War’s a messy business, and if a Russian inventor has his way, it could be downright disgusting. Taking a ‘kill two birds with one stone’ approach, Aleksandr Georgievich Semenov proposes that tank personnel turn their waste into projectiles, resulting in both physical and psychological damage to their enemies. More »
Apple recently won a landmark victory against Samsung when a U.S. court decided that Samsung must pay the company $1 billion in damages. However, this doesn’t mean that there is an end in sight for the patent wars. Rather, Samsung seems all set to sue Apple in case it releases an iPhone 5 with LTE technology.
While Samsung spared the new iPad, which also features LTE, HTC hasn’t been so forgiving. It had launched a case against Apple, alleging that in implementing LTE technology in its newest iPad, Apple had violated two of its 4G LTE patents. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: HTC files counterclaim against Apple, HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE now available,
Samsung recently added some serious smarts to its point-and-shoot lineup with the Galaxy Camera, which — if you’re so inclined — can also double as a personal communicator and multimedia player. As we discovered during our hands-on with the device, however, its bulky size could deter many who might’ve hoped to carry it at all times. A patent just granted to Samsung might change all that, however, which describes a camera that also acts as a multimedia player, only with one curious difference: the PMP unit is detachable. Naturally, this component houses the display and its own separate storage, but also contains the multimedia module that’s necessary for the camera to record movies. Samsung applied for this patent back in 2007, which suggests this particular setup may never see the light of day. Then again, if such a split personality camera ever appears, there’s a good chance that it’ll carry the Samsung name.
Filed under: Cameras, Portable Audio/Video
Samsung’s split personality patent conjures up a camera with detachable media player originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 21:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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RIM just can’t quit keyboards, and neither can many of its fans: even the BlackBerry PlayBook has an official Mini Keyboard case. It almost shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that the company is applying for a patent on a tablet design with a stealthy keyboard built-in. The layout hides a full, hinge-attached QWERTY keyboard from critics (and accidental key presses) underneath a back-mounted cover. When an owner’s urge to use physical buttons becomes overwhelming, the keyboard swings into action and relies on the cover as a kickstand. It’s a clever solution to lugging around a separate keyboard or specialized case, but it’s hard to say if RIM will implement what it’s learning into a finished product — the firm isn’t in the best position to experiment with new tablet concepts, and we’ve already seen a few imminent solutions to the concealed keyboard problem from other vendors. That said, the patent does show that the folks in Waterloo would like to keep a love of keyboards alive in the tablet era, even if it requires some subterfuge.
Filed under: Tablets
RIM applies for patent on tablet with concealable keyboard, keeps your QWERTY love a secret originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 20:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ever been tempted to rent a movie again, but thought the price was just a little too dear? Google may soon be willing to haggle a deal. One of its newly-granted patents could automatically lower the price of repurchase-friendly content, such as a Google Play Movies rental, depending on how likely you are to pull the trigger. Its algorithm weighs your personal tastes and repurchasing habits against those of your peers: if the code senses you’ll be relatively stingy, you’ll get a better discount. The analysis could even factor in the nature of the content itself. A thoughtful movie, ownership of the soundtrack or just a lot of related searches could lead to a repurchase at the usual price, while a simple action flick with no previous interest may bring the discount into effect. We don’t know if Google will offer these extra-personal discounts to the public at any point in the future, but if you suddenly notice a lot of follow-up bargains in Google Play, you’ll know how they came to be.
Filed under: Internet
Google patents buyer-specific price drops for follow-up sales, can tell if you’re a cheapskate originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 00:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Today Apple began sending out invites for its September 12 event, where the company is widely expected to reveal the next iPhone. The iPhone 5 is rumored to come complete with LTE functionality, but there’s just one problem with that: Samsung has said that it will sue Apple if it releases a device with LTE. Since Apple’s iPad already has LTE, we can take that to mean that Samsung will sue if Apple releases an iPhone with LTE capabilities.
Samsung has a significant number of of LTE patents at its disposal, whereas Apple had none. That has all changed, however, as it’s been revealed that Apple has bought up a ton of LTE patents (and even developed some of its own) in anticipation of such a lawsuit and/or the launch of the next iPhone. The Chosen Ilbo reports that last year, Apple didn’t have any LTE standard patents registered. Now that number has grown to 318 according to Korea Intellectual Property Office, meaning that Apple has 4.9% of all LTE patents – enough for Apple to become one of the top 10 LTE patent holders worldwide.
