Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

AMD’s breakup into two separate companies is certain to have wide-ranging impact in the industry, and unsurprisingly, Intel’s among the first to react — it’s warning that it has “serious questions about this transaction” as it relates to its patent cross-licensing agreement with AMD and that it’ll will “vigorously protect” its intellectual property rights. That’s about as aggro a patent attorney can get without coming to your house and peeing on the lawn (or, uh, filing a lawsuit), so we’ll see how this shakes out — for its part, AMD says that it’s taken the deal into account, and that it’ll “continue respecting Intel’s intellectual property rights, just as we expect them to respect ours.” That’s a respect throwdown, right there — you gonna take that, Intel?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras

It’s a beautiful autumn day, and you’re out in the wooded path beyond the railroad tracks just taking it all in and killing some time. Hey, what’s that? Why, it’s the cutest bunny rabbit you’ve ever seen! Time to pull out that 8-megapixel C905 and… oh, this sucks, you actually have to press a button to zoom in and out! Screw this noise — you’re a visionary photographer, not a manual laborer. Happily, Sony Ericsson feels your pain, and a new patent application reveals that they’re hard at work on a system to control your cameraphone’s zoom level simply by moving it back and forth. Just get the phone closer to the subject, and boom, welcome to telephoto city, population one. We’re still totally cool with the old-fashioned way of capturing Pulitzer-winning shots, but we’re happy that someone’s thinking of this type of stuff so we don’t have to — that’d be work.

[Via Unwired View]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Google’s persistent interest in ensuring that the US’ 700MHz spectrum would give rise to a network open to any and all devices reinforced its belief that carriers can and should be nothing more than the proverbial “dumb pipes” — leave the content and hardware to the people who know how to do it and don’t necessarily have a vested interest in the carriers’ bottom line. That attitude foretold that it had some interesting ideas up its sleeves (this is Google, after all), and while it’s never been entirely clear what those ideas are, Android’s “please use it, it’s free” attitude certainly plays a role. Here’s another piece of the puzzle: rather than be tied down to any one carrier, why not keep changing carriers in real time based on whomever’s going to give you the best deal? A new patent filed by Mountain View’s finest proposes exactly that, bringing together heterogeneous technologies — “community-wide” networks like WiFi and WiMAX along with GSM, CDMA, and so on — and an “auction system” that would let the user select (or allow the phone to automatically select) the best deal at the moment depending on their needs (available features or minimum speeds, time limits, and so on). It’s an amazing idea that totally turns the contract concept on its head, and it’s an idea that carriers would fight to the death. We’re not seeing it happening, but hey, Google, we like the cut of your jib.

[Via textually.org and New Scientist]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones

We could start off by telling you just how much this decision will hurt Qualcomm and just how celebratory the mood must be at Broadcom, but instead, we’ll key you in on this quote: “The appeals court also rejected Qualcomm’s request for a new trial.” At long last, we may have actually heard the end of what has seemed like a never-ending battle between the aforementioned parties. Today, a US Appeals court upheld an earlier ruling that Qualcomm had indeed infringed upon two Broadcom patents while ruling that a third patent in question was invalid. The ruling is obviously a huge win for Broadcom, who will soon be bathing in Benjamins as Qualcomm is forced to pay mandatory royalties for the chips it sells during the “sunset period” ending January 31, 2009.

[Via Reuters]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Gaming

Ruh roh. Those wildly flung patent infringement claims tossed out by Hillcrest Laboratories could have some merit, but even if not, it’ll be the ITC making the call. The US International Trade Commission has given itself the green light to investigate the allegations made by the aforesaid company, which state that Nintendo infringed on four of its patents in order to make obscenely large quantities of cash with the hot-selling Wii. There’s no telling how high (or low) this is in the agency’s priority list, but we’ll be keeping an ear to the ground for some sort of resolution, regardless.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Here’s one straight from the far left corner of left field. Microsoft has not only filed for, but actually received a patent that essentially amounts to Page Up / Page Down functionality. More specifically, the patent covers a “method and system for navigating paginated content in page-based increments,” and it goes on to cite an example of “pressing a Page Down or Page Up keyboard key / button [that] allows a user to begin at any starting vertical location within a page, and navigate to that same location on the next or previous page.” Brilliant, or just plain spiteful?

[Via GigaOm]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We’ve got our crack team of Engadget ninjas at IFA working to figure out exactly what’s going on, but early word is that over 220 German Customs agents have raided the show looking for patent infringements. It’s not clear how many booths have had visits from The Man, but it’s somewhere over 50 — we’ve been hearing a number in the 70s — and spokespeople for Customs says inspections will continue until tonight. Sounds like a repeat of what’s happened at CeBIT for the past few years, where German firm Sisvel has had several companies’ booths shut down and products seized over claimed MPEG patent infringements — you might remember last year’s kerfuffle with Meizu and the wrongful seizure of SanDisk DAPs in 2006. There are rumors that Asian companies, including MSI, are being targeted, and that the Taiwan Image Hall in particular was hit hard, but nothing’s been substantiated and German authorities say they’re looking at all companies equally. We’ll let you know what’s going down as soon as we find out more.

