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Will Toshiba's next tablet be named the Excite? Trademark filings suggest so
Yesterday, we caught wind of a rumor that Toshiba would be unveiling a new, ultra-thin tablet at this year's IFA. Today, word on the street is that the company's forthcoming slate may be called the "Excite." According to US Trademark filings obtained by Android Police, Toshiba has apparently registered the purported product name under the category "Tablet Computers." The manufacturer has also snatched up a whole host of domain names, including "excitetablet.com," "toshibaexcite.com," and "thetoshibaexcite.com" -- all of which currently redirect to a Toshiba site. As you may recall, remarkably similar evidence surfaced right before the Thrive launched, so recent history certainly lends a bit of credence to today's report. As always, we'll be sure to keep you abreast of the latest developments.
Nokia goes with a numbers-only naming scheme, thinks the alphabet is hard
There had been rumblings that Nokia was going to switch up its naming scheme and ditch the letter prefixes. Today, with the launch of the Nokia 500 (previously known as the Fate) that shift in convention has finally taken effect. The all-number nomenclature is brilliantly simple -- the higher the number, the higher-end the handset, and the higher the price. So, if and when Nokia unveils the 790 (which the Finnish company denies exists with a wink), you'll immediately know it will be costlier and more powerful than the 500 or the 670. Now we can all stop wondering what the "C" and "X" in C7 and X7 are supposed to tell us about our choice in Symbian handset and, by extension, ourselves.
Google helps you manage your online identity, justify those vanity Alerts
You know that Google Alert you set up to ping you every time someone mentions your name on the internet? Don't worry, that wasn't self-centered or anything, you were just protecting your online identity. Google today is encouraging the growth of vanity Alerts with its "Me on the Web" feature, a new segment of Google Dashboard dedicated to managing your online identity and finding out what people are saying about you on the global bathroom wall that is the world wide web. The feature makes it easy to set up alerts with your personal information and includes links to tools for identity management and content removal, because the seven billion other people on this planet don't need to know exactly what happened at your office's last Christmas party.
Periodic Table welcomes two new, ultraheavy elements, jury still out on the names
If you bump in to the Periodic Table of Elements today, be sure to give it a hearty Mazel Tov, because it's just welcomed two new members to the family. Yesterday, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) officially recognized elements 114 and 116, crediting the discovery to scientists from Russia's Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in California. Boasting atomic masses of 289 and 292, respectively, the new man-made additions are now the heaviest elements on record, seizing the belt from copernicium (285) and roentgenium (272). As with most heavyweights, however, both decay within less than a second, making it difficult for researchers to get a grasp of their chemical properties. Nevertheless, both apparently had enough credibility to survive IUPAC's three-year review process, paving the way for the real fun to begin. At the moment, 114 and 116 are known, rather coldly, as ununquadium and ununhexium, respectively, though their names will eventually be jazzed up -- sort of. The Russian team has already proposed flerovium for 114 (after Soviet nuclear physicist Georgy Flyorov), and, for 116, the Moscow-inspired moscovium, which sounds more like an after shave for particularly macho chemists. IUPAC will have the final say on the matter, though one committee member said any proposed names are likely to be approved, as long as "it's not something too weird." Head past the break for a full, and somewhat obtuse PR.
What's in a Name: Toys for Bob
Toys for Bob's Paul Reiche III, co-creator of the Star Control series and Pandemonium, lets us in on the thinking behind his studio's name. Whenever you're putting together a studio, right, it's like name, t-shirt, and then let's do the contract. So Fred [Ford] and I had formed a partnership to do Star Control 1. And we had all of these different names laid out, including this Bosco the Bee mascot that didn't work out. And finally my wife -- she's a poet, very interested in psychology -- she said create a name that generates interest, that doesn't distance yourself from people, and that you can reinvent. I love toys, I always have, and she knows that and Fred knows that. And so it was just a perfect fit. Bob is also a universal name -- everyone knows a Bob, I used to listen to the Bill Cosby and he was always talking about Bob the mechanic. And part of my brain is just permanently Bob. We have an official rule, which is that everyone gets their own Bob, whoever you want. "Toys for Bob Kotick" is a fairly good analogy for us, since he's paid for everything we've done. But I'm a sort of a Church of the SubGenius guy myself. Toys for Bob is currently working on Activision's Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, due out later on this year. Like this feature? Be sure to check out the What's In A Name Archives.
