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Six years ago, Apple tried to patent a harmless looking menu for navigating videos. Today, it got that patent. What’s happened in those six years? Apple’s poised to become the biggest TV company in the world—now we’re seeing how. More »

So Apple could be working on an iPhone with a thinner display, you say. Look what we have here, possibly in the nick of time: it’s a newly granted Apple patent for a screen with in-cell touch, where the LCD and touch recognition are integrated into one panel instead of stacking up in separate layers. Apple’s implementation would slim things down by either having electrodes share duties, both driving the display and taking finger input, or stuffing two electrodes into each pixel to accomplish the same goal. The net effect isn’t just one of squeezing a device into a thinner chassis; the company also envisions costs coming down by reducing the number of parts and streamlining the manufacturing process. As envisioned, the screen looks like an ideal fit for a significant revamp of Apple’s mobile display technology, although we’d be careful about assuming that this or any in-cell touch implementation is a lock for potentially imminent iOS hardware. Apple first filed the patent in early June 2007, before the original iPhone had even marched into a retailer — display technology has come a long way since then.

Filed under: Cellphones, Displays

Apple gets patent for in-cell touch display with impeccable timing originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 12:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung may have convinced Judge Koh to toss a few international handsets out of Apple’s lawsuit, but the Korean firm still has Cupertino’s patent licensing accusations to contend with. Their tactic? Convince the court that Apple’s claim to the inventions are invalid, and that the technology was developed prior to the disputed patent’s filing. It’s called showing “prior art,” and Sammy’s done it before — famously showing a scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey in an attempt to put Apple’s iPad design claims to rest. Today’s examples were more grounded in reality, focusing on debunking Cupertino’s claim to the “bounce back” effect that happens when a user reaches the end of a page and common multitouch zoom / navigation gestures.

Samsung pitted the famous “bounce back” feature against an old PocketPC interface called LaunchTile, which allowed users to navigate through 36 applications by zooming in and out and a panning across a grid-like “world view” of said apps. Movement between grids snap to each zone, marking the end of a page. Apple shot back, noting that LiveTile’s snapping navigation didn’t work on diagonals, and cited other differences as well. Samsung wasn’t deterred, however, and brought out DiamondTouch, a projector based multitouch table that utilized both one touch scrolling and pinch-based zoom gestures. The table even takes aim at the aforementioned bounce-back patent with a technology called TableCloth, which bounces back images that are pulled off screen. DiamondTouch’s creator, Adam Bogue, told the court that he had demoed the technology to Apple privately back in 2003, noting that it was also available to anyone who visited the Mitsubishi Electronic Research Laboratories’ lobby.

If the jury takes to Samsung’s claims of prior art, it could severely cut Apple’s claims against it. Even so, Cupertino’s lawyers aren’t going down without a fight, and still have a number of navigation and design claims that Samsung hasn’t addressed. The two parties are expected to keep up the fight for about a week, we’ll keep you posted on the inevitable revelations as they come.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs

Samsung’s defense against Apple patents begins with DiamondTouch table, LiveTile UI prior art originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 23:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As the battle between Samsung and Apple closed out another week in US District Court, lawyers for the latter focused its argument on evidence and testimony covering a presentation Apple made to Samsung in 2010, and its offer to license the patents. AllThingsD has the deck of slides from the meeting (embedded after the break), specifying areas and specific patents Apple believes Android as an OS infringes or things Samsung specifically copied elements from, plus a report on testimony from Apple executive Boris Teksler. He testified today about the meeting with Samsung, calling it a “trusted partner” (should be, since Apple paid it paid $5.7 billion for parts that year) that both Tim Cook and Steve Jobs spoke to directly about the issue.

While more information is expected from Teksler next week, he did have time to put a dollar amount on the licensing deal Apple subsequently offered, at about $30 per smartphone and $40 per tablet, as well as royalties also collected from phones running Symbian and Bada, with the possibility of a 20 percent discount if Samsung would cross license its own technology back to Apple. The companies are restricted by Judge Koh to 25 hours each to argue their points (Apple is at 11 and a half hours while Samsung has crossed over 12 with its own arguments yet to come) but we’re sure there’s enough time left for a few more revelations before any resolution is reached.

Continue reading Apple details 2010 presentation to Samsung on Android patent infringement, licensing offer

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs

Apple details 2010 presentation to Samsung on Android patent infringement, licensing offer originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 23:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vringo, a technology company that develops and licenses mobile patents, has today announced that it will be acquiring 500 patents from Nokia for around $22 million. As a result, the company is selling off 9.2 million shares in the company to raise $31.2 million to cover the purchase. Vringo is acquiring 500 patents and applications across the world, with 109 issued within the United States. Critically, some of the patents relate to 2G, 3G, and 4G technologies.

The Finnish smartphone manufacturer will continue to use the patents under a non-exclusive license agreement with Vringo. If any legal action using the patent portfolio is undertaken by Vringo, Nokia has the right to reacquire them for a “nominal amount.”

Nokia is facing some financial trouble right now, recently posting a $1 billion operating loss for the second quarter. The company is trying to shed some unwanted assets, selling its luxury mobile phone brand Vertu to a private equity firm for an undisclosed amount back in June. Nokia has said in the past that it would be willing to part with patents for the right price, but $22 million seems rather low for a portfolio that includes wireless technologies.

Just this morning, Nokia sold its Qt software business to Digia, ridding itself of the troubled ecosystem in order to turn its attention to Windows Phone. The terms of that deal weren’t disclosed either, so it’s hard to say how much cash Nokia is picking up from its various sales, but hopefully it’s enough to keep the company moving forward while Windows Phone tries to gain more traction.

[via The Next Web]

Vringo buys 500 Nokia patents for $22m is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
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