Acer Air

[zekopeko]

Following the OP link's links it seems that this will be thinner, lighter and have a different (stronger) hinge than the Air, but I'd have to agree that Acer are flying pretty close to the sun there.
We'll just have to wait and see what happens (if anything).
(Surely Apple won't be worried by something that can't compete with the Air in it's price range?)

IIRC the Air has a 35% profit margin. If they wanted they could lower the price of Air but most likely won't. Acer is probably operating on a thin profit margin.
Either way Apple is price competitive because as was pointed to you time and time again in other threads there is more to a computer than pure tech specs.

Right about what precisely?
And how does a lawsuit over the iPad/Tab have anything to do with the Air?
This story has been all over the web. Will be very interesting to see the final result.

Seems that Apple may as well have held a giant neon sign over the Tab saying: "We consider this tablet the scariest competitor the iPad has!"

Apple didn't sue other manufactures over the look of their tablet devices. They sued Samsung specifically because they think it infringes on their design patents which is fair game since product design is an important part of Apple's business.

[PhillyPhil]

IIRC the Air has a 35% profit margin. If they wanted they could lower the price of Air but most likely won't. Acer is probably operating on a thin profit margin.
Either way Apple is price competitive because as was pointed to you time and time again in other threads there is more to a computer than pure tech specs.

I certainly agree the Air is price competitive. It competes with at least at least one (cheaper) laptop in it's size/specs range, and looks like it'll soon have to compete with another.

Apple didn't sue other manufactures over the look of their tablet devices. They sued Samsung specifically because they think it infringes on their design patents which is fair game since product design is an important part of Apple's business.

Oh, but they did: http://allthingsd.com/20110418/apple...ets/?mod=tweet

It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging. This kind of blatant copying is wrong, and we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.

http://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireles...diculous.shtml
You apparently don't follow tech patent stories - this latest stoush between Apple an Samsung is because Apple thinks Samsung are intentionally making their products look like Apple's products (which may well be true).

[zekopeko]

Oh, but they did: http://allthingsd.com/20110418/apple...ets/?mod=tweet

http://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireles...diculous.shtml
You apparently don't follow tech patent stories - this latest stoush between Apple an Samsung is because Apple thinks Samsung are intentionally making their products look like Apple's products (which may well be true).

You need to work on your reading comprehension. Apple is suing Samsung for a variety of things but the most prominent ones are for copying the look of Apple devices. Design patents cover that. As does trademark law AFAIK.

Which is what I was pointing at. I'm reasonably sure that those other companies that are getting sued are getting sued over software patents which don't have anything to do with the physical appearance of a device but how things work.

It's like you read what I wrote, ignored it completely and then said almost exactly the same thing I did. If you don't understand what I wrote you can ask for clarification.

[el_koraco]

Right about what precisely?
And how does a lawsuit over the iPad/Tab have anything to do with the Air?

Right about possible litigation. If you skim the article, there's a link to the design patents of the iPad. The Air design is patented in the US, and the Acer "Air" design is pretty similar to it. I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to bring Acer to court, for kicks if nothing else. They have a good profit margin on the Air, and I believe it would be economically viable to fork out some money for court costs in order to hamper Acer's takeoff. Plus, Acer doesn't seem to be the only one with similar designs in mind.

This story has been all over the web. Will be very interesting to see the final result.

Seems that Apple may as well have held a giant neon sign over the Tab saying: "We consider this tablet the scariest competitor the iPad has!"

I'm interested as well. Don't really see how you can make this "ultrabook" type of device without infringing on Apple's design patents. You need it to be slightly thicker on the end, and conversely, you'll get the "incline" effect. It's ridiculous. Talk about a competitive market

[zekopeko]

Right about possible litigation. If you skim the article, there's a link to the design patents of the iPad. The Air design is patented in the US, and the Acer "Air" design is pretty similar to it. I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to bring Acer to court, for kicks if nothing else. They have a good profit margin on the Air, and I believe it would be economically viable to fork out some money for court costs in order to hamper Acer's takeoff. Plus, Acer doesn't seem to be the only one with similar designs in mind.

I'm interested as well. Don't really see how you can make this "ultrabook" type of device without infringing on Apple's design patents. You need it to be slightly thicker on the end, and conversely, you'll get the "incline" effect. It's ridiculous. Talk about a competitive market

Sony has no problem designing an ultrabook that doesn't look like the Macbook Air.

[PhillyPhil]

You need to work on your reading comprehension.

Hmm, perhaps you could take some of your own advice:

Apple is suing Samsung for a variety of things but the most prominent ones are for copying the look of Apple devices.

Which is what I said, and the opposite of what you said: "Apple didn't sue other manufactures over the look of their tablet devices."

Design patents cover that.

Correct.

As does trademark law AFAIK.

Incorrect.

Which is what I was pointing at. I'm reasonably sure that those other companies that are getting sued are getting sued over software patents which don't have anything to do with the physical appearance of a device but how things work.

Absolutely no idea who "those other companies" are, or what you are referring to.

It's like you read what I wrote, ignored it completely and then said almost exactly the same thing I did. If you don't understand what I wrote you can ask for clarification.

I'll take what you write as your meaning. If you meant something different to the words I see on my screen (apparently the case here) that's an issue for you to fix, not me.

[PhillyPhil]

Right about possible litigation. If you skim the article, there's a link to the design patents of the iPad. The Air design is patented in the US, and the Acer "Air" design is pretty similar to it. I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to bring Acer to court, for kicks if nothing else. They have a good profit margin on the Air, and I believe it would be economically viable to fork out some money for court costs in order to hamper Acer's takeoff. Plus, Acer doesn't seem to be the only one with similar designs in mind.

I say again: an iPad lawsuit is not related to the Air, and has no bearing on possible litigation for an unrelated case.

I'm interested as well. Don't really see how you can make this "ultrabook" type of device without infringing on Apple's design patents. You need it to be slightly thicker on the end, and conversely, you'll get the "incline" effect. It's ridiculous. Talk about a competitive market

I agree that it's ridiculous.

"Ultrabook" is just a marketing term (apparently meaning "thin laptop"), nothing more.
I think most patent lawsuits are absurd (especially software patents), even patents that trolls use against Apple (I'm not biased when it comes to patent litigation).
If a patent like this can be used against anyone making a thin laptop with keyboard and trackpad (something that remains to be seen) then I hope that'll make more people sit up and say "patent laws need to be fixed".

[kvv_1986]

I doubt Apple can sue any companies for making ultrathin laptops. But Apple will probably fry Acer for the trackpad with no buttons. I am surprised they haven't done the same with Samsungs chromebook yet.

[drawkcab]

Is this a deliberate attempt by Acer to market a mac clone without really marketing it as such?

I remember that Apple hammered that company that was marketing mac clones a few years back.

It's a brilliant idea if you can pull it off.

[LMP900]

Is this a deliberate attempt by Acer to market a mac clone without really marketing it as such?

I remember that Apple hammered that company that was marketing mac clones a few years back.

It's a brilliant idea if you can pull it off.

Psystar was selling computers with the option of Mac OS X installed. With this new design, Acer is following Intel's ultrabook initiative so it's not the same as Psystar's "cloning."

I love the Macbook Air's design, but I hope other manufacturers come up with different designs. Maybe they can beat Apple in releasing a 15.6" version.