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New Apple patent suggests solar-powered iPhone on the way

, Feb 6th 2013 Discuss [15]

Let's face it: battery life in smartphones is pretty awful, with only a few devices that are actually worthy of a battery-life crown. However, what if smartphones were powered by solar cells? That would basically change how we use devices, and we would essentially not have to worry about battery life anymore. A new patent from Apple may very well point to a possible solar-powered iPhone in the future. Read The Full Story

PSA: That’s no plastic iPhone, it’s just an iPhone case

, Feb 4th 2013 Discuss [2]

This week there appears to be some confusion in the press about what a newly-granted Apple patent covers, the general consensus at the moment being that they're seeing a fully-plastic iPhone for a cheap future. This patent can be found under US Patent Office number 8,364,032 and goes by the name "Light Isolating Protective Cover for Small Form Factor Electronic Device." If that weren't enough proof for you that this patent is for a phone cover, not a phone, you'll have only to look to the first page where the first "Other Publications" list begins with none other than a "Front and Back Screen Protector for iPhone 4" - and that's just it. Read The Full Story

Apple Store design and layout granted official US trademark

, Jan 30th 2013 Discuss [23]

If you were planning on opening a store selling your brand new computer brand with a setup that's not unlike the Apple Store, you'll probably want to re-think your strategy starting this week. Apple has officially been granted a trademark protecting their retail store design and layout by the US Patent & Trademark Office this week. The original trademark request application was made all the way back in May of 2010, so whatever you remember about the store design back then that's survived until now you'll want to avoid when knocking out your own store in the future. Read The Full Story

Google patent filing shows off multi-flash smartphone camera

, Jan 29th 2013 Discuss [0]

Smartphone cameras have come a long way in a relatively short period of time, progressing from sub-1-megapixel sensors incapable of taking images in anything but the brightest locations to modern sensors that are challenging the point-and-shoot camera market. Earlier today, a patent filing from Google cropped up showing a multi-flash camera model for smartphones, an intriguing idea that may never see the light of day. Read The Full Story

Apple patent shows shoe sensor for information on sole death

, Jan 27th 2013 Discuss [3]

If you've got a pair of shoes that are so old that your feet touch the ground, you're going to need a new pair - this will no longer have to be a scenario where you have to make that judgement if Apple's newest patent application is realized. In the application revealed this week, Apple has shown an outline for how they might place sensors in shoes that track the wear and tear on the soles of the footwear in a variety of ways. The end result will be a pair of shoes that informs the wearer if they get worn out while walking then warns every subsequent wearer (if there are any) that they are not fit to use. Read The Full Story

Google Glass bone-conduction increasingly possible with indirect audio patent

, Jan 24th 2013 Discuss [0]

Signs that Google is using bone-conduction for private audio from its Project Glass headset continue to mount, with a new patent application from the company describing exactly how the surreptitious system might work. The patent filing, a "Wearable computing device with indirect bone-conduction speaker" uses the same basic Google Glass diagrams as we've seen in other recent wearables patents, but this time details "at least one vibration transducer" the movements of which are passed through the headset and into the wearer's bone structure. Read The Full Story

Apple’s Jobs patent firestorm threat revealed in no-hire lawsuit

, Jan 23rd 2013 Discuss [9]

Apple's Steve Jobs allegedly threatened Palm with a patent nightmare if the company's execs didn't agree to a no-hire talent poaching policy, new court filings suggest, with Google, Intel, and others all cited as implicit in the pact. Jobs' proposal, detailed by a legal filing quoting former Palm CEO Edward Colligan, was made back in 2007, with the Apple co-founder concerned about employees switching between the big names in tech at the time, and heavily suggesting that Palm should opt in to a no-hire treaty, or face a potential firestorm of patent lawsuits. Read The Full Story

Google Glass sees laser-projected keyboard possibilities

, Jan 17th 2013 Discuss [5]

This week a patent has been revealed as filed by Google for what very much appears to be a laser-projected set of controls emanating from a pair of smart glasses. This of course could mean that Google's Project Glass is about to see some amazing virtual reality controls as their two upcoming developer events come to fruition at the start of next month. And this isn't the first time we've seen wild, futuristic control possibilities for Google's Glass, either! Read The Full Story

Microsoft has “Inconspicuous Mode” patent application with the USPTO

, Jan 11th 2013 Discuss [2]

A patent application from Microsoft has appeared over at the USPTO detailing what the Redmond company calls an "Inconspicuous Mode" for smartphones. With the mode, a handset will display a limited number of notifications with a darker background and less visually obtrusive items. This mode could be useful in settings where the regular display is less than welcome. Read The Full Story

Google settles FTC antitrust with patent and advert limits

, Jan 3rd 2013 Discuss [2]

Google has settled with the FTC, avoiding antitrust penalties by agreeing to license standard-essential patents to rivals without threat of injunctions, and to remove restrictions on online advertising, though the concessions aren’t enough to placate activists. As part of the agreement, Google will be forced to license the standard-essential Motorola Mobility patents on FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) terms to any rival that requests them, after fears that the search giant might use its acquired IP to bludgeon competitors with extortionate licensing fees else run the risk of expensive and limiting injunction proceedings.

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Project Paperless patent trolls continue fear tour with nameless subsidiaries

, Jan 2nd 2013 Discuss [6]

This year we got wind of a company by the name of Project Paperless, a group of "patent trolls" whose goal it was to target companies who didn't have legal means to defend themselves with patent claims for items such as scanning and emailing PDFs. In short, this means that you, as a business, would receive a legal threat from P.P. demanding $1,000 USD per employee for their actual physical use of a scanner device in your office because they own the patent that describes the device's use. Through the year they've been targeted themselves by some rather angry business owners who decided that, "no, we're not going to freak out and pay you this absurd amount of cash, we're going to see first if you actually have the rights to request such a sum!" Read The Full Story

RIM to pay Nokia $65m in first patent settlement

, Dec 28th 2012 Discuss [1]

RIM will pay Nokia around $65m in a one-off patent royalty payment, newly filed SEC paperwork confirms, though subsequent payments could amount to nearly enough if analyst predictions bear out. The deal to settle ongoing litigation between the companies was announced last week, though at the time neither would say how much the "one-time payment and on-going payments" would involve. A new Securities and Exchange Commission 6-K filing, however, spills the beans on the actual amount. Read The Full Story
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