New RIM Patent Filing Puts "Spy Cam" Pictures In Its Crosshairs

There are a lot of leaks in the tech and gadget worlds, and many of these leaks center around blurry images of upcoming products that were snapped quickly to avoid being caught. RIM is looking to prevent these "spy cam" shots with a new patent it has on file with the USPTO. This patent is for technology that prevents a smartphone camera from snapping a picture unless the phone has been held still for a predetermined amount of time.

The idea, obviously, is preventing would-be leakers from snapping just a quick shot of an anticipated product. By requiring that the camera remain still for a certain amount of time before a picture can be snapped, you force these leakers to be a little more obvious in their picture taking, potentially preventing leaks before pictures can even be collected. It sounds like a great idea for businesses who want to keep vital information from being made public ahead of time, but other than that, this technology probably has limited uses.

Of course, we could all benefit from tech that requires us to hold the camera still before shooting a pictures, as it means we might have fewer drunken photos to regret. In any case, it makes sense that RIM is the one filing this patent, as most of its BlackBerry customers seem to be those in the business realm. In order for something like to this to prevent a significant number of leaks, however, more platforms outside of just BlackBerry would have to adopt it, which means paying RIM a licensing fee.

We're not sure if RIM will have this technology up and running when BlackBerry 10 launches – probably not, considering RIM's BlackBerry 10 launch event is just a few short weeks away – but don't be surprised if this technology makes its way to the mobile OS at some point in the future. Do you think this new patent will do much to prevent unauthorized images, or will leakers still a find a way to get these pictures up on the Internet?

[via ZDNet]