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Nokia patent filing uses steering wheel touch for media controls, turns your radio on with that lovin' feeling
Nokia has only ever had a fleeting involvement with cars, but if it brings a just-published patent application to fruition, the Lumia maker could be front and center for drivers. The technology it wants would detect vibrations in the steering wheel to let the driver control music, GPS and other components of the car's center stack just by touching particular spots on the wheel itself -- no overabundance of buttons here. Underneath, it would use temporal sensing to register input, and filtering would prevent the wheel from interpreting speed bumps as cues to turn on the stereo. Nokia's mobile know-how mostly comes into play through the option of using a mobile device like a smartphone to handle tasks rather than having to build something directly into the wheel. Given that the company is currently cutting everything back, it's more likely to license the patent out rather than trying to build anything itself, if anything happens at all. Should the patent eventually come to use, you could end up tenderly caressing the wheel for all your in-car media controls... just be sure to buy it some chocolate and roses first.
Apple files for a patent on an iPhone with swappable lenses, picky mobile photographers rejoice
Taking phone photography seriously is certainly possible. Short of tacking on a slightly ludicrous add-on case, however, you're normally stuck with whatever lens the phone designer deems fit. Unless Apple uses technology from a very out-of-left-field patent application, that is. The invention would make an iPhone's back panel removable so that owners could swap out lenses like they would with a DSLR or a mirrorless camera. Apple has even raised the possibility of a panel with two lenses built-in at opposite corners: to switch to a telephoto lens or a different filter, you'd only need to flip the panel around to use the additional glass. It's all quite wild, although it's for that reason that the patent might never get used. The company isn't a fan of replaceable parts, after all. But if the photographer for your future wedding shows up with nothing but an iPhone and a bag full of back plates, you'll know why -- even if you're still left scratching your head.
Microsoft applies to patent MagSafe-like magnetic power and data coupling
Microsoft has applied to patent a magnetic power and data coupling that's similar to the power-only MagSafe. Using the technology, the unit would snap onto the base of your phone (in the example) in either direction, pushing juice and information without the needless fiddling with a micro/miniUSB port. Since it's just an application, it's not likely to arrive in a product yet, but it does make us hopeful that more companies aim to end our cable-based annoyances.
Microsoft patent application could match online moods with emotionally-targeted ads
It's a match made in marketing heaven: users let their guards down within the internet's virtual walls and ads are served up to complement their fickle mental states. At least, that's one possible version of your hyper-targeted digital future, if a patent application, filed by Microsoft back in December of 2010, is any indication. The USPTO documents outline a system wherein users' online activity would be monitored and associated with a corresponding tone, their reactions recorded and an overall emotional state affixed to that behavior. This information, once properly indexed, would then be fed into a large database containing user-identifiable emotional profiles used to deliver mood-specific ads. Clearly, this proposed endeavor all but screams privacy concerns and begs the inclusion of a giant, blinking opt-out clause. Color us paranoid, but we'd rather not see the day when our PCs know we're having a particularly gloomy Sunday.
Microsoft patent application could see a touchscreen tabletop that caters to the eye of the beholder
It's all about perspective. At least, that's what we've gleaned from a Surface skim (hard wink) of this Microsoft patent application. Filed back in December of 2010, the USPTO doc describes a touchscreen tabletop imbued with a "view-restrictive filter" that, presumably, projects content in an orientation specific to a user's viewing angle, switching between diffuse and transparent states. Unsure of just what that means? Imagine, then, an ordinary-looking glass conference table surrounded by suit-and-tie types that, at the flick of a finger, turns into multiple personal computing displays. Bear in mind, this is all conjecture based on some densely-worded legalese and the IP in question's still lingering in a governmental limbo. That said, there could come a day when the Office of the future (harder wink) could look a lot like this. In the tech industry, nothing's off the table (hardest wink).
RIM patent application puts pressure on sensitive touchscreens for a possible unlock alternative
RIM's been busy on the patent application front lately, filing off concepts for anything from smartphone docks to rotating keypads -- even flirting with potential forays into forensics peripherals. Perhaps sensing the crushing need to differentiate its ailing BlackBerry brand, Waterloo's taken to the USPTO with a doc submitted last November that could do just that. The pressure-sensitive input scheme and touchscreen interface described therein would respond to a user-set pattern of force by granting access to a handheld device's features and applications. Sure sounds a heckuva lot like a new password protection implementation, but that's just our humble take. What it actually is, where it goes from this legal limbo and whether or not it ever winds up in BB 10 tech is truly up in the air. What you can count on, though, is a continued flood of in-process IP procurement from a company close to the edge.
