled to be able to finally tell” its story and its insistence that values – not patents or cash – were at stake sits uneasily with what appeared to be increasingly broad-strokes claims. With the jury opting not to strike down any of the company’s patents cited in the trial, Apple is still able to roughly lay claim to “rectangles with rounded corners” – as Samsung snipes – but should it be?
“The marketplace is benefited by competition and choice”
As someone who uses both iOS and Android devices regularly, my concern is that everyday users will suffer the most from this latest round of litigation. The iPhone and iPad are certainly popular, but so is Android, and the marketplace is benefited by competition and choice. Apple’s point that Samsung has at times stuck closely to iOS style may be true, yet Samsung devices have advanced considerably since the mainly 2010 and 2011 range Apple’s lawyers targeted. TouchWiz has a style of its own, as do the more recent phones and tablets; yes, perhaps Samsung should be punished for its transgressions of yesterday, but that could have serious ramifications for the developments of tomorrow.
That needn’t be a bad thing, mind. If Samsung – and the other OEMs, who have certainly been watching keenly from the sidelines – chooses to take the ruling as inspiration rather than solely chastisement, customers may benefit. There are more ways than one to make a touchscreen smartphone, and Samsung’s undoubtedly clever (and sizable) development team could do much worse than get imaginative with their new products.
Meanwhile, Pure Android, in its Jelly Bean iteration now significantly different in look and feel from TouchWiz, has so far escaped Apple’s iOS comparison wrath. That might make an untampered Android OS more appealing to manufacturers (and make Google more likely to speak out in their defense should Cupertino come calling).
Chatter of an uptick in Windows Phone sales seems overly hopeful, however. Microsoft’s platform may be nearing a new iteration that, from what we’ve seen to date, looks considerably stronger than the Windows Phone we know today, but it’s still a minor player in the marketplace. And Samsung would be wise not to rely on arguments of preconceived notions by the jury playing too great a part in the decision come appeals time; while the judgement might have been made quickly, experts point to the time still taken to differentiate between different Samsung products in the final ruling as evidence that deeper consideration was still made than a clean sweep of home-team Apple loyalty.
“Changes on store shelves may well be minimal”
Apple will have to wait for a while to get its billion dollar check. Samsung has already said it is committed to challenging the ruing and then, if still unsatisfied, taking it to the Appeals Court. The $1.05bn figure could be shaved away too, and there are multiple other cases taking place worldwide which are yet to reach their own decisions. Device injunctions are yet to be decided upon – the hearing for that has been tentatively set for September 20 – but with many of the phones on the list old or having seen significant Android/TouchWiz updates since the form that so frustrated Apple, the changes on store shelves may well be minimal.
With IFA next week, we’ll see the first signs of new phones and tablets from Samsung, along with HTC and others. Then will come a new iPhone, along with outliers from oft-rumored sources like Amazon and perhaps even Facebook. Microsoft and Nokia will trumpet Windows Phone 8 and a new range of Lumia handsets (while behind the scenes Microsoft will undoubtedly be redoubling its efforts to court Samsung and others into paying more attention to its smartphone OS).
As a consumer and as a tech enthusiast, I’m hoping the verdict this week leads to more innovative thinking and imaginative products. I don’t want more identikit touchscreen slabs with little to differentiate them beyond logo and color. Samsung could treat this as a costly lesson and double-down on giving smartphone buyers true alternatives to Apple’s well-known hardware: iOS has a loyal following, but it doesn’t include everyone.
Apple vs. Samsung: Everything Changes, Everything Stays the Same is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) is withdrawing from all activities at the upcoming Republican Convention as the Sunshine State braces for Tropical Storm Isaac, according to local station Bay News 9.
The news comes on the heels of Scott declaring a state of emergency for Florida. He was supposed to deliver a speech at the Republican Convention in Tampa on Monday night.
The AP reports:
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BOSTON — The Los Angeles Dodgers are stocking up for the stretch run with some new, expensive players who couldn’t help the Boston Red Sox make it to the postseason this year or last.
The Dodgers acquired first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, pitcher Josh Beckett and injured outfielder Carl Crawford from Boston on Saturday, hoping to boost their playoff hopes by taking on the underperforming and high-priced stars who failed to thrive in a fractious Red Sox clubhouse.
Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.
All good things come to an end, they say. Thankfully, most bad things do, too. So while the rest of the world of tech is dealing with the fallout, and possible implications of patent law, over here in the wild party that is Alt, we’re fist pumping at all the awesome weekly sci-tech fodder. For example, we’ve got a robo-nose that can sniff out nasties in the air, a 110-million-year-old footprint found in NASA’s back yard, and not one, but two space stories to reflect on. There’s a hidden joke in there too, come back once you’ve read through to find it. This is alt-week.
Continue reading Alt-week 8.25.12: robotic noses, Nodosaurs and Space X launches again
Filed under: Science, Internet, Alt
Alt-week 8.25.12: robotic noses, Nodosaurs and Space X launches again originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Aug 2012 18:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The first glimpse of the movie about legendary director Alfred Hitchcock’s obsessive relationship with actress and muse, Tippi Hedren, has hit the internet, and it’s a chilling one. The 30-second trailer teaser for “The Girl” hints at the downward spiral Hitchcock’s interactions with his “The Birds” and “Marnie” star took, including repeated incidents of harassment and stalking.
The director “ruined my career, but he didn’t ruined my life,” Hedren told the Television Critics Association in early August.
Sienna Miller stars as the young Tippi Hedren; character actor Toby Jones (“The Hunger Games,” “My Week with Marilyn”) makes a dramatic turn as the British master of horror. The movie, directed by Julian Jarrold (“Becoming Jane”), premieres on HBO on October 20.
“Man on the moon! Whew! Boy.”
That’s all that Walter Cronkite could think of to say on July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong, who died on Saturday, first touched down on the surface of the moon. The CBS anchor was, like everyone else in the world, rendered speechless by the scale of what he had just witnessed. He clapsed his hands together and grinned boyishly, and then sat back to watch.
Armstrong’s feat was, to put it mildly, a big deal, and the historic nature of the event was reflected in the way the media covered it at the time. The New York Times, for instance, has only used 96-point type on four occasions in its history: the resignation of President Nixon, the 9/11 attacks, the election of President Obama, and the moon landing.
STAMFORD, Conn. — Alexis Molina was just 10 years old when his mother was abruptly cut out of his life and his carefree childhood unraveled overnight.
Gone were the egg-and-sausage tortillas that greeted him when he came home from school, the walks in the park, the hugs at night when she tucked him into bed. Today the sweet-faced boy of 11 spends his time worrying about why his father cries so much, and why his mom can’t come home.
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