Gadgetopia

I told you that this would happen.

UK developer Starbrite Solutions has a $20 software offering called pBop that may remind you more than a little of Apple’s iPod. While imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, pBop flattered the iPod too much as far as Apple’s legal department was concerned.

“Apple felt pPod was being ‘passed off’ as an Apple iPod,” Starbrite spokesman Ryan Kelly told MacCentral. “We were surprised to hear this as we have heard of no one buying a Windows powered Pocket PC application, being confused they are buying a hardware device.”

I downloaded this and tried it, and it did indeed work pretty much like the iPod. As neat as pPod was, it sure looked like it was guilty of just about every type of infringement you can think of. Hopefully they can come to an amicable resolution with Apple.