• Apple Sues Amazon over ‘App Store’ Trademark

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, News, Rants & Raves No Responses

    Apple filed a lawsuit against Amazon on March 18th over their use of the “App Store” trademark according to some reports by Bloomberg. Amazon has been using the term “App Store” since January as the name for their developer portal. Amazon is also launching an Android web-based App Store.

    Amazon.com since January has started to solicit developers for a future mobile software download service, Apple said. Amazon.com has used “Amazon Appstore Developer Portal” and “Amazon Appstore” in connection with this service, according to the complaint.

    The lawsuit also covers some “unspecified damages” and Amazon is yet to comment on the lawsuit. For those interested in the case, the official title is Apple v. Amazon.com, 11-1327, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California.

    Apple, of course, created their mobile application store in 2008 called the “App Store.” Apple also has had the “Mac App Store” term since October 2010, with the store launching January 6, 2011.

  • iOS 4.3.1 Coming in a Week or Two with Multiple Fixes

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, iPad, iPhone, Jailbreak, Rants & Raves, Rumors No Responses

    According to BGR, who has a good track record regarding Apple rumors, that Apple is about to release iOS 4.3.1 within one to two weeks. Let’s check out the expected updates on iOS 4.3.1.

    • Baseband updates for the 3GS and iPad (original)
    • Fixed memory hang that results in memory corruption when reading large files from USIM filesystem
    • Fixed problem with NTLM authentication in apps and on websites
    • Fixed issue with the Springboard and 3rd party apps not recognizing the gyroscope on the iPad 2
    • Fixed iPad 2 jailbreak vulnerability

    Now, I think Stefan Essar, the guy behind the iPad 2 upcoming jailbreak, shall hold back his jailbreak schedule to save his exploit for iOS 4.3.1.

  • Jony Ive Not Leaving Apple for UK

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Rants & Raves, Rumors No Responses

    In an interesting profile of Apple’s VP of Industrial Design, Jony Ive, the UK Daily Mail pops this little tidbit toward the end:

    Speculation that Ive would leave Apple to return to the UK is also false, says a former colleague: ‘I’m not sure there is any truth he wants to come back. My last conversations with him were that he was planning to sell his house in the UK.’

  • Steve Jobs Was The First Choice For Google’s CEO

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, google, News, Steve Jobs No Responses

    Back in 2000, when Google was just getting started, its venture capital backers insisted the fledling company find an experieced CEO to provide ‘adult supervision.’

    Venture capitalist John Doerr arranged for Google’s young co-founders to meet with half-a-dozen Silicon Valley CEOs in an attempt to get the process started. Larry Page and Sergey Brin met with Intel’s Andy Grove, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and several others.

    At the end of the tour, they were ready to hire a CEO but there was a problem, according to Wired:

    … they would only consider one person: Steve Jobs.

    Jobs was busy running Apple, of course, which was just about to introduce the first iPod, the product that would transform the company. Doerr persuaded them to widen their net and introduced them to Eric Schmidt, then CEO of Novell. Schmidt became Google’s CEO in 2001.

    The nugget about Steve Jobs is from the latest Wired magazine, in a story about Larry Page retaking the reins as Google’s CEO. It is not yet online.

    [Image courtesy of Dylan Roscover]

    [via Cult of Mac]