In a recent Groklaw analysis reported by Techspot it lists the fines that Samsung have to pay on their phones for breaking the patents. What interests me is that there is no penalty for the Galaxy S or S2, but there is for the US versions of them:
Galaxy S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0
Galaxy S 4G . . . . . . . . .73,344,668
Galaxy S II (AT&T). . . . . .40,494,356
Galaxy S II (i9000). . . . . . . . . .0
Galaxy S II (T-Mobile). . . .83,791,708
Galaxy S II (Epic 4G Touch).100,326,988
Galaxy S II (Skyrocket) . . .32,273,558
Galaxy S (Showcase) . . . . .22,002,146
I'm confused by this as I doubt there is much difference between an international S2 and the AT&T version of it. Or the T-Mobile version. Or did the jury somehow magically only target Samsung's US market.
Now I'm not saying that the US-based jury is pro-US and voted in favour of a US company while at the same time finding that the same US company didn't breach any of the 3 patents that the Asian company accused them of stealing....
... but I'm fairly sure the Apple phones let a user listen to music while using another application (multi-tasking). Yet the jury found that Apple had not breached that Samsung patent?
I have never been a fan of Apple as I'm not a fan of anyone that locks me into using one app (iTunes). I prefer the freedom to choose. And while I agree that Samsung's early smartphones were very similar in appearance to the Apple phones, they were clearly different as soon as you turned them on.
I'm fed up of hearing about Apple getting a court to back some vague patent about the shape of a smartphone or tablet. It's complete lunacy. Fight the patents that matter, not the ones that will stifle the entire smartphone industry for years to come.
I was going to ask why the FCC hasn't stepped in to put a stop to all this. But it's probably because Samsung is not a US company. Perhaps that is why Apple didn't go after Motorola or Google. They are waiting to get a court precedent on their side before tackling the US companies.