Apr 13

Apple granted design patent for original iPhone, iPod touch

Posted in: Apple, iPhone, ipod, ipod touch, IpodTouch, patent, Today's Chili

Apple may have enough patents and patent applications to wallpaper its entire Cupertino campus, but we’re guessing this is one it’s been especially eager to get: a design patent for the original iPhone and iPod touch. That, of course, covers the “ornamental design” of the devices and not their functionality, which means that any other devices that look a little too similar are now treading on even more dangerous territory than before. As with other Apple patents, you’ll find Jonathan P. Ives and Steve (no “P”) Jobs listed among the fourteen inventors, and you’ll also find plenty of references to earlier patents and other relevant devices — including a pointer to none other than one of our posts on the infamous Meizu M8.

[Thanks, Fabian]

Apple granted design patent for original iPhone, iPod touch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink MacStories  |  sourceUSPTO  | Email this | Comments

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Apr 04

Apple contemplates head-mounted iPhone display, America cringes

Posted in: Apple, augmented reality, AugmentedReality, iPhone, ipod touch, IpodTouch, patent, Today's Chili
We’re pretty sure this isn’t an April Fool’s joke, and we’re pretty sure that it could be. Essentially an iPhone dock that sits on your face like a pair of glasses, “Head-Mounted Display Apparatus for Retaining a Portable Electronic Device with Display” details a headset that contains a stereo display and either a camera or a window for your phone’s camera. Also included in the patent application is a microphone, speaker, batteries, and an accelerometer for detecting the user’s head movements. Something like this would be great for augmented reality applications — and something like this would make ever getting a date that much more difficult. We’ll let you know if this one ever makes it past the drawing board, folks.

Apple contemplates head-mounted iPhone display, America cringes originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Apr 2010 07:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Apple Insider  |  sourceFree Patents Online  | Email this | Comments

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Apr 03

Apple patent application shocker: games need buttons

Posted in: Apple, case, gaming, legal, patent, patents, Today's Chili

It’s pretty rare that Apple patent applications reveal much more than vague plans and ideas about future devices, but a newly-public filing out of Cupertino just comes right out and states the truth about gaming on touchscreen devices like the iPhone: it can be “somewhat awkward, particularly on a portable electronic device having a touchscreen” because the “user’s fingers block the action.” So what’s the solution? Buttons, dude-man. The patent describes a handheld gaming dock that fits around a “substantial portion” of an iPhone or iPod that has both physical input controls and secondary storage for game information like scores and save data. That’s certainly a nice idea, and one we’d love to see supported by Apple, but we’re also pretty certain this patent doesn’t have much of a chance as written, since we’ve been hearing about this concept since games first hit the App Store and similar products — including a keyboard — are on the market now. We’ll see — like so many of Apple’s patent applications, this one might well just linger on the vine forever.

Apple patent application shocker: games need buttons originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Apr 2010 08:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink IntoMobile  |  sourceUSPTO  | Email this | Comments

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Apr 01

Microsoft seeking patent for Windows Phone 7 Series panoramic GUI

Posted in: interface, Microsoft, mobile os, MobileOs, patent, patent application, PatentApplication, patents, Today's Chili, ui, windows phone, windows phone 7, windows phone 7 series, WindowsPhone, WindowsPhone7, WindowsPhone7Series

The US Patents and Trademark Office has today made public a Microsoft patent application (serial no. 240,729) related to the graphical user interface found on the hotly anticipated Windows Phone 7 Series mobile OS. Filed in September 2008, this application describes a “contiguous background” that extends beyond the dimensions of the screen (either vertically or horizontally, but not both) with anchored “mixed-media” elements being littered atop it — all of which is to be served on a “media-playing device.” That should sound pretty familiar, given that it’s the central navigational concept of both Windows Phone 7 and the Zune HD, and as such it makes a lot of sense for Microsoft to seek to legally protect its uniqueness. Before you start wondering about potential conflicts with other UIs, take note that this requires a continuous graphical background rather than a tiled or repeating image, plus space-orientating graphical elements, which should make it sufficiently nuanced to avoid any more patently unnecessary squabbles should Microsoft’s claims be validated by the USPTO.

Microsoft seeking patent for Windows Phone 7 Series panoramic GUI originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 21:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  sourceUSPTO  | Email this | Comments

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Apr 01

Motorola patent application offers new option for 3D cellphones

Posted in: moto, motorola, patent, patent application, PatentApplication, slider, Today's Chili
Flip phones may be somewhat on the outs these days (at least among those demanding the latest and greatest), but they may well be the key to future 3D cellphones — at least if this Motorola patent application is any indication. The basic idea is actually a fairly simple one: you’d see a regular 2D image on the screen when the cover is open, but when it’s closed you’d be able to look through the transparent lid and see the images with a “three dimensional appearance.” As you can probably figure out, that screen would be a touchscreen that takes the place of a keypad, and another illustration also shows that the same idea could be applied to a slider phone. Of course, what the illustrations don’t show is how effective that three dimensional appearance would actually be, although it seems like it could give Motoblur a whole new meaning.

Motorola patent application offers new option for 3D cellphones originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Go Rumors  |  sourcePatent Application  | Email this | Comments

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Mar 31

Amazon patents packaging surveillance, says it’s for our own good

Posted in: amazon, patent, patents, privacy, shipping, Today's Chili, video

So here’s the sales pitch: Amazon wants to film the packaging and preparation of your goods as they get ready to ship out in order to make sure your order is properly fulfilled and addressed. Stills or the whole video are then forwarded along to you, so you can check ’em out. Granted yesterday, the patent for this oh-so-complex monitoring system is actually quite specific — it’s only operative if your order includes “at least one book, food item, bottle of wine, flowers, or jewelry,” so it’s not like Amazon can keep everyone else from doing this — but hey, it also references verification of “collateral items,” which is a fancy way of saying it’ll be used to make sure third party fliers and advertisements make it into the box along with the stuff you actually want, so it’s not all roses and sunshine.

