A new Apple patent published this week by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office confirms that the company has been working on introducing 3D to our iOS devices. However, it may not be the glasses-free 3D technology we’ve already seen from devices like the Nintendo 3DS and the HTC EVO 3D.
Instead, Apple’s invention uses your device’s front-facing camera to track the position of your eyes and the location of light.
Motorola Mobility sued Apple in a Florida court on Wednesday for violating 6 wireless technology patents found in the iPhone 4S and iCloud. The patents in question relate to antenna, software, data filtering, and messaging technology.
Google recently acquired Motorola for $12.5 billion and is in the process of merging with the company. While Google is not directly involved with this specific case, Motorola’s lawsuit can definitely be seen as another attempt to protect patent ammunition for the ongoing legal war between the top smartphone manufacturers. In fact, this is the closest Apple and Google have ever come to fighting in the courtroom.
There was an earlier report of Apple going after the Samsung Galaxy Nexus for violating its slide to unlock patent, which left most Android users scratching their heads. It was obvious that the new unlock feature in Ice Cream Sandwich was vastly different than the traditional slide to unlock, leaving many to chalk this up to another Apple patent trolling. Now we know this isn’t the case, thanks to a report in the Korean Herald, in which an unnamed Samsung official says:
Eastman Kodak’s bankruptcy filing early this morning was not a Kodachrome moment. However, the death of the film pioneer means its rebirth as a digital brand, complete with threats of patent lawsuits against Apple and others.
Apple is expected to revolutionize television with a set of its own later this year, and while we’re all expecting the device to feature Siri, there’s very little else we know about it. But according to a relatively new Apple patent, credited to Steve Jobs, it may also feature digital video recording capabilities that allow you to save your favorite shows for viewing at a later date.
Android may not be every Mac user’s cup of tea, but it’s the biggest mobile operating system in the world, and it’s important to know what’s going on with Android — what it’s doing right, and what it’s doing wrong. Here’s the best stories that hit today over at our sister site, Cult of Android.
Eastman Kodak has announced its plans to sue Apple and HTC for violating several of its patents relating to digital imaging. The once-profitable camera company claims that Apple’s iOS devices and HTC’s smartphones infringe on Kodak patents for transmitting images digitally and between devices.
An interesting Apple patent filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office details how Thunderbolt could be headed to iOS devices. Apple has actually been filing many Thunderbolt-related trademarks as of late, despite the fact that Thunderbolt is also an Intel property.
In this recent patent, Apple details how the need for high-speed data connections between devices requires new cables. The traditional 30-pin connector isn’t cutting it anymore, and Thunderbolt is the future.
With billions in the bank, sometimes it is cheaper to pay a few bucks rather than spend time in court. That apparently is the logic behind a $5 million settlement announced in a patent-infringement lawsuit filed against Apple. Despite little chance of a courtroom win, a Taiwan-based touchpad maker is proclaiming victory.
A recently discovered Apple patent reveals that the Cupertino company could be planning to introduction facial recognition technology to its Mac and iOS devices. The system would allow users to login to multi-user machines using only their face, much like the facial recognition feature recently introduced to Google’s Android operating system.