

Did Apple tamper with evidence in the German Apple v. Samsung case? - recoiledsnake
http://www.androidcentral.com/did-apple-tamper-evidence-german-apple-v-samsung-case

======
ender7
Original document here: [http://www.scribd.com/doc/61993811/10-08-04-Apple-
Motion-for...](http://www.scribd.com/doc/61993811/10-08-04-Apple-Motion-for-
EU-Wide-Prel-Inj-Galaxy-Tab-10-1)

Gruber claims that "The dispute here is over one image" [1], but I don't think
that's accurate. Almost all of the images in the document have been squeezed
in manners that make the devices look more similar.

\- Many of the images are taken at an extreme angle which, while looking very
nice, doesn't let you get a good look at the device (e.g. pp. 26, 32, 38)

\- They play pretty free and loose with distorting the aspect ratios of their
images. See a decidedly square-looking Tab on pp. 26, 35 and a freakishly
elongated iPad on pp. 27, 36.

\- pp. 39 takes the cake for "how can we fudge things to make it look like
they're the same size"

In fact, far from being "over one image", it seems that the _majority_ of the
images have has their aspect ratios distorted in order to make the devices
seem more similar, and the remainder have been shot at angles that
deliberately hide dissimilarities.

I would argue that the aspect ratio of the Tab is one of its most distinctive
features (I don't like it, but it _is_ distinctive...). It's the first thing
you notice when you pick one up. Not surprising that Apple is trying to
downplay this difference.

[1] [http://daringfireball.net/linked/2011/08/15/apple-samsung-
im...](http://daringfireball.net/linked/2011/08/15/apple-samsung-images)

~~~
icarus_drowning
Of course Gruber is spinning this to be about "one image." Pro-Apple spin is
largely what he seems to do these days. Does anyone think that, were this
situation reversed, that Gruber would be intentionally trying to make this
about a single image? Of course he wouldn't.

I still read Gruber everyday- he has a lot of interesting things to say about
technology in general and Apple in particular. But it is increasingly hard to
take him seriously about any story related to Apple's anti-android litigation,
because he seems to have abandoned any attempt to present the situation
fairly, to the point where he has really become a rather naked shill for
Apple.

I am typing this on an iPad 2. I _love_ my iPad 2. I tried a great number of
tablets prior to purchasing it, and I genuinely find it to be the superior
product, and by a long shot. I am even sympathetic to Apple's claims in this
case, as I do think the resemblance between the Galaxy and the iPad to be more
than simple coincidence. But it seems pretty clear to me that this is about
much more (or should be about much more) than one "doctored" photo, and I am
absolutely sure that Gruber knows it.

The thing is, I don't think he cares, because it seems as if he's completely
abandoned even the pretense of presenting a just and fair picture of any of
Apple's recent patent litigation.

~~~
recoiledsnake
He has to maintain his user base after all, for his ads.

<http://daringfireball.net/feeds/sponsors/>

With ads making him $6000 a week, I don't blame him. He is telling people what
they want to hear and the ads reach people they're trying to reach. He gets
invited to Apple events thanks to him being the unofficial de-facto Apple PR
and he can't risk hurting that. There's no incentive for him to be objective,
in fact it is in his interest to lay the spin on thick.

Get with the program!

~~~
JimmyMCN
Wow, I have seen Gruber's site linked for years on various sites, but never
knew about the sponsorship. If that's not a paid and bribed shill, I don't
know who is.

~~~
GHFigs
Having ads on your site makes you a "paid and bribed shill"?

~~~
JimmyMCN
Just imagine Gruber gets objective and starts sometimes criticizing Apple or
doesn't spin things so much as he does for Apple. Or actually praise the other
companies for good things they do. He will lose readership and growth of it.
Apple will cut his access to Apple events which will make his articles further
worthless. That's a huge monetary loss and strong incentive to keep spinning
things and dissing competitors. hypocritically. Same with a a paid shill...
stop toeing the party line and you stop getting paid...

~~~
chc
Is this the first you've heard of journalism? The situation you're talking
about here is hardly special to John Gruber. Even people who don't get paid
are generally subject to similar forces. The only way to avoid it is just not
to talk about anything.

------
rysulliv
I know it is hard to pass judgement from a single story like this, since I am
sure someone has another version of this story to tell...but this still takes
a bite out of my "I love Apple" mentality. If this is entirely true, it is the
kind of thing that should really upset someone who has believes in a fair and
just world. The fact that lawyers can get away with filing million dollar
lawsuits with falsified information is a slap in the face of what the legal
system should be.

I have seen this in much smaller scale personal lawsuits as well and it is
really disparaging to see the system manipulated by lawyers and there to be no
consequence for doing it. In my opinion if a lawsuit is filed with entirely
fabricated information which was easily verifiable by the filing part at the
time of filing, then there should be serious consequences for those people.

