Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Microsoft’s track record with regards to innovation isn’t something you can call spotless, but a recent patent filing puts them on track to beating the rest of the world in a classic case of “Why didn’t I think of that?” Their patent couldn’t get simpler. It’s called the Wearable computer pointing device, and is supposed to be an easier way to operate a mouse by wearing it in your hand. With the Wiimote and iPhone promoting all kinds of high-tech sensors, a device such as this just had to be concepted. Right? 

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The International Trade Commission has agreed to investigate a complaint of patent infringement made against Sharp Corp. Samsung claims that Sharp has infringed on 4 different patents for LCDs. Samsung is attempting to block imports of products using Sharp LCDs. These products include HDTV’s and the Motorola RAZR2. The companies are suing each other in various federal courts and in Seoul, South Korea. A decision is not expected to come for about 15 months.

Read [Bloomberg]

I am sure you will all remember back in 2006 when Hyperphrase Technologies issued a patent claim against Google. Truth be told it had somehow slipped my mind that they were claiming “that Google’s AdSense and the AutoLink function of its toolbar infringed claims in four Hyperphrase patents relating to the contextual linking and presentation of information”

Well looks like the court has “upheld the parts of the summary judgment relating to AdSense, and some of the claims against AutoLink, but overturned the part of the ruling dealing with AutoLink’s alleged infringement of two of the patents.” I think that what this means is that AdSense is free to go, but AutoLink has another trip to the courts ahead of it. This will be a disappointment as originally the courts cleared Google but the Court of Appeals overturned part of the judgment for “inappropriate interpretation” for “data reference,” “one of the terms used in the patent claims to describe the way a link is made between a fragment of text and an element in a database”, which I am sure we are all the better for knowing!

Via [Macworld]

This latest patent from RIM indicates an interesting change of direction for the BlackBerry keypad, especially if this is also to be used on the touchscreen BlackBerry.

Patents don’t tell the whole story, and many don’t ever make it past the prototype stage, but this one would suggest a shift away from the current QWERTY style keyboard to a much more angular, slanting design that apparently makes inputting text much easier. That will have to be seen to be believed as they say, but it looks interesting and to me it looks like we may be about to see a bigger screen as well.

Via [Pocket Lint]

The worlds first dual-screen laptop has just been released by Pennsylvania-based company Estari. They initially developed this laptop for the US military and quickly snapped up a patent for the concept once they realized it’s commercial potential. The laptops features are nothing to write home about, it has a 1.83Ghz Intel Dual Core processor, 1GB RAM, and a 60GB HDD. The one feature which makes this machine retail for $4,350 is it’s two 15” touch screen displays.

An interesting new product, I think it’s a little too pricey to become overly popular - but if you have ever wanted a laptop with dual-displays, your wish has just been granted.

Product [Estari] Via [Crave:Cnet]

When Microsoft introduced the Zune with WiFi, and didn’t allow wireless connectivity to Zune Marketplace, potential customers became lost opportunities.  Now Apple faces the same decision with their new iPhone.  When the device was announced last month by Steve Jobs at Macworld, there was no mention of such connectivity - but a patent that just popped up gives us all hope.

The patent, which was published on February 1, 2007, is actually rather confusing if you don’t speak patent.  Basically, it shows a “phone” (AKA the iPhone) connecting wirelessly to a “service,” which is said to include a “client device” running on a “local machine.” You know what that means, right?  It sounds like it’s referring to connectivity between the iPhone, and iTunes on your home computer.  From there, the iPhone then can communicate with content servers, and commerce servers so Apple can make big bucks.  The news is pretty vague at this point, as Apple has made no mention of such a feature at this time.  We’re still curious whether it will be Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, but we’ll be patient.  I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about it soon, so stay tuned.