[Thanks, Adam]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Trying to divine what Apple’s up to from patent applications is never easy, but every now and again the diagrams actually make it obvious — and it looks like Steve and his elves are hard at work on large-format touch interfaces, possibly for a tablet Mac of some kind. The latest touch-related filing is some 52 pages long and details everything from working with multiple finger inputs to onscreen keyboards how window controls would work, but we’re mostly transfixed by the claw-like demon-hands that seem to be operating all this kit — apparently Apple engineers have the same nightmares as the rest of us. If we had to bet, we’d say that a tablet Mac is still a long ways off, but we’ve been wrong before — and there’s always a chance Steve’s got something wild in store for next month.

[Via AppleInsider]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Trying to divine what Apple’s up to from patent applications is never easy, but every now and again the diagrams actually make it obvious — and it looks like Steve and his elves are hard at work on large-format touch interfaces, possibly for a tablet Mac of some kind. The latest touch-related filing is some 52 pages long and details everything from working with multiple finger inputs to onscreen keyboards how window controls would work, but we’re mostly transfixed by the claw-like demon-hands that seem to be operating all this kit — apparently Apple engineers have the same nightmares as the rest of us. If we had to bet, we’d say that a tablet Mac is still a long ways off, but we’ve been wrong before — and there’s always a chance Steve’s got something wild in store for next month.

[Via AppleInsider]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: GPS

It looks like U.S. International Trade Commission judge Carl Charneski has managed to cause quite a stir in the GPS industry this month, with him first ruling earlier this month that chipmaker SiRF infringed on six of Broadcom’s GPS patents, and him now recommending that the ITC issue an all out product import ban on products using the offending chips. Given that one of the supposedly infringing chips is the ever-present SiRF Star III, that would obviously shake things up in a pretty big way. A final decision on a ban won’t come until December, however, and SiRF looks to be exploring all of its options in the meantime, including asking the U.S. Patent Office for reexamination of the contested patents. As Reuters reports though, that hasn’t stopped SiRF’s shares from falling 24 percent to an all time low on Tuesday, and at least one GPS device manufacturer doesn’t look to be waiting around to see how things shake out either, with DigiTimes now reporting that Mitac is set to stop using SiRF chips in its GPS devices in the fourth quarter of this year. Then again, that is DigiTimes, but we doubt that’ll be much consolation for SiRF right about now.

Read - Reuters, “SiRF hit after ITC judge urges product import ban”
Read - DigiTimes, “Mitac to give up SiRF GPS solutions due to patent dispute”

[Via Linux Devices]

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones

So patent holding firm Klausner Technologies figures it has this whole litigation thing down to a T at this point, having already sued a who’s-who of companies having anything to do with visual voicemail in the past and ultimately coming away with a whole bunch of lucrative license agreements for its efforts (eleven, to be exact). Needless to say, any new company that tries to break into the game at this point is probably going to get treated with the same warm, fuzzy love, and Verizon and LG are experiencing that firsthand. Klausner has announced that it has filed suit against both companies in Texas federal court, presumably in response to Big Red’s recent launch of the refreshed Voyager featuring visual voicemail software on board. Given the track record Klausner has, guys, you might just want to cut to the chase here and pay up.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

LG and Quanta have been going at it over patents for eight years now, with LG notably seeking an injunction against the importation of Quanta-built Apple, HP, Dell, and Sony laptops, and the Supreme Court ruling that LG wasn’t entitled to additional royalties, but it looks like the fight’s finally over — both sides say they’ve come to an agreement and will now negotiate royalty rates. No further details, but we’re told BMW sales near the offices of LG and Quanta’s law firms just skyrocketed.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Laptops

Perhaps it’s just that nostalgia for the ThinkPad 701 but there’s something about this dual-display reference design that’s causing optical interrupts all over Engadget editorial. It’s certainly not as elegant as some other dual-display laptops we’ve seen, but what it gives up in looks, the Electronic Keyboards, Inc. design makes up for in practicality. They’re currently pitching it to OEMs and will gladly sell you the related US patents if interested. Though given our choice, we’d be more interested in patents related to an elongated trackpad which doubles as a secondary glass display or e-Ink informational widget. Hey, a boy can dream can’t he?

