Sorry Samsung, first tweet from Everest was actually the second

In what was hoped to be a major viral marketing campaign, Samsung arranged for a tweet to be sent from the top of Mt Everest using their brand-new Galaxy S II smart phone.  Unfortunately, their claims of being the first have been dashed.



British mountaineer Kenton Cool sent the tweet at 10:27am, on May 6th (the timezone used is unclear): " Everest summit no 9! 1st tweet from the top of the world thanks to a weak 3G signal & the awesome Samsung Galaxy S2 handset! @samsunguk "



And if you weren't convinced that this was all about the marketing, there's a rather hokey video of Cool wearing a special Galaxy S II t-shirt showing off the phone at Everest Base Camp (you have to watch the video just to see him pull the phone out of a pre-cut hole in an ice-wall!).



So, we have the video, the tweet and loud claims of a record – first tweet from the summit of Everest.



Unfortunately not.



Certainly it was the first tweet using the recently installed mobile phone station at Base Camp and also the first using 3G technology.  But it wasn't thefirst.

That award goes to US climber Eric Larsen when he tweeted on October 15th 2010, " Everest summit! -Sent with@DeLormeGPS Earthmate PN-60w ."

Eric's tweet was sent via GPS device (the DeLorme PN-60w ) which was tightly coupled with a satellite communications module (the SPOT satellite communicator).  This combination is essentially a mountaineer's GPS coupled with a safety device able to send short messages such as "I'm fine," "Help" or"911."  In addition, the PN60w is able to pass messages to the SPOT for transmission, hence the tweet.

So, sorry Samsung, the Galaxy certainly made the first phone call from the summit, but not the first tweet.

Apple Sues Samsung, But Wants to Stay Friends

Apple said it wants to maintain good relations with Samsung despite suing the South Korean electronics giant , underscoring the companies' mutual dependence on each other and raising questions about the nature of patent lawsuits. While Apple on Thursday filed a lawsuit alleging the South Korean electronics giant copied its iPhone and iPad designs, the Cupertino-based company says itwants to maintain a healthy relationship with Samsung. This makes sense since Samsung is Apple's chief manufacturer and Apple is Samsung's largest customer in some sectors.
Apple's Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook, said Samsung's mobile division "crossed the line" when it supposedly used Apple's designs for its Galaxy Tab , but he still expects the companies' "strong relationship will continue."
Samsung, which coutersued Apple , said it will respond actively to protect its intellectualproperty, but can't go much further in bashing Apple since the computer company buys millions of its LCD panels and semiconductors. In fact Apple made up 4 percent of Samsung's 142 billion revenue in 2010; Samsung needs this money too since its profits dropped this winter.
Apple is no stranger to lawsuits. HTC , Nokia , Microsoft and Motorola have all been in the company's legal cross-hairs. But of course if Apple alienated all these companies, some of which it supplies and works with, the company would be hurting, and it's clearly not, after nearly doubling quarterly profits .
Patent-centered lawsuits, of course, have been escalating as companies sue one another over alleged infringement. Apple's aggressive suit of a major partner, however, may actually be a proxy war on Google's Android platform.
The open source OS running on handsets from a bevy of manufacturers has gulped substantial marketshare from Apple's iOS and RIM's BlackBerry since it hit the mobile scene at the end of 2008.