A 128GB version of the ever popular iPad has now gone on sale for £639. It is aimed more at the enterprise market rather than consumers. Does this signal the end of the tiny 16GB version of the iPad and maybe iPhone?
Blackberry Launch BB10
At a press launch streamed at locations around the world Blackberry (formally RIM, that's another story) released their new smartphone device, the Blackberry 10. It's offered in two forms; a touchscreen version and a traditional version with a qwerty keyboard.
The touchscreen version, called the Z10, features a 4.2" screen. The device itself looks good and looks to be of good quality.
The big 'wow' though is the OS - It looks brilliant. Something called Blackberry 'Flow' allows users to access the 'hub' where all social network and BBM notifications are without ever leaving the app their in. It look slick.
Blackberry Messenger (BBM) has also got a massive boost. It now offers video calling and voice calling, both free over Wi-Fi and a new screen sharing option that looks fantastic.
The UK will be the first country to get the Z10 as it launches tomorrow (31st January) on a number of carriers.
More details soon as more is released.
Worlds First 1TB Flash Drive
Kingston have released the worlds first 1TB USB Flash Drive at CES.
Long gone are the days of having a pile of USB sticks and worrying if you can fit everything on them.
The DataTraveler HyperX Predator (cool name) is currently available in 512GB with the 1TB 'coming soon'.
The 512GB costs a whopping £710 so the 1TB is likely to be a bit expensive.
Has 'iPad' become a generic trademark?
A generic trademark, also known as a proprietary eponym, is when a brand name becomes the word used for all products of that type. The best example being Hoover. Hoover is a brand of vacuum cleaner yet the majority of people call all vacuum cleaners Hoovers.
It's extremely difficult and probably impossible to actually define the moment a brand becomes generic as it tends to happen over quite a long period of time.
In general company's do everything they possibly can to stop their brands becoming generic, after all, why would Hoover want people calling a Dyson a Hoover? Google actively discourages the media from using the term 'googling' in an attempt to stop the trademark becoming generic.
In severe cases the original company can lose all IP Trademark rights meaning any company can then use their brand name. An example is the 'Philips head screw' which was originally a trademark that Henry Philips owned. Now any company can use the term 'Philips head screw'.
There are a number of demographics that seem to use the word 'iPad' for all tablets, in particular older people and those less technologically minded.
In work they've recently installed tablets at the the till points. I'm not entirely sure what brand they are but they're certainly not iPads. Despite this my (elderly-ish) boss calls them iPads, customers comment on them saying 'Cool, you're using iPads'. For Christmas my four year old, severely spoilt nephew had a 'Child Pad'. Nearly every member of my family, including my nephew, call it an iPad despite me telling them 'IT'S NOT AN IPAD!'.
So I don't think 'iPad' is a generic trademark just yet but I'm convinced that it soon will be unless Apple and other brands like Amazon and Google do something about it.
Do you know anybody that says 'iPad' for all tablets or do you know any other interesting generic trademarks? Comment below.
4G Bidders Announced
Ofcom have released the names of the seven companies that will be bidding for the 4G spectrum in the UK, the companies are Three, O2, Vodafone, EE, HKT, MLL, and BT. Bidding will take place in the new year with services expected to start in the spring.