Welcome to this new monthly series here on Ghacks. Each month I'll be looking through all patent applications submitted by Apple, Google and Microsoft to find the most interesting applications from a user perspective. Patent applications may provide us with information about technologies that are already in use or will likely be used in the near future by the companies that applied for the patent.
Each patent application is described in one or two sentences that capture the main idea of the patent. Links point to the full patent application where detailed information are provided.
Would you like me to add another company to the list? Let me know in the comments.
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Nice series.
On Apple: they patented to turn their packaging into a docking station. Nice idea. http://www.ihackintosh.com/2012/11/apple-patent-reveals-iphone-packaging-that-turns-into-a-dock/
Patent for “rectangle with rounded edges”
http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/apple-gets-what-it-always-wanted-patent-for-round-edge-rectangle-1110942
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/11/apple-awarded-design-patent-for-actual-rounded-rectangle/
On MS:
Without looking into it 1, 3, 6, 8, 10 seem to exist already.
Especially point 3 is common, there are so many malware samples that it would be impossible to get new signatures out every x hours.
Point 4 sounds nice, for something to have not for a patent. I’d like to see this for public terminals. Point 5 is a little scary, although people use the same on cars.
Point 7 is interesting, would like to see it working. I for instance try to create PDF files without active content (PDF/A), but it looks like any other PDF file which could carry and exploit. I recreate an PDF file to scrub potential exploits, at least I hoe it helps, but in the end it requires trust.
Point 9 works. Researchers have shown that it is possible to identify persons, you have samples of, during *encrypted* VoIP calls. Based on compression and audio format it’s possible to find out what is spoken.
I decided to look at patent applications only, which usually become public 18 months after the initial filing. So, it is likely that some are already in use.
Microsoft is one of the top companies submitting applications, it in fact is filing more than Apple and Google are filing together.
I’m thinking of other companies that would make a good fit here. I’m no engineer so patent applications from Samsung or Nokia are not really that interesting for me, but applications by software companies like Facebook or Twitter might.
Need more input though if that is of interest or if I should concentrate on the three big players.
Nice (new) series great the you included the links. Its quit a difficult read for me but thatch good because so I am learning.
How is it possible to get a patent for rounded corners on rectangles? It is hardly a new, novel idea.
Number 4 from Microsoft would be nice for some shared computers… and even some home computers of a few friends :P
Being the guy they usually call to check or repair their computers, I sometimes have to see some “rough” and “dark yellow colored” keyboards that would really benefit from such invention. Or at least from having a proper cleaning from time to time…
How about Intel and AMD ?
I can take a look but I’m pretty certain that it falls into the engineering category as well which I’m afraid is a bit too hard for me to go through.
Number 10 from MS is fully implemented in Opera Mini/Mobile, at least for SymbianOS, I’ve used it since ’09 and for the whole time all the traffic was proxied.
Is not Opera only compressing and optimizing websites? As far as I understood the patent application, MS creates an image of the site and sends that to the device.