Samsung submits patent application for speech-recognizing robot
Samsung will soon launch its Siri-style S Voice software on the Galaxy S III, but in the more distant future it could bring speech recognition technology to standalone robots. A patent application from the company details an automaton that can adjust its voice detection capabilities to account for ambient noise, letting it recognize when people are talking even in loud locations. It remains unclear just what the robot will do for you once it hears your commands -- maybe it will be on call for cooking you dinner and the like. Judging by that pic, at least, the concept looks like a good time for all involved.
Apple applies for optical stylus patent, Hell reports coldest day on record
Apple has famously shunned the humble stylus, so it's fair to say we're more than a little curious about why it's filed a patent application for one. The "optical stylus" mentioned seems simple enough. The claims outline the brains to interpret your doodlings, as well pressure and orientation. Beyond that, well, it's more or less just a stylus. While we suspected the team at Cupertino were fans of Draw Something, we didn't think they'd take it this seriously!
Microsoft patent application outlines system to recommend and transfer apps across devices
Ready for your latest tour through the dense and meandering wording of patent applications? Well, dig in, because it's Microsoft's turn to confuse lawyers the world over with this latest USPTO doc, submitted in November of 2010. The filing describes a computer-based program that would, essentially, analyze a primary device's installed applications, cross-reference it with a different device and then either migrate that software batch or suggest similar apps to download on a secondary unit. Sounds a lot like a potential Windows Phone Marketplace recommendation / app transfer engine to us, but what exactly Redmond intends to use this pending patent for is anyone's guess. As always, if you care to sacrifice a few minutes of your life to mind-numbing legal jargon, then by all means hit up the source link below.
Google patent application could give Project Glass one true ring controller to rule them all
Let's face it: right now, the head nods and other rudimentary controls of Google's Project Glass are mostly useful for looking good, sharing photos and not much else. A US patent application submitted last September and just now published, however, raises the possibility of more sophisticated control coming from your hands. A ring, a bracelet or a even a fake fingernail with an infrared-reflective layer would serve as a gesture control marker for a receiver on heads-up display glasses. Having this extra control would give the glasses-mounted computing room to grow by learning gestures, and it could even depend on multiple ornaments for more sophisticated commands -- at least, if you don't mind looking like a very nerdy Liberace. We can imagine the headaches a hand-based method might cause for very enthusiastic talkers, among other possible hiccups, so don't be surprised if Project Glass goes without any kind of ring input. That said, we suspect that Sauron would approve.
RIM patent application shines a light on unseen filth, might make forensics mobile
CSI: Waterloo? We're not sure how compelling that spin-off would be (inexplicable popularity of the David Caruso-headlined Miami version aside). So, you'll excuse us for scratching our collective tech head over this recently surfaced patent application filed by RIM in November of 2010. The claims of this bizarre USPTO doc describe an apparatus containing some form of a "display element" attached to a portable electronic device that would generate light on nearby objects, snap photographs and then display results indicating potential contamination. Sounds a lot like those UV wands forensics researchers use on crime scenes, non? Well, whatever it is Heins and co. may have brewing in their Canadian R&D labs, we just pray this isn't BB 10's killer feature. Hit up the source below to peruse the legalese for yourself.
Google patent application could mean melody-matching for YouTube
YouTube has become a treasure trove for rare live editions, outtakes and covers of popular songs -- the latter making stars out of acts like Pomplamoose. However, Google and the recording industry don't feel the same way, but the site's famous content filtering system can only handle exact matches of recorded songs -- so that 14-year-old moppet's cover version of Born this Way remains unfiltered. That could change should a patent application made available today result in a workable product. It describes a Melody Identification system that'll pluck out a "melody fingerprint" from any uploaded file and then determine the appropriate "rights management" to apply -- which sounds ominous. The patents haven't been granted and nowhere in the text of either document does it reveal how the company plans to deal with songs that sound very, very similar, but we can't imagine what'll be left if the worst comes to pass: lots of mute cat videos, probably. Update: Josh Rice in comments pointed out that Pomplamoose actually buys the rights to its covers. That's the nicest form of prior art there is.
RIM patent proposes battery-charging cellphone holster
Even after the many announcements at this year's BlackBerry World Conference, Waterloo is keeping that patent train a-rollin'. In a filing granted today, we get a glimpse of what RIM could have up its sleeve, er, on its hip. The claims detail flexible batteries built into holsters that recharge your phone when you're on the go -- all the while communicating to your BB's CPU to bring you alerts through its own speakers -- thus avoiding muffled sounds from covered parts. That's all well and good, but here's the real question: will these things eventually play nice with fuel cell-powered Berries?
