Samsung Seemingly Unconcerned Over Apple Lawsuit, Hints Dispute Could Continue to Escalate

[BLACKFRIDAY]

The LG KE850 is the Prada. An unofficial leaked photo of the KE850 showed up on tech rumour sites three weeks before Apple officially took the wraps off of the final version of the iPhone (January 9, 2007). The iPhone shipped in the US on June 9th as it required FCC approval and Apple being secretive (paranoid) didn't want to send the FCC the device until it had been officially announced publicly.

An official LG press release showing nothing more than an image of the KE850 appeared on January 18, 2007. So far, I have been unable to locate any firm actual ship dates on the device, but a second, revised version shipped in October. I'm still trying to find the article where I originally read it, but evidently the UI changed on the second version to more closely resemble the UI of the iPhone. I'm still looking.

It is pretty obvious that both companies were heading in similar directions at the same time. Clearly LG must have had a spy in Apple's labs! (Kidding!) Comparing both devices in photos and video footage, today's touch screen phones easily resemble the iPhone over the KE850 in both appearance, UI and functionality, but the KE850 looked pretty decent.

So... I still have not seen proof of anything like the iPhone that clearly pre-dates it. Again, I'm not claiming that Apple invents everything cool and I'm not saying Apple does no wrong. I further agree that it is entirely possible for competing companies to be working on similar projects at the same time. That said I still maintain that todays smart phones very closely resemble Apple's iPhone over anything else.

That's exactly what I feel too.

There is innovation everywhere. It's very obvious that Apple is not the only one innovating; looking at all the other awesome things around.

The point being, some people who just act smart, portray as if they don't really care but in the end, make things personal and end up spewing the unexpected.

They also do imply, that if we are supporting Apple through one of our opinions, we are not being 'objective'. Is bashing Apple always objective cause that makes one mature? No, I guess.

 

[Bilbo63]

I don't really remember the LG Prada. The pictures I've found show a primitive looking phones from 2007. The only comparison to the iPhone is that it's a touchscreen phone that has icons.

The issue between Apple and Samsung is not the grid of icons that all touchscreen phones have... it's about the icons themselves and other elements that look strikingly similar to iOS. Plus, packaging and other trade dress infringement that might confuse the consumer.

Apple believes that Samsung designed TouchWiz to look and feel as much like iOS as possible, and then marketed it as such.

There are plenty of other touchscreen phones that manage to look different... so the argument that 2 companies can end up in the same place doesn't really work.

The iPhone has basically looked the same since its launch in 2007... and when did TouchWiz come out?

Samsung clearly didn't try hard enough...

Thats pretty much how I feel. I further think that Samsung didn't have to make certain elements of their UI and Touch-Wiz feature so much like the iPhone. Apple feels that it was done intentionally to create confusion in the marketplace.

I was in a mobile phone store and a customer came in and asked for an iPhone. They didn't carry the iPhone so he said nothing and pulled out a demo Samsung Android device, hoping that the woman wouldn't notice. When she asked why there was no Apple logo on any of the the boxes, he simply said "we don't actually sell the iPhone", but this is the same thing. It has the same home screen as the iPhone, the same touch interface as the iPhone etc. She did buy it as I recall, because she didn't want to switch carriers.

If you look at the majority of best selling cell phones "pre-iPhone", they all looked quite different. Some were candy bar designs, some were clam shell, some were tiny, some were large, they were many different shapes. It's like everyone was searching for the perfect mix.

If you look at most of the best selling phones today, many, but not all, very closely resemble Apple's first iPhone, in size, shape, appearance and UI.

 

[cwkoller5]

Everybody's saying just what they're supposed to...

Yeah, it is copied. But there are shades of gray and every Apple competitor is going to do what they can to blur the line. Microsoft has taken a different tack by differentiating the UI, so we'll see how that works. It's business, and the lawyers are thriving...

Four years ago, everything looked like a Crackberry. Today everything looks like a dark sheet of glass. Prada may have shipped first, but the UI was primitive compared to the iPhone which no doubt had been in development for years.

