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HTC Says 'It's Apple That Copies Us' After One A9 Called iPhone Lookalike
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I'd have to agree with HTC. When I first saw the release of the iPhone 6 the first thing I said was "Wow looks like the HTC M7 or M8"
So I think It's kinda hypocritical to have a go at HTC for copying because clearly HTC had that design first. They even added curved edges before Apple did on the HTC M8 release.
So I think It's kinda hypocritical to have a go at HTC for copying because clearly HTC had that design first. They even added curved edges before Apple did on the HTC M8 release.
Those lines are stupid. Were stupid when HTC put them, stupid when Apple put them.
This is not about them but about everything else. Put the phones together and compare them from every angle.
I do not care much about this topic but HTC is not correct. They were lazy. I used to love their designs as being very distinct.
What is this, "They copied first and now we copy the copy"?! This is childish.
Uh, people...
-- HTC AND APPLE ARE CROSS-LICENSED:
A lot of posters here seem to have forgotten (or never knew) that Apple and HTC have a full utility patent cross-license. In other words, Apple and HTC have already agreed to the limits of what can be done.
The license specifies that HTC cannot look too much like an iPhone, so Apple has 30 days to file a complaint if they wish.
However, such a complaint is unlikely to happen, since the same cross license is what allowed Apple to use HTC's proprietary and first-of-its-kind full metal case antenna design, albeit with thicker lines so they wouldn't be copying HTC too closely.
-- THE OFT-MENTIONED LINES ARE NOT WHAT MOST PEOPLE THINK:
A lot of people also seem really confused about antenna "lines" and think that the iPhone 5 is somehow similar. Hardly! (Also see Anandtech quote below.)
The iPhone 5 used glass tops and bottoms to let its internal antennas get through. It was just like years of previous phones that used plastic or other RF transparent materials where the internal antennas are. Nothing special at all.
OTOH, the HTC One was the world's first all metal smartphone design where the metal tops and bottoms WERE the antennas, with a case that was seamlessly bonded out of metal and plastic. LATER on, the iPhone 6 also switched to using the metal top and bottom antenna design.
(No, the iPhone does not transmit through the plastic lines. The lines are insulators, not windows. Cellular doesn't work through tiny windows. That was something that had to be taught to Jon Ive as well, since he mistakenly thought that radios could go through metal or thin windows back when he first started designing the iPhone case. No doubt he was a big proponent of Apple using the HTC design later on.)
To quote Anandtech (when Anand was still there) back in 2013:
"Before you go and say that HTC copied Apple, remember that the reality of product development cycles means that HTC was well underway with the One around the time the 4S was out."
-- HTC AND APPLE ARE CROSS-LICENSED:
A lot of posters here seem to have forgotten (or never knew) that Apple and HTC have a full utility patent cross-license. In other words, Apple and HTC have already agreed to the limits of what can be done.
The license specifies that HTC cannot look too much like an iPhone, so Apple has 30 days to file a complaint if they wish.
However, such a complaint is unlikely to happen, since the same cross license is what allowed Apple to use HTC's proprietary and first-of-its-kind full metal case antenna design, albeit with thicker lines so they wouldn't be copying HTC too closely.
-- THE OFT-MENTIONED LINES ARE NOT WHAT MOST PEOPLE THINK:
A lot of people also seem really confused about antenna "lines" and think that the iPhone 5 is somehow similar. Hardly! (Also see Anandtech quote below.)
The iPhone 5 used glass tops and bottoms to let its internal antennas get through. It was just like years of previous phones that used plastic or other RF transparent materials where the internal antennas are. Nothing special at all.
OTOH, the HTC One was the world's first all metal smartphone design where the metal tops and bottoms WERE the antennas, with a case that was seamlessly bonded out of metal and plastic. LATER on, the iPhone 6 also switched to using the metal top and bottom antenna design.
(No, the iPhone does not transmit through the plastic lines. The lines are insulators, not windows. Cellular doesn't work through tiny windows. That was something that had to be taught to Jon Ive as well, since he mistakenly thought that radios could go through metal or thin windows back when he first started designing the iPhone case. No doubt he was a big proponent of Apple using the HTC design later on.)
To quote Anandtech (when Anand was still there) back in 2013:
"Before you go and say that HTC copied Apple, remember that the reality of product development cycles means that HTC was well underway with the One around the time the 4S was out."
