Hasta La Gadget!

Seriously, Samsung, what the heck is with the scented cellphone patents? This isn’t the first, or even the second time you’ve thought to put pockets of perfume in a handset. This latest patent is slightly different from earlier concepts, we suppose. We see this one has a scent refilling station built into the charging dock. So, when you set the phone down to charge the battery, it also “charges” the aromatic sponge in the body. It’s also notable that this isn’t a passive scented strip or a spraying mechanism. Instead the “absorbant material” is heated, either by the battery directly or by circuitry triggered as part of an alert. So, every time your hippy buddy calls, your phone could blast Phish and fill the air with the scent of patchouli (or, something else…).

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung patents perfume-packing cellphone… again originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Aug 2012 16:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft already has licensing agreements with the companies accounting for the vast majority of Android devices on the market, but it’s not done just yet. The latest to come on board is Sharp, which has signed a deal that will allow it to use Microsoft’s Extended File Allocation Table file system (otherwise known as exFAT) on its Android-based devices — that’s a slightly more specific agreement than most others, where the contents haven’t been disclosed. While Sharp isn’t exactly a major smartphone player here in North America, it is in Japan, where it had a market share of 17.5 percent in 2011 (second only to Apple). As with other similar deals, this agreement will see Microsoft receive royalties on all Sharp Android devices sold, although neither party has commented on the specific terms. You can find the official word after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft and Sharp strike licensing deal for use of exFAT technology in Android-based devices

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs

Microsoft and Sharp strike licensing deal for use of exFAT technology in Android-based devices originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We have ad-supported e-reading today, but the ads always sit on the periphery at most. That makes us more than slightly nervous about a newly-granted Microsoft patent for contextual e-book ads. The development would make the pitch based on not just targeted pages but the nature of the book in question: a sci-fi novel might try to sell lightsabers, and characters themselves might slip into the ads themselves if there’s a fit. Promos could be either generated on the spot or remain static. Before anyone mourns the end of unspoiled literature, just remember that having a patent isn’t the same as using it — Microsoft doesn’t have its own dedicated reading app anymore, let alone any warning signs that it’s about to pepper our digital libraries with marketing. If the Newco partnership results in copies of War and Peace bombarded with Black Ops II ads, though, we’ll know where to place the blame.

Microsoft patents contextual ads in e-books, whether we like it or not originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Look up. Now down. Back up here again? Imagine having to do that every time you wanted to unlock your phone, as this granted Google patent for “Unlocking a screen using eye tracking information” possibly suggests. Okay, it actually looks more like it’s intended for the firm’s super spectacles — which given their general hands-free nature — makes more sense. The claims are fairly straightforward, unlocking of a device would be granted based on “determining that a path associated with the eye movement substantially matches a path of the moving object”. As long as those moving objects aren’t moving too fast, we think we can work with that.

Filed under: Wearables

Google gets patent for eye tracking-based unlock system, shifty looks get you access originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 09:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: a company that wants to start using (or keep using) a Google OS strikes a patent licensing deal with Microsoft to avoid the legal barrage that will invariably follow if it says no. It’s Honeywell singing the tune this time, and the company has reached an agreement that will let it use Android or Chrome OS on devices like a new edition of the Dolphin 7800 rugged handheld (shown here) without perpetually looking over its shoulder. Neither side is going into the specifics, although Microsoft has steered Honeywell into using its boilerplate copy about royalties trading hands. The truce won’t help the prices of Honeywell devices; even so, it’s good news for developers and customers who’ve been part of the company’s official Android feedback program. We’re still yearning for the day when we can get root access on a Honeywell thermostat.

Continue reading Honeywell next up to get a patent license from Microsoft, goes the Android handheld route

Filed under: Handhelds, Software

Honeywell next up to get a patent license from Microsoft, goes the Android handheld route originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 21:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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