After several months of bitter court feuds between the world’s two leading tech giants, Apple and Samsung, things seem to be going from bad to worse. It has recently come to light that Samsung used the same young actress that appeared in an iPhone commercial for their Galaxy Tab adverts, and now Samsung is yet again being accused of copying Apple with its latest budget smartphone.

The Galaxy Ace Plus is the follow up to the highly popular lower end Android phone that was launched by Samsung last year. The Galaxy Ace was the more affordable cousin to the Galaxy S2, but at the time of its launch it was claimed by Apple that the phone had copied design elements from the iPhone 4. It is in fact one of the main devices that Apple has a particular beef with, although the Galaxy S / S2 and Galaxy Tab have been gaining more attention in the press.

The curious thing about this latest accusation is that, while the original Galaxy Ace was accused of copying 2010′s iPhone 4, the new Galaxy Ace Plus is accused of copying the iPhone 3G launched in 2008. If Samsung truly has just looked to the iPhone 3G for ‘inspiration’ this would surely be a bit of a step backwards.

Looking at images of the Galaxy Ace Plus next to the iPhone 3G, it is easy to see a resemblance. But it is also easy to see a resemblance compared to other Samsung smartphones launched in recent years. The Ace Plus may not look much like the original Ace but it does have a lot of similarities with the original Galaxy S. Considering that the latter was one of the phones Apple had taken issue with, it is no surprise that they also can’t stomach this latest phone.

While it does have similarities with the older iPhone model the truth is that there are only so many ways that you can make a touchscreen phone. The rectangular shape is essential and many other features that Samsung are accused of copying, such as a central home button and icons arranged in a grid, predate the iPhone by many years.

Unless Samsung starts producing pink, triangular smartphones with their home buttons placed haphazardly in one corner they are constantly going to receive accusations of copying from Apple.

Although the Galaxy Ace Plus does look like the iPhone 3G, it outperforms it in most areas. It has superior 3G and Wi-Fi connections, including support for DLNA, and a much better 5 megapixel camera in use. The Android Gingerbread operating system is also miles ahead of the OS used on the iPhone 3G, and even with a software update the iPhone 3G does not really perform as well as the next generation iPhone 4 and 4S models.

The thing is that while people are comparing the Galaxy Ace Plus to the iPhone they may neglect to compare it to the original Galaxy Ace. Aside from a marginally larger screen and newer version of Android, the phone does not offer a great deal more than the original, with the lion’s share of changes being made to physical appearance only. If you are looking for a budget Android phone or a cheap mobile phone deal, it may be worth considering – but if you already own the original Ace there may not be much need to make an upgrade to this newer model.

On a plus side, Samsung has a habit of producing “Plus” models before it launches sequels, meaning that a Galaxy Ace 2 may be in the works. It will be more likely that such a model (if it exists) would feature the improved features that this Plus model lacks.

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Apple,
Galaxy S2,
iPhone 4,
Samsung