A picture can speak 1,000 words
too bad we can't downvote this garbage
HTC has denied claims that its new flagship One A9 smartphone copies the iPhone. At a press briefing in Taiwan, company executive Jack Tong said that "it's Apple that copies us" in terms of antenna design--the Taiwanese handset maker was first to release a metal unibody smartphone nearly three years ago.
The HTC One A9 compared to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus (via The Verge)
The response was reported by Want China Times (via BGR):The original HTC One M7 launched in March 2013 with an aluminum unibody frame and plastic antenna lines along the top and bottom of the smartphone, both design cues that Apple adopted for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, released 18 months later, and has since carried over to the iPhone 6s lineup.
The original HTC One with an all-metal unibody design launched in March 2013
The One A9 is considered an iPhone lookalike because it has a similar rounded chassis, plastic antenna lines and a protruding rear-facing camera, and because it is available in almost identical colors as the current iPhone lineup. The smartphone also has one speaker located next to the charging port on the bottom.
HTC's rebuttal comes after The Verge described the One A9 as "the most blatant and highest-profile iPhone ripoff since Samsung's original Galaxy S," a bold argument that has been contested by some HTC supporters. The copycat allegations have received significant media coverage this week.
Ultimately, while there is no denying that HTC's One A9 is an iPhone-driven evolution of the HTC One series, it is clear that both smartphone makers have borrowed similar design qualities from each other over the years. Apple has not commented on the matter, but has taken legal action against Samsung for copying in the past.
The One A9 is HTC's latest flagship Android smartphone, featuring a 5-inch screen with a curved-edge display, 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, 1.5 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor, 3GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB storage, Quick Charge 2.0 and Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The smartphone is available in a range of colors, including Carbon Gray, Opal Silver, Deep Garnet and Topaz Gold, for $399 unlocked.
Article Link: HTC Says 'It's Apple That Copies Us' After One A9 Called iPhone Lookalike
How about the fact they named their product A9 which is the name of the iPhone 6s processor. So it looks like it and had the same name as it. Coincidence?
Those people must have never seen the iPod Touch 5th Generation! The iPhone 6 is a DIRECT descendant of the iPod Touch 5th Generation. They are virtually identical except the iPhone 6 has the antenna bands on the back (the SAME bands on the iPhone 5 that were harder to see due to the glass sections color matching them so well. They are there.)
iPod 5th Generation Oct 2012:
iPhone 6:
HTC One M7, 6 months AFTER iPod Touch 5th Gen:
The M7 is a direct ripoff of the iPod Touch 5th Generation and the iPhone 5 which came out 6 months earlier. The iPhone 6 is clearly a direct decedent of the iPod Touch 5th Generation. Without the antennae bands which are needed for the cellular equipped iPhone 6 they are virtually indiscernible from each other from the front and or the side. No chance HTC designed the One M7 in an Apple Free vacuum where they were not directly influenced by the iPhone 5 and iPod Touch 5th Gen. Especially if you look at the HTC One S that came out 6 months before the iPhone 5/iPod 5 which was black hunk of junk all plastic design.
But the iphone 4/5/6 is clearly evolution.
Also the original iPhone 2g had the full metal body and antenna break at the bottom. Sorry but apple did not copy anything from HTC. It's not possible with the development of phone for Apple to have done so! It's impossible to copy that quick it takes years to develop a phone design like that.
However it is suspicious that this phone comes out a year after the original apple design. Leaving enough time to clone the look. HTC gonna take a bigger hit on sales and rep for this than just making a great phone, there was nothing wrong with their designs it was always the internals that held them back. Oh well bye bye htc
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Direct ripoff????
...
The M7 is a direct ripoff of the iPod Touch 5th Generation and the iPhone 5 which came out 6 months earlier.
They don't look anything alike, back or front.
What on earth do you think is the same?
Get rid of the antenna lines and I'll be so happy. And that protruding camera
Everyone has a price. And it looks like HTC's pride went out the window together with their profits.
What does the A stand for? We know what the M stands for in Apple's M9 motion co-processor. and if it's the 9th generation of this phone what were the previous 8 called? Why change the name?
HTC supporters just need to own it: Yeah it's a copy of the iphone, but so what? Why is only samsung allowed to copy Apple?
For the rest of us, well, I know steve jobs wasn't a fan of the "imitation is flattery" quote... but isn't it sort of flattering that the only attractive design android OEMs are even capable of making is a copy of the iphone? Doesn't that just validate Apple's design decisions even more?
