Apple iOS 7: Copying again its rivals’ developments?

More than a month ago, Silicon Angle magazine was already expecting Apple would do it again: Some people that have seen their new operative system Apple iOS 7 confess that it is actually copying from Android and Windows, they wrote. “But isn’t the iOS UI already simple? If Apple makes it more simple they risk becoming dull and boring, but hey, maybe hipsters would still think of it as innovation on Apple’s part,” they added.

They were right. Apple presentation this week in the Worldwide Developers Conference showed their new iOS7. Tim Cook talked about a new big typography (obviously copied from the Windows Phone) to the shortcuts to basic functions (an Android benchmark). José Mendiola wrote in Teknautas: “Apple never blush when copying its rivals developments and wraping them in that halo of simplicity and novelty that their fans love. And the iOS7 have been no exception.”

To be honest, Apple is only the advance copier in a patent infringement war worldwide. US International Trade Commission ruled on June 5 it had violated a Samsung patent for wireless technology. The US International Trade Commission has found the Silicon Valley giant had infringed on a patent owned by the Korean company and slapped a ban on the sale of certain older iPhone and iPad. Apple won $1 billion from Samsung last summer, when the smartphone giant called the firm a copycat. More recently, they filed a motion that details five different patents that the Samsung Galaxy S4 allegedly infringes on, in a second row of its patent blitzkrieg against the Koreans.

Apple has never been a company known for its top of the art technology, at least not among experts. It made its huge business out of an amazing user experience, the “beauty” concept Steve Jobs learned when studying calligraphy. So nothing new on this front. But some were concerned the coolness factor was actually cooling off. Since 2007 there has been no major technological advance in their phones, and some argue that the iPad is actually a bigger iPhone. Competing with the technological might of Samsung, and know with the expertise of Windows, Apple had to make a big step.

Did they? “The company did not announce anything that will rock your world, unless you’ve been holding your breathe for iTunes Radio”, Jennifer Jolly on USA TODAY.

About the Author

Ana Fuentes
Columnist for El País and a contributor to SER (Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión), was the first editor-in-chief of The Corner. Currently based in Madrid, she has been a correspondent in New York, Beijing and Paris for several international media outlets such as Prisa Radio, Radio Netherlands or CNN en español. Ana holds a degree in Journalism from the Complutense University in Madrid and the Sorbonne University in Paris, and a Master's in Journalism from Spanish newspaper El País.

1 Comment on "Apple iOS 7: Copying again its rivals’ developments?"

  1. nonsense article… very poorly researched and historically distorted…

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