Microsoft patents the flat slider phone form factor, multi-touch gaming mice

Devin Coldewey is a Seattle-based writer and photographer. He wrote for the TechCrunch network since 2007. Some posts, it would like you to read: the perils of externalization of knowledge | Generation I | Surveillant society | Select two | Frame war | User manifesto | Our great sin his personal site — coldewey. cc. ? Read More

We've seen a lot of interesting patents from Apple in the last few days, but Microsoft loves patent stuff too — and they were given only a bunch of nice little designs for mobile phones in a special format and some Kinect slider and mouse tech for download.

They are patenting a simple slider, of course. They are patenting several specific designs of the sliding mechanism, which, after you finish sliding action, keyboard and screen are mostly similar to the plane. "i.e., mainly the flush. Check this:

Potentially, the advantage is more comfortable typing experience. Many complained to recruit around G1's "Chin", and other phones with sunken keyboards have similar problems. My problem with the design as it is that additional loops and such may increase weight and sturdiness. The second design looks more interesting, however, reduce the display, rather than increasing the keyboard. That actually could work.

I'd like to see is some patents on the slider keyboard with keys that are actually fun to type on. Or maybe a slide-out keyboard for tablets that do not increase the weight of the thing at 500%.

Microsoft also received a patent that explicitly refers to Kinect is the definition of the potential of space to gestures and track user's movement within a cone. I wouldn't say this is particularly interesting, but if you are interested in Kinect and Microsoft for its implementation, it could make for some fun reading this weekend.

More up my alley, Microsoft has patented a method of interaction with games through multi-touch mice. I'm very surprised this patent came because the games just a form of software, and must be hundreds of patents in the game on the interaction of the software and multi-touch surface. Mostly I liked looking at patent because they use illustrations that times back in the days of yore when multi-touch mice were a novel proposal.

[via WMPoweruser]

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Patents & alliances: when good intentions to go horribly wrong

Sarah Lacy is currently working on TechCrunch senior editor. It is also a prize-winning journalist and author of two books of critically acclaimed, "once you're lucky, twice you're good: the rebirth of Silicon Valley and the rise of Web 2.0" (Gotham books, April 2008) and "a brilliant, Crazy, cheeky: how the top 1% of entrepreneurs profit from global chaos. ? Read More

Watch me ruin your Sunday afternoon with a single word. Are you Ready? Here we go.

Patents.

This week on NBC press: here we talked about the theme of most of our readers to equate the long, slow, painful root canals. Or even worse. Laura Sydell NPR is also on the show and if you haven't listened to it on This American Life episode, titled "when the patent attack", go do it now. We will wait.

Nathan Myhrvold, who some call Voldemorta tech – this is a bit of a mystery to me. Sydell said she had no intention of a piece to go so badly after the intellectual ventures, and as you hear in the podcast things they thought were harmless issues were addressed as "podobaâ."

My feeling is that intellectual ventures has not started include trolls. That it was intended, as Myhrvold to give inventors who do not want to start a company a way to monetize their inventions and be an effective mediator in a broken system. This is the promise of RPX Corp., which recently became public and reinforced by Izhar Amony on the Charles River Ventures. Armony also invests in intellectual ventures, and we gave him the opportunity to defend against accusations of "patent troll" here.

But even if you are willing to give intellectual enterprise for lack of evidence, the NPR piece clearly provides some very upsetting affects ripple which did not deny the intellectual enterprises of the group. The beauty of radio programs you can hear many attempts of journalists to provide IV way to explain themselves, and they just dig a large hole.

When asked, couldn't one site example of win-win, they promise: invention they have bought from brilliant tinkerer and sold the company so that they could bring it to market for it. They provide example generates NPR down the rabbit hole that land in the corridor in East Texas, complete separation of shell companies whose whole reason there is the acquisition of patents and suing the company actually building things, funneling some of those proceeds back to the intellectual enterprises.

This American life ends, comparing the patent situation of an arms race, referring to recent fighting patent portfolio of big tech companies. Although the apt metaphor, I couldn't help but think another: unions.

I understand, I invite well organized hate mail by writing it. As patents I see unions as incredibly well conceived and one time of vital importance to the development of America. But let's face it: incivility unions are also at the root of many of our capitalist problems today. It's hard to know what happened to the aviation industry, automotive industry, public education and feel that unions are perfectly sound effect in the corporate world.

As patents – who also seek to protect the little guy-unions were initiated for the right reasons. But patents, they can be twisted into something that hurts innovation, competition and, ultimately, of consumers and the country as a whole. Alliances essentially create a dynamic, "us versus them", which makes the victory against the leadership of the company's top goals, does not serve customers, innovation, or in the case of education, the education of children.

It's not too surprising that I feel this way because I spent most of my career, covering businesses in Silicon Valley, where the absence of trade unions as wonderful as no bailouts. I've been reading a lot about the history of Silicon Valley recently and was amazed at just how core lack of trade unions was the evolution of American tech industry. It has enabled the permanent creative destruction which keeps Silicon Valley relevant and thrive in a rapidly changing world.

Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel co-founder Robert Noyce famously brought midwestern values in Silicon Valley, but he reportedly hated the unions as a "death threat to Intel and the semiconductor industry," according to Tom Wolfe 1983 Esquire profile of Neuss. The construction of a huge new manufacturing industry, which was set up in such a way that the workers did not want to merge might have been Neuss & co. 's greatest legacy. It was one of the many important lines in the sand, they drew between the way business was done in the United States and how this should be done in the second half of the 20th century. Wolf says:

"The battles are part of the locality of the ancient East. If Intel were divided into workers and bosses, this means that each side had to squeeze money out of the skins on the other hand, the enterprise will be completed. Motivation will no longer be domestic; It will be objectified in the mortal form of rules and procedures for handling complaints. Once, when he came to the vote, the Union lost the substantial margin of four to one. Intel employees agreed with Neuss. Trade unions were pat dead hand past ...Noyce and Intel have been on the road to El Dorado ".

This mentality-kernel with the now common shares, we-work-hard-and-win-together culture startups, having spidered through many of the corporate world. We do not think that as "anti-Union" now, because we do not produce really anything in the Silicon Valley anymore. But then it was clearly a fork in the road, which dramatically changed the Silicon Valley, making it able to develop, change and stay relevant as the world has changed around it, in contrast to Detroit.

It is a pity that no one ability or courage to do the same position when well-intentioned but clearly dysfunctional rules around software patents, codified, something in the Patent Office was against and most of the industry wishes never happened. Of course there is a movement now to reform the patent system, but as we have seen over the past few weeks, our Government is exactly in the best now. It's hard for me to hope that something will change.

Far glory NPR and Sydell for hacking down real impact of this broken system and Kudos to Chris Sacca is one of the only investors willing to talk about it on the record. More conversation, you can move beyond the geeky Sand Hill Road, a better chance of solving it. Can be.

Company:
INTELLIGENT ENTERPRISE

Intellectual ventures is a private company founded in 2000 to invest in "pure invention." its purpose is to develop a large patent portfolio, and not actually develop new ...

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Nathan Myhrvold founded intellectual ventures after retiring from his post as Chief Strategist and Chief Technical Officer of Microsoft Corporation. He has more than 18 United States patents and. ..

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Apple patents hint at the compound gestures, bed, OS X

Devin Coldewey is a Seattle-based writer and photographer. He wrote for the TechCrunch network since 2007. Some posts, it would like you to read: the perils of externalization of knowledge | Generation I | Surveillant society | Select two | Frame war | User manifesto | Our great sin his personal site — coldewey. cc. ? Read More

Create the user interface for touch isn't an easy thing to do. At least it's not easy to do so. A large number and variety of possible gestures when four fingers and a thumb control pad hit well may cause paralysis of development and design. However, the gestures we see implemented often seems so simple and intuitive that once we do it once, we wonder how anyone coming up with it.

Apple's early success with a simple and intuitive gestures on iPhone actually worked against him in some ways, like adding gestures over complicates known accessibility in the user interface. On the other hand, this has prevented them from providing richer gestures like drawing shapes, creating spontaneous UI elements, and so on. But I doubt they ever stopped, looking into it. Some recently published patent applications, whereas questionable how patentable ideas go, chock-full of interesting ideas and promising new UI concepts.

Patent 20110197153 was found IP analyzers clearly Apple. Patent, filed in February 2011, covers a number of compound gestures which gesture is to create or call a specific UI element, and then the second action, using this element is enabled.

For example, "digging a hole". In this case, will use or "scratch" screen multiple times to create a "hole", which you can then drag and drop files, delete, hide, or what have you. The hole is expected to be complete, or second gesture can be used for this.

Another example: the opening of the portal, the trap door or window, draw a rectangle. This is a similar concept of drag and drop, but the gesture and the picture will be different, he could serve a different purpose: to create a folder or file, or add an attachment by e-mail.

More active involvement of the gesture, as described in the second patent application (20110193788) the user has to draw a circle or blob around a set of files that can then be enclosed in a bubble. The device can then be physically tipped and processed data "is poured in a second device.

I know what you think. How Apple can patent gestures that were used in games, applications, and other user interfaces (using the mouse, for example), in similar fashion, years? I should imagine that somewhere in the hundreds of thousands of games, there are for iOS, there is one where you have to dig a hole, scratches on the screen. If not at the iOS, then to 3DS, the platform is saturated with interesting user interfaces based on touch. And we even had a demo data "Lily" from one device to another to Disrupt in New York.

To be honest, I really don't know. Patent really approve "digging a hole and then dragging an item over to handle", as well as other, and it does not limit it to anything like the File Manager view or application icons. Apple seems to want to patent for digging the virtual holes and putting things in them.

There are examples of these user interface elements, returning a long time, and even with the authorization of the patent system that we have in place, I can't imagine Apple would be quite different, simply because this will be done on the touchpad. Drawing x to delete it? It is even possible that they can afford that fly? I certainly hope not.

Patent concerns aside, gestures very interesting from a user perspective. I had always favoured the rich touch interaction in tablets and were disappointed by the refusal of the creators of the tablet to things that are possible only through the touch interface. Games have made a much better job of exploring the possibilities than OS developers. It's nice to see someone goes beyond clicking and dragging. Given Apple's focus on the trackpad or touchscreen, it's always been a good bet that they will be among the first to integrate rich gestures, even if they are not even close to a first to create them.

