Tuesday’s Apple Rumors — What’s In a Name

by Anthony John Agnello | March 22, 2011 12:10 pm

Here are your Apple rumors and news items for Tuesday:

There’s a Lawsuit for That: Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN[1]) opened its app store late Monday. In fact, the store itself is an app, as its downloadable on Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG[2]) Android mobile platform as an alternative to the Android app store with its Amazon-curated app selection. According to Bloomberg[3], Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL[4]) filed suit against Amazon in what is the latest round of legal action surrounding the names of mobile software stores. Apple claims that Amazon is infringing on Apple’s “App Store” trademark by calling its outlet the “Appstore.” Apple says it contacted Amazon three separate times asking them to cease using the name, but they did not get a “substantive response” in return. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT[5]) recently filed suit against Apple over the name, claiming that “App Store” couldn’t be trademarked since it’s too generic a title.

 iPad 2 Goes Global: Rumors that supply disruptions caused by the crisis in Japan and U.S. demand for the new tablet would delay the European release of the iPad 2 appear to be false. Apple said Tuesday that the second-generation iPad would be released as scheduled in the U.K. on Friday. All six models of the iPad 2, including WiFi-only and 3G models, will be available to purchase. Releases in Australia and a number of countries across the European Union will also go ahead as planned. It is unknown at this point if there will be delays for the Asian release of the iPad 2. The Japanese release has already been pushed back, but the releases in Hong Kong, Korea, and Singapore are only scheduled loosely for April.

RIM Gets Into the Act: After six months of delays, Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM[6]) will finally release its first tablet PC, the BlackBerry PlayBook, on April 19. RIM will match Apple’s pricing for the iPad 2 with its 7-inch tablet — the WiFi-only, 16-GB model is priced at $499. Steve Jobs famously knocked RIM’s tablet and other competitors like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab during an earnings conference call last October when he said that 7-inch tablets would be “dead on arrival.”

As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter at @ajohnagnello[7] and become a fan of InvestorPlace on Facebook.[8]

Endnotes:

  1. AMZN: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=AMZN
  2. GOOG: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=GOOG
  3. Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-21/apple-sues-amazon-com-over-use-of-app-store-trademark.html
  4. AAPL: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=AAPL
  5. MSFT: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=MSFT
  6. RIMM: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=RIMM
  7. @ajohnagnello: http://twitter.com/#%21/ajohnagnello
  8. InvestorPlace on Facebook.: http://www.facebook.com/pages/InvestorPlace/178906405484848

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