Wires Crossed #71 – February 16

Apple Don’t Give Up In Samsung Fight
Apple is like a dog with a bone when it comes to trying to protect its patents, especially against CE giant Samsung. Having recently lost several rounds against the Korean manufacturer’s version of the slate – the Galaxy Tab 101, Apple is now trying to stop the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus smartphone. One of the first handsets to utilise Google’s Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, the Nexus is claimed to have violated several patents owned by Apple. Whether Apple is successful is neither here nor there, but what we find interesting is this: does Apple think the Nexus is a serious rival to its iPhone? While they would never admit it, this was one of the main reasons they went after the Galaxy Tab 10.1 – most reviewers who got their hands on one thought it was as good as, if not better, than the iPad 2. Is Apple feeling threatened by its chic/cool reputation in the CE market? We think, yes, it does.

Samsung Brothers In Stoush
South Korea’s richest man in 2010, Samsung chairman Lee Kun-Hee, is being sued by his older brother, Lee Maeng-Hee, over some of the inheritance that was left by their father. Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull, passed away in 1987 and left some of the shares he had with non-executive third parties. However, only the younger Lee seems to have inherited those shares, something the elder brother is not happy about. Both brothers have retained law firms – who undoubtedly will be rubbing their hands in glee – and don’t expect either one to give up easily. Chairman Lee is not exactly the most sympathetic person to come up against, famously not attending his late daughter’s funeral after she committed suicide. In other words, he’s a hard man.

Double Murder For Defriending on Facebook
A toddler is without his parents after they were both murdered because it is alleged they defriended a woman on Facebook. Sixty-year-old Marvin Potter and 38-year-old Jamie Curd are accused of killing Bill Payne Jr and Billie Jean Hayworth after they took Potter’s daughter, Jenelle Potter, off their friends’ list on Facebook. Apparently Potter junior had a history of harassing people online, but this time she allegedly took exception to being ditched. What is interesting is that she has yet to be charged with anything as there is no proof she acted in collusion with the two accused, although authorities are trying to join the dots to see if she can be charged with a crime.

Struggling Sony Can’t Buy A Trick
There is little doubt that the past couple of years have not been kind to Sony. They have struggled recently  in the dog-eat-dog world of consumer electronics, and it certainly seems a long time since they led the sector in innovation. Samsung, Apple and Panasonic – and a raft of other companies – have been more innovative, forward-looking and producing products that consumers want. Now Sony is being accused of price gouging in Britain by putting up the price of two Whitney Houston albums in the wake of the superstars sudden death. Thanks to social media, there was an immediate outcry, and the prices were put back to their original mark up. What we find annoying and unbelievable is that Sony then turn around and say it was a mistake. Price gouging is one thing, but then lying about it, is a whole another level. Somewhere, in the dark halls of Sony’s head office in the UK somebody should be getting a severe tongue lashing – at the very least. Please Sony, don’t treat people like idiots. Just because you have people working for you who are stupid enough to take advantage of a recording artist’s premature demise, doesn’t mean the rest of us are a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic.

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