If you’re read this expecting to see Linus Torvalds and Steve Jobs exchange body blows in court, read the headline again: that homophone can be confusing, the ‘e’ matters and the company we’re talking about here is Linex, a Florida company that licenses wireless technology.
Even so, Linex and Apple are revving up to go to court, and if Linex has its way, the import of all MacBooks will be banned, along with Apple’s Airport Extreme and Time Capsule products.
See that? It’s a just-awarded patent for an iPad boasting a landscape-oriented dock connector port in addition to the regular port-oriented one.
I’m sure there’s at least a few of you guys out there who are looking at that line-drawing and clawing strips of flesh out of your face in frustration: “ARGH… WHY DIDN’T APPLE RELEASE THAT?” Sorry, guys. The Department of Redundancy Department called, and they wanted their port back.
Apple’s giant datacenter in North Carolina may bring advanced voice controls to the iPhone and iPad, reports Techcrunch.
The function of Apple’s massive datacenter — one of the biggest in the world — has been kept firmly under wraps. The North Carolina facility is like Area 51: everyone knows it exists, but few know its true purpose. Observers believe it is primarily for iTunes in the cloud, but Techcrunch suggests it is already set up to bring voice recognition to iOS 5.
According to Techcrunch reporter MG Siegler, Apple is already running advanced voice-recognition software from Nuance Communications – the company behind the Dragon Dictation applications for the iPhone and iPad — at the massive datacenter. The two companies will announce a deal at WWDC in early June.
And that likely means that iOS 5 will feature a plethora of advanced voice controls when it also is unveiled at the programmers’ conference.
As WWDC and the unveiling of iOS 5 approaches, we’re all wondering what Apple may or may not bring to its devices with the next major iOS release. One thing that could be introduced is speech recognition, courtesy of Nuance Communications – the company behind the Dragon Dictation applications for the iPhone and iPad.
According to a TechCrunch report that cites “multiple sources,” Apple has been negotiating a deal with Nuance which could see them integrate the company’s speech recognition technology into the iOS platform. While negotiations could have potentially been about an Apple takeover of Nuance, TechCrunch believes that at this point that’s unlikely.
Multiple sources who seem to know a thing or two about Apple’s third-generation iPad are claiming that the device will boast a 3D display. One “Hollywood insider” talking to RCR Wireless says the device is already in the advanced planning stages, and “the fact that the iPad 3 is 3D is a dead cert.”
She went on to say that the big film studios were currently running around like blue arsed flies trying to gear up to release plenty of 3D content in time for Apple’s next launch.
RCR reveals the story has also been backed up by a source at Foxconn – the factory that manufactures Apple’s devices – who have “spilled the 3D iPad beans” to several of their closest industry sources.
Lest it be construed that they were afraid to go head-to-head with Apple on domestic shores, Samsung has just filed suit against Cupetino in United States federal court, claiming that Apple is infringing upon ten of their patents concerning “fundamental innovations that increase mobile device reliability, efficiency and quality, and improve user interface in mobile handsets and other products.”
A new patent discovered by Patently Apple reveals that Apple is working on its own fitness center application for the iPhone.
The patent titled “Systems and Methods for Accessing Personalized Fitness Services Using a Portable Electronic Device” was originally filed in October, 2009, and describes an app that can benefit its users by helping them with their diet; suggesting when they should go to the gym and what exercises they should do; and allowing them to compete with friends and be ranked on their performance.
Services are broken down into four categories: New Customers, Getting There, In the Gym, and Post Workout; which will help users find their nearest fitness center and motivate them to actively attend, encourage them to workout and suggest different exercises, and provide post-workout motivation and fitness tracking features.
Samsung Electronics says it has filed lawsuits against Apple claiming patent infringement. The suit comes just one week after Apple sued Samsung, accusing the company of copying iOS products and packaging. Samsung filed its suits in South Korea, where the company is based, as well as in Japan and Germany. Samsung claims Apple infringed at least 5 of its patents.
“Samsung is responding actively to the legal action taken against us in order to protect our intellectual property and to ensure our continued innovation and growth in the mobile communications business,” said a Samsung spokesperson. Translation: “It’s on, bitches!”
Finally, Apple is dragging one of the many copycat hardware makers into court for copying Apple’s brilliant ideas.
Or…
Apple joins in on the lawsuit frenzy to win in the courts instead of competing on features, price and user friendliness.
What are we to make of Apple’s recent lawsuit against Samsung? Is Apple right? Did Samsung “slavishly copy Apple’s innovative technology, distinctive user interfaces, and elegant and distinctive product and packaging design”?
What’s the likely outcome? Why Samsung? Why now?
The legal mumbo jumbo surrounding cases like these make them boring as hell. But the impact of this turn of events could be far reaching, and affect the future of computing and mobility.
What you need to know is that while this lawsuit seems narrow and specific — targeting a handful of Samsung devices for copying the iPad and iPhone — it’s really a warning for industry at large, and about the entire iOS family of products, from wristwatches today to desktops tomorrow and everything in between.
This is not about the iPad vs. the Tab. It’s about Apple’s very unique approach to everything vs. everyone else’s business-as-usual — and it’s about the future of computing.
Depending upon how much you spent on your MacBook, you’ve probably noticed that when viewing the screen from more extreme angles to the left or the right, the picture looks pretty terrible. Some new LED technology that Apple is perfecting might help that, though, improving color accuracy and allowing wider view angles for an array of future Apple devices, including new MacBooks and iPads.