Read [MacNN] Via [Gizmodo]

Apparently the thing to do these days is to file a patent early, wait until competing companies are extremely popular, and then sue the hell out of them.  That’s what NTP’s stance was against RIM (Blackberry), and that’s Intertainer’s stance now.  Intertainer filed a patent in 2001 (granted in 2005) that according to BusinessWeek, “outlines the business model for offering video content from various providers to consumers over the TV and the Internet.” It’s not clear how this relates to Napster, but we’re assuming there’s some other vague language in there that makes the suit legit...or they’re just trying to sqeeze money out of another giant.  We’ll have to wait and see how this one unfolds.

Read [BusinessWeek] Via [Engadget]

Here we go again, another lawsuit coming against a big company, who just happens to have recently released a major product.  As we mentioned yesterday, a company called Interlink Electronics is suing Nintendo of America for “patent infringement.” Apparently, this company holds a US patent for a “trigger operated electronic device” that Nintendo’s WiiMote is infringing upon.

First of all, I agree that based on the diagram of the patent, there are quite a few similarities with the WiiMote, and since the patent was filed in 1997, Interlink has the right to cry foul about this.

And yet, a few things bug me about this whole issue (not just this particular case):

• The description of the device in the patent document sounds eerily like a wireless mouse, only shaped and acts like a remote, with sensing plates instead of lasers/optics/balls to move the cursor, and triggers for buttons. You can’t tell me that you haven’t seen presentation devices out there that do the same thing, and yet somehow those are free from lawsuits. Just call it what it is: a wireless, remote shaped mouse. (Just look at their company’s website, lots of their products are presentation devices, not like they’re building some super secret “trigger operated electronic device” :)).


• Doesn’t the US patent office verify that submissions such as these, which theoretically are just a variance of normal electronic equipment made to sound sophisticated (again, I read the description of the patent, and that’s what it sounded like to me, someone please correct me if I’m wrong), can be patented?


• Huge companies such as Nintendo and Sony (who lost that Immersion/rumble pack lawsuit) should have no problems hiring patent experts, who could sift through patent claims, to prevent such occurrences. Why don’t they do that before building anything big and facing these issues afterwards?


• If the device Interlink describes in their patent is really some sort of presentation remote, there really should’ve been many lawsuits before this, since it’s just a wireless presentation remote for goodness sakes. Sue Logitech, sue Microsoft, sue Gyration, sue every single presentation remote maker for that matter. Why does it have to be now, and why Nintendo at the launch of one of their biggest products in years? Doesn’t that make you suspicious of their motives? (*cough* cash grab *cough*)

I can’t really say what Interlink’s motivation is. Maybe they really feel that Nintendo infringed and stole their concept, but from my point of view, if they really felt that way, then some other product/company should’ve been on their radar a long time ago.

Read [GamesIndustry]

Remember when NTP sued the crap out of Blackberry for patent infringement?  Well now that they’re done with BB, they’ve moved onto next on their hit-list, Palm.  According to the Associated Press, “The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, alleges that Palm’s products, services, systems and processes have improperly used NTP’s wireless e-mail technology.”

Back in March, NTP successfully sued Research In Motion, recovering $612.5 million in “damages.” I put that in quotes because NTP is a patent holding company, meaning they probably have no intentions of ever making Palm products.  Such a suit on Palm could mean the end for them seeing as their market capitalization is only twice that amount at $1.55 billion.

Isn’t it ridiculous that NTP can wait such a long time to protect their patents and get away with it?  Both Palm and RIM have been “infringing” these patents for years, but they kept hush-hush until they could really cause some damage.  This whole fiasco is really exploiting some huge flaws in the current U.S. patenting system.  Can you work on that USPTO?

Read [Yahoo News]

Has the click wheel seen the end of it’s days? Has Apple gotten so tired of companies ripping off their idea of putting a direction mouse pad on their DAP for navigational purposes, that they are pulling it off? Is a touch bezel the only solution that will allow for a 4” video iPod? Or is this just another crazy iPod rumor?

My guess is that what you see above is a combination of all four. What? I can’t accept all four rumored ideas? Why not I created them…

It appears that Apple found that putting the touch control on the edges of the screen is a lot more feasible than putting the touch sensors under a video screen. They also give the ability of more control, now that you can essentially offer more options for users to select.

Read [HRMPF] Via [CrunchGear]