“The iSlate.com domain was originally registered in October 2004 by a company called Eurobox Ltd. It later changed hands to Data Docket, Inc. in 2006. In 2007, however, the domain was transferred to registrar MarkMonitor.com. MarkMonitor handles domain name registrations and trademark protections for many companies, including Apple. As is typical, however, the name of the actual registrant was initially hidden to obscure the identify of the actual owner. Up until this point, one could still easily dismiss all this as a simple coincidence,” Kim reports. “However, after further investigation of the domain name registrant history, it seems Apple’s name was temporarily exposed as the actual owner of ‘iSlate.com’ for several weeks in late 2007.”
Kim reports, “iSlate.com currently points to no website.”
More info in the full article here.
In a followup article, Kim reports, “We have discovered evidence that Apple is indeed behind Slate Computing, LLC and the iSlate trademark. The trademark application documents for the iSlate reveal the signatory being one Regina Porter.”
“Regina Porter happens to also be Apple’s Senior Trademark Specialist as shown in her Linkedin profile. While we can’t definitely pinpoint this to be the exact same Regina Porter, it seems beyond the realm of coincidence,” Kim reports. “So, not only did Apple obtain the iSlate.com domain in late 2006/early 2007, it also seems likely that Apple also filed for an iSlate trademark under a dummy corporation.”
Kim reports, “Another interesting tidbit, as first noted by Fscklog, iSlate is not the only trademark that Slate Computing, LLC has filed for in the United States. The company also filed for a trademark for “Magic Slate”. The term was categorized broadly to cover Computers, computer peripherals, computer hardware and much more.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: iSlate. IsLate. Sounds more like a Microsoft product to us.
Maybe it is late. Better than never.com.
Yeah, or ‘asm.org’.
Oops, there actually is an http://asm.org. Perverts.
A former employer used to have grail.com.
However, we did not have a holy.grail.com.
The company changed its name, right before the dot com boom. I believe they didn’t know what they owned, and just let it expire. Someone else picked it up.
ASM – American Society for Microbiology. Perverts? Hardly.
They’ve been around for decades; long before the Internet.
So asm.org was a natural for them
iSlate sounds a bit odd.
Apple already owns “iBook.” It’s been dormant for a few years. Apple should revive that popular (and nice sounding) product name for this new “slate” computer. If this thing has a 7-inch screen, it is the size and shape of a book. iBook would be very appropriate, more so than for a Mac laptop.
“ASM – American Society for Microbiology”
They celebrate small victories.
Too bad they didn’t trap anism.org.
Or the trapeze artists that missed withouta.net.
Or a weather service that could have reined in stormbeforethe.com.
And the poultry industry could have netted chicken.coop.
iSlate? That’s nothing.
I’m waiting for whatever Apple has planned for http://www.mammals.org!
I hope not! The name is iLAME!!!!
Re: mammals.org
Whatever they do, I hope they milk it for all it’s worth.
@ Ampar–
They be milking alright.
I believe they’ve had that domain for for over ten years!
I wonder if Fred Flintstone is the Apple authorized resell for the iSlate in Bedrock.
reseller-drat!
@ Ampar,
“I hope they milk it for all it’s worth.”
In that case they should have gone with ‘mammaries.com’.
Well, there you go, then.
It’s done.
I hear someone in the Whitehouse has registered munism.com.
There’s a White House in China? Huh. How about that. You’d think it would be red.
“mammaries.com”
Then there’s that biker strip bar, titfortat.com
iSlate can also just be a core software component to the tablet.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />
Burning Bush could bed another one
How bout that “all you can handle” porn site at sm.org/ass-bored?
Nicecall mdn.
Now you’ve just turned the boss off from calling it islate. I could imagine Jobs going to the marketing department.
Ok kids, very funny. Why didn’t anyone say iSlate is isLate?
Back to work, I don’t care if thats your annual. Jokes on you…
I learned to draw in a beastly manner at hoof-art.edu
(beauty that will bring a tear to your eyes…)
I like the sound of iSlate. IBook has been used before, is something totally different, and is unimaginative in this context (well, so is iPhone, but still).
But what’s up with that mammals.org weirdness, huh, Apple?
iSlate sounds a bit old world and heavy to me it would need time to have a chance of changing perceptions, mind you Macbook sounded wrong at first but then it did not have those negative connotations too to go with it. I agree with ken ibook seems to be the natural name for it with the only slight snag being the fear it files it as a book reader rather than a multi media device. But then we have Macbook and they are less a book reader than this device. Also we now have a separation between the computer range and the ‘device’ range with the later using the ‘i’. One can’t but think taking the ibook name away from the computer side was part of a future plan that was something more than that simple refinement. This device will be the final cog that connects the device category to seamlessly the computer category (or at least will as it is developed) so what more natural name than iBook, making it still an ‘i’ device but equally linking it to the Macbooks too. Surely the perfect overlap.
Since the whole tablet idea is not going to happen in the first place what difference does it make what they name a decoy?
Oh yeah, and just wait till the date of the expected tablet announcement. AAPL will drop like a rock.