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In yet another one of its multiple concurrent lawsuits against HTC, Nokia has proudly announced another favorable verdict in Germany, this time from the Mannheim Regional Court. The lawsuit revolves … Continue reading

Earlier today, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published an Apple patent which describes a device that has built-in pressure sensors which will work together in tandem with touchscreen input so that an enhanced user interface navigation experience will happen. It has been described as Apple’s “Gesture and touch input detection through force sensing” patent application, where the nitty gritty boils down to this – a particular device (a future iPhone, we presume) would make use of the standard multitouch display that has a minimum of three force sensors that are located underneath the screen’s surface. Using these pressure-sensitive components around the device’s corners as well as other known areas would allow them to be in a special position of functioning as a secondary mode of input.

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iPhone Touchscreen Could Be Pressure Sensitive According To Patent Filing original content from Ubergizmo.

The headline figures on the Google-Lenovo deal are brutal. Google spent $12.5bn to acquire Motorola Mobility back in 2011, and in 2014 it’s selling the company off to Lenovo for … Continue reading

A new patent granted to Apple today (via AppleInsider) introduces a concept that shows how it might go about introducing touch-based input to its notebook line. The patent describes a special notebook display that has two sides, as well as photovoltaic cells for charging, and touch input sensors on its outward shell.

The design is quite different from anything Apple currently puts out, and has an almost sci-fi style top surface that features glass which can be triggered via electrical sensor to appear either solid and opaque or transparent. Solar charging cells are built into the surface so that when it’s transparent it can use ambient light to charge the notebook’s battery. There are also provisions for either an embedded Apple logo to be included beneath the glass surface, a small secondary LCD display or a series of touch sensors.

The secondary display could thus be optionally hidden away from view entirely when not in use. And it sounds like the secondary display could provide vital information when needed, or at-a-glance access to notifications and updates even when the device is closed or in sleep mode.

Touch sensors on the shell could trigger mechanical lock or software locks, according to the patent, as well as allow a user to input pass codes, or control media playback on the device. Other types of input could be accommodated as needed, according to the patent, so you can imagine it serving as supplementary for a number of applications, or as a potential trackpad replacement if the laptop is being used in closed mode with an external monitor.

The patent was originally filed in 2010, so this may be relegated to the R&D labs, but it would make for a very interesting and novel Apple notebook design. The solar-powered element alone would do wonders for all-day usability and possibly alleviate space requirements for batteries within the case, so it could be an area of continued study for Apple engineers.

Solar powered devices are an interesting concept, although given the technology these days, especially towards more commercial products, it feels more like a novelty feature rather than a functional one. That being said we expect that there will come a day when solar powered charging can be brought to consumer products that will be just as efficient as the solar farms out there, but in the meantime it seems that Apple has toyed around with such an idea for its MacBook series of laptops. In a recent patent granted to Apple, it hints at a MacBook system in which a two-sided glass laptop display will be used.

While the display inside the laptop will be used normally, the outside display is expected to house photovoltaic cells used for solar charging, and at the same time act as a secondary display that houses sensors that can be used for touch input as well. In a way this sounds like hybrid Windows 8 devices we’ve seen hit the market, with the main difference being that Apple’s system will feature solar powered charging capabilities. It sounds like a nifty idea although we’re not sure if Apple will even implement such a system. After all most Windows 8 hybrid devices tend to be rather thick and with Apple placing such a huge emphasis on making devices light and thin, we’re not sure if that is something they’d sacrifice just for the added features, but what do you guys think?

Apple Patents Solar Powered MacBook With Dual Displays original content from Ubergizmo.