Hasta La Gadget!

It looks like the first phase of the Apple / Psystar Mac cloning saga is winding towards a conclusion, as the two sides have just filed to wrap up their case with the California court that ruled decisively in favor of Apple last month. As you probably expect, Apple hasn’t ceded much ground here: Psystar’s agreed to be deemed liable for illegally copying OS X Leopard, bypassing the OS X kernel encryption in violation of the DMCA, and breaching Apple’s EULA, all to the tune of $2,675,050. In return, Apple’s dropping its various trademark and unfair competition claims, and has promised to hold off on collecting any cash until the various appeals have run their course. Now, considering Apple and Psystar are currently engaged in pretty much the exact same case in Florida over Snow Leopard, we’d say that this agreement isn’t much more than a way for both sides to save money and move on to that fight: Apple’s already won the bulk of its case against Psystar in California, and spending money to litigate trademark claims we thought were weak when we first read them doesn’t really buy Steve any leverage he doesn’t already have, while Psystar probably needs to scrimp all the coin it can.

There’s one other little wrinkle here, and that’s exactly what Apple’s eventually going to be able to prevent Psystar from doing. It’s certain that the California court will bar Psystar from preloading machines with Leopard, but Psystar’s arguing that its new Rebel EFI software shouldn’t be covered by any decision, since it wasn’t part of the case. That’s an interesting argument and definitely worth some consideration — but it’s got some holes in it since Psystar’s now admitted that it’s liable for contributory and induced copyright infringement and violating the DMCA. As we’ve said before, Psystar’s essentially doing with Rebel EFI what Grokster got smacked by the Supreme Court for doing in 2005: it’s trying to build a business around the knowing copyright infringement of customers, and that usually doesn’t fly. We’ll see what happens — and Florida awaits.

Apple dings Psystar for $2.67m, round two heads to Florida originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Michael Arrington’s CrunchPad has never had a particularly firm basis in reality, and although we’d been promised that the inexpensive browser-based tablet would be launching soon, the sky’s come crashing down: Mike says Fusion Garage, the company he hired to build the CrunchPad, has reneged on their deal, and that he’s about to file “multiple lawsuits.” What happened? Well, it’s not exactly clear: according to Mike, the CrunchPad was ready to be launched on November 20, but on November 17 Fusion Garage decided to cut TechCrunch out of the deal and sell it directly. Oh, it’s a sad tale, especially since Arrington claims a wide variety of industry heavyweights were lined up to support his tablet — including development assistance from Intel complete with sweetheart pricing on Atom CPUs, a “major multi-billion dollar retailer” who offered to sell it at “zero margin,” and even venture capital firms “waiting to invest in the company.” Making matters worse, Mike’s no longer buds with Fusion Garage CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan, who he thought he’d be friends with “for the rest of our lives.” Tear. Now, we’re not sure we’ve heard the last of the CrunchPad — if anything, Michael Arrington is irrepressible — but we can’t say we’re surprised the first chapter has ended in such fantastic fashion. We’re assuming several major Hollywood studios are already lining up to buy the rights, and we’ve heard unconfirmed reports that George Clooney has signed on to star for free because he believes in the project so deeply.

The CrunchPad disappears in a puff of vapor originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Folks, today might be the day when you start to notice how ancient our smartphones have become, even if they only came out in last few months. Blame Else (formerly Emblaze Mobile) for its confusingly-named First Else, a phone “built from scratch” over the last two years and now powered by Access Linux Platform (ALP) 3.0 — a mobile OS thought to have quietly died out since our last sighting in February. Until today’s London launch event, the last we heard of this Israeli company was from October’s Access Day in Japan where it previewed the Else Intuition OS, which we like to think of as inspired by Minority Report. While it’s still too early to tell whether the First Else — launching in Q2 next year — will dodge the path of doom, we were already overwhelmed by the excellence of the device’s user experience, both from its presentation and from our exclusive hands-on opportunity. Do read on to find out how Else is doing it right.

Continue reading Emblaze’s First Else unveiled in London, promises to be a game-changer

Emblaze’s First Else unveiled in London, promises to be a game-changer originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You might’ve thought that Google was positioning its industry-changing Google Maps Navigation as a value proposition for Android 2.0 and beyond, but yeah, not so much — instead, they’ve gone ahead and backported it to 1.6 (alias “Donut”) which means that T-Mobile’s myTouch 3G and G1 plus other 1.6-equipped devices across the land can get in on the action. In the case of the memory-starved G1, that’s especially surprising, and a heartening sign that the world’s first retail Android device still has some fight left in it. It’s available from the Android Market now, so go ahead — try to get yourself lost. We dare you.

Google Maps Navigation officially comes to Android 1.6 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As expected, Verizon has chosen December 2 as the Samsung Omnia II’s date with destiny, bringing an interesting full-touch WinMo alternative to the HTC Imagio that launched back in October alongside Windows Mobile 6.5. Speaking of 6.5, there were some early concerns that Verizon’s version of the Omnia II would launch on stale 6.1 code, but fear not — it’s now confirmed that you’ll be looking at Microsoft’s latest and greatest stuff when you gaze upon that 3.7-inch AMOLED WVGA display. It’s also got a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, WiFi, and 8GB of internal storage along with microSD expansion — good news for anyone who plans on making much use of that cam, especially in video mode. Verizon’s site and retail locations both take delivery of the device on the same 12/2 date, pushing it for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate. Considering the pricing, we’ve gotta ask: Droid or Omnia II?

Verizon announces Samsung Omnia II: December 2 for $200 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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