Hasta La Gadget!

Clearly, the Samsung’s tablet looks nothing like the iPad. No. Not at all

A European court has blocked the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 across the European Union, in every member state except the Netherlands. It seems that Apple applied to the court in Dusseldorf, Germany, and an injunction preventing the sale of the copycat tablet was issued without even consulting Samsung.

Germany is notoriously hot on copyright violations, unlike Spain, where clones of Apple’s iPods are on sale in major department stores. This temporary order prevents distribution of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 immediately.

Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet has confirmed the action to Bloomberg, and Samsung spokesman Kim Titus expressed his company’s surprise that the order was issued “without any hearing or presentation of evidence from Samsung.”

Apple is also pursuing an injunction in the Netherlands.

Perhaps Apple and the courts are treating the Tab 10.1 as a straight knock-off, just like the fake iPhones seen in Chinese markets. Or perhaps the legal complexities are deeper, concerning trade dress and the general look and feel of Apple’s hardware and software. Either way, it seems like Samsung (aka “The Copyist”) is being punished for so blatantly ripping off Apple’s designs.

Apple stoppt Vertrieb von Samsungs iPad-Konkurrent in Europa [Financial Informer]

Apple Wins Order Against Samsung Tablet in EU [Bloomberg]

See Also:

• Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Hands-On: A Plastic Toy With a Gorgeous …
• Samsung Chief Calls Galaxy Tab 10.1 'Inadequate'
• Apple Halts Samsung Galaxy Tab Launch in Australia

To include the iPad, or not include the iPad? It makes a big difference in notebook market shares. (Source: Deutsche Bank)

Most calculations of market share in the portable computing arena don’t include the iPad, which they consider a tablet and not a traditional computer. But because tablets seem to be cannibalizing computer sales, it’s not a stretch to include iPads in those tabulations.

Based on the line graph above, the notebook landscape changes drastically when iPad is included.

Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore calculated global notebook computer sales up until the second quarter of 2011 in a note to clients. Not including iPad sales, Apple ranks last, saleswise, as a manufacturer. Including the iPad, Apple soars to snag the top spot.

Whitmore’s note included stats about the top six notebook vendors: Acer, Apple, ASUS, Dell, HP and Samsung. The top two overall vendors for most of the time period, HP and Acer, have had generally downward trending market shares since second quarter 2010, which is right around when the original iPad debuted.

It’s been pretty clear that the iPad has been eating into laptop sales for a while, and this graph corroborates that. But compared to Whitmore’s calculations in 2010, Apple’s market share including iPad sales has actually gone down slightly, from about 25 percent to 20 percent. Does this mean that all those copycat tablets are actually edging in on the iPad’s market domination? Lenovo’s three recently revealed tablet offerings look to be pretty good Android contenders against the iPad, while others like the Samsung Galaxy Tab have had decent sales but still don’t make the mark. And according to Digitimes, iPad sales are expected to rise 55 percent in 2012, while non-Apple tablet shipments are expected to jump 134 percent.

“Within the tablet market, the iPad remains the gold standard as competitors struggle for mind-share and traction,” Whitmore says in his note — which must help explain why the iPad is the only tablet included in the second quarter 2011 calculation, when many of the vendors now have tablet models available. He also sees Apple snagging an even larger piece of the pie as the back-to-school season sets in and the Microsoft/PC ecosystem is “relatively stagnant.”

The iPad is very clearly still Apple’s prizewinning stallion in the portable computing department. Even with innovative competitors popping up, it’s going to take a lot to unseat Apple from its dominant position.

We were there when a select few got their Galaxy Tab 10.1’s loaded up with TouchWiz for the very first time, and we gave you a rundown of what to expect from the newly skinned slate. Now the day has finally arrived for all the other owners to get the new software, and Samsung’s delivered the OTA update as promised. We grabbed the update ourselves on an untouched Tab, and found that it’s a 188MB download — so be prepared to hurry up and wait a while for your new media-enhanced, widget-happy tablet experience. Once you’re done doing the download dance, do let us know how the new UX is treating you in the comments.

[Thanks, Michael]

OTA TouchWiz update comes to Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 right on schedule originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Aug 2011 01:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re headed over as we speak to get an early look at what TouchWiz has in store for Tab 10.1-totin’ New Yorkers, but in the meantime, Samsung’s served up a laundry list of details (after the break) to clue everyone in on what it’ll bring. Aside from pushing the TouchWiz UX overlay atop Android 3.1 (Honeycomb), the new digs will also enable Samsung Kies 2.0 support for PC and Mac, solving an issue we spotted a few weeks back. For those unfamiliar with Sammy’s Android dressings, this one promises to bring a Live Panel (described as a magazine-like widget view for immediate access to weather, social updates, email, and news on the home pane), a Mini Mode Tray (providing one-touch access to commonly used apps), Clipboard (it’s copy and paste, advanced), Photo Editor (it edits JPEGs, y’all) and the token Indicator Quick Panel (which enables users to quickly toggle on / off WiFi, notifications, sound, brightness and settings in lower right hand corner of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 display).

Of course, proceeding with the update means that you’ll get Amazon’s Music Cloud Player, the Kindle app and ‘Words with Friends’ preloaded, but enterprise folk can at least look forward to full support for Exchange ActiveSync version 14, on-device encryption and compatibility with Cisco’s VPN / Sybase MDM / WebEx. Still hungry for more? How’s about wireless printing to any “compatible” printer, as well as a bolstered Swype app that enables resizing of the keyboard and movement of the keys to any position on the panel. You’ll also find Adobe’s Flash Player 10.3, a redesigned Samsung Media Hub service and a promise that all Galaxy Tab 10.1 owners will start to see it beginning August 5th. If you’re eager to get prepped for Friday’s release, hit the source link to setup a required Samsung account; once registered, you’ll be notified when your device is ready for the upgrade and given drop-dead simple steps to complete it. Naturally, we’ll be bringing you an early look of the changes as soon as humanly possible.

Continue reading Samsung details TouchWiz UX update for Galaxy Tab 10.1, OTA rollout goes public on August 5th

Samsung details TouchWiz UX update for Galaxy Tab 10.1, OTA rollout goes public on August 5th originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 11:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Being an honors student at the University of Southern Mississippi just got a little more awesome. The college is hooking up its highest performers with brand new Galaxy Tab 10.1s, pre-loaded with software from the popular (and widely loathed) Blackboard educational portal. As you’d expect, syllabi, textbooks, and grades can all be easily pulled up by students in the Honors College, McNair Scholars, Southern Style, and Gulf Coast programs. With only a 1,000 going out now, the initiative stops shy of similar pushes by the Webb School and Seton Hill where everybody gets an iPad. And, while the educational value of tablets is still debatable, at least they’ll be able to read Engadget in style. Check out Sammy’s guitar-laden promo video after the break.

Continue reading University of Southern Mississippi hands out Galaxy Tabs to honors students (video)

University of Southern Mississippi hands out Galaxy Tabs to honors students (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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