names

Apple could soon lose its rights to use the iPhone name in Brazil as part of a decision expected from the local patent and trademark office next week.

Citing an unnamed source, both Reuters and Folha de S.Paulo today say the Brazilian Institute of Intellectual Property plans to award an exclusive iPhone name trademark to Brazil-based electronics company Gradiente.

Gradiente filed for the iPhone naming rights in the country years before Apple's device came to be. However the company didn't put out its own iPhone-branded product until last December when it began selling a line of touch-screen … Read more

Having secured the trademark for the iPad name in China last year, Apple is now going after rights over the tablet's likeness.

In a new trademark application, spotted earlier today by Patently Apple, Apple aims to trademark the likeness of the iPad, as depicted in both color and black-and-white photos. The filing shows a simple front shot of the device with a standard set of application icons, though not the sides or the back.

The move follows a short but intense legal battle with a Chinese company named Proview over the rights to the iPad moniker trademark. Proview took … Read more

Oh, what an adorable baby! What's his name? "Google?" Are you serious? Do you realize how many search results he's going to get when he grows up and googles his own name?

Naming a baby "Google" is a phenomenon that first came to our attention in 2005. Apparently, that was just the beginning. "Google" made the list of BabyCenter's most unusual baby names of 2012.

BabyCenter culled its list from a baby-naming survey of more than 4,000 parents. To make the list, a name had to be foisted upon at least two different kids. The spread of geek culture is evident in the list. For example, you can bet little Jedi's parents had a "Star Wars" theme wedding with Han Solo and Princess Leia action figure cake toppers. … Read more

When it comes to Apple's iOS versus Google's Android, there aren't many fence sitters. Roger McNamee, an investor who's been analyzing the output of Silicon Valley for 30 years, thinks Android is the "equivalent of having a motor scooter at the Indianapolis 500."

McNamee, who began his career by turning out big returns at T. Rowe Price Science and Technology Fund, and then started Silver Lake Partners, a private equity firm, and venture capital firm Elevation Partners, is troubled by what Google has done to encourage Android's "profitless prosperity."

"I … Read more

Technology is trying to take over the world with as much grace as it can.

Sometimes, though, its influence can seem overt, especially when it steps onto the hairy, scabby toes of traditional thinking.

Earlier this week, there were unconfirmed rumors that a baby had been named Hashtag.

But, even if true, this is likely a one-off.

What is more important are societal trends. So my epiglottis was temporarily blocked with excitement on hearing that more and more parents are naming their children after Apple products.

I gurgle with delight at the information offered by Babycenter.com that "iBabies&… Read more

In honor of Cyber Monday, the feds cracked down on Web sites allegedly selling counterfeit goods. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it joined forces with international law enforcement authorities to nab 132 domain names that were supposedly hawking bogus sports jerseys, DVD sets, jewelry, and clothing.

"Our partnerships enable us to go after criminals who are duping unsuspecting shoppers all over the world," Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement director John Morton said in a statement. "This is not an American problem, it is a global one and it is a … Read more

YouTube began gently prodding all users operating under nicknames like cutepuppies99 and origamiboys1981 to start using their real names last July. It did this by urging them to hook their Google Plus profiles up with their YouTube channel and therefore, by default, they'd have to use their real names.

Now, the video service is letting users keep their anonymous name but is still giving them the option of linking to their Google+ page. It's even giving people the option of changing their Google+ name to match their YouTube channel identity.

"While using a full name from a … Read more

When you share files and other services from your Mac on the local network, the systems on the network will use your computer's name to distinguish it from others that are available. In general, computers usually have unique names, but if the system detects the name is already in use then it will dynamically assign a sequential number to itself so network services may still be used. For example, if you purchase a new computer and call it "My Mac" similar to your old one, then it will rename itself "My Mac (2)" and appear … Read more

Emoticons have become some of the most commonly used symbols when communicating using computers and cell phones. Starting with combinations of text characters, smilies evolved into emoticons with the development of Unicode fonts that include complementary images for common smilies. For instance, applications like iMessage and iChat in OS X will make use of emoticons, automatically substituting an image of a smiling face from an emoticon font if you enter the ":)" text for a standard smile.

If there are other emoticons you often use, then you can use the system preferences to set up your own global text … Read more