IBM may be the king of patents, and Apple’s patent applications grace these pages rather frequently, but Microsoft’s not one to rest on its IP laurels, either. A couple of newly published patents out of Redmond have made their way to the web: one for securely pairing wireless devices and one for 3D rangefinder camera technology. The pairing tech works via a direct connection between devices using Bluetooth or WiFi and an automated, two-step authentication process. First, a request is sent by an initiating handset and is authenticated by its target using an address book of recognized devices. Next, the two devices exchange encrypted security keys to cement their digital friendship, leaving you free to exchange your favorite episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 or latest LOLcat pictures with the greatest of ease.

Microsoft’s other patent of interest is for “a 3D camera for determining distances to regions in a scene.” That’s not a new concept by any means, but this new bit of IP integrates all the functions of such an imager on a single chip. Essentially, it claims an image sensor, a light source to illuminate the scene being shot and a controller to gate the pixels on the sensor on and off and correct for inaccuracies caused by other light sources. It works by projecting the light source and determining the distance to various points based upon the time it takes for the light to bounce off the target and reach the camera sensor. Want to know more? You can haz all the patent particulars at the source links below.

Microsoft patents method for secure pairing of devices wirelessly and a 3D rangefinder camera originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not quite as big as some previous patent transactions between the two companies, but it looks like Google did a fair bit more shopping from IBM’s vast portfolio at the tail-end of 2011. As noted by the SEO by the Sea blog, IBM transferred 188 granted patents and 28 published patent applications to Google during the last week of the year, including a number of patents related to phones and web browsers. Unfortunately, other key details like an acquisition price remain a mystery, but you can peruse some of the patents themselves at the source link below.

Google buoys its patent portfolio with 217 more filings acquired from IBM originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You might think working for tech royalty out west is all beanbags and 20 percent time. And it might well be. But if your paychecks say Microsoft, you might want to be careful how you spend that extra down-time. A patent with the snappy title Organizational Behavior Monitoring Analysis and Influence describes a system devised by the company to monitor employee interactions. Everything from cutting people off in conversation, to the verbal phrases and mannerisms used over “multi-modal communications” (e-mail, phone and so on) is covered. The aim of the Orwellian system is “defining desired and undesired behaviors for enhancing organizational trust levels” and it’s not the first time Microsoft has made such sinister sounding patent applications. OK, so there is nothing saying exactly what this might be for, or if this would ever be used to monitor its own employees. That said, if your parking space isn’t there on Monday, you might want to backtrack through the previous week’s water-cooler diatribes.

Microsoft patent aims to curb your enthusiasm in the office originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 05:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s solar patents

First let’s look at Apple’s solar patent applications. The latest was granted last month (via Patently Apple), and is for a voltage converter and controller for charging a device with solar power. A good deal of this patent focuses on algorithms and devices that can monitor and control the way in which a portable device could most effectively be charged via solar, using both embedded solar cells and an attachable solar power source.

According to Patently Apple — which as the name connotes follows Apple’s patent applications like a hawk — Apple now has two solar-related patents granted, and five solar applications filed in total. The other solar patent granted was awarded in January 2011, and covers similar territory, including a way to monitor and control a charge from a solar source for a mobile device.

What Apple sees in solar

In all of these patents, Apple looks at solar as a way to enable its gadgets to be charged in locations when there is no grid available, and also as a way to generally extend the battery life of a device. Apple has long been willing to invest in ways to boost the battery life of its gadgets, including selling extra battery chargers that will still be able to hold 80 percent of its charge after a year.

Back in 2009, Apple launched a 17-inch MacBook Pro with a built-in battery. Lots of critics didn’t like the built-in aspect of the battery, but the lithium-polymer battery that Apple used could run for up to eight hours on a single charge and retain at least 80 percent of that capacity for up to 1,000 recharge cycles. Compare that with only about 300 recharges for Apple’s 13- and 15-inch models’ removable lithium-ion batteries. The longer life of the 17-inch model was also due to an adaptive charging mechanism — an embedded chip that monitors charge level, temperature, and helps manage the charging current.

