Is it really piracy though? If nothing else they have not made any money from this yet and have not caused Apple to lose any money so I'd say it's not piracy.
I wouldn't be surprised if Engadget was the ones to call the Gestapo.
From the dripping venom in this article alone, they seem to have had the most bizarre hatred for this company for years. They have been acting like little brown shirts for Apple when it comes to anything that may compete with their products, so I wouldn't put it past them to have "helped" the police along in shutting down their both.
I think you're just being a big, fat baby on this thread (and probably many others). Perception is 9/10 reality, I know but if you go through Engadget this morning you'll notice not one story about Apple. Engadget does a pretty decent job of covering every major show and every major release of every major product, even vaporware like the Meizu M8.
If you don't believe the M8 is an exact replica of an iPhone then you're kidding yourself. This particular device is stolen almost identically from another which is illegal.
And what I think we'll find today from the German authorities when they make their announcement is that piracy was in full effect. They probably got themselves an iPhone and reverse engineered the OS and mechanics. Which is f-ing piracy you lunatic.
"They probably got themselves an iPhone and reverse engineered the OS and mechanics"
That's cute, because yesterday the line was that they didnt even have a working device.
If the device was not a for sale item, then what piracy laws have they broken? Just having some part that "looks familiar" isn't a breach of copyright law no matter how much you support Apple.
The M8 was running on Windows CE, not pirated Apple software. If that's the case (which I'm sure it is, otherwise the M8 wouldn't be so buggy and in dev so long), then other than copying the LOOK, there's no software piracy going on.
In case you haven't heard, Apple didn't invent multi-touch, by a long shot. They were just the first to put it in a phone.
The big kicker would be if the booth was shut down for reasons not related to the M8 at all.
"In case you haven't heard, Apple didn't invent multi-touch, by a long shot. They were just the first to put it in a phone."
Actually, they patented it. So yeah, Meizu using the patented Apple gestures would count as a patent violation. Don't know about German law, but here in the US, if you are caught violating patents, your goods can be prevented from being imported. Maybe the Germans kicked them out of Germany and seized their goods due to Apple patents.
Oh, and before you start about applicability of US patents, I would not be shocked if Apple has patents in the EU/Germany covering the same exact items as their US patents.
Haven't YOU been paying attention? Windows base code has many stolen parts from when Bill worked at Apple. They even got caught and it's the reason they "invested" 10 Million dollars in Apple and offered up Microsoft Office for 5 years.
Reverse engineering the iPhone OS and making it work in a Windows CE environment is not an unlikely scenario and would explain why it doesn't work and is buggy as hell. It's certainly plausible.
If you don't think this interface looks like an exact replica then you're just being an Apple hater with your blinders on in full effect. I don't think the LG Voyager is a replica, I think it's a poor attempt at a touch screen but it's definitely LG all the way. THIS is a forgery in every way.
Not only were they the first to put it in the phone. They were the first to bring it to end consumers. Multi touch is not a new idea but Apple found affordable ways to implement it. Microsoft surface is multi touch but it's expensive and targetted for commercial use. They would patent their own implementations. That demo at NYU is multi touch and his implementation is projected and not on a LCD screen. Multi touch ideas have been floating around for at least 25 years.
I wonder why so many people are still thinking single touch touchscreen are the same as multi-touch touchscreen. Try finger gestures like zoom, rotate on single touch touchscreen and they won't work from both hardware and software levels.
It's well known that Apple didn't invent multitouch. Saying "they patented it" is meaningless. Exactly what did they "patent", where is the patent, and in what country or countries are the patents held? US patents and pending patents are meaningless in Germany, especially ones that are irrelevant. Does Apple hold a German design patent on the iPhone?
If you are so certain that Apple holds applicable patents in EU/Germany, why don't you prove it? While you're at it, specify just what patent infringement you are talking about.
@Chris:
Bill never worked at Apple and there is no proof whatsoever that Windows ever contained any code stolen from Apple. You are delusional.
Reverse engineering is not illegal nor unethical, and reverse engineering an OS to "make it work" on another OS is nonsense.
