This thread is for documenting the times companies try to sell something as innovative that others did long ago but it was abandoned and forgotten about, as well as the times companies waited way too long to finally implement a well-overdue feature.
Note: I am not opposed to vendors copying features from others. Copying is not theft. In fact, I often wish companies copied from each other sooner. For example, I wish Samsung finally copied the continuous light option in photo mode from Xiaomi.
What matters to the buyer is who makes the best product in the end, regardless of what was copied. But vendors try to pass some features off as their original ideas while they aren't. Especially Apple, which is hypocritical given their patent infringement lawsuits against Samsung in the early 2010s.
Examples:
I am guessing Air View (S4, Note 3, S5), also known as Floating Touch (Xperia Sola) will eventually make a comeback. It enabled things like previewing parts of a video by hovering over the seek bar or simulating a hovering mouse in a web browser or revealing tooltips with more details. It seemed very futuristic and outstanding back in the early 2010s, not like something that would be abandoned and forgotten about by 2015.
[I hereby release this post into the public domain, CC0 1.0.]
Note: I am not opposed to vendors copying features from others. Copying is not theft. In fact, I often wish companies copied from each other sooner. For example, I wish Samsung finally copied the continuous light option in photo mode from Xiaomi.
What matters to the buyer is who makes the best product in the end, regardless of what was copied. But vendors try to pass some features off as their original ideas while they aren't. Especially Apple, which is hypocritical given their patent infringement lawsuits against Samsung in the early 2010s.
Examples:
- iOS 26 liquid glass (2025): Microsoft did this in 2007 with Windows Vista.
- "Look to scroll" on the Apple Vision Pro: Samsung had this in 2013 (Galaxy S4 smart scroll).
- iOS 7 flat design (2013): Microsoft did this in 2010 on Windows Phone 7. But iOS 7 icons still had gradients, not completely solid colours.
- Google Pixel 2 (2017) voice command selfie (source in attachment, mirror, but I couldn't find the English version): Samsung had this in 2012 on the Galaxy S3 (source).
- iPhone 6s (2015) 4K video recording: Samsung had this two years earlier on the Note 3, but Samsung missed the opportunity to advertise it. All they did was passingly mention it on stage at the keynote. Apple of course didn't miss out on advertising it.
- iPhone XR and XS video recording with stereo audio (2018): Samsung and Sony had this since 2012 (Galaxy S3 and Xperia S) but of course didn't advertise it. Apple mentioned it on their keynote so people started actually paying attention it it.
- iPhone X (2017) with Augumented Reality camera with dinosaurs walking inside the scene (source, 3:07): Sony had this on the Xperia Z2 (2014) in the "AR effects" mode (source).
- iPhone 15 action button: Samsung had this on the Galaxy Xcover 4 in 2017.
I am guessing Air View (S4, Note 3, S5), also known as Floating Touch (Xperia Sola) will eventually make a comeback. It enabled things like previewing parts of a video by hovering over the seek bar or simulating a hovering mouse in a web browser or revealing tooltips with more details. It seemed very futuristic and outstanding back in the early 2010s, not like something that would be abandoned and forgotten about by 2015.
[I hereby release this post into the public domain, CC0 1.0.]
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