Patent

Apple patents see iPhone as car-finder, auto starter

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 25, 2013

When your smartphone and automobile come up in conversation, too often the discussions center around texting while driving, or distracted driving. However, two patents submitted by Apple suggest the iPhone could become your car's best friend - at least that's the hope of the consumer tech giant.

The two patents filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office outline ways to replace your car's key fob with the iPhone and a Bluetooth connection to remember your location in a crowded parking garage, as well as creating an intelligent car starter/theft prevention tool...

Are Samsung drones trolling Apple?

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated December 6, 2022

We don't usually go in for conspiracy theories, but one is drawing quiet a bit of attention - and factual basis. Has corporate giant Samsung, stung by its more than $1 billion patent lawsuit loss to Apple in 2012, waging war on the iPhone maker? A number of signs point to the affirmative, including an apparent tactic to swamp any critics with pro-Samsung comments.

Along with blatant examples of the business press spinning news against Apple and for Samsung, there has been reports of fake Samsung product reviews. Additionally, we've seen up-close attempts by pro-Samsung 'trolls' to dominate comments...

ITC drops Motorola’s complaint against Apple over proximity sensor patent

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 23, 2013

Apple's patent troubles with the struggling handset maker has largely been viewed as a proxy fight with Google, which acquired Motorola Mobility along with its vast patent portfolio in August 2011 for $12.5 billion. Two and a half years ago Motorola asserted its proximity sensor patent against Apple. Monday, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) threw Motorola's complaint out of the window, invalidating Motorola's patent because it's too obvious. That's good news for Apple as Google was hoping to leverage that patent to seek an import ban against iPhones...

Apple patent outlines proximity iPhone-to-Mac file transfers

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 17, 2013

If you have some media content on your iPhone that needs to get to a Mac, the transfer can be cumbersome. Apple appears to be tapping wireless technologies to smooth out such operations, simply by having your mobile device near your desktop or portable Mac computer.

A patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office outlines a way for Macs to sense when a mobile device is nearby. Your iPhone can then transmit that great vacation photo to the Mac, which then inserts the image into an email, or even photo manipulation application...

Apple granted patent for iOS app folders, ‘jiggle’ interface

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 17, 2013

Apple Tuesday was granted a patent for how it manages folders on the company's iOS devices, including the familiar "jiggle" user interface. The patent, awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, describes a "device, method, and graphical user interface for managing folders." In the 2010 application, Apple said the interface relieves the "significant cognitive burden" and wasted energy traditionally required for moving files and icons on a computer desktop...

Apple licenses $10 million worth of patents filed by Palm and others

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

This is kind of interesting. Access, a Japan-based software company, published a release on its website this morning noting that it had entered a licensing agreement with Apple for a number of its patents. The firm's portfolio is quite large, featuring IP from Bell, Palm and others.

The particular patents that Apple is said to have acquired the rights to came from PalmSource, the company behind Palm's original mobile operating system. In 2003, it spun off of Palm as an independent company, and in 2005, Access acquired it and its intelectual property...

Apple patents offline iTunes purchases

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 9, 2013

Could Apple be preparing a prepaid version of iTunes of sorts, one that could allow users to purchase music and other digital media from the Apple cloud without an Internet connection? Tuesday, the iPhone maker was granted a patent for a system permitting iTunes purchases using offline credits, according to the 2010 filing. At the heart of the system is the ability to buy credits while online. The credits would also get stored locally on your device, not just in your online iTunes account.

Those 'offline' credits can then purchase and enable various media that would first have to be cached automatically on your device, based on top sellers, recommendations, past purchases and other criteria.

In turn, people could make iTunes transactions whenever they happen to be, even when being online is impractical. Reportedly, the proposed technology could also increase iTunes sales by offering restricted usage of the material...

iWallet is indeed coming, Apple’s newly published transaction patent suggests

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Apple thus far has filed for a number of patents related to mobile payments, all seemingly pointing to a unified mobile payments solution dubbed iWallet. The most recent filing details a new transaction patent which goes to great lengths highlighting methods for conducting and managing financial transactions on smartphones such as the iPhone, giving hope that Apple engineers could in fact be secretly developing an on-the-go financial transactions service aimed at owners of iOS devices.

Titled "A method for conducting a financial transaction," it focuses on Apple's previous iWallet patent claims, with one publication suggesting that Apple could now be one step closer to launching a mobile payments solution on iOS devices, uite possibly based on NFC technology, which stands for Near-Field Communications...

Samsung patent war strategy shakeup may happen, chatter suggests

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Is South Korea's Samsung preparing to settle ongoing mobile patent disputes with Apple, perhaps curtailing the firm's dependance on smart phones for future profits?

That's the conjecture as Samsung's chairman prepares to meet reporters later this week, following comments on returning from a three-month trip to Japan and Hawaii.

According to one South Korean newspaper, "several pending issues" will be on the plate of Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee...

ITC judge finds Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple’s text selection patent

Cody Lee ∙ April 7, 2013

In a decision issued on March 26, but kept classified until earlier this week, an International Trade Commission judge found Samsung to be infringing on Apple's US RE41,922 patent that covers things like text selection and translucent buttons.

It's only a preliminary decision, and the judge only found Samsung guilty of infringement on one of two patents listed in the complaint. But if the decision gets upheld, Samsung could once again be looking at a major product ban in the US...

Apple patent hints at Street View-like mapping

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 5, 2013

Is Apple preparing to take another chunk out of Google's mapping franchise? A patent filed in 2011 and entitled "3D Position Tracking for Panoramic Navigation," discovered Thursday, suggests the iPhone maker is considering adding street level navigation to its own iOS 6 Maps technology.

By virtue of the description, the invention suggests using movement sensors built into the iPhone and iPad to make it easier for mobile users to move within virtual maps. Currently, Google's Street View feature makes use of mouse movements and touchscreen input for navigation. A key difference between Apple Maps and Google Maps may also include the ability to navigate within structures...

German court invalidates Apple’s slide-to-unlock patent, but it’s not big deal

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 5, 2013

A German court ruled invalid Apple's patent for a sliding touchscreen unlocking image, marking another win for allies of Google's Android mobile operating. In its ruling in favor of the Google-owned Motorola, the country's Federal Patent Court slammed the iPhone maker's slide-to-unlock patent as devoid of "technological innovation." Still, a long-running patent dispute which began in 2011 may still live on as Apple's legal team prepares for a round of appeals, according to Friday reports...