Computers and Technology

When it comes to buying a cell phone, whether or not it’s for yourself or Wholesale Cell Phones that you’re planning on reselling, there is one accessory, available for GSM Cell Phones, that many people overlook.  So you know that carrying cases and belt clips make up the most typical of all cellular accessories, and some of them are from the didn’t Know You needed It Department.  But there’s one accessory that is’s likely to once have been overlooked because it’s from the did not Even Know It Was An Accessory Department!  Indeed, it’s not even an object that goes with a phone, but a service that is’s performed on one.  It is an accessory that will certainly help to increase the resale value of Wholesale Cell Phones you had purchased. But before you protest this is just a question of semantics, recall first what it suggests to accessorize something, anything.  Accessories help you to use something better, somehow enhancing your overall experience, don’t they?  Well, unlocking your telephone will actually boost cellular experience better than any accessory!  Unlock your GSM cell telephone and get the last word in cellular accessories, in this sense : the one true must-have of them all! 

But what if your service carrier should object?  But that’s not very likely.  For aside from some sort of stipulation in your contract that obliges you with never changing your telephone in any way, ever, it is your telephone : you do own it!  Besides, the carrier makes cash with no regard for whether the phone is locked.  And even the presence of such a clause might not need to deter you, as you can probably still unlock your telephone all the same.  Ultimately, you almost certainly would not unlock your phone at all unless you were switching to another carrier in which case the old carrier’s protests don’t matter! 

It’s simply too bad that many a carrier programs its GSM phones to not work with SIM cards from another.  Unlock your GSM telephone and you undermine this programming.  You can easily determine whether your telephone is already unlocked by simply sticking another SIM card into it.  Nokia telephones can often become unlocked through codes that can be cost-effectively acquired, but the manual input of secret codes is just one way to unlock a GSM phonephone.  Certain telephones need a firmware rewrite, or firmware reflashing, so the handset must be despatched to a company with the mandatory hardware.  But not all corporations can service all makes and models of cell phones, so check first to see whether your particular phonephone can be reflashed.  But do keep any unlocking codes safe for future reference, as there was 1 report of a carrier really relocking a telephone even though that phone wasn’t even one issued by the carrier!

Computers and Technology cell phones, cellular, cellular phones, Mobile, wholesale cell phones, wireless

Today’s announcement from Cisco regarding our suit with Apple over our iPhone trademark has spurred a lot of interesting questions.Importantly, this is not to rival Apple’s innovation, design, or their phone innovation. It is not a suit about money or royalties. This is a suit about trademark infringement.

Cisco owns the iPhone trademark. We have since 2000, when we bought a company called Infogear Technology, which had developed a product that combined web access and telephone.  Infogear’s registrations for the mark date to 1996, before iMacs and iPods were even glimmers in Apple’s eye.  We have been shipping new, updated iPhone products since last spring, and had a formal launch late last year. Apple knows this; they approached us about the iPhone trademark as far back as 2001, and have approached us several times over the past year.

Negotiations with Apple has been going on for weeks, discussing how the two companies would make use of the iPhone trademark to boost sales in both comoanies.  We genuinely believed that we were going to be able to reach an agreement and Apple’s communications with us suggested they supported that goal. We negotiated in good faith with every intention to reach a reasonable agreement with Apple by which we would share the iPhone brand.

So, I was surprised and disappointed when Apple decided to go ahead and announce their new product with our trademarked name without reaching an agreement. It was essentially the equivalent of “we’re too busy.”  Despite being very close to an agreement, we had no substantive communication from Apple after 8pm Monday, including after their launch, when we made clear we expected closure.  What were the issues at the table that kept us from an agreement? Was Money the issue? No. Was it a royalty on every Apple phone? No. Was it an exchange for Cisco products or services? No.

Fundamentally we wanted an open approach. We hoped our products could interoperate in the future. In our view, the network provides the basis to make this happen—it provides the foundation of innovation that allows converged devices to deliver the services that consumers want.  Our goal was to take that to the next level by facilitating collaboration with Apple.  And we wanted to make sure to differentiate the brands in a way that could work for both companies and not confuse people, since our products combine both web access and voice telephony. That’s it. Openness and clarity. 

At MacWorld, Apple discussed the patents pending on their new phone technology. They clearly seem to value intellectual property.  If the tables were turned, do you think Apple would allow someone to blatantly infringe on their rights? How would Apple react if someone launched a product called iPod but claimed it was ok to use the name because it used a different video format? Would that be ok?  We know the answer – Apple is a very aggressive enforcer of their trademark rights. And that needs to be a two-way street.

This lawsuit is about Cisco’s obligation to protect its trademark in the face of a willful violation.  Our goal was collaboration.  The action we have taken today is about not using people’s property without permission.

Computers and Technology apple, Cisco, iphone, Mobile, Phone, VIOP