My smartphone is an HTC Droid Eris. The HTC Sense user interface allows me to flip through a series of seven highly-customizable screens, all with various icons for apps, contacts, email notifications. I can magnify a web page by "pinching-and-zooming" with my fingers; I can make a web page dance on my Eris with digital flicks and swipes - and by "digital," I mean the digits on my hands.
Does that make my Eris an illegal iPhone clone? Does a touchscreen that takes up the entire face of the phone come too close to comfort to original iPhone designs?
Apple CEO Steve Jobs seems to think so. This week he sicced his company's lawyers on HTC, a Taiwanese company with North American headquarters in Bellevue. Apple's lawsuit claims 20 patent infringements by HTC regarding user interface, hardware and architecture. Jobs issued a statement saying competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own technology, not steal it.
That prompted some tech blogophiles to dig up archival video of a young Steve Jobs, er, "borrowing" a quote from Pablo Picasso by saying, "Good artists copy, great artists steal." Lance Ulanoff, editor in chief of PC Magazine, wonders in a tweet if that video can be used against Jobs in court.
HTC has issued a couple of responses, the latest saying that it's been making innovative smartphones for 13 years (Apple's iPhone debuted in 2007), it values all patent rights, will work with the U.S. judicial system to protect its own innovations and that consumer choice is the key to industry success, and that's best achieved by many suppliers making a variety of different phones. HTC also said it doesn't believe the lawsuit is a short-term threat to business or forthcoming quarterly earnings.
And long-term prospects? That's what has the tech press and blogosphere buzzing this week. Some pundits say Apple is now officially Microsoft/IBM/Darth Vader. Other experts are debating the real value in current U.S. patent law (can ideas like finger-swipes and pinch-and-zooms really be patented? Should they be?) Tech blog Engadget makes a compelling case that Apple's suit is really about Google; the lawsuit language mentions the Android operating system (developed by Google) a lot, and HTC is making not only its own branded Android phones but Google's new Nexus One Android handset.
I suppose that an Apple-friendly judge could order HTC to issue some software fixes that remove certain features from my Droid Eris. Or the judge could halt shipments and sales of HTC phones to the U.S. while this is all being hashed out. What the pundits say is more likely to happen is a countersuit, appeals and another legal battle of tech giants, one that might rival Sun vs. Microsoft. That is, unless the companies decide to settle, or unless one party or the other decides to use the case as a way to change patent law. If that's the case, both companies should make sure that customers/consumers aren't harmed during that process. That could magnify the damages ensuing from this case, and you wouldn't need pinch-and-zoom to see the results.
Seattle startup success
Two local startups I've mentioned before on the King5 Morning Tech Report scored big business wins this week, including a deal with the aforementioned Google.
Picnik, which makes photo-editing software that works within your web browser (no downloads needed) was bought by Google for an undisclosed amount. But CEO Jonathan Sposato told TechFlash's John Cook that it was a "very, very happy number." I'm sure the more zeroes he saw on the contract, the wider the smiles on his face and those of the other 22 employees.
Look for Picnik to show up more on your Android smartphone as Google expands on its mobile and social media strategies.
Meanwhile, the company that distributes the Edmond-based digital video company, The Window Channel, made its own deal with another tech giant, Cisco. Blue Pond Media will soon be providing Window Channel content to Cisco's digital signage division.
The Window Channel provides ambient, non-narrative video for hotel rooms and hospitals. Its staff shoots HD video from scenic locations worldwide and uses it for background/relaxation video. It's currently seen in more than a million hotel rooms around the world.
Motorola Devour review
I know you're hungry like the wolf for the latest on the Devour, Motorola's new Android smartphone (seriously, who names these things?), so here you go:
Wrapped in a shiny aluminum case, the Devour is another example of Motorola trying new design ideas to rejuvenate its handset lineup, while stuffing the insides with faster processors. In that respect, the Devour seems to be taking on the company's own Droid model.
The slide-out keyboard seems really wide and easy enough to use, although I could use a little more "rise" in the keys to really accommodate quicker typing. Companies have to get these physical keyboard strategies just right if they're going to target the younger, tweeting, Facebook-status-updating crowd with these handsets.
And it's obvious that's who Motorola and carrier Verizon have in mind for the Devour, thanks to the Motoblur user interface that seamlessly integrates all the favorite social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, MySpace. Your notifications are right there on the home screen, arranged in speech-balloon style. Nice touch, IMHO.
The processor, meanwhile, makes sure that data-intensive applications like Google Maps come up fairly quickly, as these smartphones become more and more useful as navigation devices.
The big drawback for me: the weight and feel of the Devour. Not tasty enough for me and a little blocky, I'm afraid. And while aluminum is a different design touch than the popular black matte option, to me it somehow seems to add to the heft while giving the phone some sharp edges when you slide out the keyboard.
But Devour should be ready to be gobbled up (last eating metaphor, I swear) by smartphone shoppers when it goes into wide retail in March. It is available right now, though, at Best Buy.
