Apple Iphone: Is the Apple iPhone a copy of the Deeda Pi..........?

...or is it the other way around......
A couple of days back there was a flurry of articles that claimed that the Deeda Pi was an Apple iPhone clone. Brevisys (the makers of the Deeda Pi) even has a press release saying that they're flattered that Deeda Pi clones have been unveiled

From the Press report......

January 15, 2007

Kiku, Menx, and Pi were unveiled ahead of the "Prada Phone" and iPhone, but can Brevisys Technologies compete directly against Apple and LG? The Pi touch phone was under development since 2004-2005 and has many features the other touch phones simply lack. The answer will have to wait for a head-to-head comparison against the devices this summer. However: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

....and today I received a mail from Roger Podactor saying

Hi Paul,

Please hear me out:

I know you've heard about the deeda Pi --- because while looking for
more information on it I came across your blog entry about it. A lot
of people (not just you) have put this company and their products in
the "copycat/rip-off" category, but I am a tech junky that still
thinks that if it is ever produced it can compete and do well because
of its online integration and open development features...

So anyway, there are two things that I have been trying to figure out
about deeda Inc. :

1. Why would a company (deeda) so boldly copy the iPhone and call it their own?

2. What if they are telling the truth? What if the Pi was unveiled
ahead of the iPhone and even developed and designed before the iPhone?
What if Apple's design unintentionally actually copies deeda's Pi?

So now here is the scoop of the year:

I went on to the parent company's website to learn more about their
products and development, and came across a link to an interview of
the founder in the Brevisys Technologies (www.brevisys.com) press
section. It was done by the Boston Globe -- so its obviously a legit
interview and story.

The founder's name is Atif Khan btw--- and in this interactive online
interview ---- I was about to close the presentation and move on but
then suddenly in the middle of this slide show presentation the words
"Apple Juice" caught my attention....

I started staring at the dry erase board behind him and freaked out.
The entire concept and development for the Pi (or what everyone is
calling the iPhone) is written out in detail behind him... you have to
look carefully, but you can clearly see: Touch interface, Phone,
Multimedia, WiFi, UWB, and a couple other telling points. Then in
other pictures there's an industrial design spec sheet for the device
--- can't tell if it is an early Pi, Menx or Kiku -- in another image
you see a rendered picture (looks black and dark blue) sitting on the
table... The device has no buttons as advertised and retains the
original look of the online demos at deeda.com. There are a few other
pictures that might be the OLED or LCD display bread boards....

Why do I think this is huge?

1. The article was published last summer. Hence these pictures were
probably taken by the Boston Globe sometime in the beginning of 2006
or maybe earlier.

2. Their claim to have been working on this since 2005 is basically
true. And the proof is hidden right there in the open! You can file
a provisional patent for a year and then file your actual
non-provisionals off from it at any time during that one year period.
The filing dates for the non-provisionals would then correspond to the
original filing date of the provisional. So what if the REAL company
that might be in trouble is Apple? And what if it's going to be
Brevisys Technologies that files a suit after their patent issues?

3. Also, how can this public knowledge affect Apple's filings from
September of 2006? Can this be considered prior art by the USPTO?

I think it would make one hell of a story either way. The real
company that invented and created the "iPhone" interface and design
should at least get credit. Or if anything deeda shouldn't be called
copycats/ripoffs like the other companies who just showed up after the
Apple unveiling. (deeda's demo was presented on New Years not April
btw). Last but not least, lets give the underdogs a chance, as cool
as I think Apple is... since when did we all jump on the big money
corporate bandwagon?
Thanks,

Roger Podactor
San Francisco, CA

The direct link to the interview is here and the pictures from the
interview that have all the juicy secrets and proof are attached:

http://www.boston.com/news/special/audio_slideshows/10_20_30/html/page1.html

So at this stage, I have no idea which product is a copy of another, but would Brevisys which seems like a genuine company really be lying when they say they did their product development during 2004-2005 ? Maybe not.

There have been instances in history when products that look similar to each other have been released, and this could be one of them.

Some pics Roger Podactor sent me of Atif Khan and the iPhone concept in the background apparently taken before the iPhone release....