Lastly, I don't see anyone saying the interface, what little we've seen of it in mockups, doesn't look like the iPhone. The point was that Engadget takes it on themselves to constantly harp on the ripoff angle. There's ample evidence of that.
I'd go further. Engadget covers all Apple stories, whether announcements, updates, or rumors, with carpet-bombing coverage. They make every effort to expose and ridicule any product that competes with or takes from an Apple product. Finally, Engadget takes it on itself to assist in Apple product development through the promotion of Apple feedback discussions. They even do "news" articles on Apple mockups done by non-Apple employees. Their pro-Apple slant is ludicrous. Sadly, Apple is a religion and Engadget worships there.
"Bill never worked at Apple and there is no proof whatsoever that Windows ever contained any code stolen from Apple. You are delusional."
DUDE, you're delusional. Bill Gates was the first software developer outside of Apple allowed access to the code behind the Macintosh operating system. Microsoft Word was an Apple application long before there was ever a Windows system. And while he was in there, he TOOK THE CODE. They got caught with the code in Windows 95 and were subsequently taken to trial over the matter. They settled out of court and invested $10 Million in Apple and signed a contract for 5 years of Microsoft Office for the Mac platform.
This has gotten way off topic but what I was trying to say originally in reply to the question of piracy is that I'll bet piracy is involved. They couldn't make Windows CE do what an iPhone does so they took code out of the iPhone OS and are trying to shoe-horn it into Windows CE.
Chris, next time use one post to make all your vacuous replies instead of making multiple posts 1 minute apart from each other; you'll look less like an idiot.
irst they do not own the only and exclusive multitouch patent. See us patent #7,030,861 second you can get a patent if you improve on another patent. Since there is no working mutitouch you have no clue what they done and therefore under US law there is no infringement.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
Is it really piracy though? If nothing else they have not made any money from this yet and have not caused Apple to lose any money so I'd say it's not piracy.
I wouldn't be surprised if Engadget was the ones to call the Gestapo.
From the dripping venom in this article alone, they seem to have had the most bizarre hatred for this company for years. They have been acting like little brown shirts for Apple when it comes to anything that may compete with their products, so I wouldn't put it past them to have "helped" the police along in shutting down their both.
Hey fred,
I think you're just being a big, fat baby on this thread (and probably many others). Perception is 9/10 reality, I know but if you go through Engadget this morning you'll notice not one story about Apple. Engadget does a pretty decent job of covering every major show and every major release of every major product, even vaporware like the Meizu M8.
If you don't believe the M8 is an exact replica of an iPhone then you're kidding yourself. This particular device is stolen almost identically from another which is illegal.
And what I think we'll find today from the German authorities when they make their announcement is that piracy was in full effect. They probably got themselves an iPhone and reverse engineered the OS and mechanics. Which is f-ing piracy you lunatic.
Now, be tough and show me who's boss. Bring it.
"They probably got themselves an iPhone and reverse engineered the OS and mechanics"
That's cute, because yesterday the line was that they didnt even have a working device.
If the device was not a for sale item, then what piracy laws have they broken? Just having some part that "looks familiar" isn't a breach of copyright law no matter how much you support Apple.
@ Chris: Haven't you been paying attention?
The M8 was running on Windows CE, not pirated Apple software. If that's the case (which I'm sure it is, otherwise the M8 wouldn't be so buggy and in dev so long), then other than copying the LOOK, there's no software piracy going on.
In case you haven't heard, Apple didn't invent multi-touch, by a long shot. They were just the first to put it in a phone.
The big kicker would be if the booth was shut down for reasons not related to the M8 at all.
@Alan:
"In case you haven't heard, Apple didn't invent multi-touch, by a long shot. They were just the first to put it in a phone."
Actually, they patented it. So yeah, Meizu using the patented Apple gestures would count as a patent violation. Don't know about German law, but here in the US, if you are caught violating patents, your goods can be prevented from being imported. Maybe the Germans kicked them out of Germany and seized their goods due to Apple patents.
Oh, and before you start about applicability of US patents, I would not be shocked if Apple has patents in the EU/Germany covering the same exact items as their US patents.
@Alan
Haven't YOU been paying attention? Windows base code has many stolen parts from when Bill worked at Apple. They even got caught and it's the reason they "invested" 10 Million dollars in Apple and offered up Microsoft Office for 5 years.
