Hasta La Gadget!

For those of you who weren’t listening in to Apple’s earnings call today, you missed a prime moment of defensiveness when Tim Cook fielded a question about how the company plans to stay competitive amidst new entries from the likes of Google and, more recently, Palm. What seemed like an answer due to end with a “we’ve got some great new stuff on the way” slant, Cook dovetailed into how the company views its new smartphone competition. In his words:

Q: “There are other iPhone competitors coming to the market: Android, Palm Pre. How do you think about sustaining leadership in the face of these competitors?”

A: “It’s difficult to compare to products that are not yet in the market. iPhone has seen terrific rating from customers. Software is the key ingredient, and we believe that we are years ahead of our competitors. Having different screen sizes, different input methods, and different hardware makes things difficult for developers. We view iPhone as primarily a software platform, which is different from our competitors. We don’t mind competition, but if others rip off our intellectual property, we will go after them.”

And then the follow-up:

Q: “The Palm device seems to directly emulate the iPhone’s innovative interface. Is that what you’re referring to?”

A: “We don’t want to refer to any specific companies, so that was a general statement. We like competition because it makes us better, but we will not stand for companies infringing on our IP.”

Now, we’ve heard Apple sound off on its intellectual property before, but the way a somewhat innocuous question about new challengers in the mobile arena got turned into a not-so vague threat of legal action is a bit stunning. Could it be that the Pre is Apple’s first real multitouch, capacitive-screen competition, and the device just happened to be co-developed by Jon Rubinstein… formerly of Apple? We’re not taking any flying leaps here, but the preempted initial answer seems to suggest that the folks in Cupertino may not take every new threat so coolly.

Apple on smartphone competition: “if others rip off our intellectual property, we will go after them.” originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Only in the bizarro world of KIRF can canceled, nonexistent handsets be cloned and released in quantities of 100 for just $240 a pop, and by all accounts, that’s what has happened — already — to poor Ruslan Kogan and his doomed Agora. The Aussie with an admirable desire to get one of the first Android devices on the market recently had to delay his pet project indefinitely over compatibility concerns, but knockoffs running knockoff OSes have no such concerns, which is where the lovely Shining phone comes into play. After seeing the all-too-familiar render, Kogan contacted iTWire to say that “I am not aware of this manufacturer and I have doubts that it runs Android OS. It is certainly not what the Agora was going to be or in anyway related to it.” ‘Course, all it’d take is a couple chats over dinner between Chinese ODMs for Kogan’s design to get recycled running something less than Android — and granted, the Shining isn’t identical to the Agora, but the similarities are striking, are they not?

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Kogan ‘not aware’ of sketchy Agora clone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 03:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While we’re primed and ready for Android to take over the mobile marketplace, it looks like Steve Horowitz, Google’s engineering director for the upstart OS, has other thoughts — he’s bailing out for Coupons, Inc. Yep, it’s a coupons site. We have no idea why Horowitz thinks a company working on a “digital coupons and promotions platform” is more exciting that leading Android’s development, but he’s certainly jumped ship before — he started his career in Apple’s Macintosh group before a stint at Be, and prior to taking the reins at Google he was on the teams at Microsoft that shipped Windows Media Center Edition, UltimateTV, and WebTV. We’ll be honest, those all sound infinitely more interesting than doling out coupons, but maybe dude just really loves typing in instant savings codes. As for Android, it doesn’t sound like Andy Rubin’s going anywhere, so we’re certain work will continue with nary a hiccup — or at least we’re hoping it does, because we’re getting pretty hungry for some Cupcake.

[Via Electronista]

Filed under: Cellphones

Google’s Android Engineering Director leaves for… Coupons, Inc. originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Okay, we don’t really know what’s going on here, but a “Shining” phone that looks almost exactly like the original version of the Kogan Agora Android phone just popped up on Alibaba with a three-day delivery time and a 100-unit wholesale price of $240. Of course, the Agora was just delayed indefinitely, so this could just be nothing; contracting design and development out to faceless Chinese manufacturers like Kogan’s doing is pretty much a deal with the KIRF devil, and those are definitely renders on the site, not actual pictures. Still, we’re dying to see a flood of non-G1 Android handsets shake up the mobile market, and if getting stoked over sketchy Asian copies of semi-vaporware Australian phones is how we have to get our kicks, well, we’re looking for new friends with an extra 24 grand and a healthy sense of forgiveness.

[Thanks, Raymanism]

Filed under: Cellphones

“Shining” phone steals a little Agora magic originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 06:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, Kogan — we were so, so hopeful that you weren’t peddling vaporware, and the latest indications seemed to suggest that the Agora and Agora Pro were very much real devices. We wanted to root for the little guy, get another Android handset out into the unlocked market, review it, and love it to death. Unfortunately, scrappy Australian entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan has decided to delay the launch of his independently-designed phones indefinitely citing concerns over compatibility with future Android apps — concerns that were likely raised in a hush-hush meeting he’d recently scored with Google. One issue, it seems, is that the Agora’s screen resolution won’t likely play nice with Android apps going forward; that doesn’t seem quite right since the form factor is totally standard, but who really knows? The dude’s had working prototypes on video, so we can’t totally write it off just yet.

[Thanks Alex Z., and everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

So close, yet so far: Kogan Agora delayed indefinitely originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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