Hasta La Gadget!

After the ho-hum AR demonstration of Windows Phone Mango, Microsoft appears to be stepping up its game by licensing a mature set of technologies from GeoVector, (a company previously known for its defunct World Surfer application). While the details remain elusive, Ballmer’s crew was granted a multi-year, non-exclusive right to use and abuse the pointing-based local search and augmented reality elements of GeoVector’s portfolio — surely capable of bringing Local Scout to the next level. While much of the technology relies on GPS and a compass for directional-based discovery, the licensor also holds intellectual property for object recognition (à la Google Goggles), although it’s unclear whether this element falls within the agreement. Of course, Microsoft could have turned to Nokia’s Live View AR for many of the same tools, but that would have been far too obvious. Just beyond the break, you’ll find the full PR along with an (admittedly dated) video of GeoVector’s technology.

Continue reading Microsoft licenses GeoVector’s augmented reality search for local guidance (video)

Microsoft licenses GeoVector’s augmented reality search for local guidance (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jul 2011 11:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has proven, time and time again, that it is not shy about dragging its competitors before the ITC over patent disputes. And, while its fellow smartphone makers have never held back from defending themselves, HTC’s general counsel Grace Lei had some particularly pointed words for Jobs and co. regarding Cupertino’s latest volley of suits. In a statement Lei said that, “HTC is disappointed at Apple’s constant attempts at litigations instead of competing fairly in the market.” This is the second time Apple has attempted to block the import of devices from the Taiwanese manufacturer, and the purveyors of all things i are also currently on the offensive against Samsung, GetJar, and Amazon in patent and trademark disputes. At this rate the company is probably spending almost as much on legal fees as it is on the engineers and designers tasked with whipping up its next generation of mobile products.

HTC tells Apple to try competing, rather than suing originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Deep in the stodgy bowels of the USPTO sits a folder full of Apple patent applications specifically for gesture controls. A few more pages from that expanding tome were just made public, and the concepts unearthed are certainly thought-provoking. The first involves using a proximity sensor in addition to the touch panel to register gestures in 3D. For example, you could use three fingers to mark out the corners of a triangle on the screen and then “pull up” and pinch to create a pyramid for use in a CAD application. The second idea involves gestures based on intuitive “physics metaphors” that are recognized using motion sensors. So instead of navigating menus in order to start a file transfer between an iPhone and iPad, the user could arrange the desired files on the phone’s screen and then pretend to “pour” them onto the tablet — an idea which rather reminds of the funky Project Blox. Oh, did we just make a Cupertino lawyer twitch?

Apple seeks patents for 3D and ‘physics metaphor’ gesture controls originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 22:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ah, the Eastern District of Texas. Home to tumbleweeds, free range cattle and boatloads of patent trolls. Personal Audio, a patent licensing company with a highfalutin’ facility in Beaumont, Texas has become the latest outfit to claim victory over a major CE company, with Apple being asked to hand over $8 million to settle a tiff involving iPod playlists. Bloomberg reports that a federal jury in the Lonestar state found that Cupertino’s iPod players infringed on patents for “downloadable playlists,” right around two years after Personal Audio initially filed the claim for a staggering $84 million. We’re told that the inventions cover “an audio player that can receive navigable playlists and can skip forward or backward through the downloaded list,” and while Apple unsurprisingly stated that it wasn’t actually using those very inventions, that hasn’t stopped the courts from disagreeing just a wee bit. Now, the real question: are Sirius XM, Coby and Archos — also named in the original suit — going to be facing similar circumstances?

Apple coughing up $8 million to Personal Audio in iPod playlist settlement originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jul 2011 16:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Watch out, Mario, the Lawyer Bros. are after you again. This time it’s Tomita Technologies and the patent in question is number 7,417,664, “Stereoscopic Image Picking Up and Display System Based Upon Optical Axes Cross-Point Information.” As you might have guessed, the case has to do with 3DS and its use of a parallax barrier 3D screen, something the Tomita’s 2008 patent (applied for in 2003) certainly describes, in addition to a stereoscopic capture device, a position-tracking system, and lots of other accoutrement. The case was filed on June 22nd and there’s not much for us to do now but wait to see whether this plucky plumber can jump his way into dismissal like he has again and again.

Nintendo 3DS accused of infringing on two-dimensional Tomita patent originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jul 2011 08:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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