ASUS 'PadFone' to be the final name of the phone-docking tablet?
PadFone. Well, as silly as it sounds, the name sure speaks for itself. Unearthed by our friends over at Pocketnow, this USPTO trademark document was filed by ASUS merely four days ago. Such timing suggests that this could very well be the final name of the company's eccentric "pad or phone" combo, which is to be unveiled at Computex next week. As expected, no specifics are detailed in this application, but it does mention "electronic pens for computer touch screens" -- possibly hinting that the PadFone will be compatible with N-Trig's DuoSense or similar stylus technology.Alas, that's all we have for now until ASUS lifts the curtain on Monday, but let us point you to Notebook Italia's brilliant mock-up to quench your thirst for the time being -- we, too, suspect that the phone would slide onto the back of its companion tablet, hence the bump. That said, do bear in mind that this phone is already proven to be not as tacky looking, but is likely closer to a full-fledged Android handset. Anyhow, check out the artist's impressions after the break.Update: Oh hey, remember Windows SideShow? Good times.
Windows Phone 7.1 is the likely name for Mango OS update
Microsoft's proper preview event for the next big release of Windows Phone may be mere hours away, but there's still time for a bit of good old fashioned web sleuthing before then. Latest on our radar is this Microsoft Developer Network page listing out all the APIs in Silverlight for Windows Phone 7.1. That's right, your eyes do not deceive you, there's a whole extra decimal added to the OS number, ostensibly signifying the move to the Mango update we're all so hungry for. We'd previously heard the moniker of Windows Phone 7.5 bandied about, but that was based on supposition more than anything else, and a .1 upgrade makes sense in light of the curent 7.0.7 version number. Fuller details will be forthcoming later on today, but for now, pencil in the number 7.1 alongside the dream specs of your next Windows Phone. [Thanks, Garret]
Samsung Galaxy S II US carrier names revealed: AT&T Attain, Verizon Function, and Sprint Within
Anticipation, thy name is Galaxy S II. Or is it Galaxy S 2 Attain? Perhaps it's Galaxy S 2 Function or Within, it all depends on what carrier you prefer, really. You see, the sleuths at Pocketnow have unearthed a silicone case for sale that lists those three names as the particular branding Samsung's new flagship smartphone will enjoy with AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, respectively. That, combined with earlier trademark filings by Sammy asking for Galaxy Attain, Function and Within registrations, would lead us to believe that we are indeed looking at the final product monikers. T-Mobile is notably missing from the list, but we suspect that may be because its variant of the Galaxy S II is materially different in design to the original GSII. The good news for everyone else is that the same silicone case will be interchangeable among AT&T, Verizon and Sprint devices, leaving very little room for those guys to screw things up.
Nokia slams door on Ovi label, rebranding everything to Nokia Services
Nokia's Ovi Store, Ovi Maps, and Ovi everything else will soon be getting a name change. The Finnish company has announced that it's "evolving" its software brand identity by renaming its service offerings to Nokia services, starting with new devices in July and August. This transition is expected to last into 2012 and was pretty much inevitable in the wake of Nokia's hookup with Microsoft earlier this year. Part of that agreement was for Nokia software, Maps in particular, to be made available in other Windows Phone devices and across Microsoft's range of services, so it makes sense for Nokia to literally put its name on its wares. Nothing structural will be changing about software roadmaps or plans up in Finland, this will be just a new nameplate atop the same strategy as outlined previously.
