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Apple has an interesting relationship with Samsung. They are Samsung’s biggest customer, buying up valuable components to power the successful iPhone and iPad lines. However, right now they’re suing Samsung’s mobile division for copying Apple’s intellectual property.

Samsung are, of course, the makers of the Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets, all running Android, while Apple produce the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, all running iOS. The intellectual property specified in Apple’s case refers to both the hardware and software design aspects of iOS and the devices that run them.

Firstly, Apple has pointed out the design similarities in the hardware. Rounded rectangular product shape, substantial black bezels with roughly equal width (on iPad) or roughly equal width on parallel sides (on iPhone), and a front surface dominated by a screen are some of the claims Apple mades. In the software world, Apple is also keen to point out the similarity with a grid of icons and a separate row easily distinguished from from the others as they do not change as home screens are moved.

Apple also points out the design similarities in the packaging, with each coming in a rectangular box with a large front view of the product and an immediate presence of the product once the lid is removed.

In this case, the claims are, unfortunately, hard to ignore.

Another fairly obvious claim is similarities in the home screens. Apple points out the layout similarities, especially the 4 x 4 grid of icons with a dock at the bottom.

And then there are the icons themselves, which have an undeniable likeness. Take the phone icon, for example. An angled, light-coloured phone on a green gradient was the design choice of both parties when there are clearly other options.

Apple also notes their patents on a few iOS features, including the bounce effect you get when you scroll to the top of a list. Apple regularly touts its multi-touch technology and, of course, this is pointed out as an infringement here.

Well, when you put them side by side (see above) the devices do look similar. There’s no doubt that things such as the angled phone icon are not a coincidence, and it’s hard to ignore that one side has been influenced by the other.

Samsung seems pretty unique in this case with TouchWiz. Other Android skins don’t opt for the iPhone-esque app tiles and instead many have transparent icons, like those you’d use on a PC.

However, are you confused by the two? I’m certainly not. Sure, the similarities are there — but I doubt many walk into a store aiming to buy an iPhone but end up walking out with a Galaxy S oblivious to reality. Apple has ground with their various patents and trademarks, but the “consumer confusion” card can’t really be played here.

Naturally, since it’s Apple and Android, there are some fanboy views to be expressed. The biggest argument that the Android side has come up with so far is the image below.

The above image has since been debunked. The Samsung F700 was announced at Cebit 2006 but it wasn’t actually shown. It’s first public debut was actually after the iPhone was shown at Macworld 2007.  But it’s still a grid of icons with a central hardware button.

But don’t all GUIs form roots to the iPhone? Grid-aligned icons are something that I’ve used on my PC (and more recently my Mac) for a long time, so that’s nothing new. However, with Apple expanding the app home screen idea to Mac OS X this summer, I’m sure it’s something they want to protect as it’s soon to become such an important feature across their product lines. Even the tiny iPod nano uses the same layout, sans the dock of course.

When we look at the facts, Apple has a solid case. They’ve cited numerous patents in both hardware and software and even away from all the legal talk, the obvious similarities are evident. In fact, it seems insane that Samsung has went forward with such obvious design aspects, ones that were first being shown in iOS right from the start.

So what’s the likely outcome of this case? I’m not an IP lawyer and don’t claim to be. However, I reckon there’ll be some changes on Samsung’s part. I’m guessing they’ll opt to change the packaging and then roll out some new interface tweaks to avoid paying royalties to Apple. The real outcome will start to become evident once Samsung releases new devices. We’ll see whether Apple has had an effect on the design team at Samsung.

Source : http://android.appstorm.net