Microsoft is reportedly close to acquiring key wearables patents from the Osterhout Design Group, a US military contractor and research specialist, in what’s said to be a $200m deal to help take on Google Glass, Apple’s rumored iWatch, and more. The purchase – which could consist solely of patents and assets, or may involve key […]
The phrase “virtual book club” may not conjure romantic visions of low-lit rooms and vintage wines, but you don’t necessarily need those things to throw fancy words around. Amazon-owned Goodreads hosts user-created online clubs, but a Google patent application that’s surfaced today imagines a different way of bringing bookworms together. It describes a system that automatically prompts the buyer of a new title, presumably acquired through Google Books, to join a club. To make this virtual version a little more like the real thing, it’ll suggest specific groups based on your age, location, interests, preferred club size, reading speed and literary tastes. Furthermore, you’ll only be coupled with those who’ve bought the work recently, so your new-found chums aren’t on page 400 before you’ve even started.
It’ll all be managed through a social network, of course (we hear Google has one of those), and members will be able to fill specific roles within the club hierarchy. They’ll also be able to schedule “activities,” which we assume is patentese for Hangouts and the like to foster discussion. The patent filing also talks of financial rewards to tempt participation, which sounds like the perfect strategy for building millions of inactive G+ pages.
Source: USPTO
In typical cases, monitoring a patient’s vital signs involves hooking them up to a variety of sensors, all of which end up inhibiting the patient’s mobility and causing a tangle of wires. Such isn’t the case with wearable sensors developed by researchers at the Liverpool John Moores University, however, who have received a patent for […]
One of the downsides to having glossy displays is that they not only attract a ton of fingerprints and makes them highly visible, but they are also pretty reflective and under direct sunlight it makes it harder to read, although the upside is that color reproduction seems to be better. Of course one could always buy an anti-reflective screen protector for their phone or tablet, but wouldn’t it be better if it were all just built into the device already? Perhaps future iPads could have such a coating, thanks to a patent published today that reveals Apple’s plans for introducing anti-reflective displays for the iPad.
According to the patent filing, it shows how a UV mask that includes an anti-reflection film is applied to the LCD display. The UV mask, according to the patent, could include things like a metal coating or a black mask. The patent was originally filed for back in 2012 so there’s really no telling if and when such technology would be introduced to Apple’s iPad lineup, although with the next-gen tablets pegged for an announcement later this year, will anti-reflection displays be one of its selling points? We guess we will just have to wait and see!
Future iPads Could Come With Anti-Reflection Displays According To Patent original content from Ubergizmo. 
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So, while Google Glass: Explorer and Prescription editions are designed to sit on the right side of your head, wouldn’t it be great if the wearable was, you know, built into an actual pair of glasses? That’s the thinking behind Mountain View’s latest patent, which incorporates the device into a thick pair of specs. Compared to the current versions, this concept (pictured, after the break) splits the camera and display modules across the frame. Presumably, therefore, wiring would run inside the frame and across the nose bridge — and we’d hope that the greater real estate would also accommodate a bigger battery. While this particular design may never get further than a pile of paper on Sergey Brin’s desk, the near-sighted futurists among us can always hope.
Source: USPTO
As it stands, Apple uses sapphire in its iOS products namely as a camera lens, although with the iPhone 5s, sapphire was also used to cover the home button in which the fingerprint sensor was held. However it looks like Apple has more plans to incorporate the sapphire material into future products, thanks to recent patent filings discovered by the folks at AppleInsider. (more…)
Apple Has More Plans For Sapphire In Future Products According To Patent original content from Ubergizmo. 
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If Samsung’s patent infringement battle with Apple wasn’t enough, the Korean company is in the spotlight again over claims that it intentionally copied the design of a patented Dyson vacuum. The British manufacturer has filed a lawsuit with the UK High Court accusing Samsung of duplicating the steering mechanism used in its DC cylinder models and embedding a similar component in the new Motion Sync vacuum cleaner (unveiled last week at IFA 2013). Unfortunately for Samsung, Dyson patented the mechanism back in 2009, which has led Sir James Dyson, the company’s founder, to call it a “cynical rip-off.” Considering Dyson successfully sued its rival for infringing on its “triple-cyclone” patent four years ago, Samsung’s lawyers might just have to suck it up and make a settlement offer.
Filed under: Household
Source: BBC News
According to the rumors, it is widely believed that the iPhone 5S could debut a new hardware feature in the form of a fingerprint scanner that would be embedded in the home button of the phone. This rumor has been corroborated by leaked packaging photos and leaked components that suggests that Apple could be doing something different with the iPhone 5S’ home button compared to previous generations. Thanks to an European Apple patent, an embedded fingerprint scanner seems to be more or less a sure thing. (more…)
European Apple Patent Corroborates Plans For A Fingerprint Scanner original content from Ubergizmo. 
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We do know that Microsoft has already started to work on a next generation Surface tablet, calling it the Surface 2, but here we are with a new patent application from Microsoft that redefines the new hinge. This particular patent will allow the surface hinge to stop at not one, but two locations – which means there are a couple of “stops” that enables the Surface 2 to be propped up at different angles. Other than this “exposition” of the patent filing based on the sketches, it remains to be seen just what will the name of the new device be called – will it be known as the Surface Pro 2 or the Surface RT 2, or would a simple Surface 2 suffice?
One thing is for sure though, the new hinge would deliver something new and different to the masses, and hopefully this time around, Microsoft’s next generation Surface tablet will be able to deliver something different to the masses. As to whether this new device will be a success or yet another flop remains to be seen, but Microsoft rarely makes the same mistake twice – take a look at their Xbox system, it was a huge failure in Japan the first time around, but fared better as the Xbox 360 in the second generation, although it still lagged far behind the PS3 and Wii then, it did very well in other markets.
Microsoft Patent Filing Shows Off Surface 2 Kickstand Features original content from Ubergizmo. 
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The case seems to be going Microsoft‘s way as a federal jury in Seattle ordered Motorola to pay Microsoft $14.5 million in damages for breach of contract. This is the latest development in an on-going spat between the two companies involving the licensing of patents owned by Motorola and used by Microsoft in a number […]
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