Trademark filing, domain names suggest Toshiba's tablet might be named 'Thrive'
Could Toshiba's nameless Honeycomb tablet finally have a proper name? Thanks to a helpful tipster, we now have our clearest indication yet. Toshiba just filled a trademark application for the name "Thrive" last week and, as you can see above, it clearly describes the goods and services being trademarked as a tablet computer. What's more, it seems that the company's also gone on a bit of a domain name buying spree as of late, with it snapping up a number of "Thrive" variations including ToshibaThrive.com, ThriveTablet.com, ThriveToshiba.com and TabletThrive.com (none of which actually go anywhere just yet). Of course, this isn't the first possible moniker for the tablet that's cropped up. The name "Antares" surfaced way back at Mobile World Congress, which could account for the ANT model name we also spotted, although it certainly sounds more like a codename than "Thrive" does to our ears -- and, as far as we can tell, Toshiba hasn't attempted to register a trademark for Antares (or any other names recently, for that matter). [Thanks, Babyfacemagee]
Toshiba's Honeycomb tablet to be dubbed ANT, start at $450?
Feel free to ingest this with a healthy helping of salt for now, but if a spate of Newegg product listings are to be believed, Toshiba's heretofore unnamed Honeycomb tablet will boast a tremendously unflattering moniker: ANT. Priced at $449.99, $499.99 and $579.99, the Tegra 2-powered slate is seemingly dubbed ANT-100, ANT-102 and ANT-104. Each one includes Android 3.0, a 10.1-inch panel (1280 x 800) and NVIDIA silicon, with the extra dollars on the latter two changing that 8GB of internal storage to 16GB or 32GB. There's still no hard release date promised, but surely the shot above is proof that the day is near, right? Right?
Apple sues Amazon for App Store trademark infringement
You had to know this was coming. Apple, which is already engaged in a heated battle with Microsoft to prove that it deserves the sole rights over its "App Store" trademark claim, has filed suit against Amazon for "improper use" of the same. Amazon's Android Appstore seems to have been intentionally contracted to a single word to differentiate its name, but that difference isn't enough for Apple, which has asked a California court to grant a ruling preventing Amazon's use of the moniker and asking for unspecified damages. Apple claims it reached out to Amazon on three separate occasions asking it to rename its software download offering, but when faced with the lack of a "substantive response," it decided to take things to court. Its big task remains unchanged -- proving that the term App Store is something more than a generic descriptor -- and this was a somewhat inevitable move given Amazon's choice of name. The legal maneuvering, as always, continues.
HTC ChaCha to be known as ChaChaCha in Spain, somebody didn't do enough market research
As it turns out, the word "chacha" is used as a term of disparagement in the Spanish language. Coincidentally, perhaps after somebody hit HTC's marketing genii with a Spanish phrasebook, the HTC ChaCha will hereafter be known as the ChaChaCha in the land of sun, sand and siestas. This follows mobile search engine ChaCha suing for trademark infringement a couple of days ago and serves as an instructive example of why one should do one's market research before deciding to use one's internal codenames as retail product nomenclature.
Breakfast Topic: Do character naming schemes help you or confuse you?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. With the coming of Cataclysm, class mechanics changed, preferences changed -- and in many cases, main characters changed, leaving guildmates wondering, "What do I call him now?" Thankfully, some forward-thinking types already have naming schemes in place to ease the transition. Several members of my guild use the same three-letter prefix for every character name to eliminate confusion, while others use a full word preceded or followed by a class-specific descriptive term. We have an officer who uses some combination of the same few letters, making his characters easy to identify, and one tank even uses a food-related theme. Of course, even this does not completely eliminate the confusion, except in cases where the same prefix is used. We still have folks being called by the names of characters they have not played in a year or more. For those without the forethought to create a theme, members are often left checking guild notes to discover who they are talking to. As one of those forethought-lacking players myself, I often wish I could go back in time and find a way to connect my character names and make things a little more obvious. Do you know someone with a great naming scheme, or do you have one yourself? How did you choose? If you don't have a gimmick, how do you handling telling friends and guildies what to call you when decide to make a change?
HP files for 'HP Touchpad' trademark -- a possible name for the webOS tablet?
