Tag Archives: patents

The iPhone’s home button may not be long for this world. Apple has been granted a patent for an “interactive display panel with IR diodes” — a method that would let users activate a device through a virtual home button placed within the touchscreen. The technology, described in a filing made public Tuesday by the …

You might have heard: Amazon just won a patent that could let it drop packages from flying drones. That’s exciting, because so far drone deliveries have been pretty slow! This past December, Amazon’s first drone deliveries, in England, required the drone to land before it could release a package, and France’s postal service can’t deliver mail by drone without landing …

While several media outlets focused on the TV-related patents from the gaggle Apple was granted this week, there was one that I think points to a camera update (or at least new features) for the iPhone 8. Originally published in December 2016, it covers “optimizing capture of focus stacks.” Doesn’t sound sexy? Focus stacking would enable some really neat capabilities, …

Intel’s processors power the majority of laptops, but it doesn’t actually make laptops. That hasn’t stopped the chipmaker from patenting a design here and there. Among the company’s latest is a 2-in-1 laptop/tablet hybrid with a detachable curved display according to a design patent. The US Patent and Trademark Office granted the patent in November, but apparently it went noticed …

Apple may have a solution for short battery life on the Apple Watch. Put the battery in the band. An Apple patent application dated today illustrates a battery on the strap of a wearable device, presumably the Apple Watch. The proposed patent also shows that watch’s circular face, which is a different shape than the Apple Watch’s usual rectangular display. …

Bring it on, Apple — at least, that’s what Qualcomm’s top executives seemed to be saying Wednesday. Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf and Derek Aberle, head of the wireless chipmakers’s licensing business, fired back at lawsuits filed over the past week by Apple in the US and China. Those suits, they said, are all about the money, an effort by Apple …

Apple’s legal battle with Qualcomm has gone international. The iPhone maker on Wednesday filed two lawsuits against Qualcomm in China, according to Reuters, which cited a press release from Beijing’s Intellectual Property Court. The first alleges that Qualcomm “abused its clout in the chip industry,” a violation of China’s anti-monopoly law. Apple seeks 1 billion yuan ($145.32 million) in damages, …

Apple’s latest lawsuit target? Qualcomm. The iPhone maker on Friday filed suit against Qualcomm, alleging the wireless chipmaker didn’t give fair licensing terms for its processor technology. Apple also said Qualcomm sought to punish it for cooperating in a South Korean investigation into Qualcomm’s licensing practices by withholding a $1 billion rebate. Apple wants a court to lower the amount …

Now playing: Watch this: It’s inevitable: Samsung will build a phone with a foldable… 1:36 Will consumers flip for a foldable phone? Samsung promo video 2014 Samsung seems to have worked out the wrinkles on its much-rumored foldable phone and could unveil such a handset later this year, according to a report from Korea. The electronics giant is working on …

Apple is focusing its rumored interest in the augmented reality space on creating a new pair of AR glasses with Carl Zeiss, according to a new report. The tech titan is working with the German optics manufacturer on a pair of lightweight AR/mixed reality glasses, according to tech evangelist Robert Scoble. The project, which could be announced as early as …