Samsung vs. Apple - The Battle of the Smart Technology

On Friday, August 24, the U.S. court system side with Apple on it's lawsuit against Samsung Electronic stating that the South-Korean firm infringed six out of seven Apple patents and awarding Apple $1 billion in damages as the two electronic firms duke it out in the battle of global smartphone dominance. This follows after a South-Korean court ordered both companies to stop selling smartphones and tablets in South Korea and pay damages as they infringed each other's patents. Samsung won its case against Apple in Australia court that allowed customer to buy Samsung tablets. Now it's up to the UK court to decide who will be the victor of this current legal battle. 

The court systems of these countries surely varies from each other even if the cases have similarities in them. But why? Ruling should be almost similar since they are hearing the same case but, I am assuming, in different language. Could there be biased in the court system? Some would think so while some won't since the South Korean court didn't side with Samsung while the U.S. court sided with Apple. What really goes into the minds of court judge and/or jury in coming up with the decision? 

Patents are double-edge swords. Patents are meant to protect the intellectual property of a company which can result into a global dominance in the market but total domination might mean that innovation  lessens or even ceases. And decisions on patent/copyright cases are again different from each other. In 1994, Apple lost its case against Microsoft and HP after U.S. Court found no basis that they copied Apple's GUI interface used in Lisa and Macintosh operating systems. Xerox then sued Apple stating Apple copied it's GUI interface but the court squash it without hearing any arguments. 

Currently, the global smartphone market is dominated by Samsung (32.6% market share) which produces numerous devices and tablets that runs on Android OS while Apple is second (16.9% market share) which only produces a single device, the iPhone. Could this be the reason why Apple is going after Samsung in the fear of losing more market shares it once dominated?

Sources:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/samsung-found-infringe-most-apple-231101124.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Computer,_Inc._v._Microsoft_Corporation

Can you be techy without the tech?

The other night, a friend of mine brought up something that was quite interesting. She said, "... I am surprised how you know so much about technology yet I don't see you with a blackberry or iPad?"

Which brings the question, "Can you be a techy/geek without the technology?"

In my own opinion, Yes, someone can be technology savvy without the technology devices. How is that possible? Well nowadays, nothing is almost impossible especially with the World Wide Web at our fingertips. We can easily learn about a device without even having one by just scouring the Net for product information. 

When I have time, I would usually read articles in Wired or Gizmondo about the latest devices that are coming out on the market almost every other week. And once the device has been 'leaked', multiple website are created for a single purpose - to provide information on the device. These websites contain the devices benefits, drawbacks, how-tos, owner opinions and even how to hack to these devices.

You can also learn from other people who have the devices because of their hands-on experience with those devices. Most of my friends have the latest smartphones - Blackberry, iPhones, Androids - yet I have a flip phone that is worn out that the faceplate are cracked and scratched. Yet most people would asked me questions about their smartphones because they have perceived me as a tech guy. And if I don't have an answer for them during that time, they know that I will have an answer for them after a day or so.

So I guess you can be a techy without the tech. What do you think?