[Via The Raw Feed]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Back in May, we heard that MTI Micro was working with “an elusive Japanese developer or digicams” to get its Mobion fuel cell tech into actual products. Given this Canon Fuel Cell DSLR patent, it looks like we can no-so elusively safely say where the camera is being developed. The patent itself is straight up enough: “The present invention related to an electronic equipment system having fuel cells, and more particularly, to a camera system in which fuel cells are provided to a camera body and a connection device connected to the camera body.” It looks as though the fuel cells will power the entire camera system, including flashes and other motors, complete with a separate power management system, sort of like having your own mini generator. As for when this system will be available, no word.

[Via Photographybay]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Apple’s experimented with allowing iTunes to stream over the internet as well as your LAN in the past and quickly removed the feature (probably due to RIAA pressure), so we’re not placing too much stock in this, but AppleInsider’s unearthed a patent that seems to describe a way to stream music over the ‘net to your iPhone / iPod touch. The goal is to prevent you from having to selectively sync content to your device — instead, you’d sync just the metadata and stream whatever you wanted direct from your machine as though it was all stored locally. There are some obvious problems here — it wouldn’t work if you didn’t have service (or over EDGE, really), most home upstream connections aren’t that fast, etc., etc., — but it’s certainly interesting, and a welcome addition to local storage if it ever makes the scene. In the meantime, how about working in some of those new UI elements from the Remote app into the iPod app?

[Via Macrumors, thanks Mark]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Displays

It’s been a while since we’ve heard about Canon’s legal troubles with SED, but it sounds like things are taking a turn for the better — the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that Canon had not broken its contract with Nano-Proprietary (now called Applied Nanotech Holdings) since Canon is now the sole owner of its previous joint venture with Toshiba, SED Inc. The court also reinstated Canon’s license to the SED tech, but since Canon stopped working on the tech last year, it’ll probably be a while before we see any SED displays actually show up. We’ll see how it goes down — hopefully those rumors of a skunkworks SED project inside Canon will make this all seem like a bad dream someday.

[Thanks, Alex]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones

Quick, you ever heard of WiAV Solutions? You know, the owner or exclusive licensee of several vague patents on the use of GSM tech in smartphones? The company that doesn’t make anything or even have a web site, but files so many patent lawsuits that some companies have taken to pre-emptively filing suits for declaratory judgment against it? Yeah, well, get used to the name — it’s just sued RIM, Apple and Palm for violating ten patents on things like detecting the difference between silence and voices, mobile device power management, and altering music to accommodate voices. WiAV wants a permanent injunction on the sale of all devices that allegedly contain its tech, and not surprisingly, it’s asking for damages and attorney’s fees as well. There are some procedural hurdles to jump through here — WiAV is Mindspeed’s exclusive licensee for eight of the patents, not the outright owner, so it has to ask the court to join Mindspeed as a plaintiff as well — and it doesn’t sound like any of the companies are talking just yet, so we wouldn’t expect this one to get resolved any time soon.

[Thanks, Becky]

Read - AppleInsider post on the suit
Read - WiAV’s complaint [Warning: PDF]

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones

One of the longest-running — and certainly most fascinating — soap operas in the entire wireless world, the seemingly endless patent drama between Nokia and Qualcomm, has finally drawn to an amicable (dare we say anti-climactic) close. After just a single day of arbitration, the two firms have basically agreed to a patent swap, allowing Nokia to use all of Qualcomm’s patents and vice versa. Furthermore, Nokia is just stone-cold handing over a bunch of patents it holds related to GSM, WCDMA, and OFDMA, which presumably means companies that are currently licensing those patents can get ready to start writing those checks to Qualcomm. What’s more, Espoo’s dropping its anti-competition claims against Qualcomm in Europe — but beyond that, specific terms (read: cash money) weren’t disclosed beyond the typical PR pleasantries that both sides are happy with the outcome. If this means we finally have to retire our Nokia-Qualcomm starburst graphic, we’re going to pout like little children, so we can only hope these two lovebirds find something else to squabble over in the not-too-distant future.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones

One of the longest-running — and certainly most fascinating — soap operas in the entire wireless world, the seemingly endless patent drama between Nokia and Qualcomm, has finally drawn to an amicable (dare we say anti-climactic) close. After just a single day of arbitration, the two firms have basically agreed to a patent swap, allowing Nokia to use all of Qualcomm’s patents and vice versa. Furthermore, Nokia is just stone-cold handing over a bunch of patents it holds related to GSM, WCDMA, and OFDMA, which presumably means companies that are currently licensing those patents can get ready to start writing those checks to Qualcomm. What’s more, Espoo’s dropping its anti-competition claims against Qualcomm in Europe — but beyond that, specific terms (read: cash money) weren’t disclosed beyond the typical PR pleasantries that both sides are happy with the outcome. If this means we finally have to retire our Nokia-Qualcomm starburst graphic, we’re going to pout like little children, so we can only hope these two lovebirds find something else to squabble over in the not-too-distant future.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments