Twitter announced today that they have been granted a patent for the popular pull-to-refresh gesture that you see in many mobile apps. However, as a part of the company’s new Innovator’s Patent Agreement, Twitter agrees only to use the patent for “defensive purposes.” Otherwise, the company will need Loren Brichter’s permission, the man who invented
Olympus has wearable display plans of its own, a new patent reveals, effectively splitting a digital camera into two pieces – eye-worn screen and imaging unit – for more flexibility in photography. The patent, “Camera and Wearable Image Display Apparatus”, describes a monocular eye-piece display that connects wirelessly to a camera body, clicking into image preview and review mode when the camera is held still to take one or more photos.
Where Google Glass counts photography as one of its abilities, with the display used at other times to show notifications, navigation directions, and other information, Olympus’ wearable would be much more focused. Rather than trading some clarity for transparency, as Glass has done, the Olympus eyepiece would use a moveable shutter which could selectively block out external light and so provide the sort of clear, virtual large-screen display necessary for accurately reviewing shots.
The camera section would use a vibration sensor, Olympus suggests in its filing, to decide whether it could trigger the eyepiece functionality. By having the display right in front of your eye, it suggests, blurry or fast movements from the camera could lead to discomfort if piped through to the display all the time.
Instead, it’s only when the camera is held still – as you would when framing a shot – that the display kicks into camera mode. By splitting the parts up, the camera itself could be lighter and more easily pocketed.
It also means greater flexibility in how photos can be framed, Olympus suggests. Shots could be taken from above the photographer’s head, or from below, or the side, while still allowing for a clear preview. Meanwhile multiple sequential shots – such as panning to shoot several images of a moving subject – could be taken by only moving the camera, allowing the photographer to stay still and more stable.
This isn’t the first time Olympus has flirted with wearable tech. Last year, the company revealed a more direct Google Glass competitor, the MEG4.0, a head-mounted computer which could be used as a remote display for a Bluetooth-tethered smartphone. Another recently published patent application, Egami reports, shows a more glasses-like headset with greater flexibility for adjustment than Google’s version, as well as a mounting point for a camera.
The “unconverged camera” approach is more specific than the MEG4.0, but arguably more applicable to Olympus’ core audience. Whether it will ever spawn a production model remains to be seen, however, though it’s entirely possible that a somewhat hacked-together version using something like the MEG4.0 or indeed Glass could be assembled using a head-mounted display as a remote screen for a wirelessly-enabled camera.
VIA: 43 Rumors
Olympus wearable modular camera tipped is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Let’s face it, while the flash units on our smartphones are getting better with each passing generation, they certainly aren’t as strong compared to dedicated flash units found on DSLR cameras, but what if there was a way that you […]
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Smartphone camera flashes are notoriously weak compared to dedicated models, but what if you could fire them from several handsets at once? Since none of us have the millisecond timing needed to do it manually, Apple has filed a patent application to let any number of iOS (or other devices with a flash) fill in the light automatically. It’d work by using a master device as the camera, which would trigger slave devices positioned around the subject to fire their flashes when the shutter is opened. A test image would first be taken and analyzed by the software, which would then remotely adjust the intensity of the slave flashes to produce the final photo. The filing allows for virtually any device with a sensor to act as the capture device and a broad variety of illumination devices, including dedicated lights, smartphones, tablets or camera flashes — though we imagine Apple would concentrate on its own products. If you’re already planning to use friend #1 for a kicker light, friend #2 as an eye-light and friend #3 as a hair light on that next outing, please remember it’s still just an application for now.
Filed under: Cellphones, Apple
Source: USPTO
It’s well established that Apple and Samsung have been in a legal cat fight for a while now, and while things seemed to have settled down for a bit, both companies are at it again. Apple and Samsung will be going to court next year in the spring for what will be the second patent trial between the two companies, and the Cupertino-based company is looking to add the new Galaxy S 4 to the mix.
As a part of Apple’s statement recently filed with the US District Court in California, the company said that the Galaxy S 4 “is an infringing device and accordingly intends to move for leave to add the Galaxy S4 as an infringing product.” The Galaxy S 4 now joins a list of 22 Samsung products that Apple believes are infringing on their patents.
Both sides have over 20 products from each company that they claim infringe on each other’s patents. Samsung has included almost all of Apple’s iOS devices, while Apple has focused on Samsung’s Galaxy S lineup, as well as the Note series of phablet-style smartphones.
Judge Lucy Koh will oversee the upcoming patent trial, as she was the judge during the first patent trial that saw Apple win with a whopping $1.05 billion award. However, that was since cut down by $450 million. However, while it seemed Apple was fine with that for the most part, the company claimed the re-calculation is off by $85 million, and thus, another court case will begin in November to re-calculate the damages.
If you’re slightly confused by all that’s going on between the two companies, you’re most likely not alone. Apple and Samsung have been going at it for a couple years now, and both companies are starting to slowly end their partnerships in the industry. For instance, it’s been rumored for quite some time that Apple is completely dropping Samsung from its manufacturing partners, which would cut ties between the two companies. Of course, Apple wants to develop their own chips anyway, but the separation is probably for the best at this point.
