The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple on Thursday that reveals a 3D eye-tracking-based interface that could be used for gaming, digital photography and videography in future iOS and iMac devices, reports PatentlyApple. The new features could work in conjunction with Apple’s current 3D head tracking and ambient light technologies. The solution would utilize a variety of sensors such as an accelerometer and compass in combination with eye-tracking technology to alter the perspective of 3D graphics displayed on an iPhone. The result would be a 3D experience that constantly adjusts to the user’s position and a device’s position, creating a unique experience far more advanced and precise than current solutions. The patent application was originally filed in the third quarter of 2010 and it is unclear if Apple is currently experimenting with the technology.

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Apple certainly helped shape the mobile space by popularizing multitouch screens on smartphones and tablets, but can it do the same for desktop computing, too? The United States Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday published an Apple patent application that describes a desktop computer — likely the iMac — with a touchscreen display. Dell, HP and plenty of other firms have introduced all-in-one PCs with touchscreens, of course, but Apple’s invention may make some applications more intuitive. Read on for more.

According to Patently Apple, Apple’s patent describes a series of hybrid knob and slider controls that could be used, for example, in a music application for controlling input levels. “The visual augmentation could include displaying an outline and/or fill region (e.g. a color or pattern fill) around the knob element, displaying text labels for minimum and maximum range limit values and displaying a slider element with the knob element,” Patently Apple explained. “The slider element could include a fill bar to indicate the current value of the knob control.”

A touchscreen iMac could definitely be a valuable tool for artists, musicians, engineers and architects who might be able to interact with their creations using touch instead of a mouse and pointer, but need more power or a larger display than the iPad.

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Apple recently filed to appeal a December 19th ITC ruling that found HTC was infringing on just one of Apple’s patents. Patent expert Florian Muller of FOSS Patents said that Apple filed for the appeal on December 29th, and that it is likely Apple wants a more favorable ruling on the original case that includes a judgement on whether or not HTC is infringing on a real-time API patent. “It’s clear that Apple’s appeal of the ITC ruling at least aims to broaden the scope of the import ban by including the ’263 patent,” Muller explained. “If Apple succeeded, this would greatly increase the business impact of the import ban.” The original ban, which involved patents related to “data tapping,” is set to go into effect on April 19th, but HTC said it already has workaround ready to be deployed that will allow the company to circumvent the ban. “Whatever the scope of Apple’s appeal against the ITC may be, I believe Apple has realistic chances of winning a better outcome,” Muller argued.

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Motorola Mobility has filed a patent lawsuit against Apple in a Florida federal court. The phone maker is accusing Apple of infringing on six patents related to messaging, antennas, software and data filtering with its mobile devices, Reuters said. Motorola also argued that Apple’s iPhone 4S specifically infringes on one of its patents. Just two weeks ago, the International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that Motorola’s handsets did not infringe three Apple patents. The Mannheim Regional Court in Germany also ruled to ban sales of various iPhone and iPad models in December, although Apple has been given the opportunity to remove the infringing technology from its devices to avoid a ban in the country.

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A court in the Hague in has denied Apple’s request to ban the Samsung Galaxy Tab in the Netherlands. In August a Dutch judge banned Samsung’s local subsidiaries from selling the Samsung Galaxy S and Samsung Galaxy S II, but the Hague court has reportedly now ruled that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 is unique enough to be sold alongside Apple’s iPad. Samsung and Apple are currently locked in a number of legal battles around the globe including in France, Japan, the United States and Germany, among others. Samsung was forced to create a tweaked Galaxy Tab 10.1N tablet in Germany to gain the court’s blessing to sell the product in the country. Apple has repeatedly accused Samsung of creating “copycat” products that confuse customers into believing they are purchasing an Apple device. 

[Via Engadget]

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The United States Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday published Apple’s patent application related to its Siri digital assistant service. We’ve already heard rumors that Apple is planning to launch a new television set that completely reinvents how we interact with TV by using Siri to replace the remote, but now it appears that the company has much more expansive plans for the technology. Read on for more.

The patent describes a configurable “intelligent automated assistant” that can be used in computers, tablets, set-top boxes, televisions, cameras and more. It’s unclear if Apple will include Siri in its next-generation iPad, although it’s starting to become obvious that there’s no reason it wouldn’t. Patently Apple goes over many of the possibilities for Siri in its explanation of the patent, although one interesting aspect that caught our eye was the ability for Siri to interact with external situations.

“In various embodiments, the assistant could also take into account external events and respond accordingly, for example, to initiate action, initiate communication with the user, provide alerts, and/or modify previously initiated action in view of the external events,” Patently Apple explained.

