• jqubed@lemmy.world
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    21 hours ago

    I know Verizon has to pay Lucasfilm to use the term “Droid” for their Android phones, back when iPhones were AT&T exclusives and they were using the slogan Droid Does, but I think Lucasfilm had also specifically trademarked/copyrighted/whatever the term. I remember projects like Trillian and Babelfish took their names from the Douglas Adams Hitchhiker’s Guide properties but I don’t think they did any licensing.

      • jqubed@lemmy.world
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        8 hours ago

        IIRC it was Verizon; Motorola and eventually a couple other manufacturers would sell the same phones under different names in other countries.

        • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
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          2 hours ago

          Mostly I have this distinct memory of badly communicating with a Verizon employee when I got my first smart phone, an LG Ally.

          I remember asking “Is this a Droid?” Meaning “is the make and model of this handset a Motorola Droid?” And the reply was “They’re all droids.” meaning they all run the Android operating system. I miss LG phones, or at least the state of my personal life back when I had LG phones.