IFA 2011 Barely one day after the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin opened its doors to the general public, Samsung had to pull its unreleased Galaxy Tab 7.7 from its booth, including all posters and promotional materials.
A Dusseldorf Regional Court recently granted Apple a temporary sales ban on the earlier Galaxy Tab 10.1 model in 26 of the 27 European Union member countries, and on Friday Apple secured a another injunction against Samsung's Galaxy Tab 7.7 in Germany. Cupertino claims that Samsung has infringed its patents with the Galaxy line of smartphones and tablet computers.
"Samsung respects the court's decision," Samsung told Bloomberg, adding that new injunction "severely limits consumer choice in Germany".
Recently, a Dutch court also imposed an EU ban on Samsung Galaxy smartphones, in particular Samsung's Galaxy S, Galaxy S II and Ace. However, new models of Galaxy smartphones and Samsung's Note, a smaller tablet with a 5.3-inch Super AMOLED display and pen input, remained untouched on the Berlin show floor.
Samsung launched the successor to its original Galaxy Tab tablet in Berlin on Thursday, boasting that the 7.7's 7.7in, 1280 x 800 OLED display is the highest-resolution display on a tablet so far. The new models were displayed on two tables, albeit with a sticker that read "Not for sale in Germany".
Samsung vows to do everything it can to defend its intellectual property, but remains cautious about releasing its latest tablet into the wild. Apparently, Samsung is not planning on launching either of its two latest tablets in theUS any time soon.
This year's IFA turned out to be Apple's tablet nightmare, with many indistinguishable iPad-alikes on display from the likes of Sony, Toshiba, Medion and others.
"Yes, yes, Apple makes an iPad, but does it make a movie?" Sony CEO Howard Stringer asked in his presentation on Wednesday. "We will prove that it's not who makes the tablet first who counts but who makes it better."
Along with a wedge-shaped Honeycomb tablet, Sony released a dual- screen clamshell tablet which resembles a pad of paper with sheets folded over. It comes with two free built-in games from PlayStation,Crash Bandicoot and the PSP pinball gamePinball Heroes. ®
Biting the hand that feeds IT