Interestingly, the patent application uses very OS X-esque image in his tablet illustration. This should not mean anything; Patent author can just felt an explanation better served with more traditional desktop interface. But there is more than that. Control files, transferring them to the nearby devices, hiding, and deleting files and windows – this is not the things you do on Apple tablets. They're things you do in OS X.

Portal? Send window on another computer, on another "end of" tablet, perhaps where iOS lives? "Trap door"-this is a great metaphor for transfer things between two separate areas. Or is it to save things later as reading list in Safari?

How about X-ing items? Space for this in many places on the iOS-remove listed items, swiping, icons and Long pressing and raising their little boxes x. How would you do x without swiping over at another screen? Quick Flick is interpreted as directional wipes, stroke to the canvas touch. The gesture x requires one of the desktop screen, where there's dead space has not interacted with the same can be said about the "pinch" gesture, which requires a negative space on all sides of an element. There is very little space on iOS — but covered with desktop OS X.

Share files from one device to another near? Sounds familiar-oh right, it is a function of marquee lion. Creating a bubble on the device unlocked is tacit approval to transfer files, without going into any menu or by selecting network. Bubble up some files to another device, the device pair, and when you pour, it passes.

This table concept, iOS concepts. Or both? Lion to iOS interface elements like OS X, and half the population of the world thought we would be convertible, touchscreen MacBooks right now. No — Apple brings OS X tablet, although not entirely, of course. But I can imagine a second "face" for the iPad, for file management and sharing with the more familiar desktop metaphor, updated with gestures of this nature. Apple seems to be something along these lines, and there is still a good chance this patent is more than "just to be safe," a collection of interesting ideas that actually are not, you have to admit that it is compelling to think about how they can be used if they were actually executed.

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OMG/JK: Argument over Google and Microsoft argument for patents

MG Siegler wrote to TechCrunch since 2009. It covers web, mobile, social, big companies, small companies, in fact all. And Apple. A lot. Prior to TechCrunch he covered various technology beats for VentureBeat. Originally from Ohio, mg attended the University of Michigan. He had previously lived in Los Angeles, where he worked in Hollywood and in San Diego where ... ? Read More

This week's episode of OMG JK is a little disproportionate. There is simply not a ton of news this week outside a giant fight that broke out between Google and Microsoft on patents. Through this spirit, Jason and I get into an argument about the argument.

Is Google? Is it true Microsoft? They both look like huge asses?

We then proceed to talk a bit about the new functionality of Gmail Labs, which adds a third viewing Google in the Internet mail service. We mostly agree: it requires a lot of work.

Watch the above episode and find some relevant links to what we're talking about below. And Yes, I have a huge beard.

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Google provides search and advertising services, which together aim to organize and money in the world of information. In addition to its dominant search engine, it offers many ...

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Microsoft, founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, is a veteran software company, best known for its Microsoft Windows operating system and Microsoft Office ...

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Google rips Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, for "Bogus patents and heavy" Suffocate "Android

MG Siegler wrote to TechCrunch since 2009. It covers web, mobile, social, big companies, small companies, in fact all. And Apple. A lot. Prior to TechCrunch he covered various technology beats for VentureBeat. Originally from Ohio, mg attended the University of Michigan. He had previously lived in Los Angeles, where he worked in Hollywood and in San Diego where ... ? Read More

In the past I have been critical of Google is trying to dance around directly calling out their competitors who are trying to actively screw them. Today, they no longer dance.

In the post, just put on the main Google blog Google SVP and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond takes shot after shot at Google's competitors. The name he calls Microsoft, Apple and Oracle. What is it all about? What else? Patents.

"I have worked in the tech sector for over two decades. Microsoft and Apple were always at each other's throats, so that when they get in bed together, you have to start wondering what's going on, "is the way Drummond kicks off my post. He goes on to lay out what he believes is "hostile, an organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, through fictitious patents."

He talks about not only the latest Nortel patent auction (which Google was lost during the Group's competitors, including Apple and Microsoft won) but Novell patent sale (which was also bought by the group, including Microsoft and Apple), Microsoft's insistance that Android OEM pay them $ 15 licenses for each device and Sue Barnes Noble &, HTCMotorola and Samsung. Patents were designed to encourage innovation, but lately they are being used as weapons, to stop it, "Drummond wrote.

While Drummond, said that their rival "anti-competitive strategy is driving up the price of patents on the market to insane levels, he believes the law will eventually prevail and this patent bubble will pop.

In this case, we thought it was important to speak out and make it clear that we are all determined to keep Android as competitive consumer choice, stopping anyone who tries to strangle him, "he notes, said that the Ministry of Justice is currently examining if Apple and Microsoft's acquisition of Nortel patents anti-competitive means.

"We also look at other ways to reduce anti-competitive threats against Android by strengthening our own patent portfolio. If we act, consumers may encounter cost increases for Android devices – and less options for their next phone, "is how to end this post.

Features. Their fighting words.

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