With literally billions of dollars of cash in the bank, it’s no great surprise that Apple has long been a favorite target for patent trolls looking to make a quick buck. And though Apple tends to be targeted more than most, tech companies across the board simply can’t seem to escape a barrage of what …
I think most people would agree that patent trolls represent a plague on the tech community, consistently leveraging questionable and often times silly patents in an effort to extort money from companies that actually work hard to release products and services. In many respects, the patent system is out of control, and nowhere is this more …
A couple years ago during a performance at the New York Philharmonic, an iPhone alarm interrupted a performance of Mahler’s 9th Symphony, prompting the conductor to stop the performance. The culprit said his iPhone had been set to mute, but the iPhone overrode this switch for a preset alarm that its own said he didn’t even …
Apple was recently awarded a patent that would allow its touchscreen devices to detect how hard the user presses on the display. The patent, first noted by Apple Insider, uses a technology called frustrated total internal reflection, or FTIR, along with current capacitive touch sensors to determine force applied to the screen.
A new AT&T patent awarded in mid November describes methods through which the Internet service provider may track the privacy-related habits of customers and assign them a “Subscriber Reputation Score” (SRS) which could be used to limit access to file-sharing or P2P sites for repeat pirating offenders. The patent, discovered by Torrent Freak, basically explains …
Wireless charging is set to take off this year with the likes of HTC’s (2498) Windows Phone 8X, Nokia’s (NOK) Lumia 920 and 820 and Google’s (GOOG) Nexus 4. By comparison, Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone 5 feels decidedly last-gen without wireless charging or NFC. Apple’s reason for omitting wireless charging is that smartphones still need charging stations/plates plugged into the wall to work. A …
While Nokia (NOK) is busy trying to convince everyone that wireless charging is the way of the future with its Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 smartphones, Apple (AAPL) has yet to make any revolutionary changes to battery charging. Perhaps the future is not as plain as Nokia thinks it will be, though. AppleInsider discovered a patent by Apple that …
It’s tough to know exactly what Microsoft (MSFT) has in store for its next-generation Xbox (codenamed “Durango“), but that hasn’t stopped PatentlyApple from unearthing technologies that the Redmond-based company is dreaming up. Microsoft’s patent filed in the first quarter of 2011 and made public recently by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office outlines the use of an “Environmental Display” …
Documentation regarding a recently published patent from Microsoft highlights a new invention for a dual display smartphone that can separate into two functional units, Patent Bolt reported on Friday. The software giant’s patent could take the hassle out of sharing a screen — literally — with another person. Rather than being crammed in front of one screen, …
Documentation surrounding a recent Apple patent published by the United States Trademark and Patent Office reveals that the iPhone-maker is working on a new intelligent multi-tiered haptics system. The Cupertino-based company states that traditional tactile feedback systems provide a user with the ability to interact with a device through touch or contact. Using the technology …