We can't conclusively link this to the upcoming Palm tablets, but HP just filed for a trademark on "HP Touchpad" across a wide variety of products and services ranging from memory cards to -- dun dun dun -- "tablet computers." We're liking it as a tablet name, though -- we've been getting the sense that the Palm name is on the way out, and "HP Touchpad" jibes nicely with the conspicuous lack of Palm branding on the invite for HP's February 9th webOS event. What's more, HP's already invested heavily in branding its laptop trackpads with the ClickPad name, so this seems like something else entirely. We've definitely come across headfake trademark registrations in the past, so we'll see what's going on here -- and whether this slow trickle of leaks ever turns into a flood.
How to pronounce ASUS (video)
A-suh-ss? Ah-sue-ss? As-ses? Nope, all wrong. We've been informed by ASUS that its head honcho has recently set a new rule in an attempt to rid our frustration, so what used to be "Ah-seuss" is now "A-seuss" (or "Eh-SUS" according to Taiwanese phonetics, as pictured). The logic behind this? Apparently it's a direct chop from the pronunciation of "pegasus" -- the origin of the company's name -- which ironically seems to favor the former diction. Anyhow, let's not confuse ourselves any further and just study this lovely lady's video demo after the break.
The Lawbringer: A rookie's guide to the TOU
Welcome to the Lawbringer, Wow.com's weekly guide to the intersection of law and the World of Warcraft. I'm Amy Schley, a new law school graduate and your tour guide through the rabbit hole of contracts, copyrights and other craziness. Greetings again! We're on part three of an examination of the various legal documents to which we must consent in order to play our beloved World of Warcraft. Parts one and two examined the End User License Agreement; this segment will look at the Terms of Use ("TOU"). The first thing you'll notice as you examine the TOU is that it is quite similar to the EULA. This is by design -- while one of the EULA's provisions is to agree to the Terms of Use, the repetition increases the likelihood we'll actually read it. There are quite a few differences, including the code of conduct and the naming policy.
AMD kills ATI brand, you can look forward to blood-stained Radeons
This, dear friends, is a sad, sad day. ATI, the name of hope for all PC gamers who were sick and tired of NVIDIA rebadging the same GPU over the past couple of years, is to be no more. The callous souls over at AMD have decided that our little consumer brains aren't sophisticated enough to handle two awesome brands, so they're just axing the use of the ATI moniker from here on out. Product line names will be retained, with the Radeon and FirePro branding still intact, but ATI Eyefinity will now be known as AMD Eyefinity. The first graphics cards to, erm, benefit from the new nomenclature will ship "later this year," and the whole thing is said to have been motivated by AMD's move to Fusion APUs -- hybrid CPU and GPU chips -- where it's considered beneficial to have a unified branding strategy. Great, but did anyone consider the fact that the graphics wars will now be fought between two teams wearing green jerseys?
PVI bets the farm, changes name to E Ink
Heard of PVI? What about E Ink? Well, PVI, the Taiwan-based owner of E Ink has renamed itself to E Ink Holdings Incorporated to better align itself with its popular electronic paper namesake. PVI's LCD products using its fringe-field switching technology will be sold under the brand Hydis. We guess it makes sense given PVI's dominance in the ePaper industry, but we can't help but question the merits of such a move with the world lusting after multi-purpose, transflective or IPS LCD tablets capable of displaying both text or full-motion, color video... imagine if Sony had renamed itself to Betamax in the early 80s, for example.
Xbox 360 naming guide: the new Xbox 360 vs. the Xbox 360 Original
It wasn't totally clear during Microsoft's E3 keynote, but the new Xbox has brought some name changes with it: the new shiny black console is officially "the new Xbox 360," while Microsoft's fact sheet refers to the original Xbox 360 as the... Xbox 360 Original. Clever, clever. The Original will still come in Elite and Arcade versions, which have new lower prices, so there's a chance we'll see something like the Xbox 360 Original Arcade, but hey -- that sounds like a Microsoft product name to us. We'll let you know if things change, or you can just call the new one the "Stealthbox" like us and avoid all this confusion entirely. Update: Things are changing fast -- according to a Microsoft representative, the Xbox 360 Original will still be sold while there's stock, but they're not making any more of them. Once they're gone, they're gone -- and we'd assume a new $199 variant of the new design will eventually be released to fill the void.
