Apple’s own project Natal – Kinect like 3D controller
Microsoft Kinect is probably the coolest new input/computer control device invented this decade. And it opens the way for the development of completely new user interfaces for your computing devices. Given the importance and potential of contactless 3D input, it’s impossible to think that this Microsoft invention has gone unnoticed by Apple. I’m pretty sure [...]
Android is patently ill. Two strains of IP disease that may soon derail Google’s OS
Android has been THE smartphone success story of the past couple of years. Android usage has skyrocketed, driven by more devices from more manufacturers than for any other smartphone OS ever. Android now stretches across a price range from ~ $80 to the ultra-high end (yes, there are now luxury phones based on Android). But [...]
How Siri on iPhone 4S works and why it’s a big deal. Apple’s AI tech details in 230 pages of patent app
Apple’s famous “one more thing” during iPhone 4S presentation last week came in the form of Siri. It’s an “Intelligent Personal Assistant” that understands what you are telling it to do and can perform certain tasks. E.g. reserve a table at your favorite Italian restaurant, reply to SMS, set a calendar appointment, tell you whether it [...]
Microsoft slider smartphone with detachable accessories/remotes
A mobile phone with various attachable and detachable accessories is not something very new. It’s an interesting idea that many tried. We’ve seen Modu mini-phone with “jackets”, LG Expo handset with the attachable projector and NTT Docomo’s separable phone. And we’ve seen even more interesting stuff in Palm’s R&D department. Alas, none of them became a [...]
Apple removes Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 from IFA. Forgets about Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE on T-Mobile
The situation with patents/Intellectual Property protection in Germany is getting even more ridiculous then in the U.S. At least in U.S. you have to go through lengthy trial proceedings to get a competitor product banned, allowing him to defend itself. Not so in Germany, where few weeks ago Dusseldorf Court banned the sales of Samsung [...]
Motorola’s Sanjay Jha openly admits they plan to collect IP royalties from other Android makers
As you have probably heard, a major patent war is raging in mobile industry, and competitors are ganging up on Android, exploiting Google’s weakness in intellectual property assets. Mostly by suing manufacturers of Android devices for various patent infringements. If Google loses in this fight, Android vendors might have to pay $60 per device in [...]
Apple is working on pico-projector for your iPhone, iPad and Mac
Apple is exploring possibilities for making pico projectors and integral part of iOS devices. And, unlike its many smartphone competitors, Apple isn’t focused only on technical gimmicks. They are trying to find actual use cases that could make pico projectors an indispensable part of iOS ecosystem. In a patent application “Projected display shared workspaces” Apple [...]
Is Apple warming up to iPhone stylus idea?
Ever since iPhone launched, Steve Jobs has been denying the possibility of stylus on Apple’s touch screen devices. Stylus? Why would you need one, when you got this amazing, finger operated multi-touch interface on a device with a super responsive capacitive touch screen? It is true in most cases. Except one – when you need/want [...]
Apple’s dating app will transform your iPhone into an ultimate pick-up device
For us, shy types, getting out there and initiating conversations with interesting people can be a difficult experience. I mean, just coming up to this cool girl at the bar and starting talking? It’s the hardest thing to do. What should my opening line be? What will we talk about about? What if she just [...]
Apple files motion to intervene in Lodsys patent lawsuit
Last month, a company called Lodsys sent notices to iOS developers warning them that they were infringing upon patents they held. Lodsys claimed that they had a patent delineating “in-app purchases,” a feature which lets users purchase upgrades from a free app, for example. After firing a warning shot across Lodsys’ bow a week later, [...]
Your Apple iMac may soon be wirelessly charging iPods, iPhones and iPads
Inductive charging stations like Palm Touchstone and Powermatts are all the rage among tech geeks these days. It looks real nice just to drop your phone on a charging pad and forget about all the cords. On the other hand, the charging pad or HP Touchstone still has to be connected to the power outlet via [...]
Apple keeps multi-carrier MVNO idea alive with a new patent app
As the number of iPhones, and Apple’s influence in mobile market continues to grow, Cupertino company keeps thinking about how to get rid of the chokehold mobile operators have on the market. Since getting enough spectrum to build your own mobile network is almost impossible, the next best thing for Apple will be to establish [...]
Apple files patent on cloud-based iTunes service; stores local cache like Pandora, Spotify
As details of their deals with major American record labels leak in the lead-up to June’s WWDC, Apple has filed a patent revealing long-rumored plans of a cloud-based iTunes streaming service. The patent calls for a wireless media syncing service between a “Host Device” (ie. home computer), Electronic Device (iPhone/iPad/iPod) and a content source (iTunes). [...]
This Nokia Communicator 3D can be pretty cool. If it ever gets out of R&D labs
According to industry pundits, 3D is the next big thing in display technology. It’s already taking over latest TVs, and this year 3D moved to the small smartphone displays. But 3D, even on a big cinema screen, still looks a bit of a fad to me. And don’t get me started on the first 3D smartphone offerings like LG [...]
Apple sues Samsung for imitating the iPhone and iPad designs
It seems like everyday we hear about a new lawsuit being filed against one of the big mobile companies, and we got yet another one. All things D has news that Apple is suing Samsung Electronics for imitating the “look and feel” of Apple’s iPhone and iPad. This lawsuit mostly pertains to the Samsung Galaxy [...]
Will Apple put a kick-stand on iPad 2?
One of the small things Apple’s iPad and other tablets are missing for now – is a kick-stand. But the lack of it can sometimes make overall tablet use experience a bit annoying. E.g., when I sit down at a table for my morning coffee, browsing through stuff with an iPad lying in horizontal position. It’s [...]
Apple is looking to improve multi-touch with “hover sensing” on iPhones and iPads
Apple’s multi-touch interface on a capacitive iPhone touch screen brought about huge changes to mobile industry. And nothing much changed about it for the last few years. Yes, everybody loved the idea, and went on to implement similar interfaces on their own gadgets – but the basics on all these new devices, remain the same. [...]
Sony Ericsson projection display phone
First mobile phones with built-in pico-projectors have been around for about a year now. But, contrary to built-in cameras, to me pico-projectors in phones always looked only like a high tech gimmicks, with very limited market appeal and few real world use needs. After all, how often are you gonna use a projector in your [...]
iOS/ iPhone 5 to get pop-up radial menus?
Basically unchanged since it’s introduction in 2007, Apple’s iPhone/iOS user interface is still the best in class today, almost four years later. It now runs on more then a hundred million devices, have been jumped up to a much bigger iPad form factor, and only required minor tweaks and changes during it’s 4 year tenure. Well, in [...]
Will iPhone/iOS 5 get real world multi-player gaming APIs?
Multiplayer real life/augmented reality gaming on mobile devices is not a very new thing these days. Foursquare started it’s business on it. There are also quite a few iPhone games, like Gunman, that let’s you do some sort of Augmented Reality gaming with your mobile device. But Gunman, and other games like this have to rely on their own [...]