I'm surprised Apple wasn't more aggressive out of the gate with its patents, like it was with the original iMac. But now it seems like patent wars are simply another front on which tech companies battle and wield influence over competitors ... and suppliers.

 

[Bilbo63]

Yeah, it is copied. But there are shades of gray and every Apple competitor is going to do what they can to blur the line. Microsoft has taken a different tack by differentiating the UI, so we'll see how that works. It's business, and the lawyers are thriving...

Four years ago, everything looked like a Crackberry. Today everything looks like a dark sheet of glass. Prada may have shipped first, but the UI was primitive compared to the iPhone which no doubt had been in development for years.

I'm surprised Apple wasn't more aggressive out of the gate with its patents, like it was with the original iMac. But now it seems like patent wars are simply another front on which tech companies battle and wield influence over competitors ... and suppliers.

True. I'm not sure that the Prada shipped first, but the iPhone was officially announced first and they didn't simply show a picture either. Apple demoed a finished device ready to ship pending the FCC approval. It wasn't perfect and it lacked some features but it did pave the way more or less for any number of iPhone wannabes that would soon follow.

That's splitting hairs anyway. I wouldn't say that LG copied Apple, but it does appear that they were heading in similar directions The Prada isn't all that similar anyway in form factor or operation.

I too am surprised that Apple hasn't been more aggressive. When Steve announced the phone he said that they patented the heck out of it. Maybe the legal wrangling is just getting started, maybe it won't happen at all. You just never know when it comes to this stuff.

What I fail to understand is how Eric Schmidt was able to have a seat on Apple's board, be privy to the secretive work that Apple was developing in their labs, then trot back to the Google labs and have his crew work on practically a carbon copy. How does this even happen? Steve must have had a ***** hemorrhage.

 

[Obi-Wan Kubrick]

Samsung should be embarrassed, along with the others that blatantly copy this UI.

 

[shandyman]

Actually, yes, they are suing for UI patents in the iPhone, including some multi-touch patents. It seems that Sense UI is also a rip-off and a blatant copy according to Apple.

And I'm embarassing myself... Why don't you go read up on this stuff BEFORE you try to post about it. It'll save both of us some time.

then it's not exactly the same as the samsung case is it? lol

 

[dba7dba]

True. I'm not sure that the Prada shipped first, but the iPhone was officially announced first and they didn't simply show a picture either. Apple demoed a finished device ready to ship pending the FCC approval. It wasn't perfect and it lacked some features but it did pave the way more or less for any number of iPhone wannabes that would soon follow.

That's splitting hairs anyway. I wouldn't say that LG copied Apple, but it does appear that they were heading in similar directions The Prada isn't all that similar anyway in form factor or operation.

I too am surprised that Apple hasn't been more aggressive. When Steve announced the phone he said that they patented the heck out of it. Maybe the legal wrangling is just getting started, maybe it won't happen at all. You just never know when it comes to this stuff.

What I fail to understand is how Eric Schmidt was able to have a seat on Apple's board, be privy to the secretive work that Apple was developing in their labs, then trot back to the Google labs and have his crew work on practically a carbon copy. How does this even happen? Steve must have had a ***** hemorrhage.

Wrong info re release date of LG. LG Prada was shown at design show and won award about 5 months before iPhone was first revealed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_Prada_(KE850)

---Excerpt
LG Electronics has claimed the iPhone's design was copied from the LG Prada. Woo-Young Kwak, head of LG Mobile Handset R&D Center, said at a press conference, “We consider that Apple copied the Prada phone after the design was unveiled when it was presented in the iF Design Award and won the prize in September 2006.”[8][9]
LG later claimed that Apple stole both the ideas and concept of the Prada phone. A lawsuit by LG had been rumored prior to this announcement; [8] however, LG has remained silent on whether or not they will file a lawsuit.



Not necessarily saying iphone is direct copy of LG Prada but...

If Apple prevails against Samsung, than me think LG will sue Apple. No reason not to as Apple essentially laid the legal precedence for LG to use.

 

[kdarling]

True. I'm not sure that the Prada shipped first, but the iPhone was officially announced first and they didn't simply show a picture either. Apple demoed a finished device ready to ship pending the FCC approval.