[Thanks, JagsLive]

Amazon patents packaging surveillance, says it’s for our own good originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET  |  sourceUSPTO  | Email this | Comments

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Mar 30

Pixel Qi and OLPC to share all current and future screen tech

Posted in: legal, patent, patents, Today's Chili

Our man Nicholas Negroponte was certainly excited about pushing the state of the art forward with future versions of the OLPC when we hosted him on The Engadget Show earlier this month, and now he’s got one more tool to help make that happen: the OLPC Foundation and Pixel Qi just signed a permanent and free cross-license on a slew of next-generation screen technology patents, including Pixel Qi’s sweet dual-mode displays. If you’re recall, Pixel Qi’s Mary Lou Jepson actually developed part of the 3Qi screen tech while at OLPC, so there was some mild confusion over who owned what — but the two organizations have solved that problem by cross-licensing all future and current IP covering multi-mode screens. See, it’s easy for two tech companies to get along… especially when one is actually a charity that’s not at all concerned with profits. Super simple. So — let’s get working on that OLPC XO-3, shall we?

Pixel Qi and OLPC to share all current and future screen tech originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBusinesswire, OLPC News  | Email this | Comments

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Mar 29

Microsoft facing patent lawsuit over Zune Buy From FM feature

Posted in: lawsuit, legal, Microsoft, patent, Today's Chili, zune

Looks like someone at Microsoft should be paying slightly more attention to the mail: an ophthalmologist (yes, that’s right) in Illinois named Edward Yavitz is suing Redmond over the Zune’s Buy From FM feature, saying he wrote the software giant a letter in 2006 that disclosed his two relevant patents on the tech, suggested how it could be integrated into the Zune, and asked for a deal. Two years and presumably zero replies later, a young Joe Belfiore introduced Buy From FM along with the Zune 3.0 software, which Ed says directly infringes on his patents — and his lawsuit, filed ten days ago, asks the court to permanently stop sales of the Zune and award him triple damages in cash. Oops. We haven’t dived too deeply into the patents themselves, but it looks like Ed’s going to have a bit of a fight on his hands here, as the patents seem to describe systems that have preloaded content about music that’s then accessed when a data trigger is received over the air, not just storing song information for later purchase over the Internet. We’re sure the good doctor’s attorneys have some high-powered arguments to the contrary, so we’ll withhold judgment and see where this all leads — we’re guessing a quick settlement is in the cards, as fighting Microsoft might end up actually costing more than any percentage of royalties on total sales of the Zune.

P.S.- If you’re wondering why Apple hasn’t been named for its similar iTunes Tagging feature… well, so are we. We’ll see what happens.

Microsoft facing patent lawsuit over Zune Buy From FM feature originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Engadget Spanish, Datamation  |  sourceComplaint (PDF), Patent 1, Patent 2  | Email this | Comments

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Mar 24

Ultra vague accelerometer patent filed in 2006 seems to cover every touchphone on the market, granted last week

Posted in: patent, Today's Chili

We’re going to try and avoid the hysterics: patents are a complicated business, and the fact that they’re business usually means that in the worst case scenario, an appropriate amount of money can make problems like this go away — nobody’s going to take our phones away from us. Still, in what we have to chalk up to regular United States Patent and Trademark Office hijinks, or perhaps just a very forward-looking innovator, Durham Logistics (some secretive LLC based in Vegas) has been granted the patent to pretty much any use of an accelerometer in any computing device ever. Its “Method and apparatus for controlling a computer system” describes basically any use of a motion detection sensor in changing the state or implementing functionality in a device, which would obviously apply to most every smartphone on the market, along with a good number of laptops that use accelerometers as free fall sensors to know when to park the hard drive. The patent was applied for back in 2006, and is based on earlier patents from 2004 and 2001 to give it some extra cred (Apple’s own motion control patents, for instance, weren’t filed until late 2007). Still, it’s rather general, vague, and obvious, and all the examples given seem to be about scrolling, selecting icons, and swiping through pages (not popular uses from accelerometers currently) so time will tell if it will hold up in court if Durham decides to go after any one of the multi-billion dollar companies that are currently “infringing.”

Ultra vague accelerometer patent filed in 2006 seems to cover every touchphone on the market, granted last week originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Slashdot, AllThingsD  |  sourceUSPTO  | Email this | Comments

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Mar 19

Apple patent reveals iGroups location-based social networking for iPhone

Posted in: Apple, application, patent, patent application, PatentApplication, social networking, SocialNetworking, Today's Chili

Apple patent applications are usually pretty dry, but it looks like a new one turned up by Patently Apple has a bit more user-focused meat to it — it describes a location-based social networking app called “iGroups,” which lets groups of people share data amongst themselves using a service like MobileMe. Once group members are identified and linked up, they can securely share information and users carrying devices without GPS-abilities will be able to triangulate their position using the positions of other GPS-enabled devices in the group. Of course, the actual patent itself is focused on the cryptographic key system that protects all the data, and we’re pretty sure the “iGroups” name is just a placeholder for now — we’d guess the developer of the iGroups app currently in the App Store hopes so too — so how this winds up in a shipping product is totally up in the air, but our interest in what iPhone OS 4.0 may hold has certainly been piqued once again.

Apple patent reveals iGroups location-based social networking for iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Mashable  |  sourcePatently Apple  | Email this | Comments

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