Tuesday Apple Rumors: Is Microsoft Copying Apple Stores?

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daily apple rumors AAPLHere are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for today:

Cloning: Microsoft‘s (NASDAQ:MSFT) new chain of retail stores has adopted floor plans and interior designs that are very similar to Apple‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL) highly successful Apple Stores, ABC News notes. Microsoft stores feature minimalist interiors, high ceilings, large expanses of front windows and an open floor plan. Microsoft’s range of mobile and gaming devices are placed on dark wood-topped tables, a difference from Apple Stores, which feature light-colored wooden tabletops. An analyst for Morningstar noted that the Microsoft stores “did kind of crib the look and feel,” of Apple Stores. While he stopped short of calling them copies, he noted that they were “one-off derivatives.” A recent report by SNK Kagan Media & Communications noted that Microsoft Stores seemed “designed to trick the near-sighted into thinking they’re in an Apple store.” Microsoft now has 64 retail stores, compared to 360 Apple Stores worldwide. But Microsoft had better look out, the notoriously litigious Apple recently trademarked the appearance and layout of its stores.

Self Love: Apple will debut on Tuesday a new iBookstore feature that highlights self-published e-books, the New York Times notes. Titled Breakout Books, the feature will get main page positioning for two weeks before becoming a permanent feature on the iBooks website. Titles featured in the Breakout Books display will be chose by Apple editorial team. iBooks sells self-published e-books for $2.99 or less. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) also promotes self-published e-books in its Kindle e-book store. Sales of self-published e-books have begun to challenge traditionally-published e-books, which cost a lot more.

Legal Moves: The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed a motion by Apple to fast-track an appeal of lower court’s ban on the sale of certain Samsung products in the U.S., CNET notes. The iPad-maker will now have to wait for a three-judge panel to fully review and rule on its appeal. A U.S. District Court rejected Apple’s request for a permanent sales ban on a number of older Samsung mobile devices found to have infringed on Apple patents. A California jury awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages over the patent violations in August. Samsung had contested the ban, fearing that a permanent ban might be extended to newer products. Apple appealed the ban’s rejection.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.


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