But the reality is that batteries on an individual level aren’t making all that much progress in terms of capacity and cost. Boosting batteries in the short term will come from things like software for battery and energy management, and perhaps — if it proves to be economic — tapping micro sources of clean power like embedded solar cells. In an increasingly mobile life, the plug is one of the last true barriers to mobility.

Extending the time between plugging in is also another way to target new markets in areas where there’s less reliable grid power. Yes, Apple generally focuses on developed markets and high-end goods, but Apple is no stranger to the need for finding new markets and developing new strategies, and I could envision one day looking to sell its devices into developing markets with less reliable grid power.

Solar gadgets

Adding solar cells to gadgets has been a sort of novelty and in a nascent stage for awhile. The big barriers have been the price of solar cells as well as the tiny amount of solar power these tiny cells can usually generate. If you look at the variety of solar chargers for iPhones out there, the bulk of these chargers are made up by an extra lithium ion battery that is supplemented with a small amount of solar power from the embedded mini solar panel. In some of these cases the solar cell is more novelty than practical charging tool.

A startup called Konarka has been developing a next-gen solar plastic that could be a good fit for solar gadgets, and is meant to be embedded in materials (umbrellas and bags), devices, and buildings. However, Konarka has long been in a sort of research and development phase and the solar plastic also has a very low efficiency.

But as more gadget makers target developing markets, and devices themselves become more energy efficient, these solar-powered products are getting better. Recently Samsung launched a solar-powered netbook that can run for 15 hours, almost double the 8-hour standard laptop, and is meant for the Kenyan market. The solar netbook is also supposed to go onsale in Russia, the U.S., South Korea and Europe.

And one of the barriers to solar gadgets has been slowly getting solved: the price of solar cells. As you can see if you’ve been following the recent spate of bankruptcies in the solar industry (Solyndra, SpectraWatt, Evergreen Solar) the price of solar panels and cells has dropped dramatically in recent months and years, which is bad for some of the solar tech companies, but good for the overall solar market and solar consumers. The price of solar is pretty much the lowest it’s been in history.

Apple’s effect on solar

If Apple decided to launch a gadget with embedded solar, it could help bring down the prices of solar for gadgets even more. As Nat Bullard, an analyst with Bloomberg New Energy Finance, told me recently, Apple is “a fierce negotiator for components” and if it’s interested in solar it could lock up low cost supply deals for solar parts as it has with iPod and iPad components such as glass and memory.

Foxconn, Apple’s key supplier, has been looking into solar production and has been rumored to be investing in solar manufacturing, in various ways. And why not — solar is finally becoming a commodity, with low enough prices to justify the entrance of this type of low cost supplier.

Apple has also been a leader in embracing new technology, when Steve Jobs had deemed that the time was right. Then when Apple launches new tech into its cutting edge simple designs, the rest of the industry tends to follow. As Bullard put it to me:

If any company could reliably integrate PV into consumer portable electronics, it is Apple. Given its other devices, it would likely make the simplest, most elegant integration. It may sacrifice some nominal performance (and greater freedom of choice) for the sake of simplicity and robustness – as it has done time and again in the past decade.

Apple could be on track to sell 30 million iPhones globally in the fourth quarter of this year. Those kind of volumes could have a major effect on the solar industry, not just in the form of contracts, but also as a way to educate consumers about the existence and usefulness of solar as a power source.

Images courtesy of Flickr user mikecogh, Samsung, and Patently Apple.

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Apple patent application reveals more projector possiblities, including a projector-equipped laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google and Nortel have agreed on the princely sum of 0 million to start off a “stalking horse” auction — wherein outside parties are still free to outdo Google’s bid — for the acquisition of Nortel’s rather vast patent portfolio. The sale comes as part of the latter company’s bankruptcy selloff and involves some 6,000 patents and patent applications, which encompass both wired and wireless communications, semiconductors, data networking, voice, and the internet — going so far as to even touch on web search and social networking. The thing is, Google’s not really enamored with these tidbits of intellectual property to the tune of nearly a billion dollars. No sir, a rather bitter blog post from the company this morning makes it quite clear that Google’s acting in order to bolster its own intellectual property library and to “create a disincentive for others to sue.” Both Android and Chrome get obliquely mentioned in Google’s announcement as benefiting from the move, which should be completed by June of this year pending other bids and regulatory approvals.

