Above is the very first ad for the iPad which made its snazzy debut at the Oscars tonight. And that’s on top of Steve Jobs actually appearing on the red carpet. One thing that’s for sure is the media blitz that will appear after this ad.
Apple is suing HTC for over 20 patents “related to the iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.” After Apple sued Nokia, you though all was over, right? Wrong. And some of the charges are unbelievable. One of them is unlock gestures on an unlock screen. That would cover every single smartphone right now on the market. Apple is asking for a permant injuction wohich would bar HTC from selling its phones here in the U.S. The entire filing and press release is embedded for you after the break.
And guess what? There’s comment from Steve Jobs on this too:
“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”
UPDATE: It looks like HTC didn’t even know of the case against them and have not even seen the lawsuit for themselves. Here’s their comment:
We only learned of Apple’s actions based on your stories and Apple’s press release. We have not been served yet so we are in no position to comment on the claims. We respect and value patent rights but we are committed to defending our own innovations. We have been innovating and patenting our own technology for 13 years.
So far it seems that HTC is pretty confident. Giz and All Things D are really the only other blogs with the docs right now, since they’re not even in the court system yet. Once they do come out and are published for all to see, we’ll know exactly what Cupertino and Steve are actually suing for.
Essentially it’s the same type of lawsuit file against Nokia, and almost the same nasty comments on Palm, but which haven’t led Apple to sue them (yet). We’ll update this post as soon as we learn what exactly Apple sued HTC for.
Bill Gates ‘ take on the iPad is well, meh. While Steve Jobs thinks netbooks are good at nothing, our good buddy Gates thinks exactly otherwise:
“You know, I’m a big believer in touch and digital reading, but I still think that some mixture of voice, the pen and a real keyboard – in other words a netbook – will be the mainstream on that.”
He goes on to say that the iPad is a “nice reader” but not another product or idea that makes him wish that Microsoft had done it first, say the iPhone. But as for Disney CEO Robert Iger, he brings out that dreaded word “game changer” and says that the iPad will bring “essentially new forms of content.” may we not forget that Steve serves on the Disney board, so this could just be a courtesy call. Either way, Disney could come up with some day I say “game changing” ideas that could possibly make Gates envy the iPad. So now, ultrathin sleek tablets, or fast small and nimble netbooks — what say of you, sir?
At the Apple Campus, there is a “Town Hall” of sorts after a major product announcement. Steve is asked questions by those who dare to look at him straight in the face and ask a question (Apple employees). At this “Town Hall”, Jobs took a serious stab at Google; he says that Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” mantra is (and I directly quote) “bullshit”. Moving on (*ahem*) Steve called Adob (and I quote) “lazy” , because they have the power to do great things, but never do. Senor Steve also spoke of Flash, and that usually when a Mac crashes it’s usually because of Flash, and that the world is on the move to HTML5. Also, the launch of the nexus One on the day the App Store hit 3 billion downloads means nothing to him, and that he won’t let them (Google) “win”. If any of you thought Steve is weak after his leave, then I’m sure we can all confirm that Steve Jobs’ health is exceedingly well.
It’s on Apple’s website for your enjoyment, and a 7:00 minute video is included too. But why settle for just that? Check out the post I made earlier will all of the details and press shots you could possibly want.
Yes, it’s the Apple iPad. A tablet, which looks like a big iPod Touch. Are you surprised? It’s a “very thin” device at 0.5-inches, as according to Steve Jobs, runs iPhone OS, and you can now add desktop backgrounds to your homescreen. Multimedia is one of the main features of the iPad; watching movies, the full iTunes Store, access to YouTube, in HD, an awesome Email experience, improved Calendar, iPhoto, Maps, an e-reading app called iBooks, iWork for the iPad which has a new UI, and a giant on-screen QWERTY keyboard. The Apple iPad’s screen size is 9.7-inches, and has the same home button a la iPod Touch or iPhone. As for old iPhone apps, it can run them out-of-the box, because you can now make an app go fullscreen. Read on to see what makes the iPad awesome and its press release.
All buzzers, lights, and alarm clocks have gone off! Terry McGraw, CEO of McGraw-Hill (you know what company that is for sure) says that tomorrow’s Apple announcement is about the Apple Tablet, and that it does run the iPhone OS, and since 95% of McGraw-Hill books are in e-reader format, the Apple Tablet will be” fantastic”. The anchor that was on air dropped a softball question which in fact did get answered. The Apple Tablet magic beings at the 2:49 mark in the CNBC video after the break, and a transcript from Terry is also included. [Via MacRumors]