Apple’s Tim Cook throws some fighting words?

Apple has long been an innovator and premier creator of such great products as the iPod and iPhone. You don’t become number one by just sitting back and enjoying the ride. You have to constantly stay ahead of the game by quickly building a foundation around an idea or product. It looks like the next iPhone competitor, the Palm Pre, might be throwing some heat towards the mighty company. Yes it’s true that Apple came out of nowhere to take over a large share of the mobile industry and has long claimed their fame. During a recent congratulatory Q&A, someone asked acting CEO Tim Cook about competition from other smart phones with touch screens. And his reply to the question was, “We like competition as long as they don’t rip off our IP. And we’re going to go after anybody that does.“ The person went on to ask Cook if he was targeting Palm and insisted “I’m making a general statement…We will not stand for having our IP ripped off and will use any weapons at our disposal.” Now those statements seem a little harsh when you think about the original question being about competition. Palm's own John Rubinstein, former head of hardware engineering for Apple, is at the helm for the release of the Pre and knows Cupertino’s R&D process. In fact, Palm has hired a lot of ex-Apple engineers. Palm spokesperson Lynn Fox said, “Palm has a long history of innovation that is reflected in our products and robust patent portfolio, and we have been long recognized for our fundamental patents in the mobile space.” And responding to the statements made by Cook, Fox says that Palm is confident to use any of their tools to defend themselves. Cook’s words have definitely stirred up something with everyone over in Palm and we might see some heated stand-offs in the near future. Do you think this is an image Apple will be taking up? Let us know your thoughts.

source: iSmashPhone, Digital Daily