Continue reading Google bids 0 million for Nortel patent portfolio, will use it as shield against patent trolls

Google bids 0 million for Nortel patent portfolio, will use it as shield against patent trolls originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 12:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Indilinx, the company responsible for designing the Barefoot SSD controller, has today agreed to hand its future over to the capable lads and ladies of OCZ Technology in exchange for million in common OCZ stock. The companies have announced a definitive agreement for the chipmaker’s acquisition, which OCZ performed in order to gobble up a set of 20 yummy patents and patent applications while also expanding its presence in embedded, hybrid storage and industrial markets. Indilinx will continue its current operations, including providing controllers and firmware to other OEMs, and OCZ too will continue to use others’ wares, namedropping its long-term partner SandForce as among the outside companies that will continue to supply it with SSD wares. So it’s business as usual unless and until this partnership spawns some lightning-fast combination of software and hardware that forces us to hear that cursed “exclusive” word again. Ah well, best of luck of luck to them.

Continue reading OCZ buys Indilinx, probably has designs on building its own SSD controllers

OCZ buys Indilinx, probably has designs on building its own SSD controllers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 23:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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An abundance of free or reduced-price content would widen the appeal of the reader — I imagine many people are put off e-books by the idea that they are not getting their money’s worth. As offensive as the idea of inserting ads into a book is to me (and surely to the average reader), it’s almost certainly part of a value proposition which increases the utility of these expensive little buggers.

The wording of the patent requests also includes the language “in response to a consumer request for content,” which could probably be massaged into referring to downloaded books that have been paid for, but more easily fits streamed or dynamically generated stuff like news or Google Books content. There’s also talk of including the ad in printed versions of said content, which bothers me a bit more than the other part. At any rate, I’m convinced that advertisements are unlikely to appear in the kinds of books and publications you’re paying full price for right now, so if this is ever implemented, you’ll probably (hopefully) be able to read your Vanity Fair unmolested.

[via Slashdot and TechGeist]

The haptic feedback patent, if approved, would bring the iPhone in line with rival handsets that provide localized tactile feedback.

(Credit: CNET )

Three patent applications by Apple were published Thursday, and they cover technologies including haptics, fingerprint recognition, and RFID.

The haptic feedback patent, if approved, would bring the iPhone (…

Originally posted at News – Apple

Apple seems almost ready to bridge the gap between the iPhone and the MacBook with a new type of mobile computer. What will it look like?

(Credit: Tom Krazit/CNET News)

Apple is rumored to be working on something bigger than an iPod Touch, but smaller than a MacBook. Past patent applications filed by the company and whispers from contract manufacturers point to a midsize gadget with a screen of 7 to 8 inches in the works, perhaps scheduled to debut early next year. It’s been variously described as a tablet-like device, a “media pad,” and an iPod Touch on steroids.

But the middle ground between handheld device and traditional laptop has historically been a hard sell to mainstream consumers. Apple has some experience reinventing what were thought to be staid or failed product categories, and is known for its stringent product review process, so if anyone has potential to make something compelling for this “tweener” category, it’s the company to do so.

For Apple, this could be its answer to the Netbook craze–20 million of those scaled-down PCs will be shipped to retailers this year, doubling last year’s output. Apple has been fairly clear in its distaste for them, using descriptors like “junky,” and the average selling price of around $400 wouldn’t allow Apple to keep its margins as high as it’s used to.

But there is clearly a market, particularly given the current state of the economy, for a device in that middle range between a smartphone and a laptop. Interim CEO Tim Cook recently admitted that Apple has “some interesting ideas in this space.”

Let’s say it does make one. What exactly should a tablet from Apple do and what kind of features does it need to sport to avoid the pitfalls of every other failed tablet PC, ultramobile PC, and mobile Internet device now gathering dust in the basements and desk drawers of early adopters?

Some suggestions:

…

Originally posted at News – Apple