It's not a simple transaction like that; the fine does not include indirect costs like Apple's loss of standing with the EU. It is rarely a "good business decision" to piss-off officials of a state in which you wish to do business.

These kinds of decisions can add up, and long term can be detrimental a corporatation's strategic options.

It's sweet you are happy with your turn-of-the-century "phone", Dear. But see, some of us replaced ours with these powerful pocket-sized computers a while ago. Some of the more elderly users even use theirs to make calls (I know, rite?!).

Now I know what you are going to say... yes it would have been a lot easier on old ducks like you if we just called these new devices something not-phone. Well we kind of tried, only people don't seem to like actually saying not-phone, or clever-phone, super-phone, or even phone-a-tron5000!

No, the Great and Terrible Free Hand has spoken, and phone it stays. Adapt or fossilise you old coot.

You can draw attention to an elephant in the room without defining "elephant".

This is not my recollection at all (I did my research before buying one). Samsung said the Tab's screen size meant it was not suited to a UI designed for larger tablets... Then the 10.1 came out and they confirmed that future 7" devices will employ Android 2.X while 10" devices will use Android 3.X (obviously 4.0 changed all that).

Yep. Tried a few "cheaper" options but had no end of problems before moving to Linode. Solid, professional outfit.

They are just using a cheap connector with plenty of pins. FTFA:

I have a feeling Samsung hired Steve Kondik for this very reason.

First point: So you just discount evidence that does not fit your preconceived ideas without offering any counter-evidence. If you don't believe in best-seller lists, why did you even bother asking for citations?

Second point: You might be right, but how the hell do we know? Google doesn't count those units as activated Android handsets. Bringing third-world and developing markets into a argument about best selling devices is... unorthodox, if not blatantly disingenuous.

You'd think the courts might be interested in fraud. It amounts to the same thing.

What is this, wikipedia? Your google broken or something? You haven't actually been into a mobile store? Fine - Top 10 best selling Android phones 2011. Best Android phones June 2011 Top 5 selling Android phones 2011. Not a cheap device listed.

Alright, I'm willing to let the hardware superiority vs iPhone slide (we could start a pissing contest about specs if you want, but that won't get us anywhere). The fact is though that the top of the line HTC and Samsung phones are the best sellers, which puts lie to the whole "majority of Android buyers get cheap crap" angle.

Not the point of my post, but I'd say its a bit early to judge.

That supposition is not backup up by reality. The Galaxy S II was the best selling device last round - even outselling the iPhone 4S. The majority of Android buyers get the 'super phone' of the current generation (which is usually about a generation ahead of iPhone in terms of hardware to begin with).

I'm so sick of people getting this wrong. Android is completely free (as in beer). If you want to ship Google Apps you need to certify your device which costs money, but that don't stop the likes of Amazon from shipping millions of devices without paying a dime to Google.

Cutie. As in pie.