Have Laptop Will Travel

Apple hit with patent lawsuit

Originally posted on April 18, 2006 @ 9:44 am

SAN FRANCISCO (Business 2.0 Magazine) – Burst.com, a two-person Internet video company, has sued Apple, claiming that its iTunes and QuickTime software violate Burst’s patents.

Techdirt says the move was expected after Apple (Research) filed suit earlier this year to have the court declare Burst’s patents invalid.

Last year, Burst brought a patent-infringement lawsuit about Internet video delivery against Microsoft (Research), settling the case for $60 million after alleging that Microsoft tried to crush the company.

Both Burst and Apple have hired big legal guns, setting this up to be a case the likes of which we haven’t seen since NTP sued Research In Motion (Research) over the BlackBerry.

Source: CNN.com

iTunes: One Billion Sold

Originally posted on February 23, 2006 @ 9:14 am

Apple Computer announced Thursday that the iTunes Music Store had sold its one-billionth song Thursday, making it to the milestone two months shy of three years since the online music outlet debuted.The unnamed user who bought song 1,000,000,000 will be given a prize package consisting of an iMac, 10 iPod music players, and a card good for $10,000 worth of iTunes downloads, or approximately 10,100 songs.

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Source: InternetWeek

Apple’s Jobs swipes at Longhorn

Originally posted on April 24, 2005 @ 9:50 am

As an avid softball player, I know that when you get a nice flat pitch, you swing for the fences.

Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs clearly knows that too. He didn’t miss a beat when a shareholder asked him if he had any thoughts on Longhorn, the next version of Windows.

“They are shamelessly copying us,” he said during Thursday’s annual meeting.

Most telling, Jobs said is that Tiger, the next version of Mac OS X, will go on sale later this month, while Longhorn is still more than a year away.

“They can’t even copy fast,” he said.

Some of Apple’s advances can be protected by patents, he said, but not all.

“Innovation is the only way to win,” he said. “You just have to stay ahead of people.”

There has been a fair amount of finger-pointing of late, with Windows chief Jim Allchin recently suggesting it was Apple doing the copying.

Gates Says iPod’s Success Won’t Last

Originally posted on May 12, 2005 @ 10:28 am

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates says Apple Computer shouldn’t get too comfortable atop the portable music playing world.

“I don’t think the success of the iPod can continue in the long term, however good Apple may be,” the chairman of Microsoft, the world’s biggest maker of computer software, was quoted as telling German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview published Thursday.

“I think you can draw parallels here with the computer — here, too, Apple was once extremely strong with its Macintosh and graphic user interface, like with the iPod today, and then lost its position.”

The iPod is one of the world’s most popular portable digital music players, with more than 15 million sold since they were introduced.

But makers of mobile phones are targeting the device, unveiling models that feature not only phones, but onboard music players so users can download their music from services directly to their phones.

Both Sony Ericsson and Nokia have models, and more are being made by others, including Samsung and Motorola, which is working with Apple directly.

Source: The Associated Press

In memoriam, Jef Raskin 1943-2005

Originally posted on March 1, 2005 @ 4:27 pm

In memoriam, Jef Raskin 1943-2005: Computer scientist who strove to make the Apple Mac more user friendly – and designed aircraft wings.

As a programmer, interface designer, writer and consultant, Jef Raskin devoted his working life to finding ways to make computers more usable. One of the earliest employees at Apple Computer in the late 1970s, he pushed the company to build an easy-to-use personal computer and led the Macintosh project in its early stages.

Find out more about Jef Raskin