Minor quibble: Apple demoed the iPhone in January 2007. It probably wasn't completely ready, as the FCC submittal wasn't until March, and field tests began in May. Sales started late June.

I too am surprised that Apple hasn't been more aggressive. When Steve announced the phone he said that they patented the heck out of it.

Jobs says a lot of things. There's actually fairly few currently approved directly iPhone-related patents, and most can be gotten around easily. For instance, their patent on a straight line slide-to-unlock that shows the path to take and a path marker that follows your finger.

What I fail to understand is how Eric Schmidt was able to have a seat on Apple's board, be privy to the secretive work ...

I don't think the Apple board members knew any details. Heck, even AT&T's board took a single executive's word that it would be worth carrying it.

 

[Bilbo63]

Wrong info re release date of LG. LG Prada was shown at design show and won award about 5 months before iPhone was first revealed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_Prada_(KE850)

Image
---Excerpt
LG Electronics has claimed the iPhone's design was copied from the LG Prada. Woo-Young Kwak, head of LG Mobile Handset R&D Center, said at a press conference, “We consider that Apple copied the Prada phone after the design was unveiled when it was presented in the iF Design Award and won the prize in September 2006.”[8][9]
LG later claimed that Apple stole both the ideas and concept of the Prada phone. A lawsuit by LG had been rumored prior to this announcement; [8] however, LG has remained silent on whether or not they will file a lawsuit.



Not necessarily saying iphone is direct copy of LG Prada but...

If Apple prevails against Samsung, than me think LG will sue Apple. No reason not to as Apple essentially laid the legal precedence for LG to use.

As I've said previously, it really doesn't matter it's like splitting hairs, obviously, they were both working on similar tech at the same time. If you look at the video footage of this device working, from an interface standpoint it's very different from the iPhone and the current Android line up we enjoy today. It was pretty nice for the time though.

"The LG KE850, also known as the LG Prada,[1] is a touchscreen mobile phone made by LG Electronics. It was first announced on December 12, 2006.[2] Images of the device appeared on websites such as Engadget Mobile on December 15, 2006.[3] An official press release showing an image of the device appeared on January 18, 2007.[1] It was the first mobile phone with a capacitive touchscreen. LG Prada sold 1 million units[4][5] in the first 18 months.[6]
A second version of the phone, the LG Prada II (KF900) was announced October 13, 2008. It was released December 2008."

I was looking at "official announce dates". The last time that "controversy" was brought up, I thought that it was proven to have been false and never happened. I seem to recall someone who claimed to be at the event saying that the device was talked about but not shown. But everything on the internet is not always true, so that's really interesting. Out of curiosity, I'm going to look into it more.

I agree with you 100%. If Apple is proven to have "ripped-off" portions of LG's IP, then they should be held accountable. Live by the sword, die by the sword. that's the way it should be.

Cheers.

 

[Bilbo63]

I don't think the Apple board members knew any details. Heck, even AT&T's board took a single executive's word that it would be worth carrying it.

Yeah you could be right on the money. I thought that Steve claimed otherwise at the time. One thing for sure he was not happy about it. But don't you think that the similarities are a little close to have happened entirely by accident? Or is Android a ticking patent time-bomb that has yet to explode as some have said?

 

[Dbrown]

Samsung is under contract with Apple. At this point there is legally no bridge that can be burned.

So? Not supplying parts to apple would surely cause more damage to apple than whatever penalties Samsung would have to pay for breach of contract.

 

[w00t951]

Did Samsung really copy the icon colors? That's going a bit far.

 

[AidenShaw]

Did Samsung really copy the icon colors? That's going a bit far.

Apple copied the colors from Windows Mobile.

So?

 

[majorm]

That is S. Korea. They report that they are the best at everything and if you look a little further, you find that the numbers don't add up. Their recycling system is wonk, for sure as nothing is reused at all. Germany and Sweden are way waaaay better; things go and get cleaned, not remade from factory.

You know, comments like this makes me wonder if there would be so much uproar if Apple was suing an American company, and not a foreign one. Keep it classy, people.