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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published documentation on 22 recently granted patents for Apple on Tuesday. The patents, as reported by Patently Apple, cover items including clothing technology that could be built into future running shoes, the advanced multitouch trackpads found in Macbooks, and the technology found in Apple TV. The most intriguing patent relates to Apple’s Nike + iPod product. This patent outlines a system for monitoring and controlling user exercises with a sensor inside the shoe. Unlike the normal Nike + sensors, however, the new sensors are designed to send the “tracked garment usage and detected wear patterns to the external database.” The sensor will be able to inform the user of the life of a product, and could possibly incorporate training programs using a “virtual trainer.” Read on for more.

Apple notes in the patent that the Nike + integration could go beyond running and could be used to track various outdoors activities. “Outdoors endurance activities have become very popular not only because they are enjoyable and healthy, but also because they provide opportunities for competition, camaraderie, and a structured regimen,” the patent application said. “It would be beneficial for an individual participating in an outdoor endurance activity such as running, cross-country skiing, in-line skating, or outdoor swimming to be able to monitor his or her performance in metrics such as speed, distance, slope, elevation, equipment used (thereby correlating an individual’s performance to particular running shoes, for example).”

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Oracle recently asked a court to stay or dismiss a Java-related patent infringement case against Google for up to 9 months. In a letter to the court, however, Oracle also revealed how much it believes Google makes per day from Android activations alone. “Each day’s worth of activations likely generates approximately $10 million in annual mobile advertising revenue for Google,” Oracle said. Patent expert Florian Muller of FOSS Patents explained that while Oracle doesn’t state how it came to the conclusion, the figure is likely derived “on the assumption of annual advertising revenues of $14 per Android user.” Oracle also argued that Android helps Google gain users on its Google+ social network and that Android alone is much more than a source for mobile ad revenue. Oracle hopes the stay or dismissal, if approved by the judge, might lead to a near-term copyright trial, Muller explained.

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Microsoft is said to be close to finalizing a patent-licensing deal with Pantech. Microsoft already has similar agreements in place with Samsung, HTC, ViewSonic and other Android vendors; the company was aggressive in seeking patent-licensing deals with Android vendors in 2011 and is currently fighting to establish a licensing deal with Barnes & Noble, which has accused the company of charging “exorbitant licensing fees” and has even asked the federal government to probe Microsoft’s actions. The pending deal with Pantech was first published by Yonhap News and terms of the agreement were not revealed.

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Samsung is reportedly planning to launch a tweaked version of its Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus tablet in Germany. The Galaxy Tab 7.0N will likely offer many of the same features of the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus but with design changes that could help it avoid litigation from Apple. Apple and Samsung have been butting heads in courtrooms around the globe and Apple last year successfully banned Samsung’s local subsidiaries from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1. As a result, Samsung launched the Galaxy Tab 10.1N, which has also been the subject of ongoing patent litigation. The Galaxy Tab 7.0N is expected to cost about $770 without carrier subsidies.

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Apple recently filed for a patent called “Dynamic Backlight Adaptation for Black Bars with Subtitles” that may be used to provide improved picture quality in its rumored HDTV. Apple explained in the patent application that the black bars above and below video on widescreen televisions can make it tough for a television panel to display blacks properly. ”These non-picture portions complicate the analysis of the brightness of the video images, and therefore can create problems when determining the trade-off between the brightness of the video signals and the intensity setting of the light source,” Apple said in the patent. “Moreover, these non-picture portions can also produce visual artifacts, which can degrade the overall user experience.” Apple’s solution would be to dynamically change the backlighting. Read on for more.

“The system determines the intensity setting of the light source on an image-by-image basis for the sequence of video images, where the intensity of the given video image is based on the brightness setting and/or brightness information contained in the video signals associated with the given image,” Apple explained. ”Then, the system synchronizes the intensity of the setting of the light source with the current video image to be displayed.”

Apple’s Siri-powered TV is rumored to be launching later this year. While earlier rumors suggested that Sharp will supply 32-inch and 37-inch panels for the device, the latest reports suggest 42-inch and 50-inch models are in the works.

[Via AppleInsider]

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A patent that was granted to Microsoft in December suggests the company is working on an Xbox game console that will double as a digital video recorder (DVR). The patent describes several processors that are dedicated to “game titles” and a second batch that are reserved for “game titles and system (including DVR).” Specifically, the patent details a system that is equipped with a “digital video recorder (DVR) application running alongside a television client component allows users to record media content on the gaming console.” The filing continues, “The recorded content can include television programming, gaming experience (whether local or online), music, DVDs, and so on.” It is unclear if Microsoft plans to launch both a regular Xbox 720 and a second version with DVR capabilities, or if the company will release a single Xbox that simply has the DVR option for those who want to use it. We exclusively reported in June that the Xbox 720 could make its debut at this year’s E3 show. 

