The Palm Pre caused a bit of a stir when it was first announced, but after that, few details have made their way onto the web about the device that needs to more or less save Palm. At the Thomas Wiesel Technology and Telecom Conference in San Francisco, Palm CEO Ed Colligan gave out some more details on the Pre, while also downplaying the possibility of a legal spat between Apple and Palm.
Let’s start with the new details on the Palm Pre. As was to be expected, Palm will offer a digital storefront for applications for the device, similar to what Apple and Google have been doing with their platforms. However, unlike Apple, you will not depend on that store for your application needs; you are free to install from other sources.
Another important and so far unaddressed issue is the price of the device. Even though Colligan did not reveal the price of the Pre, he did provide some hints; apparently, Palm wants to have a 30% margin on the Pre. In addition, he stated that Sprint will make a significant investment, which could indicate the phone will be heavily subsidised.
On a sad note, Colligan also more or less shot the final bullet through the old Palm OS’ head. Palm OS is officially past tense, after having been kept alive through a feeding tube for far too long. Palm will focus all its efforts on the new Web OS and its Windows Mobile phones.
He also downplayed the patent threat:
The whole area of patents is elaborate; [there are] a lot of issues there, and a very complex area. One of the things we’ve done over 15 years is build a very extensive patent portfolio in the mobile computing space, one of the highest-rated patent portfolios in this space, which contains more than 1,500 patents. And the reason you do that is to have a defensive position in the marketplace. It’s kind of like two little porcupines going around, and you don’t want to touch each other because you might get stung. You peacefully coexist and everything’s OK and we keep working together.
It’s exactly what some of us had already seen coming: Palm holds a lot of patents Apple possibly infringes on, and Apple holds a lot of patents Palm could be infringing on. They would be out of their minds to sue each other.
I don’t know where I really stand on software patents (or hardware), but I hope Apple doesn’t try to bully Palm here. That’s pretty weak.
The iPhone is a great product on its own. No reason to try to scare away the competition, it already is a great device. The Pre looks nice too. I’d like to see them compete on the products themselves, not silly legal issues.
Apple should know better.
neither Apple nor Palm will act on their patents unless the other breaches the exclusivity deals that are either in place or being set up. and even then its a last resort, they are at a patent stale mate and neither one wants a war, not in this econimy.
Regarding patents:
If you are for “the proliferation and advancement of science and the useful arts” you could vote for a patent reform which has “less patents of higher quality” as it’s main goal.
I think, the patent area should be divided into several sections:
* Medical – full 20 years of protection, the current system is just made for it.
* Engineering – grant 5 years of protection, that should be enough to get companies publishing.
* Thermal or chemical processing: also 5 years.
* Everything not related to above: 2 years.
Additionally obviousness needs to be redefined as a process:
1. The patent applicant and the patent office isolate the solved problem. In case of the apple multi-point touchscreen the problem to solve would clearly be “how can one scale, rotate and move objects on a telephone with a touch screen”
2. This problem gets published, and everybody can send more or less detailed solution suggestions to the PTO.
3. All of those solution suggestions are published and count as prior art.
4. If the pending patent solved the problem differently from all other Ideas, you get a patent. Otherwise it was “obvious to somebody skilled in the art”.
I take it you have connections to the medical industry?
Considering the prices charged by pharmaceutical companies, I’d say that pharmaceutical patents should be limited to one year, if granted at all. My yearly pharmaceutical expenditure is about $22,000. And my situation is hardly rare. I mean, how many millions of people, with just this particular condition, in the US (10s of millions world-wide) do the pharmaceutical corps need giving them $22,000 per person per year for them to gain back their research investment?
Full 20 years of protection for the medical patents? I wonder what special interest group *your* paycheck come from, gustl?
Edited 2009-02-13 02:54 UTC
Well, now that Jobs’ health situation has turned out to be “more complicated than expected” (read “good as dead” in corporate-speak) Cook had to say something ballsy and threatening-sounding to the competition, didn’t he?
Edited 2009-02-11 23:01 UTC
What they didnt point out about Tim Cook’s speach was the little “*” at the end
we will go after anyone!*
*except Palm…. (grumbles knowing it would be an unwinable war)
Even if Palm believe they have the patent portfolio to deter or at least counteract Apple they should tone it down. Palm are a hard sneeze away from going under, while Apple are amongst the few tech companies that can afford to take on almost anything. The smartest thing Palm can do is to just shut up, let Apple make the first move (which they probably won’t do unless provoked), and keep it quiet until they manage to dig themselves out of their hole with the Pré (and its successors).
You’re over-estimating Apple quite a bit. While they’re a healthy company they’re not a patch on, say, IBM, Microsoft, Sony etc and they certainly would have problems taking one of these guys on.
Patent war is like nuclear war: even if you win, you lose. It’s the MAD all over again, except that you throw lawyers.
be carefull when throwing lawyers, the came walking (or crawling, depending on how hard they were thrown) with a counter suite for injury sustained.
….*if* they decide to take matters to court, I hope Palm crushes Apple into the ground. Their sheer arrogance and “we are holier than thou” attitude has got to stop somewhere, sometime.
The worst thing that Apple can do is sue Palm. If Palm was to go under, they could sell off their patent portfolio to an Apple competitor who has the might to kick Apple in the nuts.
Of course Apple won’t sue with their half valid patents! They don’t want to see their FUD weapons be invalidated in court! We all know what their patents are worth…
They just use them for:
1. Promote their iPhone: “look we have OVER 200 PATENTS on that, cool eh?”
2. Spread FUD to stop concurrents from entering the market/stop customers from buying products possibly at risk of breaking patents.
“One of the things we’ve done over 15 years is build a very extensive patent portfolio in the mobile computing space, one of the highest-rated patent portfolios in this space, which contains more than 1,500 patents. And the reason you do that is to have a defensive position in the marketplace. It’s kind of like two little porcupines going around, and you don’t want to touch each other because you might get stung.”
So the purpose of patents is not to protect and promote innovation but to create defensive positions, alliances, and presumably cartels – who can doubt that the US software patent system is broken
Are you completely sure about that? As I understood it, Garnet and Cobalt are both owned by ACCESS and Garnet is licensed to Palm (throught he PalmSource sale.) I’m not saying it’s not dead, but lack of licensee does not equal lack of life.
Edit: Okay, now I see:
Edited 2009-02-12 12:16 UTC
Funny, all my Palm OS devices still work. Could he mean that he wishes it would die?