Apple Has Taken Over The Industry

1. The iPhone hits France tonight and the countdown has begun.According to France Telecom, the launch will occur via late-night/midnight openings at 12 of its Orange wireless locations. The carrier has stated that it will change between 49 and 119 euros (approximately US$49 to $175)per month and 399 for the iPhone itself. Orange also announced that it will offer the iPhone at 549 euros for customers who don't want to use one of the four "Orange for iPhone" plans and 649 euros to purchase the iPhone without a plan. The firm will charge a 100 euro fee for unlocking the iPhone from France Telecom during the six months following the launch of the iPhone.France is required by law to sell locked and unlocked Phones. Apple is not special. So how exclusive is AT&T now with legit unlocked iPhones on the market?
2. Analyst Richard Windsor of Nomura predicts that Apple will attempt to defend it's territory against Nokia for intellectual property rights over the iPhone's touchscreen interface. Apple claims to have filed around 200 patents on the interface, and it is suspected that they will take Nokia to court to stop them from doing so.
   "I think Apple will likely view Nokia as infringing on its user interface patents," said London-based Nomura analyst Richard Windsor Wednesday. "But I don't see this being the same scale of (the) legal battle Nokia has with Qualcomm Inc. ," Windsor said.
   However, he finds it even more likely that they will settle out of court, probably some time around 2009. Either way, Nokia's plans to update their s90 series with touch sensitivity in 2008 will most likely be delayed due to the legal issues.