Sorry, Proview. No iPad ban for you.According to Apple, it purchased the trademark to the iPad name from Proview in 2009.Proview has been trying to get the iPad banned in specific cities, although that doesn’t seem to be working out very well for the company. The Shanghai court’s decision doesn’t help Proview’s efforts, and it…
Jeff Gamet
Jeff Gamet is the Mac Observer’s Managing Editor, and co-host of the Apple Context Machine podcast. He is the author of “The Designer’s Guide to Mac OS X” from Peachpit Press, and writes for several design-related publications. Jeff has presented at events such as Macworld Expo, the RSA Conference, and the Mac Computer Expo. In all his spare time, he also hosts TMO’s Daily Observations podcast, co-hosts The iOS Show podcast, and makes guest appearances on several other shows, too. Jeff dreams in HD.
Articles by Jeff Gamet
Air Force Drops Plans for iPad Flight Bags Over Security Concerns
Air Force scraps big iPad purchaseAir Force Special Operations halted its iPad purchase plans two days after Nextgov asked about the inclusion of GoodReader as one of the apps for managing and reading PDF documents on the tablet device. GoodReader is a popular iPhone and iPad app that handles file transfers to and from the…
Proview Ready to Negotiate with Apple Over iPad Name
“We are now preparing for negotiations,” Proview lawyer Xie Xianghui said, according to The Times of India. “The court cases will continue until we reach an agreement.”Proview prepping for iPad trademark negotiations with AppleApple has argued that it legitimately purchased the Chinese rights to the iPad name, although local courts ruled in favor of Proview…
ABC Nightline Special to Look in Foxconn iPad Factories
Apple has been targeted by human rights groups for the working conditions in factories that build its products. The company responded by saying it monitors the conditions at the facilities it subcontracts for production, and that new inspections in conjunction with the Fair Labor Association were underway.The FLA said that its preliminary investigation showed better…
Settlement Deal Reached in iPhone “Antennagate” Lawsuit
The class action lawsuit claimed that Apple misled customers by intentionally withholding information about antenna performance on the iPhone 4. Attorneys jumped on the issue after reports surfaced showing that holding the iPhone 4 in a specific way could cause signal strength to drop.Apple responded to the allegations by claiming all cell phones can lose…
Final Version of Messages to Drop Lion Support
Thanks to a text string Consomac found in the beta version of Messages, it looks like Lion users will get cut off from the app once Mountain Lion is released. The text string reads:Thank you for participating in the Messages Beta program. With the inclusion of Messages in OS X Mountain Lion, the Messages Beta…
Xcode 4.3 Adds Mountain Lion Gatekeeper Support
Gatekeeper lets Mountain Lion users control where their apps come from. They can choose to allow app downloads from anywhere — just as they have always been able to do — or limit downloads to the Mac App Store and trusted developers. By adding their Developer ID to apps, developers can “sign” their apps to…
Sprint Activates 1.8M iPhones, 40% are New Customers
Sprint became the third U.S. iPhone carrier in October 2011 along with the launch of the iPhone 4S. The company used the offer of unlimited wireless data plans to help lure new customers into signing contracts, although it added data caps to its mobile hotspot offerings.Despite the success Sprint has had with the iPhone, the…
Germany Overturns Injunction, Apple Resumes iPhone Sales
Apple overturns injunction blocking iPhone and iPad salesApple told SlashGear that it appealed the injunction “because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago.”The patent in question relates to 3G/UTMS technology and has been deemed critical to the industry.Motorola won…
Motorola Ruling Halts Some iPhone Sales in Germany
Apple pulls some iOS devices from Germany over injunctionPulling the 3G-enabled devices from the Apple online store follows a December ruling that awarded Motorola an injunction blocking the sale of the devices in Germany. The iPhone 4S isn’t included in the injunction because it shipped after Motorola filed its case with the German court.In a…
Jumsoft Intros iBooks Author Themes
Jumsoft’s Cookbook template for iBooks AuthorThe package includes ten templates with editable layouts, chapter and text pages, covers, table of contents, glossary pages, and more. Template styles are included for business and textbook layouts.Book Palette 1.0 is priced at US$2.99 and is available at Apple’s Mac App Store. The templates require iBooks Author, which is…
Microsoft Money Buys Wisconsin Schools iPads
