BT has opened up a lawsuit against Google in the US over several patents that it claims Android is infringing. The nature of the patents in question means that BT’s unlikely to stop there, however, and that Apple could be next in line. Read more
Tagged ‘patent’
An Apple patent has been uncovered this afternoon which reveals hints that the company may add integrated projectors to its iOS device line. The schematic (pictured above) also shows a laptop with a connected projector accessory, possibly connected via Thunderbolt. Will the next generation of iPhones, iPads and iPods include projectors?
This is not the first time we’ve heard rumbling of integrated projectors from Apple. As Patently Apple notes, back in 2009 the company first hinted they would one day integrate a projector system into iOS devices. Then in 2010 a broad patent application surfaced concerning networked projection systems and later that year research teams began working on integrating a projector into a MacBook.
The ability to set up playlists on your iPod, iPhone or iPad has cost Apple a pretty penny over the weekend. It’s lost out to a company called Personal Audio in a patent lawsuit) that began back in 2009. While Personal Audio is a “non-practicing entity”, which means it hasn’t actually put its patent for downloadable navigatable playlists into practice, it still managed to win $8m in damages from Apple.
Apple denies that the iPod and iOS devices rely on the inventions detailed in the Personal Audio patent and presented 6300 pages of documents in an attempt to prove it. It’s not clear whether Apple will appeal but the $8m cost is minor compared to the $8.3bn in sales the iPod division brought in last year.
Out now | £NA | Apple (via Ars Technica)
An interesting Apple patent filing submitted in October 2010 (before the original iPad was unveiled) but only just published, appears to show the future of multitouch and it’s a major leap from the simple pinch and spread motions we’re currently used to.
The detailed document describes physical actions that could have us flicking and pouring files between our iPads and iPhones. If Apple puts these future multitouch plans into place, it could mean the death of the aging desktop metaphor…
Way back in 2007 when the original iPhone was launched Apple filed for a rather broad patent regarding capacitive multi-touch displays. Today that patent was approved. Patent experts agree its the wide scope may pose problems for major smartphone players such as HTC, Motorola, Samsung and even Nokia. If you’re a manufacturer hoping to release a smartphone with a capacitive multi-touch display there’s a good chance Apple will charge a fee to do so.
Apple submits a lot of patent applications. Mountains of paper work go from Cupertino to the US Patent & Trademark Office every year and it seems like almost every idea Apple idly toys with gets picked up and analysed with the false assumption that it will end up in some future product.
Companies apply for patents for a variety of reasons including to store up a stash of them to use in lawsuits like the current Apple/Samsung brouhaha. Not every sketch or schematic will one day take physical form.
Apple’s stronghold on the iPhone ecosystem could be mounting, at least if the company’s latest patent filing comes to fruition. In a move which looks to establish the Cupertino-based company as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), it is not outside the realm of possibility your next iPhone could be powered by the Apple cellular network — worldwide virtual network comprised of at least three traditional carriers.