Items tagged with Patent
We don’t know much about Microsoft’s smartwatch efforts beyond the assumption that the company is surely making one if for no other reason than all of its competitors are, but a patent application granted to Microsoft a few days ago gives us a number of clues as to what its smartwatch will be like. First...
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Apple's just been granted a rather interesting patent for an "Electronic device display module," which is really a fancy way of describing a clever dual-sided laptop display with a solar panel on back. The front of the lid would house your typical LCD, though the backside would be constructed from electrochromic glass atop photovoltaic cells...
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Finally! That's an oft overused term in the technology space, but this time, we mean it. With patent wars thwarting innovation left and right over the past few years, it's a huge relief to see two major companies shaking hands and agreeing to move ahead and look beyond the legal aspects. Apple and Samsung probably...
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HTC is not starting out the new year on a strong note; the company lost a patent case to Nokia in a Munich court that affects all HTC Android devices in Germany. At issue is a technology for a "method for transferring resource information" (such a URL) between two devices via Bluetooth or NFC technology. This gives...
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Just in time for the gift-giving season, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted two patents to Apple - one of which was filed way back in 2008. The first patent is number 8,614,693, titled "Touch and hover signal drift compensation". While its name is pretty self-explanatory, the technology behind...
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Beware, wait staffs everywhere--part of your job is about to be obviated by Google. Of course, it’s an annoying part of your job--the one where you have to split up a bill for a group of patrons. Indeed, six Googlers have filed a patent for a “computer-implemented method” (presumably an Android app...
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The last thing that would ever come to mind when thinking of "sports" is "Google", but with a newly-granted patent, it looks as though the company hopes to change that. Filed in March of 2007, Google's patent looks to improve how sports fans deal with team information online. After perusing the entire mind-numbing patent, I can't say with...
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Back in May, the US Patent and Trademark Office approved an interesting Apple patent, one that will allow (if Apple does in fact implement it, which is likely) the iPhone to automatically adjust its volume based on its proximity to your face. There are many reasons why that could prove to be a useful feature, and it's...
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When it comes to Street View, Google has created something special. The company has provided ground-level imagery of highways and byways across a huge portion of the motorized world, enabling anyone with a Web browser and an Internet connection to see what the locals see while driving. It's an impressive feat, and a daunting task to map out....
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Do you have a fair bit of "sway" among your group of colleagues? Do you have hundreds or even thousands of "followers" on various social networks? Are you the CEO, founder or Senior Editor of your organization? If so, Yahoo! has devised a way to target you with higher-priced advertising. Don't you feel special? Filed...
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Imagine whipping out your Android phone and getting past the lock screen by making a funny face rather than connecting a series of dots with your finger. Facial recognition is the key to making that happen, and it appears Google is on it, as evidenced by the fact that it filed a patent for detecting facial gestures when determining whether...
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TiVo has won more than its share of patent disputes pertaining to its DVR technology over the last few years, winning settlements from AT&T ($215 million), Dish Network and EchoStar ($500 million total), and Verizon ($250.4 million). The latest companies to lose against TiVo are Cisco and Google-owned Motorola...
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Flexible, bendable display technology spend a lot of time in the headlines these days, and even Apple is getting swept by the fad, though not in the traditional sense. Rather than focus on display technologies that can fold, roll, or wrap around an object, one of Apple's newest patents is for a flex screen feature...
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Apple has made its bed, and now it’s lying it in. The bed in this case is the decision to compete in the marketplace through litigation, particularly as it pertains to patent violations. Since heading down that path, Apple has certainly won some major victories, but it has also spent a huge amount of resources...
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Battery technology is one of the things holding back further innovation in the mobile space; batteries have certainly improved over the last few years, but they can barely keep pace with the power demands of increasingly power mobile devices. For example, many people can’t make it through a whole day with their...
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Even though Google is a bastion of open source technologies (a statement some may disagree with), the company holds a king’s ransom in patents, and therefore, the power to sue the bejesus out of other people and companies should it see fit. (The search giant also has the deep pockets necessary to outlast most...
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Speaking of Apple getting sued by people, it appears as though THX Ltd., which was founded by none other than George Lucas, is bringing a lawsuit against Apple for allegedly violating a 2008 patent for narrow profile speaker technology. The offending devices in which Apple used the technology include a big chunk of...
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From the "About Time" files comes a new bill that's aimed at protecting companies from one of their biggest fears: patent trolls. Called the "SHIELD Act of 2013" (no, not this SHIELD, but rather "Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes"), this bill would require those accusing of patent infringement...
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Much like it's possible to sue for anything these days, it's apparently not all that difficult to patent anything. While that's something of a stretch, Amazon has just nailed a surprisingly broad patent that could have an impact on the consumer electronics economy as a whole. At its most basic level, the patent -- which was awarded in the...
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The latest news in the legal deathmatch between Apple and Samsung is that the former scored a win against the latter in a Dutch court. A judge there ruled that some of Samsung’s Galaxy devices violated an Apple patent, and the company would therefore need to pay Apple damages. The final bill is not yet known...
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According to a new report, Google has run afoul of the FTC, which is an unenviable spot to be in. Sources told Bloomberg that FTC staff has formally recommended the suit to the group’s commissioners. The issue is whether Google misused its patent portfolio to make it difficult for the competition to license Google-owned patents and then...
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Our mobile devices can enrich our lives, but it goes without saying that caveats can still creep up, ranging in effect from a minor annoyance to a borderline meltdown. One such scenario, I can relay from experience. You're standing in line at a super-market, your phone begins ringing - which for some reason is louder than usual. You fiddle...
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