Microsoft money buys Wisconsin schools iPadsWisconsin and Microsoft settled a software-related lawsuit in 2009 that landed US$3.4 million for the state, along with $80 in technology vouchers. $2.1 million was divided between the schools, and the Madison district is using some of that to finance its iPad purchases.The district will start by placing the multimedia…
Apple Guides Lower for Q2 2012, but with Reasons
Mr. Oppenheimer said Apple is expecting revenue for its second fiscal quarter to hit US$32.5 billion, which is still up substantially from the $24.7 billion the company brought in during the same quarter last year. Gross margins are expected to be about 42 percent, and operating expenses are projected at $3.05 billion. Mr. Oppenheimer’s reasons…
Analyst: 350,000 Apple Textbook Downloads in 3 Days
Over 350,000 textbooks downloaded in 3 daysThe analyst firm doesn’t say how it reached the 350,000 figure, although it claims to have a proprietary system for tracking Apple’s ebook sales, according to AllThingsD.Apple introduced its new interactive textbook format for iBooks 2 and the iPad at a special media event in New York City on…
Congress: Tracking Who Supports SOPA, PIPA
ProPublica lists which politicians support or oppose the bills, and can sort by state, age, years served, how much money politicians have accepted from media companies, and more.The Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, is a House of Representatives bill that would make it surprisingly easy to get court orders to shut down any website…
House to Resume SOPA Debate in February
“To enact legislation that protects consumers, businesses and jobs from foreign thieves who steal America’s intellectual property, we will continue to bring together industry representatives and Members to find ways to combat online piracy,” he said.SOPA bill resumes in FebruaryThe Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, is a bill that would make it surprisingly easy…
In Icons Scraps Steve Jobs Doll
In a statement on the In Icons website, Mr. Cheung said:Unfortunately we have received immense pressure from the lawyers of Apple and Steve Jobs family. Regardless of the pressure, I am still Steve’s fan, I fully respect Steve, and his family, and it is definitely not my wish or intention that they be upset. Though we…
White House Opposes SOPA, Congress Drops Bill
In response to online petitions against the SOPA legislation, the President said even though he sees online piracy from foreign websites as a problem, he won’t support any bill that erodes freedom of speech or expression, or that potentially threatens online security.“Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship…
TMO at CES: What to Watch for in 2012
Tablets Last year, it seemed practically every company at CES had their own version of they hoped would be the “iPad killer” tablet, and most of those never took off or were killed before going to market. This year, we’ll probably see more of the same: A wide range of screen sizes, cheap construction, and…
TMO Opens 2012 Editors Choice Awards Submissions
The Mac Observer will once again host its annual Editors Choice Awards at Macworld | iWorld Expo in January. Our editors will choose what they deem to be the best-of-the-best new Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod-related products released between Macworld Expo last year and the start of the show this year. Only companies exhibiting at…
Motorola Drops E911 GPS Patent from ITC Apple Complaint
Motorola drops Ep11 patent from ITC complaint against ApplePulling the patent from its ITC complaint makes sense, according to Florian Mueller of Foss Patents. “If Motorola won an ITC import ban over devices implementing that feature, it’s quite possible that the ITC would deny or delay such a ban for public interest considerations,” he said.Motorola’s…
Kanye West Wants to be the Next Steve Jobs
Just exactly what those products and services are is still a little murky since Mr. West apparently hasn’t moved beyond simply wanting to make those things and actually moved into the design and production phase.Kanye West, ready to pick up where Steve Jobs left offHe shared his plans on Twitter Wednesday evening, offering up comments…
Apple Settles Elan’s Touch-related Lawsuit for $5 Million
As part of the settlement deal Apple and Elan will also cross-license certain patents, according to Reuters.Elan filed its patent infringement lawsuit against Apple in early 2009 following a breakdown in negotiations between the two companies.The company followed up in March 2010 by filing a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission in an effort…
Court Denies Apple Request to Keep Info Secret in Psystar Case
Psystar’s only legal win: Apple documents won’t stay sealedApple didn’t deny that the information was already available or that it had been leaked or stolen before appearing on websites, according to Bloomberg. The Cupertino company’s legal team argued that it never confirmed the information was legit, so it still qualified as trade secrets.Judge Alsup, however,…