The hardware is pretty good for android and the price is excellent. If they don't get sued into oblivion this could be a company-saving product. There is room for copycats and unoriginal people to succeed in this world, just ask Samsung.
For the rest of us, well, I know steve jobs wasn't a fan of the "imitation is flattery" quote... but isn't it sort of flattering that the only attractive design android OEMs are even capable of making is a copy of the iphone? Doesn't that just validate Apple's design decisions even more?
The hardware is pretty good for android and the price is excellent. If they don't get sued into oblivion this could be a company-saving product. There is room for copycats and unoriginal people to succeed in this world, just ask Samsung.
So why isn't Apple suing these guys? I think the whole lawsuit thing is ******** to begin with but if you're gonna sue anybody, it might as well be someone who'll give you an easy victory.
This company has had a long history of ripping off Apple's look and identity. Their phones look almost exactly like Apple's phones. Their stores look just like Apple Stores. They even have their own version of Steve Jobs. They can say they aren't ripping anyone off but they're like the Russian government in many ways. They are full of **** and they know it. They also know that you know it and aren't really trying all that hard at lying.
This company has had a long history of ripping off Apple's look and identity. Their phones look almost exactly like Apple's phones. Their stores look just like Apple Stores. They even have their own version of Steve Jobs. They can say they aren't ripping anyone off but they're like the Russian government in many ways. They are full of **** and they know it. They also know that you know it and aren't really trying all that hard at lying.
I think everyone is missing the singular most important thing in this discussion.
HTC and Samsung today have 1) segmented, 2)exposed to touch metal antennas as part of the 3)unibody frame, on their top tier smartphones.
That is what has been copied and accepted in the industry today with Kudos to Apple. Where the plastic bands are is like arguing over which wood frame is used to display the Mona Lisa painting by DaVinci.
2010. iPhone 4. Apple took all the risk and criticism, and flak from Nokia, HTC, Samsung,the media. AnntennaGate was fixed in the iPhone 4S. Then came the 5, 5S. All before the M7
3 years later, 2013 comes the M7. HTC, decides Apple revolutionary external touchable segmented band antenna was a workable idea and copies it. They had criticized it in 2010. People noticed. Affirmation to Apple. The rest of the industry was too timid to try on their own.
Now the Samsung Note line has metal antennas top and bottom. HTC on the back. Apple has had them both places.
But once again, Apple changed the industry thinking on cellular phone design.
The rest is window dressing. Or the wood frame around the gusty, genius design. No guts, no glory. Shameful that HTC is taking credit for this today without having taken the flak that Apple did in 2010. HTC: High Tech Copy
HTC and Samsung today have 1) segmented, 2)exposed to touch metal antennas as part of the 3)unibody frame, on their top tier smartphones.
That is what has been copied and accepted in the industry today with Kudos to Apple. Where the plastic bands are is like arguing over which wood frame is used to display the Mona Lisa painting by DaVinci.
2010. iPhone 4. Apple took all the risk and criticism, and flak from Nokia, HTC, Samsung,the media. AnntennaGate was fixed in the iPhone 4S. Then came the 5, 5S. All before the M7
3 years later, 2013 comes the M7. HTC, decides Apple revolutionary external touchable segmented band antenna was a workable idea and copies it. They had criticized it in 2010. People noticed. Affirmation to Apple. The rest of the industry was too timid to try on their own.
Now the Samsung Note line has metal antennas top and bottom. HTC on the back. Apple has had them both places.
But once again, Apple changed the industry thinking on cellular phone design.
The rest is window dressing. Or the wood frame around the gusty, genius design. No guts, no glory. Shameful that HTC is taking credit for this today without having taken the flak that Apple did in 2010. HTC: High Tech Copy
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In fact, the HTC One M7 came before the 5s. With that, HTC made the first ever all-aluminum phone. The 5/5s had glass covering the antennas, instead, HTC managed to use the plastic insulators to seperate the top/bottom band to make the metal the antenna. This antenna design was what Apple copied (along with the full-metal body!) in the iPhone 6, kudos to HTC. Before this, no one had made a full metal phone with no plastic/glass antenna covers.
If Apple wasn't copying HTC, why didn't they use the 4's antenna design make a full metal phone with the 5? or 5s? Quite simply, HTC were first.
HTC had two-generations of all-aluminum One's before the iPhone 6 came along. Apple ripping off this "truly revolutionary" design – as Apple would call it – is what you call shameful.