Reverse engineering the iPhone OS and making it work in a Windows CE environment is not an unlikely scenario and would explain why it doesn't work and is buggy as hell. It's certainly plausible.
If you don't think this interface looks like an exact replica then you're just being an Apple hater with your blinders on in full effect. I don't think the LG Voyager is a replica, I think it's a poor attempt at a touch screen but it's definitely LG all the way. THIS is a forgery in every way.
And to add...
Not only were they the first to put it in the phone. They were the first to bring it to end consumers.
Multi touch is not a new idea but Apple found affordable ways to implement it.
Microsoft surface is multi touch but it's expensive and targetted for commercial use. They would patent their own implementations. That demo at NYU is multi touch and his implementation is projected and not on a LCD screen. Multi touch ideas have been floating around for at least 25 years.
I wonder why so many people are still thinking single touch touchscreen are the same as multi-touch touchscreen. Try finger gestures like zoom, rotate on single touch touchscreen and they won't work from both hardware and software levels.
@brian:
It's well known that Apple didn't invent multitouch. Saying "they patented it" is meaningless. Exactly what did they "patent", where is the patent, and in what country or countries are the patents held? US patents and pending patents are meaningless in Germany, especially ones that are irrelevant. Does Apple hold a German design patent on the iPhone?
If you are so certain that Apple holds applicable patents in EU/Germany, why don't you prove it? While you're at it, specify just what patent infringement you are talking about.
@Chris:
Bill never worked at Apple and there is no proof whatsoever that Windows ever contained any code stolen from Apple. You are delusional.
Reverse engineering is not illegal nor unethical, and reverse engineering an OS to "make it work" on another OS is nonsense.
Lastly, I don't see anyone saying the interface, what little we've seen of it in mockups, doesn't look like the iPhone. The point was that Engadget takes it on themselves to constantly harp on the ripoff angle. There's ample evidence of that.
I'd go further. Engadget covers all Apple stories, whether announcements, updates, or rumors, with carpet-bombing coverage. They make every effort to expose and ridicule any product that competes with or takes from an Apple product. Finally, Engadget takes it on itself to assist in Apple product development through the promotion of Apple feedback discussions. They even do "news" articles on Apple mockups done by non-Apple employees. Their pro-Apple slant is ludicrous. Sadly, Apple is a religion and Engadget worships there.
"It's well known that Apple didn't invent multitouch."
Wasn't that Fingerworks? Oh yeah, Apple owns Fingerworks.
Any bad news for either camp is unwelcome when trying to determine a market leader. No matter which way your fan blows.
Craig,
Every news outlet has a slant. It's better to just get used to it than fight it. You won't win.
@Craig
"Bill never worked at Apple and there is no proof whatsoever that Windows ever contained any code stolen from Apple. You are delusional."
DUDE, you're delusional. Bill Gates was the first software developer outside of Apple allowed access to the code behind the Macintosh operating system. Microsoft Word was an Apple application long before there was ever a Windows system. And while he was in there, he TOOK THE CODE. They got caught with the code in Windows 95 and were subsequently taken to trial over the matter. They settled out of court and invested $10 Million in Apple and signed a contract for 5 years of Microsoft Office for the Mac platform.
This has gotten way off topic but what I was trying to say originally in reply to the question of piracy is that I'll bet piracy is involved. They couldn't make Windows CE do what an iPhone does so they took code out of the iPhone OS and are trying to shoe-horn it into Windows CE.
Will you muppets take it elsewhere. I'm getting fed up of emails because you idiots are using my comment to argue under.
Chris, next time use one post to make all your vacuous replies instead of making multiple posts 1 minute apart from each other; you'll look less like an idiot.
@brain "Actually, they patented it. So yeah"
irst they do not own the only and exclusive multitouch patent. See us patent #7,030,861 second you can get a patent if you improve on another patent. Since there is no working mutitouch you have no clue what they done and therefore under US law there is no infringement.
Carbonize... ya really should use a separate email for blog commenting, you know, like all good muppets do.
It's not our fault engadget's commenting system doesn't allow recursive subthreads. :D