Mobile device wrapped in electronic display. Erick Tseng’s crazy Android phone idea from 2009
Back in 2009, when Android was a scrappy, buggy mobile OS upstart, before Nexus One, before its growth surge of 2010-2011, and before Larry Page got so obsessed about own hardware, that he bought Motorola; Google’s mobile team was playing with a lot of interesting ideas. Like building, or at least designing, some crazy looking [...]
To fend-off @eldarmurtazin ‘s “previews” Nokia created a secret leaker ident system. Wants to patent it now
Back in 2010, Nokia had a huge problem. They were unable to keep their unannounced new devices leaking to the net way before the official launch. One of the most prolific Nokia leakers was Russian mobile tech journalist Eldar Murtazin, publishing full reviews of Nokia flagships weeks before the announcement and months before they shipped. [...]
Nokia tablet with integrated mechanical keyboard/cover shows up in patent app
According to various execs, Nokia has been exploring ways of how they could enter the tablet market for a long time. The problem was finding a differentiated way to do that, instead of releasing just another good looking slab with big touchscreen. So far Nokia didn’t succeed and we are still waiting for the first [...]
iPhone with OLED displays on the sides, fully flexible iDevices show up in Apple’s patent apps
Apple is doing some serious R&D in flexible displays, other flexible electronics. And their efforts are now starting to show up in public with increasing frequency, via various patent apps. Few weeks ago we told you about Apple’s iWatch patent app and the iPhone with wrap-around display. Before that we had those crazy ideas of integrating microphones and [...]
Facebook Phone’s UberFeed to pull info/feeds from everywhere. Enhanced caller ID, privacy mode in the works too
So, the Facebook Phone we told you about few weeks ago, is finally coming on Thursday. One of the key features for this handset will be an active Home/Lock screen that will display Facebook feed. There’s a talk about dedicated camera app to replace default Android one, and improved FB messenger. But getting a news [...]
iPhone with flexible wrap-around display shows up in Apple’s patent application
When Apple introduced iPhone – they basically found an ideal form factor for a modern smartphone. Before iPhone, everyone was experimenting with different shapes and configurations of their mobile devices. We had candybar phones, sliders, clamshells and some really weird stuff like Motorola Aura. It took few years for an impact of Apple’s phone to [...]
Samsung is working on its own iWatch. Here are some smart watch designs they explored over the last decade
Well, it didn’t take long. Only 5 weeks since the first rumors about Apple’s smart wearable iWatch device appeared, we now learn that Samsung is busy developing its own smart watch, too. As Samsung Mobile’s executive vice president told Bloomberg: “We’ve been preparing the watch product for so long. We are working very hard to [...]
Apple is working on camera with optical zoom and much better resolution for future iPhones and iPads
Apple may have found a way to add a camera with a true optical zoom into their next or next next iPhone and iPad. The new set-up is described in a patent application “Digital camera with light splitter” and shows a camera module with optical zoom lens, that can fit into a portable device that [...]
This is the Apple iWatch. Directly from Cupertino R&D labs
A couple of weeks ago there were a lot of rumors that Apple is working on iWatch to be released in a few months. But except for the name, the size of the team and the flexible display to be used in the device, little has been known about it. Today we can confirm the iWatch is [...]
Apple’s wearable computing/personal items sensor network integrated with your iWatch or iPhone
Wearable computing as the next big thing where Apple could make a huge contribution and finally get the market going, has been chatted up on the interwebs for years. We here, on UV, have speculated about it too, saying that Apple should kill its iPod line and create an iPod Tricorder. It seems that Apple [...]
Apple wants you to unlock your iPhone, iPad, or Mac using image identification
Apple wants to change the way you unlock your ‘computing devices’ – be those laptops, tablets, or phones – and has filed a patent application for its proposed method. The application was filed in August 2011, and it’s become public today. Apple seems to think that current methods for securing a device from unauthorized use are simply [...]
Forget digital wallet. Apple wants to turn YOU into an ATM via ad-hoc cash dispensing network
While Google, wireless carriers, Paypal and everyone else is working to turn your smartphone into a digital wallet, Apple has an even more interesting idea about money exchange. Apple would like to turn you and other people around you with iOS device, into a mobile ATM. The basic idea, described in a patent application “Ad-hoc [...]
A Nexus or Motorola phone with multiple LED flashes? New Google patent says that’s likely
Google has just been granted a patent for a mobile device with multiple flashes. Yep, more than one. And the patent is encompassing of a whole number of possible arrangements and use-cases. So the next Nexus phone (or, for that matter, the next Motorola flagship device) might come with quite a bit of innovation in [...]
Google Glass to get ‘Indirect Bone Conduction’ speaker
Google’s Project Glass sounds exciting, doesn’t it? However, before something like this ever makes it to the market, there are many ‘small’ things than need to be taken care of – otherwise the company’s wearable computer-inside-glasses might be relegated to ‘geek toy and nothing else’ status forever. One such thing is sound. More specifically, how [...]
Google’s Project Glass could be operated via laser projected virtual keypad/keyboard
Google’s Project Glass is an impressive device. But until it hits the streets in a few weeks, what do we really know about it? Pretty darn little, if you ask me. Yes, we know that Project Glass are virtual reality glasses, able to project computer generated images into your view, which also have video camera [...]
Before iPhone, Apple wanted to put RF Modules into our hand bags, shoes, clothes and cars to connect iPods
An interesting take on the mobile connected future Apple envisioned, just popped-up in the USPTO database, in the form of newly awarded patent. When exploring ways of getting a foothold into mobile device market, Apple asked a question: Why do cellular radios have to be coupled with the rest of the mobile phone? Came up [...]
Microsoft has its own Project Glass – augmented reality glasses/wearable computer combo
Microsoft has it’s own Project Glass cooking in the R&D labs. It’s an augmented reality glasses/heads-up display, that should supply you with various bits of trivia while you are watching a live event, e.g. baseball game. The device was made public via Microsoft’s patent application published today. Microsoft is taking a much more gradual approach [...]
Apple’s next iPhone may have cameras, fingerprint, iris sensors and solar cells hidden from view via clever trick
You know that Apple really cares about the design of its products? Well, that’s probably an understatement. And the new iPhone is a thing of beauty, right? Right. But there’s this one annoying little thing that prevents Apple to achieve the perfection – a uniform surface slab ideally shaped for your hand… The various components [...]
What’s next for iPhone? Flexible displays with tactile keyboard, laser mics and surround speakers built-in
When Apple announced iPhone 5, there was a collective sigh from tech blogosphere . “Boooriiing…” – complained geeks around the world. “It’s the same design from 3 years ago” – added pundits. And they were right. It was basically the same old design that started with iPhone 4. And no amount of hardware craftsmanship that [...]
An iPhone that charges when you walk, via electromagnetic induction? Apple is looking into it
Finding enough power to run all the stuff in your mobile gadget, is probably the biggest problem facing device developers today. While the chip power is increasing according to Moore’s law, the battery technology to run them is improving at a glacial pace. So getting your iPhone or Droid to last just a single day [...]