RIM continues its fuel cell streak, applies for two more patents
Looks like RIM is more interested in fuel cell technology than we thought: the BlackBerry maker has just applied for two closely related patents for including a fuel cell in an electronic device, one for the frame and one for the fuel tank itself. Although the primary aim of either patent is to show how to fit a fuel cell into the tight space of a mobile gadget, they do show a more rectangular and modern device chassis than the last patent we saw, which had more than a slight whiff of the classic BlackBerry about it. Neither application is necessarily a roadmap for the future, and they don't mean your next BlackBerry smartphone will need top-ups of lighter fluid or methanol every few weeks. Still, they hint that fuel cells are at least somewhat more than a passing fancy in Waterloo.
Motorola files patent application for anti-smear display tech
Motorola's applied to patent a new display layer that aims to prevent all those smudges that inevitably accrue on our finger-friendly devices. A modern-day touchscreen problem for prim-and-proper types, the application solves it with several minute, raised layers across the surface of the device, with little reflective caveats to capture oils and other unwanted impurities, optically disguising them from your eyes. The layers wouldn't degrade compared to chemical coatings that could also get scratched off. In typical patent application style, the wording's pretty hazy -- Motorola could either be describing an add-on layer applied to the phone afterward or something already fused to the display. In the application's words: "A viewable surface of a device, and more particularly a viewable surface of an electronic device, and even more particularly a viewable surface of a transparent cover for a display in an electronic device, includes transparent pedestals projecting from the surface of the viewable surface, the pedestals having reflective sides that conceal, or suppress the appearance of, smudges on the viewable surface." For some more specifics on Motorola's smudge-disguising solution, you can peruse the official filing down at your local patents and trademark office -- or just hit up the source below.
Samsung biological analysis patent app has your best heart at interest
In Patent-application-land, the hills roll on forever, while buttercups gently ripple with the breeze. Anything is possible in Patent-application-land. In this particular filling, Samsung lays out some ideas about helping you to keep your health in check. An "internet phone" and a "biological analysis device" would combine to send your vitals off to a diagnosis server, hospital or remote doctor. There's also a provision for the use of "biochips," which we hope refers to a data gathering medium, and not a half-time snack. While we're not sure if this was a precursor to the freshly announced S-health service, if this ever came to be, at least you wouldn't need to leave the house to get that agoraphobia diagnosis.
Patent application highlights Apple's continued flirtation with haptic feedback
We could all use a little feedback, right? Even Apple. The company has been toying around with the concept of haptic feedback for a while now, at least so far as patent applications are concerned. Another application filed in November or 2010 has surfaced. Of course, what we told you back in 2009 about the tenuous connection between an application and an actual product is as relevant as ever. Still, Apple's concept for a "tiered haptic system" which "may use one or more arrays of shape change elements to provide a wide range of tactile feedback" demonstrates that, at least as of late 2010, Cupertino was still working to rethink the way it sees touchscreens.
Samsung patent application explores the possibility of phasing out human crossing guards
We have definitely seen our share of robots and crossing guards, but we almost never really see a combination of the two. An application filed by Samsung back in October and made public today seems to suggest that at least some people have been thinking long and hard about bots helping humans conquer the mean streets of our cities using a multitude of on-board tech -- from infrared and proximity sensors -- to devices enabling wireless communication between traffic lights and other robots. According to the application, the machines could inherit the traditional reflective properties often associated with crossing guard attire -- you know, the perfect guise for keeping their true intentions concealed.
Samsung applies for patent on emotional recognition, wants to feel out how you're feeling
Samsung might not give off the immediate impression of a warm, fuzzy company, as it really comes off more like a faceless device-manufacturing juggernaut, but that doesn't stop it trying to get a handle on what people are feeling. According to a recent patent application, the company is putting together a method of recognizing the emotions of an individual based on action units (AUs). And what exactly are those? They're components of a facial action coding system: something designed to reference the contractions of facial muscles. With a total of 30 units, several AUs combine to form a string (shown above) that's then detected by some unmentioned Samsung tech and matched to an emotion label that best fits the string. Hardware-wise, it's relatively vague -- par for the course with patent applications -- but would require a processor and memory, with no mention of a camera sensor to capture all that facial gurning. Samsung's keeping up its emotional patent armor up for now, but you can flirt with an outline of its thoughts at the source below.
Microsoft applies for low-powered interactive second display system patent
Oh patent applications... where creative ideas dance shoulder to shoulder with ill-conceived folly. Which do we have here today? We're not sure. What we are sure of, however, is that someone at Microsoft has applied for a patent that describes a device with two screens. Not that old chestnut, but the second screen being of lower-power, like e-ink, and displaying different information based on the state of the first one (i.e. is it against your face or not.) The not-to-be-trusted images illustrate the second screen covering the back of a device and displaying a clock, or other such user specified info. The app does state that it would continue to display info, even if the device was in a sleep mode, and describes a non-flat contour. If you were to read into it, it might sound like rear e-ink phone housing, but if this ever comes to pass, it'll likely be with a little bit of dressing down, so don't get too excited.
