March 18, 2010
Google Android Phone Denied Nexus One Naming and Branding by USPTO
Google has been denied the name "Nexus One" for the branding of its new cell phone.
Apparently, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) deemed it too close to Oregon-based Integra Telecom's product, also called Nexus. This is a brand that generates $60 mil per year for Integra.
The name has not yet been attached to the (very slick looking) device. Now, we are all wondering if the name will be licensed or if a new name will be found for this Android phone. Google is unlikely to challenge the ruling since Integra has used the Nexus name since 2008.
The thing seems to be selling well, with plenty of people making Android apps.
We'll see what Google does next.
Technorati Tags: Google, Cell Phone, Droid, Motorola, Trademark Conflict, Nexus One
Posted by William Lozito at 10:13 AM| Comments (0)
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March 11, 2010
Sony "Moves" Away From Arc Naming and Branding; Better Than "Giggle Stick"
Oops, well I'm only human. Back in January I believed the hype and predicted that Sony would name its new PlayStation wireless controller the "Arc."
Nope. It's going to be called the "Move" and it's coming out this fall in a kit costing under $100.
CNET's Crave says that by unveiling the name Sony can start its all-out attack on Nintendo. The name was announced yesterday at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
It works with the PlayStation Eye web cam, and Sony claims 36 third party developers and publishers have signed up to support the new product, not to mention the 20 games Sony has planned for it as well.
Its subcontroller adds a joystick and a directional pad.
There were some pretty provocative ideas for the naming sent in by Joystiq readers, but when Joystiq's blog did a poll on it, Move won out.
Joystiq also notes that the logo looks suspiciously like the letter "A", because, they posit, Sony did want to name their controller the Arc but ran into trademark issues.
Already blogosphere wags have generated eight "better" names for the thing, including "Giggle Stick," "Party Rod," and "The Sceptre of Ultimate Power".
Um, maybe not, but good effort bloggers.
The bottom line is that this controller launching with this name is a good move by Sony.
Technorati Tags: Sony, PS3, Move, Arc, Joystiq, Video Game,
Posted by William Lozito at 8:05 AM| Comments (0)
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March 2, 2010
TigerText Brand Name Will Irritate Cheating Tigers, and The University of Memphis
I have to laugh at the new TigerText app that really does seem aimed at philandering spouses.
The ironic name aside, this allows you to send text messages to other phones that can delete themselves and cannot be forwarded. This is great if you really don't want any evidence of your midnight messaging to fall in the wrong hands, like, say, your wife's lawyers.
David Letterman has already made a few well placed jokes about this product.
The makers are being coy about the name, which they claim it just coincidentally shares with a noted cheating spouse. Is it really named after Tiger Woods? The makers say not so.
iPhone Scoop says one of the makers points out that ""Tigers are notoriously difficult animals to track" and notes that it was coming to us in the Lunar Year of the Tiger.
Um, yeah.
The people who might really take umbrage are in Memphis: The University of Memphis uses this name for its own cell phone text messaging service which is far less nefarious, this one is an emergency alert.
Technorati Tags: Brands, Tiger, Text, Cell Phone, Names, University of Memphis, App
Posted by William Lozito at 8:11 AM| Comments (0)
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January 28, 2010
It's Official: iPad Naming Makes Women Cringe
OK, I've already apologized for predicting Steve Jobs would name his new gadget the iSlate.
It is indeed the iPad, a name I would not have chosen for two reasons. First, as I wrote a week before the announcement, it looks like "iPod" and second, that word "iPad" already has been mocked on Mad TV as sounding too much like the Maxi Pad feminine hygiene product.
It seemed impossible that Apple would choose it, because they know full well how viral humor on the Internet can sway customer perception about a product.
I'm not alone in this, it seems.
This morning there is a backlash against the name that is pretty intense. CNET calls it "cringe-worthy", Gizmodo predicts a slew of Maxi-Pad jokes, and The New York Times says that it makes women "cringe" (there's that word again), reporting that the word "iTampon" is making the rounds across Twitter.
Fast Company is even more succinct: "Apple's iPad Name Not the First Choice for Women. Period." PC World is already counting the "sneers and jeers" on the Internet, wondering if this is a "Venus vs. Mars" issue.
Blogger Anne Althouse, wonders if Apple bothered to check with any women about this one.
Or men. Let's face it, what guy wants to buy a product that sounds like it's a Wi-Fi sanitary napkin?
It also seems that Apple doesn't have any iPad-related domain names yet, either.