VIA: Phone Arena
SOURCE: US District Court Filing
Apple to add Samsung Galaxy S 4 to upcoming patent trial is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
It was almost a year ago to the day that the European Commission began investigating Motorola over reported abuse of its standard-essential patents (SEPs), and now the regulators have a little more to say on the matter. The Commission has issued Motorola Mobility a Statement of Objections, which doesn’t mean any judgment has been reached, but lets the company know its preliminary view, and it ain’t good news. According to these initial findings, Motorola wanting an injunction against Apple in Germany based on some of its GPRS-related SEPs — the particular legal encounter that was the catalyst for a complaint by Cupertino and ultimately, the EC’s investigation — “amounts to an abuse of a dominant position prohibited by EU antitrust rules.” Motorola originally said it would license these patents under FRAND terms when they became standard-essential, which Apple was happy to pay for. However, the company pursued an injunction nonetheless.
The Commission’s statement goes on to say that while injunctions can be necessary in certain disputes, where there is potential for an agreement under FRAND terms, companies with bulging SEP portfolios should not be allowed to request injunctions “in order to distort licensing negotiations and impose unjustified licensing terms on patent licensees.” Joaquín Almunia, the Commission Vice President who’s responsible for competition policy, echoed what we’ve heard from other important folks entrenched in the never-ending patent battlefield (such as Judge Koh), saying: “I think that companies should spend their time innovating and competing on the merits of the products they offer — not misusing their intellectual property rights to hold up competitors to the detriment of innovation and consumer choice.” So, what happens next? Motorola will first have its right to address the statement before the EC makes a final decision, but it’s looking like a fine is headed the company’s way. Hopefully, the outcome will also have a wider impact on patent cases of the future, so companies will spend more time making shiny things for us, and less on courtroom squabbles.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Apple, Google
Via: Reuters
Source: European Commission
Motorola abused its dominance in wireless patents when it tried to block Apple’s iPhone in Germany, the European Commission has judged, potentially paving the way to official antitrust penalties against the Google-owned smartphone firm. The EU had been investigating Motorola’s use of standards-essential GSM patents to spar with Apple in Europe, citing the company’s intention to chase sales injunctions over use of technologies that had been agreed as core to the GSM standard, despite Apple suggesting it was willing to license them.
The so-called FRAND patents – patents which must be licensed under “fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory” terms, as they are standard-essential – were intended to make a level playing field on which all mobile device manufacturers would begin. However, Motorola Mobility took a more aggressive stance, with reports that the company was demanding around 2.25-percent royalties, a figure Apple insisted was nowhere near fair.
The EC apparently feels the same way, at least according to these preliminary findings. The Commission will send a Statement of Objects to Motorola Mobility, laying out its concerns as well as highlighting the fact that it believes Motorola acted in a way that led to less consumer choice.
“The protection of intellectual property is a cornerstone of innovation and growth. But so is competition. I think that companies should spend their time innovating and competing on the merits of the products they offer – not misusing their intellectual property rights to hold up competitors to the detriment of innovation and consumer choice” Joaquín Almunia, Commission Vice President in charge of competition policy, EC
However, it’s not to say that the final outcome of the investigation will rule in the same way as the Statement does. Motorola – and new owners Google – will now have to demonstrate to the Commission that, by pushing ahead with a request for injunctions when Apple had already said it would license the patents and allow for a third-party to negotiate the terms, it did not commit antitrust-style behavior.
Even if the company’s lawyers can do that, there still remain other complaints leveled against Motorola. Microsoft also accused the company of antitrust, claiming that Motorola insisted on 1,125x the going rate in royalty payments, when it came to licensing video playback and wireless connectivity technology in PCs and Xbox consoles.
[via NYTimes]
EU sees Motorola’s anti-Apple patent ploy as antitrust, Commission warns is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Starting to get bored with Google Glass already? Well, it seems like Mountain View’s trying to patent some of that functionality for a smartwatch, in a substantially different way than it did before. According to an application submitted to the USPTO, such a device would include standard smartwatch functions like a wireless transceiver, display and processor, but could also be equipped with two touchpads located on each side of the bezel. Those could enable “pinch, stretch and scroll on a platform with limited space available for user input,” and would also communicate “with the clock line or data line.” That means they’d control all the smartwatch functions, of course, but Google may be leaving the door open for it to control other devices as well, judging by the cagey wording — perhaps sidestepping the need to reach for or yell at your eyewear.
Filed under: Wearables, Google
Source: USPTO
Samsung has filed for a patent on paging turning in ebooks, specifically on those fancy page curling/rolling effects that aim to give digital paper a realistic feel. The filing appeared at the US Patent and Trademark Office last week, and reveals a decidedly involved and thought-driven look at the art of turning digital pages. You can check out a diagram of the page-turning after the jump.
According to the folks over at The Digital Reader, Samsung’s patent application, which is filed under number 20130104017 in case you want to check it out for yourself, is serious about its page-turning effect, delving into the physics of such a phenomenon for real-world effects in a digital-world medium. In essence, Samsung is going for realism.
Not only that, but the patent also details in both words and images the different effects that would result from the various possible ways one might flip a page, such as from the middle of the outer edge, the bottom corner, the top corner, etc. Each turn will have its own effect, which is again based on the physics of a real-paper page turn and aims to be realistic.
Of course, one can’t help but notice that such a filing follows a similar one from Apple, which now holds a patent on the page turning effect iOS users can see in iBooks. Only time will tell if Samsung is granted its patent, but somewhere in the midst of this one can’t help but be tempted to make a tongue-in-cheek remark on the possible future of page-turning patent wars.
[via The Digital Reader]
Samsung files for ebook page turning patent is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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