jimmyLi's blog

One of the main problems of Apple's iDevices is the screen cracking easily when dropped. Well, this will soon going to be changed, according to the latest patent granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office,  for a “Protective mechanism for an electronic device”. This mechanism should protect the sensitive hardware from Apple's devices when falling, meaning that the devices should turn in the air in such a way that will land on the back or sides. According to Apple's patent, this mechanism will take use of the already existing accelerometer, gyroscope, and GPS to complete it's task. While falling, these sensors will send data to a central processing unit. This unit will than send a command to a motor inside the mechanism, that will reposition the device in midair. The original system was developed by Nicholas V. King and Fletcher Rothkopf.

Late last night local time, the nine man jury of the Apple vs Samsung legal case in California has ruled in favour of Apple and putting over a billion in their pocket in the process. Just days after the case was given to the jury , they have found that the vast majority of  Samsung devices concerned infringed upon the iPhone front fascia design patent. They also ruled that the trade dress (this is basically the design) of the iPhone line has been diluted by several Samsung products. To top it all of, it was ruled that Samsung willingly copied Apple’s patented designs and the resultant damages were tripled. There wasn’t much in favour of Samsung. Their own tablets were found to not rule upon the trade dress of the iPad and none of the Korean company’s patent were ruled in invalid, neither were any of Apple’s. Samsung will appeal the decision, but the verdict is unlikely to be changed. The company can only really dispute the amount of damages they owe and th...

The rectangular, predominantly symmetrical nature of most smartphones means if you're not looking, you might find you're holding the handset the wrong way around when a call comes in. Google's most recently awarded patent may seek to end your orientation confusion by adding a microphone and speaker at both ends of the device. That way, when you pick it up to answer a call, it'll determine which way you're holding it and select the microphone and speaker accordingly. Then again, this is a patent filing, so it's just as likely to wind up lining the bottom of a Mountain View engineer's drawer. Source: engadget