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The United States Patent and Trademark Office recently published three Thunderbolt related patents that suggest Apple may have plans to build Intel’s Thunderbolt connections into its iOS devices. As Patently Apple points out, Apple may build its own cabling technology that gives it exclusive rights to how Thunderbolt technology might be built into portable devices. Thunderbolt ports would allow for faster data transfers on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, as well as shorter charging times. One of Apple’s more revealing patents describes stronger Thunderbolt cables that could handle greater amounts of data more efficiently and without overheating. Apple says in its patent that the Thunderbolt connections “may be provided between a portable media player and a display, a computer and a portable media player, or between other types of devices.” Apple currently has a number of devices, including displays and computers, with Thunderbolt ports. The company does not yet offer a portable device with the I/O option, however.

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AT&T has settled a patent lawsuit with TiVo in which it will pay the DVR vendor $215 million through June 2018, including an initial payment of $51 million. AT&T will also pay “incremental recurring per subscriber monthly license fees” to TiVo through July 2018 if its subscriber base surpasses a certain level, TiVo said in a statement Wednesday. AT&T and TiVo were locked in a patent battle after AT&T began to market its own digital video recorder using a technology patented by TiVo. TiVo also recently settled similar lawsuits with Dish Network and EchoStar Corp. Read on for more.

“We are extremely pleased to reach an agreement with AT&T, which acknowledges the value of our intellectual property,” said Tom Rogers, CEO and President of TiVo. “This settlement, on the heels of our recent operational success that has resulted in the growth of TiVo’s overall subscriber base, is another major accomplishment for TiVo and we believe a great outcome for our shareholders. The combination of guaranteed payments and future additional fees paid to TiVo in the event that AT&T’s pay TV business continues to grow in-line with consensus analyst expectations, represents hard-earned compensation for our IP enforcement efforts.”

Rogers continued, “The settlement also provides us rights to innovate TiVo products and services under license from AT&T and allows us to avoid significant legal expenses that we expect would have been incurred by us during and after trial.” TiVo’s full press release follows below.

TiVo Announces Settlement of Patent Litigation With AT&T; TiVo and AT&T Enter Into a Patent Licensing Arrangement

ALVISO, CA — (Marketwire) — 01/03/2012 — TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) announced today that it has settled its pending patent litigation with AT&T and that the companies have entered into a mutual patent licensing arrangement. Under the terms of the settlement, AT&T agreed to pay TiVo an initial payment of $51 million, followed by recurring quarterly guaranteed payments through June 2018, totaling $164 million, which together yield minimum payments of $215 million. In addition to these minimum payments, AT&T will pay incremental recurring per subscriber monthly license fees through July 2018 should AT&T’s DVR subscriber base exceed certain levels.

As part of the settlement, TiVo and AT&T agreed to dismiss all pending litigation between the companies with prejudice. The parties also entered into a cross license of their respective patent portfolios in the advanced television field.

“We are extremely pleased to reach an agreement with AT&T, which acknowledges the value of our intellectual property,” said Tom Rogers, CEO and President of TiVo. “This settlement, on the heels of our recent operational success that has resulted in the growth of TiVo’s overall subscriber base, is another major accomplishment for TiVo and we believe a great outcome for our shareholders. The combination of guaranteed payments and future additional fees paid to TiVo in the event that AT&T’s pay TV business continues to grow in-line with consensus analyst expectations, represents hard-earned compensation for our IP enforcement efforts. The settlement also provides us rights to innovate TiVo products and services under license from AT&T and allows us to avoid significant legal expenses that we expect would have been incurred by us during and after trial.”

The United States Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday published an Apple patent application related to face and presence detection that could be used to help keep iOS devices secure. Patently Apple said the company’s application describes a technology that could allow a user to unlock his or her device by simply looking at it. Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) already features face detection, but it can easily be tricked according to reports, and doesn’t always work. Apple’s solution details a way to analyze a user’s mouth, the tip of a nose and eyes, and the distances between each of those facial features to determine whether or not a person is is the owner of the iOS device. The reliance on 2D facial feature locations might mean Apple’s solution will be vulnerable to the same flaw that allows anyone to access a locked Android 4.0 device using a photo of a face, instead of a real face, but we won’t know if that’s a real issue until the technology is implemented. The patent also describes support for multiple users, though it is unclear when, if ever, Apple will implement this technology in its iOS platform.

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