"You can't dismiss any idea that'll enable you to stay in business--especially when you're competing for jobs, " says Mahaffey.

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Colligan isn't worried that these competing devices--especially the much-hyped, pricey iPhone--will eat into sales of Palm's own Treos.

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It is true in much of what he speaks of as difficulties of developers competing in the gaming market, especially with so many games that are time sinks.

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Companies under bankruptcy protection like to think they have wide latitude to control their reorganizations, especially because the law often prevents creditors from offering competing plans.

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Strine agreed such nuisance suits are a problem, especially since lawyers have now mastered the art of filing competing lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions to make it harder for their targets to fight them.

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We also discussed battery life and competing phones that come with physically larger batteries (especially the Droid Razr Maxx), but Vice President of Phone Strategy Bjorn Kilburn claims that for most customers going into the shops, power consumption is not on the top of their lists.

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Mr Villaraigosa used to be speaker of the state assembly, but he has been back in his home town campaigning for almost a year, competing with Mr Hahn for endorsements from environmentalists, women's groups and, especially, unions (all of whom tend to vote).

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It's an older chassis and it feels that way, its interior isn't special, or especially spacious, and it doesn't compete well on price with the cars it's actually competing with for customers.

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