With the release of the iPad in 2010, and the termendous and unexpected success of this latest Apple innovation, there was no doubt that all of Apple’s competitors would be releasing their own tablets in the near future in order to compete with the iPad.
After the first wave of releases and the initial thickening of the competition in this market, rumors began to fly, already in January, regarding the new features and specs expected to accompany the release of the iPad 2, which will ship on March 11.
In the following infographic, we’ll take a look at what innovation the iPad 2 will be bringing to the table (or should we say tablet?), as well as what Apple’s competitors will offer in an effort to stay in the face. Be sure to click on the infographic to enlarge it!
You might think it is tough to have a lengthy argument about the meaning of two words. But in the case of Apple and Microsoft, you’d be wrong.
Apple has now fired back in a legal row with Microsoft over whether or not the term “App store” should be protected as intellectual property.
The dispute dates back to 2008 when Apple originally requested a trademark on the term at the launch of the iTunes App Store for iPhone applications. The request covered any form of software sales with delivery over the Internet rather than in physical media.
The trademark application process being a slow-moving beast, there was still opportunity to file objections this January, an opportunity Microsoft took full advantage of. It argued that “undisputed facts” showed that the word “app” (as a contraction of software application) has been in use for 25 years or more, that the word “store” (as, erm, a retail facility) is well established, and that thus it wasn’t possible to trademark the two words together.
Microsoft also argued that app store was widely used to refer to similar services from other providers, and even cited Steve Jobs referring to the Android “app stores” during a conference call.
Apple’s response is to argue that it’s nonsense to look at the individual words: to assess a phrase for trademark purposes you have to take the entire phrase together. Or as the filing states in one section heading, ” Microsoft’s ‘Noun Plus Store’ Test Grossly Oversimplifies the Genericness Test.”
It then trots out a linguistics expert who notes that humans interpret phrases as a whole rather than looking at each word individually, before citing examples of granted trademarks such as “Vision Center” and “Park ‘n’ Fly” that are made up of widely used individual words.
The company also rubbishes the press clippings Microsoft put forward and suggests they are “simply a small, inconsequential subset of how the relevant public uses the term.” It notes that in a database of both written and spoken English use in the US, 88% of the time people mentioned “APP STORE”, they were referring to Apple’s service.
Apple also argues that a study carried out for the Microsoft filing, which put that figure at just 20%, was flawed because it intentionally searched only for use of the term “app store” in lower case, thus excluding many official references to Apple’s service.
Back in my day, we had gold and white gold, and platinum if we were lucky. (We also walked to school uphill both ways.) These days, getting hitched can be decidedly more geeky, which translates into “decidedly more OMGWTFYES. Moar of that, thx.”
Etsy dealer jewelrybyjohan is elevating the diamond band of old to new heights. (Insert “out of this world” joke here.) Available with Gibeon or Muonionalusta inlays, the rings aren’t cheap, but they certainly are impressive.
Shown: Muonionalusta Meteorite Inlay Set in White Gold
Look at the Widmanstatten pattern! Be still my geeky heart. These are fab.
If you’re not looking to get married, don’t despair–inlays and interchangeable band versions are available for tables of one, too.
Shown: 5mm Gibeon Meteorite Inlay in Titanium
Shown: 4mm Meteorite and Box Elder Inlay in Titanium
Here’s the first movie trailer for Philip K. Dick’s Radio Free Albemuth. Apparently, according to the people at Quiet Earth, who’ve reviewed a workprint of the movie last year, the whole thing is very well done and faithful do Dick’s style and intentions. Check it out:
Oh and yes, that’s totally Alanis Morissette you’ve just seen. I don’t know about you guys, but the film looks like a low budget made -for-tv movie.
I’ll be the first to admit that guns make me nervous. I am not a fan. But this cubic sculpture dismantles into 135 pieces, which in another configuration create a working .45 caliber muzzle-loading pistol—that’s pretty awesome. To be clear, not every part of the puzzle is a component of the finished gun assembly. However, contained within the cube are custom tools to assemble the piece, bullets, standard and laser sights, black powder pellets and a storage compartment.
Dubbed the Intimidator, the cube-turned-weapon was created by artist GarE Maxton, a process that took over a year to complete. The puzzle cube (which throws a bit of an AllSpark vibe) comprises six different metals and opens with a magnetic key, which then allows the parts to be separated and reassembled. The video below shows the process.