Sorry this one upset me a bit :)

~~~
guelo
What's most incomprehensible to me is that they really don't need to do any of
this. They are winning in the marketplace, they are making the best products
by far and they are raking in record levels of profits. Why stoop so low when
you don't need to?

~~~
cageface
Not to mention that they have liberally borrowed features from Android for the
last two major iOS releases. Folders, the notification system, cloud
integration, OTA updates etc. If you're going to take such a self-righteous
stand on borrowing then you better be lilly-white yourself.

~~~
mattmanser
Given that Android was such a complete and utter ripoff of iOS I don't think a
couple of features is much to point out. Lets put it in perspective here.

I think Android's great, but seriously, come on. There's homage and there's
'shit, touch phones rock, we need to completely copy iOS now!'. Which is
exactly what Google did.

~~~
cageface
Android was obviously heavily inspired by iOS, but most of the new features in
iOS 4 & 5 seem to have been borrowed in the other direction. The stuff Google
is doing with live widgets and the status bar in 3.2 is advancing the state of
the art and it would be a shame to see this kind of real innovation stamped
out.

------
joebadmo
So the images Apple supplied to German courts showed the Samsung hardware
altered in the following ways: 1. Aspect ratio changed to be identical to
iPad. 2. Samsung logo removed.

Also, they show the app drawer screen instead of the default home screen.

Samsung wasn't allowed to see any of this evidence before the court gave the
injunction.

Is it even possible that this wasn't deliberate, willful deception on the part
of Apple lawyers?

~~~
Anechoic
> _Samsung logo removed._

Did they? A quick browse through Google image search shows lots of Tab 10.1
pictures, many with a Samsung logo and many without (here for example:
[http://popherald.com/samsung-galaxy-tab-honeycomb-release-
da...](http://popherald.com/samsung-galaxy-tab-honeycomb-release-date/7256)).

Most of the pics without a logo seem to be pre-release marketing photos. I
wonder if the Apple submittal grabbed a marketing photo someplace. We shall
soon see.

~~~
mendocino
It's also not on the box:

[http://techcitement.com/admin/wp-
content/uploads/2011/07/Box...](http://techcitement.com/admin/wp-
content/uploads/2011/07/Box.jpg)

Edit:

It also does not appear on their website:
<http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab/GT-P7510MAYXAB>

Unrelated but sort of funny in that context, they seem to photoshop iOS
screenshots onto Galaxy devices (scroll down where they show the maps feature)

<http://www.samsung.com/galaxyplayer50/>

------
Steko
This is really egregious and should result in immediate suspension of the
injunction plus damages.

------
sixtofour
So the dispute is partly over the similarity of aspect ratio?

Now we're patenting ratios?

Most TVs are the same aspect ratio. In the old days the were all virtually the
same aspect ratio. These days videos can be different aspect ratios shown
within the same TV. All the TVs look about the same ratio, I suppose because
of whatever the largest ratio is.

On a computer, phone or tablet it's the other way around, the device (partly)
determines the aspect ratio of the displayed object.

So now each device has to pre-select a different aspect ratio for displayed
objects? What's the minimum allowed difference?

~~~
GHFigs
_So the dispute is partly over the similarity of aspect ratio?_

No.

The accusation is that Apple's image makes it look like it has the same aspect
ratio, and that that falsely makes them look more similar. But the actual text
of Apple's complaint does not say anything to the effect that the proportions
are one of the distinctive features they think were copied.

------
tobias3
This looks like it is actually based on a kind of design-patent
(Geschmacksmuster) we have here in Germany. Apple patented the IPad look.
Those are the charcoal images (they include them in b&w so that they're more
general).

Those patents only have to be formally correct and are not tested for e.g.
prior art by an institution. This happens in court if the patent is actually
used. Given that even the tablets the romans scratched their numbers in had
round edges and were sometimes very slim, this might not be so good for
apple...

------
thoughtsimple
Betteridge's Law of Headlines.

No

------
kqueue
yeah that title will get you a lot of traffic

~~~
watty
I don't follow you - what's wrong with the title?

~~~
guywithabike
I think he's just pointing out that the blog post title is blatant blog spam.

E.g. "Did kqueue willfully violate international law?"

"Did President Obama kill a baby in 1991?"

Etc.

~~~
Kylekramer
It is a bit weasel worded, but there is at least some evidence of falsified
information that makes this far from a "when did you stop beating your wife?"
situation.

~~~
madmoose
There's a general rule, though, that if a headline is a question, the answer
is no.

~~~
Kylekramer
Sounds like a terrible rule that would often fail you. Treat any questions as
a headline false until proven true seems better.