As if that was not bad enough, the name also may lead to a big fight with
Since 2002, Fujitsu has been manufacturing a handheld computer called the iPad. Although Fujitsu lost its trademark rights last year, Masahiro Yamane, the PR head of Fujitsu, still believes they have the rights to the iPad name.
All in all, it is really hard to believe that Apple could not have seen this coming. I have rarely seen such quick, vitriolic backlash against a product name. I have never, ever seen such intense mockery aimed at Apple.
And while I am an Apple fan and we are a Mac shop, I might add that their past naming mistakes (cough, Lisa, ahem, Newton) perhaps not coincidentally were attached to doomed products.
Steve, what were you thinking?
Technorati Tags: iPad, Fujitsu, Maxi Pad, Naming dispute, Mac
Posted by William Lozito at 8:33 AM| Comments (0)
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January 27, 2010
Oops! Looks Like it's an iPad!
I speculated earlier today that the new Apple device would be called an iSlate.
Well, if I had gotten it right, I'd be on the first flight to Atlantic City. However, I was wrong. At an 'invite-only' press conference in San Francisco, Steve Jobs just announced the new name: iPad.
It looks like an inflated iPhone, and apparently acts like one With a 9.7" screen, and at a miniscule 0.5 pounds, this "truly magical and revolutionary" device will sweep the nation.
The iPad has all the same functionality as an iPhone. Jobs ran apps, as well as showed a portion of the Disney Pixar movie Up during the conference.
With the e-reader market poised to flourish this year, the iPad, with all its capabilities, should jump to the head of the class.
If used to its full potential, there is speculation that this device could single-handedly save the struggling newspaper and publishing industries. It would be a shot in of adrenaline for publishers around the country, and possibly the globe.
The iPad looks like a blast. It's priced reasonably well too. Look for the iPad to launch the Year of the Tablet in 2010.
Technorati Tags: Apple, iPad, Steve Jobs
Posted by William Lozito at 12:54 PM| Comments (0)
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HTC's "Quietly Brilliant" vs. ShoreTel's "Brilliantly Simple" Slogan Conflict
There's a potential trademark dispute brewing between HTC, the Taiwanese cell phone maker, and ShoreTel, the Sunnyvale, California-based Internet Protocol phone system provider.
HTC's new tagline is, "Quietly brilliant."ShoreTel's new tagline is, "Brilliantly simple."
The trouble is, both companies compete in International Class Code 9, and 37. International Class Codes divide consumer goods and services into similar categories and are primarily used to file trademarks.
In the United States, ShoreTel has a jump on HTC since they filed earlier on June 8, 2009, and actually were just allowed the slogan by the US trademark office.
But internationally, HTC filed for a trademark application for its "Brilliantly simple," slogan which the US and other country trademark offices have not ruled on yet.
I think, ShoreTel's trademark filing of "Brilliantly simple," has a good chance of trumping HTC's "Quietly brilliant," in both the US and globally, since ShoreTel can claim that they had every intention to file "Brilliantly simple," globally.
It will be interesting to see how this potential trademark clash will play out.
Technorati Tags: HTC, ShoreTel, Quietly brilliant, Brilliantly simple, tagline
Posted by William Lozito at 9:26 AM| Comments (0)
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iSlate Naming for Big Day, Rejects Doonesbury's "Jesus Tablet"
So today is the big day.
At 10 AM Pacific time we will finally get to know what on earth Apple plans on calling it's new tablet computer at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center.
I am still betting on iSlate, as is the iSlate.us site, which yesterday asked the horrible question: What if there is no iSlate? And even if there is one, what if it's not called iSlate?
Gizmodo leads us through the myriad of rumors around the device, reminding us that the device is generally being referred to as a "tablet" although the code name is K48.
Engadget tried to sell us all on the idea that iTablet is the obvious name by showing an email supposedly sent out by Apple with an iTablet file heading, but has since recanted.
Wired has just published a fascinating article suggesting that the event might not be about tablets at all but instead about content management.
I'm are really wondering what this is going to be called.
I am standing by iSlate, as are the bookies (yes, people are betting on this, I am not one of them).
I am also rejecting Doonesbury's suggestion that this will be called the "Jesus Tablet". Steve Jobs doesn't walk on water. Yet.
Technorati Tags: Apple, iSlate, tablet, Mac, Cupertino, Steve Jobs, product naming
Posted by William Lozito at 8:05 AM| Comments (0)
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