Apple

(Credit: Apple)

A new patent application from Apple dug up by AppleInsider reveals ways in which the company's products could be fitted with a simple label or tag that provides evidence of tampering. If the strip is compromised, it gives Apple leverage to void your warranty.

Apple's patent application notes that it is in the best interest of an electronics manufacturer to be able to know when a device has been "compromised" and opened, thus voiding its warranty. Unauthorized tampering with an electronic device can destroy it, and without evidence of such tampering, a manufacturer may be obligated to support its warranty. Apple's technology, the company said, could save manufacturers "substantial" costs.

In another patent filing, Apple is looking to broaden the role of the accelerometer in its portable devices, noting that motion could be used to navigate and control the device itself. For example, users could shake the device to play a song or flick it to scroll through menus. That idea has been tossed around before, as I recall, so it's not really all that surprising. Perhaps it's just a ploy to get us to buy more iPods as more movement will likely result in more drops, tosses and smashes.

(Credit: Apple)

This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.

Nokia is suing Apple over 10 patents the Finnish phone maker says it owns related to wireless handsets.

The largest handset maker in the world is suing the maker of one of the most popular, the iPhone, because, according to a statement released by Nokia on Thursday, Apple has refused to license any of the patents in question. All iPhone models dating back to the original introduced in 2007 are infringing, according to Nokia. Nokia is asking the U.S. District Court in Delaware for an injunction (PDF) on sales of iPhones and for unspecified damages.

"The basic principle in the mobile industry is that those companies who contribute in technology development to establish standards create intellectual property, which others then need to compensate for," said Ilkka Rahnasto, vice president, legal and intellectual property at Nokia. "Apple is also expected to follow this principle. By refusing to agree to appropriate terms for Nokia's intellectual property, Apple is attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia's innovation."

Nokia has already reached licensing agreement on the patents in question with 40 other companies, including "most of the major device makers," according to Nokia spokesman Mark Durrant. Apple has thus far refused to cooperate, and filing the lawsuit was a "last resort." The two companies have been in negotiations for "some time," he added.

Nokia says it has spent more than $60 billion (40 billion euros) on R&D related to wireless technology. The 10 patents it accuses Apple of violating are related to making phones able to run on GSM, 3G, and Wi-Fi networks. They include patents on wireless data, speech coding, security, and encryption, according to Nokia.

Apple did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

For every kind of technology you can think of (USB, wall plugs, video game controllers) there's an agreed upon standard. It's arrived at by companies making products that use the technology in question in the context of a standards-setting organization. They'll gather, debate over whose patented technology is best, and also agree in advance that every other company in the standard group will be able to license their patent at a reasonable rate.

Apple is one of a few companies--Nokia wouldn't expand on who the others might be--that is not licensing Nokia's 10 patents. Nokia says that for any phone to run on a GSM, 3G, or Wi-Fi network, it would have to license one of its patents.

Though it is asking the court to halt sales of the iPhone, the general consensus by legal observers and those who follow Nokia, is that it's not actually trying to pull the iPhone off the market permanently--injunctions are always used as leverage in these cases--but rather that it wants Apple to pay its fair share.

"There are companies that are patent trolls, that don't participate in the creation of technology, or they secretly acquire them. Nokia's not one of these companies. They're pretty up front about the patents they own," noted Jason Schultz, director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic at the UC Berkeley School of Law. "They're probably not trying to put Apple out of business...but force Apple to play the same game that every other phone company has to play."

Apple analyst Gene Munster thinks Nokia is looking to extract a royalty payment of 1 percent to 2 percent of every iPhone sold from Apple, which would be about $6 to $12 per phone. With 34 million iPhones sold to date, that would be $204 million to $408 million in back payments Apple would have to pay if Nokia were successful in court. There's also the added risk of something called "willful infringement." Basically, if Apple were to be found in violation it'd have to pay three times the amount of whatever the judgment won by Nokia.

Apple could settle out of court, or it could try to show that Nokia either doesn't own the patents or that they're not valid in this case, both of which would be difficult, said Schultz.

"Invalidating 10 patents is a lot, that's like running the Boston Marathon. It's really hard to do. You might get one, two or even five," he said. "But 10 is a lot."

If it does go to court, strap in for a long ride. This kind of case could take up to two or three years of litigation.

This post was updated throughout at 12:35 p.m. PDT.

One of the iPhone 3G's current moisture sensors can be found on the bottom of the device.

(Credit: Apple)

A patent application filed by Apple and published Thursday hints at new ways the company can help diagnose a troubled iPod or iPhone if a customer has abused it. The patent goes into detail on a new system that goes above and beyond the existing onboard sensors, which can tell Apple whether your iPod or iPhone has been subjected to moisture.

The new system, described in U.S. Patent application No. 2009/0195394, covers not just moisture, but heat, shock, and tampering. If any one of these events occur, it's logged--time stamp and all, and Apple support personnel can then retrieve the information and use it for analysis on service claims.

