Apple, HTC in Trademark Tangle

Apple Computer has an uncanny knack for getting in the way of trademarks... or so it seems...

Previously, when the company unveiled it's eagerly anticipated iPhone, Cisco slapped a lawsuit against it over use of the 'iPhone' trademark. Incidentally, Linksys' VoIP phone is also called iPhone, and Cisco, which happens to be Linksys' parent company, owns the 'iPhone' trademark.

Now with the launch of iPod Touch, Apple is once again in danger of having stepped on someone else's toes... This time round, it's Taiwan-based HTC's turn to feel the heat...

HTC launched the HTC Touch well before Apple's iPod Touch. The HTC Touch features a TouchFLO sweep launcher sitting atop Windows Mobile. It's a keyboard-free and button-free Windows Mobile phone that sports an unraised bezel and a solid glass face among others.

HTC chief executive officer and president, Peter Chou, reportedly said that HTC has registered 'Touch' as a worldwide trademark, and that the company "is proud to share the same vision as Apple over touch screen functions".

While Chou said nothing about whether HTC would sue Apple over use of it's trademark, a top HTC official reportedly made a pointed reference to the ability of Apple and Cisco to 'reach a mutually satisfactory agreement' before footnoting the need for 'further observation' around the 'Touch' trademark rights question.

Meanwhile, as far as precedents go, Cisco's suit against Apple ended in a mutually convenient agreement -- one wherein both would continue to make use of the 'iPhone' trademark in the market.

SONY Rolly

Want to experience a dancing player - well Sony makes it possible.

Sony has unveiled the all-new 'Rolly' digital music player that rotates, flaps its ends, and flashes colorful lights in time to music.








The compact white-colored egg-shaped gizmo could easily fit in your palms. Weighing 300 g and measuring 104 mm long and 65 mm in circumference, Rolly has speakers on each end that are hidden by dish-like covers.

There's only 1 button on the player - an on/off switch. The other functions are controlled by a pair of ring that circle its body.

However, 1 ring is used to move from track to track or album to album while the other controls the volume. The same 2 rings are connected to motors that enable the Rolly to scoot around a table-top in time to the music being played.

The player can stand 5 hours of audio playback. This drops to 4 hours when the device is in motion and 3 and a half hours when Bluetooth streaming is also enabled.

Rolly has 1 GB of internal flash memory and can playback MP3, Atrac, or AAC songs (AAC songs with copy protection from iTunes Music Store aren't supported). It can also receive music streamed via a Bluetooth connection.

With a storage capacity of 600 songs (depending on the songs' audio quality and length) Rolly incorporates sensors that could identify which way is up, enabling volume to be controlled by turning the player clockwise or anti-clockwise and tunes to be switched by pushing or pulling it on the floor.

Users have the choice of either using the special program on a PC, which analyzes music to come up with simple choreography that appears to match the rhythm of the songs, or download packaged moves to tunes from a Sony website.

Sony's Rolly will be launched across Japan by September 29 this year and will be available for Rs 14380 (40,000 yen/US$354).

However, Indian customers still have to wait long since Sony is yet to decide plans for an international launch.