Apple thinks of the children, patents parent-controlled text communication
US patent 7814163 has been granted to Apple under the title "Text-based communication control for personal communication device." It describes the ability to control content sent and received from an "administered device" as defined by a parental control application. If objectionable content is detected based on a table of words stored locally on the device, the content can either be removed or the message blocked entirely
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: ability, apple, control-content, controlled, message, parental-control, patent, result, uspatent7814163, uspto
iPhone OS 4 renamed iOS 4, launching June 21 with 1500 new features
We knew it had to happen eventually -- iPhone OS has been renamed to iOS with the bump to version 4. Some 1500 new features are coming along with the name change, including biggies like multitasking, a unified inbox, app folders, and data detectors.
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: breakingnews, cisco, density, features, ios 4, iphone os 4, limitations, touch, uspto
Apple granted design patent for iPhone 3G, 3GS
Hot on the heels of the "ornamental design" patent covering its original iPhone and iPod touch , we've got a second USPTO patent granted to Apple covering what looks to be the more curvaceous iPhone 3G and 3GS. Jonathan P
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: covering-its, iphone, iphone 3g, iphone3g, nph, parser, patent, uspto, usual
Apple files patent application for NFC e-tickets with ‘extra benefits’
Apple appears to be casting an eye out to new shores, judging by the latest of its patent applications to go public. Filed in September 2008, this primarily relates to adding bonus digital content to event tickets, whereby swiping your entry pass to, say, a concert or a sports event into an electronic device would result in you gaining access to related goodies from "an online digital content service." Additional claims describe the use of an electronic device (read: iPhone or iPod touch) as the carrier of the (digitized) ticket, allowing the user access to the event itself as well as "at least one other event-related benefit." The whole thing is focused on the use of near-field communications as the data transfer method of choice, something that Apple's hardware is not yet equipped to handle. Then again, NFC interaction is also referenced in a separate patent application (from August 2009, see WIPO link below) for peer-to-peer payments, suggesting that Cupertino might have more than a passing interest in the contactless transfer tech
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: apple, concert-tickets, concerttickets, electronic devices, entry, nfcpayments, nph, patentapplication, primarily, separate-patent, tickets, uspto, wipo
Apple granted design patent for original iPhone, iPod touch
Apple may have enough patents and patent applications to wallpaper its entire Cupertino campus, but we're guessing this is one it's been especially eager to get: a design patent for the original iPhone and iPod touch. That, of course, covers the "ornamental design" of the devices and not their functionality, which means that any other devices that look a little too similar are now treading on even more dangerous territory than before
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: apple, fourteen, granted-design, netacgi, nph, other-devices, relevant, uspto
Microsoft seeking patent for Windows Phone 7 Series panoramic GUI
The US Patents and Trademark Office has today made public a Microsoft patent application (serial no. 240,729) related to the graphical user interface found on the hotly anticipated Windows Phone 7 Series mobile OS. Filed in September 2008, this application describes a "contiguous background" that extends beyond the dimensions of the screen (either vertically or horizontally, but not both) with anchored "mixed-media" elements being littered atop it -- all of which is to be served on a "media-playing device." That should sound pretty familiar, given that it's the central navigational concept of both Windows Phone 7 and the Zune HD , and as such it makes a lot of sense for Microsoft to seek to legally protect its uniqueness
Categories: htc, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: application, graphical, gui, htc, patent application, patentapplication, patents, phone, uspto, windows phone 7 series, windows-phone, windowsphone7series
RIM patent app will have you barely browsing the web at incredible speeds
Let's not mince words: any way you slice it, RIM's built-in browser for BlackBerry renders sites about as well as your $199 netbook renders Avatar . The good news is that we've got every reason to believe the company recognizes the problem and is working to solve it -- but on a completely unrelated front, they're trying to speed up the process of fetching raw data off the interwebs, too.
Categories: BlackBerry, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: barely-browsing, black, BlackBerry, browser, interwebs, netacgi, parser, patent, proxy, proxy-server, uspto
Apple tries for ‘adding a contact to a home screen’ patent, but Android beat them to the punch
Despite the incredible realism of the drawing above to the left, we're probably not looking at iPhone OS 4.0 right here. Instead we've got Apple doing what Apple does: applying for a patent for some pretty vague functionality that may or may not end up in a device someday.
Categories: Android, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: apple, drawing, entry, incredible, little-tidbits, mobile, parser, picture, result, sms, uspto