The extra sensors would make it easier for Apple to determine if a device malfunction was due to the user, or the hardware itself. For instance, if there's a sudden drop, followed by an impact, then a moisture reading, it's pretty clear the owner dropped it into water. The same goes for thermal events, like leaving a phone in a hot car, or having a sudden and excessive heat flare-up, caused, for example, by putting it in a microwave.

The tamper sensor is the more mellow of the four tools. In the patent Apple simply describes this as "opening the casing or housing of a device and adding, removing, or altering the internal components." This may not even employ any additional hardware or software, and could use a simple adhesive strip that is broken once the casing is removed, as many other hardware makers employ.

What may scare some users about this patent is that Apple details a process wherein one of these sensor events can disable the phone, or put it into a disabled state for its own protection. When say, submerged in water, the new protocol would have the phone shut off access to the battery or the screen to protect internal components. It could also keep the user from resetting it or retrieving data until taken to a support center, which is a little creepy when you think about those times when you may need to make a call when both you and your phone have been through a tussle.

Update: Corrected patent number terminology and reference. Later update also corrected patent application status. It was published Thursday, not approved.

(Via AppleInsider)

The haptic feedback patent, if approved, would bring the iPhone in line with rival handsets that provide localized tactile feedback.

(Credit: CNET )

Three patent applications by Apple were published Thursday, and they cover technologies including haptics, fingerprint recognition, and RFID.

The haptic feedback patent, if approved, would bring the iPhone (and possibly other Apple devices) in line with rival handsets, which already provide localized tactile feedback in, for example, an onscreen soft keyboard.

Haptic technology gives people sensory feedback--in the form of a vibration or pressure--when they use a touch screen. Essentially, it makes touching a key on a touch screen more akin to pressing a real button.

The fingerprint recognition patent does not really have to do with authentication and security, but rather with identifying which fingers are in use, so as to associate different functions with different digits.

The RFID reader patent would see RFID-communicating circuitry integrated with the circuitry behind the touch screen itself.

All the above are just applications, though, so it could be a long while before we see any of this functionality built into iPhones or other Apple devices.

David Meyer of ZDNet UK reported from London.

The World Wide Web Consortium is opening the possibility of pushing back against an Apple patent on software updates that Apple had refused to license royalty-free for use in a proposed Web standard.

The W3C announced June 12 that it's seeking prior art relating to Apple's patent No. 5,764,992--in other words, examples of the patent's technology in use that predate the patent itself. The patent, which Apple applied for in 1995 and was granted in 1998, involves this scenario: "a software program running on a computer automatically replaces itself with a newer version in a completely automated fashion, without interruption of its primary function, and in a manner that is completely transparent to the user of the computer."

The consortium, which oversees standards including the HTML for Web page publishing and the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) image format, is working on a draft standard called Widgets 1.0: Updates that governs how Web-based applications can update themselves. Apple in March said it wasn't willing to include the patent's 30 claims in the royalty-free licensing requirements of W3C standards.

To deal with the patent matter while continuing with development of the standard, the consortium set up a patent advisory group (PAG).

"The PAG seeks information about software update systems available before June 1995 that offer a viable solution that may apply to the use of updates in Widgets," the W3C said about the prior-art search. "Such information could suggest ways to define a specification that can achieve the working group's goals without implementers infringing on the disclosed patent."

Finding prior art could help overturn the patent, but W3C spokesman Ian Jacobs said the consortium hasn't yet concluded what measures to take.

"There are lots of options once we have more information," Jacobs said. "One possible outcome, should we find prior art, is the patent might be re-evaluated. If it turns out there is prior art, that will be fodder for the next discussion."

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Work on the draft specification can continue while the advisory group deals with the patent, Jacobs said, but the patent does complicate matters. "Does it cast a shadow over the specification? The answer is yes, until we have a better sense over the scope of the patent."

Via Dion Almaer

Corrected at 5:15 p.m.: This story initially misstated which standards the W3C oversees. It oversees HTML, Portable Network Graphics, and others.

Correction 5/18: Gracenote was incorrectly listed as a partner of Shazam.

Earlier this week, a company called Tune Hunter accused music-finding service Shazam as well as a host of consumer electronics makers, wireless service operators, and digital music retailers of infringing on its patent on a music identification system.

Shazam is named along with Samsung, Apple, Amazon.com, Napster, Motorola, Gracenote, Verizon Wireless, LG Electronics, AT&T Mobility, and Pantech Wireless in a suit filed Tuesday over U.S. Patent No. 6,941,275, which was issued to Remi Swierczek/Tune Hunter in September 2005. The suit accuses Shazam's music discovery and identification service of violating the patent and the other companies of benefiting directly from Shazam's alleged infringement. Tune Hunter is asking for unspecified damages and an injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division of Texas that would prevent "further infringement" on Tune Hunter's patent.

Tune Hunter's patent covers "a music identification/purchasing system, specifically to a method for marking the time and the name of the radio station in portable device such as a key holder, watch, cellular phone, beeper or the like which will allow the user to learn via internet or regular telephone the name of the song, artist and/or music company by matching the stored data with broadcast archive."

Shazam is available on several different mobile devices. It is a popular iPhone application sold through Apple's App Store, which "listens" to songs and identifies them. Samsung is a partner with London-based Shazam on a mobile music store. Amazon.com is a retail partner of Shazam. Gracenote is a competitor.

Shazam was founded in 2002 in London and says by the end of the year its service will be available on 250 million devices.

Shazam, AT&T, Apple, and Gracenote each said they had no comment on the suit, and Samsung and Verizon had not yet heard about it.

Shazam is also available on many platforms not named in the lawsuit, including Research In Motion's BlackBerry, Facebook, and Android-based phones like T-Mobile's G1.

CNET News reporters Maggie Reardon and Greg Sandoval contributed to this story.

Apple Insider has spotted a a newly released patent filed by Apple back in late 2007 that shows volume controls that can be integrated into various Web browsers. Described as a way to control "audio signals which may or may not be welcomed by the user" the patent depicts a new panel that sits in the top, right-hand corner of a user's browser and allows per-site controls over incoming audio signals. There's also a mute button that can cut out just the sounds from the browser entirely while leaving sound from other desktop applications untouched.

According to the patent, the key goal is to add a volume control overlay over sites that do not provide it, as well as a system that will remember the user's preferences between browsing sessions. This would be useful in Flash-heavy sites where the controls may be hidden away, or entirely absent. It would also let users create custom sound profiles, so you could have YouTube videos on your computer at work always start out at a low volume level, or your Internet alarm clock site always play at 100 percent.

The patent also describes situations where users can create specific rules that will change how audio can be played back based on whatever other applications are running. So you could theoretically set it to mute all your browser audio only when you're listening to music in iTunes, or using an audio-centric application like Skype, then bring the sound back as soon as you're not getting audio output from those applications. Apple has done something similar on the iPhone by interrupting music when you're getting a phone call, or slightly lowering the volume on notification sounds when you're using other apps.

What makes this patent filing notable is that it's not just for Safari, and is listed as being applicable to multiple browsers, which means it could either be a part of an upcoming OS or as a standalone application. As the usual disclaimer goes though, patents are often filed for technologies that never make it to market.

I've embedded the entire patent after the page break. (Thanks to Patents.com and Scribd for that.)

Update: Several readers have pointed out that Windows Vista has had a similar feature since its release called Volume Mixer that lets you pick out the maximum volume level for each application. However it's worth noting that in Apple's proposed implementation, the user would be able to control it on a per-site basis.

The browser audio controls would sit in the corner of the browser, and allow users to mute sound from sites they're visiting.

(Credit: Apple/CNET)

(Credit: United State Patent and Trademark Office, via MacRumors.com)

Apple could be providing a glimpse into some new features for future iPhones in a couple of patent applications the company recently filed.

The blog MacRumors.com reports that Apple has published two patent applications in the past few weeks that focus on features that incorporate motion and gesture user interfaces. One patent was published two weeks ago. And the other one was published Thursday.

The iPhone already has an accelerometer that allows users to shuffle songs on the iPhone by shaking it. And the motion-detecting technology has also been widely used by application developers who have incorporated the functionality into games and other kinds of apps for the iPhone. But Apple appears to be moving a few steps further in making motion an even bigger part of interacting with the iPhone.

Apple notes in the first of the patent filings that interacting with mobile devices while also engaging in another activity, such as jogging or running, can be dangerous as users might be distracted while they're trying to advance to another song or answer a phone call. The new gesturing technology would try to solve this issue. According to the patent filing:

There is a need for providing a user interface in a personal media device that minimizes either or both a user's physical and visual interactions with the personal media device, especially while the user is performing other activities that require, for example, the user's visual senses.

(Credit: USPTO)

It seems the success Apple has achieved with gaming on the iPhone might spill over from pockets to living rooms. The makers of the iPhone have filed a set patents for a Wii-style wireless controller that looks to be made for the Apple TV and could be used for a number of applications.

The patent filing, including the image above, clearly shows an icon for Safari, as well as images that appear to be an iPhoto-like app.

(Credit: CNET)

The Apple TV is a fairly powerful product for what little it currently does. Don't get me wrong, I love the device. I have one and use it almost every day. It's the easiest way to get my movie fix on in my living room, and the Flickr and YouTube functionality is amazing, as well as fun at parties.

Right now, though, that's about all it's good for. Apple has put together a pretty good method for distributing games (and other apps) via the iTunes App Store. And because the basic operating system on the Apple TV is very similar to the iPhone's, it wouldn't be too big of a jump to develop for it.

I'm excited about the prospect. Imagine playing a game like Light Bike on a 720p TV with surround sound. And if Apple TV app development is anything like the iPhone's, you could see an avalanche of good, inexpensive games.

It wouldn't aim to compete with the Xbox 360 or the PS3, but the guys at Nintendo might want to keep an eye on what Apple ends up doing with this patent filing, if anything.

(Via PC World)