The only positive thing I can see from this trial is that now Samsung has something to use against carriers who want to iPhone-ify Android phones in order to increase sales.
The only problem is if Apple can use this to get features removed from stock Android. However, Google was able to work around the universal search issue by modifying the code, and they replaced the bounceback behavior in scrolling with the "glow" thing, which (IMO) works just as well. So hopefully Google will be able to keep Android free of any patent issues (or maybe use the Motorola Mobility patents to force Apple into a cross-licensing deal).
So in the end, this may result in less meddling with the Android codebase by OEMs and carriers, something that all consumers will benefit from.
Oh, is THAT why they do the glow thing? I always hated it, and wished they'd used the much more 'tactile' bounce-back behavior. It didn't occur to me that they were legally barred from using a 'method to emulate physical resistance upon over-scrolling an interface' or something.
I like the glow thing because I like to pull down on the screen, as a tic, while reading a web page. With the bounceback feature, it would actually move the page, which was annoying. With glow instead, there are no reading problems.
The only problem is if Apple can use this to get features removed from stock Android. However, Google was able to work around the universal search issue by modifying the code, and they replaced the bounceback behavior in scrolling with the "glow" thing, which (IMO) works just as well. So hopefully Google will be able to keep Android free of any patent issues (or maybe use the Motorola Mobility patents to force Apple into a cross-licensing deal).
So in the end, this may result in less meddling with the Android codebase by OEMs and carriers, something that all consumers will benefit from.