Of those 318 patents, Apple developed 44 on its own. The rest were purchased from Nortel and Freescale at some point last year. Furthermore, Apple owns a majority stake in Rockstar Bidco, a company which holds another 116 LTE patents, bringing Apple potential LTE patent portfolio up to 434. Samsung, by comparison, holds 819 LTE standard patents, so Apple has just over half as many LTE standard patents as Samsung.
That could provide a layer of defense should Samsung decide to take Apple to court citing its LTE implementation, but some are wondering just how much defense it will provide. The Chosen Ilbo points out that undisclosed commercial patents would prove to be a better defense than disclosed standard patents, so Apple may still have a fight ahead of it. We shall see, because regardless of whether or not Samsung will take it to court, the next iPhone appears to be on the way. Stay tuned.
iPhone 5 prepared for Samsung legal war with 434 LTE patents is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
A few weeks ago, Samsung got hit with $1.05 billion penalty for violating Apple’s patents and copyrights. It took the jury just a few days to decide on the massive penalty. Jury foreman Velvin Hogan probably had more to do with the.the speed of the decision-and its outcome-than anyone. More »
Apparently not content with a $1 billion verdict in its favor, Apple is trudging ever forward in its patent war against Samsung, and this time it’s taking aim at a slew of more current phones including the Galaxy Note and Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S III. More »
Samsung has been indicating that it isn’t going to Apple‘s victory in their high-profile patent case lying down. The company assured users that it “will take all necessary measures to ensure the availability of our products in the U.S. market,” earlier this week, and will undoubtedly attempt appeal, going all the way up to the Supreme Court if it has to. But Samsung might have something up its sleeve, and it may not be long before we see Samsung taking Apple to court over patent infringement once more.
The Korea Times reports that Samsung has confirmed it will take Apple to court “immediately” if the iPhone maker releases a new device with LTE capabilities. Of course, Apple already has a device with LTE capabilities on the market – the iPad – but Samsung would presumably wait until a new iPhone is released before filing a lawsuit. Data from Thompson-Reuters cited in The Korea Times write-up pegs Samsung as owning 12.2% of all LTE patents.
So, Samsung has a pretty extensive LTE patent portfolio that it could dip into if Apple launches an iPhone with LTE capabilities. The next iPhone, which is expected to be revealed on September 12, is rumored to come complete with LTE functionality, so if Samsung is actually planning to take Apple to court over LTE implementation, the two could be duking it out in the courtroom once again pretty soon.
Just because the patent trial is over doesn’t mean that business is finished between Apple and Samsung, though. Apple is requesting that 8 Samsung devices be banned from sale in the US, and Judge Lucy Koh will be holding a hearing on December 6 to decide if any preliminary injunctions are in order. Will Samsung stick to its word and sue Apple over LTE implementation? That’s hard to say, but it sure does sound like Samsung has it out for Apple. How about it – are you ready for another legal battle between Apple and Samsung?
Samsung may sue Apple over LTE implementation is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
A new report from Reuters claims that Apple and Google CEOs Tim Cook and Larry Page have been conducting private one-on-one settlement talks regarding all these outstanding patent issues. Apparently they’ve been engaged in private discussions behind the scenes for well over the past week according to the report.
Reuters suggests that the two heavy hitters were conducting phone conversations last week and that it won’t be the last one either. These talks have covered a range of intellectual property matters, including the ongoing mobile patent disputes between Apple and Android OEM’s. Most recently they won a huge battle vs Samsung and I’m sure you’re all well aware of that money draining outcome.
Discussion and friendly talks have also been being conducted on lower levels instead of just the CEOs, hinting that both companies could possibly be looking to end these tiresome lawsuits and patent issues. Hopefully we can all just get along and agree to a “truce” as Reuters puts it – although that is unlikely.
Apple’s late Steve Jobs has openly denounced Google’s Android as a “stolen product,” and went as far as saying he’d use every penny of Apple’s cashcow to “destroy Android” and even followed that by stating he was willing to “go thermonuclear war on this.” Apple and Google’s relationship with apps like YouTube and Google Maps have been growing further and further apart in iOS, so the current state of the relationship is unclear. The next phone call between the two CEOs was scheduled for this Friday but was apparently canceled for unknown reasons. Hopefully something positive comes from these talks but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Apple and Google talk patent settlement via CEO meeting is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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