Here's an odd one for you, a Nokia patent application just revealed those images above. The odd part is not so much the slider mechanism they are attempting to patent. Rather, it's the use of those dumbed-down product images instead of the purposely vague schematic usually submitted to the USPTO. And if we're not mistaken, that looks like "8 megapixel" stamped just below the lens. New N-Series in the oven, Nokia?

[Via Unwired View]

Remember that Apple patent that we eyed back in early September? You know, the one that patented the merging of various electronic devices into a single gadget? Well, it's back and better than ever before -- it's an update to U.S. patent application Serial No. 11/367,749, and is entitled "Multi-Functional Hand-Held Device." So how's this patent different from the last time? It's not, really, but it provides a fair bit more detail written in that cryptic legalistic prose that we've come to know and love; it describes and displays the new interface, which may include various triggers along the edge of the bezel: "By way of example, the visual guides 180 in FIG. 4 include 'Menu,' 'Power,' 'Left,' 'Select,' 'Right,' etc. It will be appreciated that the visual guides 180 and their arrangement depicted in FIG. 4 are only exemplary. More or fewer visual guides 180 may be provided, and the size of the visual guides 180 can be larger or smaller than the scale depicted in FIG. 4." Further, there's a new portrait and landscape option described, handy for viewing photos or watching episodes of "Lost" while on the bus. But even the music-playing core of the iPod will get a makeover, coming in with an on-screen time slider, volume control, and other options that seem to be user-defined and customizable. We've still got questions as we did last time concerning prior art, but perhaps these newer details fill in the gaps. All in all, it would appear that the true video iPod (with possible cell phone or GPS add-ons) is still on the drawing board at this point, and it remains to be seen how these illustrations translate into reality. We've got some more patent diagrams of that portrait/landscape view and of the new "now playing" interface on the flip side, hot off the patent filing presses.

[Via MacNN]

If you happen to have say, 300 microwaves kicking around between you and your friends, it turns out that you'd have a large part of the ingredients necessary for a pretty substantial weapon. That is, according to two New Mexican inventors, who recently filed a patent for a "high-power microwave system employing a phase-locked array of inexpensive commercial magnetrons." Translated into English that basically means that these guys claim you can combine the magnetrons (the bits that generate the actual microwave that cooks your popcorn) from a bunch of consumer-grade microwaves and tweak 'em a bit to develop a megawatt-level death ray, or in military/legal parlance, a "directed energy weapon system." Yeah, we've seen energy weapons (or tools, if you prefer) before, but this is probably one of the first times that we've seen ordinary kitchen technology more complicated than a knife turn into a seriously lethal weapon.

[Via New Scientist]

Just in case one Apple patent filing wasn't enough for you, another one has just hit the internets -- filed April 26, 2005, and published on the US Patent & Trademark Office's site today. As always, the patent lays out in explicit and excruciating detail what Apple has in the pipeline. This time, it's a "hand held electronic device with multiple touch sensing devices." Not clear enough for you? If you scroll down far enough, you'll find reference to the possibility of merging of many electronic devices into a single device: "Each device 102 includes both hardware and software components 104 and 106, which are integrated into multi-functional hand-held device 100. It should be pointed out that the multi-functional hand-held device 100 is not limited to only two devices, and may in fact integrate any number of devices." The patent filing goes on to say: "By way of example, the portable electronic device may correspond to tablet PCs, PDAs, media players (music, images, video), game players, telephones, cellular phones, mobile radios, cameras, GPS modules, remote controls, and/or the like." So, in short, it'll be something between anything and everything. Now, invoking the WANL ("we are not lawyers") clause here, we're really scratching our heads at this one -- because if our scant knowledge of patent law is correct, it would seem that prior art would apply. That is to say that surely there are millions of devices out there that have a touchscreen and have multiple functions. Surely one of these patent lawyers has a Treo or a BlackBerry, no? Assuming that those brainiac Apple attorneys know what they're doing, this patent potentially paves the way for an an even awesomer touchscreen-based iPhone than the rumors we've already heard about, or other devices that may or may not have something to do with products to be unveiled next week -- so until then, run along now.

[Via CrunchGear and MacNN]

Every Apple fan knows that his Steveness is into cubes, even more than Picasso was. The original NeXTcube (1988-1993) was, you guessed it, a cube -- as were the G4 Cube (2000-2001), and the new Apple cubealicious store in New York City (2006-?). Earlier this year we wrote about the possibility of the new Apple Media Cube, the ultimate Mac Mini meets truely awesome DVR/media center box which hasn't (yet) come to fruition. Well, here's another one to add to the flurry of rumors and speculations about what Stevie J. will unveil at next week's special event: a new Apple Cube? A US Patent filed today by our friends in Cupertino explains: "A cubical computer housing assembly comprises first and second ends and four sides, which define an interior compartment for housing the various computer components." Of course, we're still waiting on those thousands of embedded cameras in an LCD and an iPod dock in a PowerBook MacBook Pro.

[Via Unwired View, thanks Staska]

Way back in April a jury agreed with TiVo that EchoStar willfully infringed upon TiVo's patent for a "multimedia time-warping system." Then crickets for the last 4 months as the two battled it out in both the court of public opinion and at a bench trial where TiVo requested a permanent injunction against the provider of the DISH Network. Well, the ruling is in and EchoStar must pay TiVo an initial award of about $90 million and must disable all infringing DVR functionality within, oh, 30 days -- we're talking switching off the DVR functionality of four million users. Ouch! Oh, and EchoStar can't sell new boxes, either. Is it just us or does little TiVo seem to be extra smiley this morning?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in, via Zatz Not Funny]

Update: EchoStar is definitely going to attempt to stay the injunction (they'd be fools not to) -- more on that as it develops!

Read - Reuters coverage
Read - EchoStar's response

Time for another peek into the Apple patent catalog for some gool ol' speculation into that mysterious product pipeline which Steve Jobs called the "best I've ever seen in my life." This time, a patent titled "reservation of digital media items" filed waaay back in December 2004 (but only published this week on the USPTO website) has broken free. Like the filing for the audio interface seen yesterday, this patent again describes a system relying on the relative computing strength and fast network access of a PC / Mac working together with a second, portable wireless device. This time however, the "portable wireless device" is used to browse and then tag an item of interest from an "online media store" with the PC / Mac then being used to purchase or preview the tagged item at a later time. The patent specifically references eBooks and ring tones as some of the items of interest for download by a cellphone or wireless PDA. Now, If you're a believer then this is just further confirmation of that oft rumored and all but confirmed iPhone. Or perhaps it's just insight into an extension of that crippled Moto partnership. We don't know. However, these filings do give some insight into Apple's views on the continued importance of synchronization between future portable devices and the PC/Mac digital hub.

[Via c|net News]