Vibeholic is one speaker system that plays on a slightly different concept, it relies on the vibration principle to send audio via various objects including a paper box, a piece of wood, a postcard or even an umbrella which will be "transformed" into portable speakers thanks to Vibeholic's mini module. A patent for the Vibeholic has been filed, so it is interesting to see when will they be granted it. Would make for a great experimental tool for those who want to find out just which material is better than others to transmit audio.

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Between the geolocation wars of Facebook and Twitter and the flux of geolocation-based social networks and mobile apps that have been hitting the market recently, the competition is tough. Today, mobile networking startup NearVerse, is launching a free iPhone app, called LoKast, which allows people to share media between iPhones at super-fast speeds. The kicker: the app connects people in its network based on proximity.

LoKast, which is actually short for “local-casting,” allows you to set up a profile that will list all of your photos, selected contacts, videos, web links and music on your mobile phone. You can select which content you’d like to include to the public and which content you’d like to keep private. When a LoKast user is in proximity (300 feet) of other LoKast users, the app will automatically discover other users nearby and allow the user to view and download their content. For example, you can see the iTunes library of any user who is in close proximity to you. You can choose to download a 30-second clip of any song to your own profile and can also follow the link to the iTunes store to purchase the music (LoKast collects an affiliate fee for this, of course). Similarly, you can download photos, videos and even contacts from other users into your profile. You’ll also soon be able to share apps on your phone with other users.

The beauty of Lokast is that it has its own internal network; eliminating the need for 3G connectivity to run the app, as LoKast works in subways, underground and heavily congested areas such as stadiums, where 3G connectivity is unreliable. The startup’s app is effectively all network based and currently has five patents for its proprietary technology.

LoKast is also partnering with bands to help market their content to users. LoKast has struck deals with music distribution companies including The Orchard, IODA and Monalis 360 to provide users with exclusive content within the LoKast app. And production companies, such as Mark Cuban’s Magnolia Pictures, are also using the service to promote their new films.

LoKast will soon be launching an Android app, and plans to launch integration with Facebook Connect. The app itself is incredibly simple to use and seems like it has potential to be a great way to share content on your mobile phone. Of course, some people may not feel comfortable sharing their personal content to complete strangers, so that may be a barrier for certain users.

CrunchBase InformationNearCastInformation provided by CrunchBase

Microsoft has patented a new system of purchasing downloadable content via an automatic prompt, which attempts to ensure all players in the game have the same updates.

Discovered by website Broke My Controller, the "automated directed transaction and delivery system for digital content" (ATDDC) is designed to automatically detect if a player has not installed a particular component necessary to take part in an online game.

Once the content, such as a map or character download, is detected a prompt to the user is automatically generated. This allows them to purchase the extra content and automatically download and install it while remaining in contact with the other players.

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Qualcomm isn't typically in the business of producing consumer-facing hardware -- the company prefers to just build the chips that make your devices go "vroom" -- but we've come across a patent application that details just such an idea. The multi-fold mobile device can be seen as either a foldable tablet or an expandable cellphone, but in either case its purpose is clearly to act as a hybrid device that performs both roles. With all least two displays on its three panels, this concept will also automatically reconfigure its UI based on a folding configuration sensor, and Qualcomm suggests you might also use it as a widescreen TV display, an alarm clock, a media player, or a web browser. Click past the break for a couple more suggested use diagrams, and feel free to write to Qualcomm with demands that this be put into production pronto.

Continue reading Qualcomm's multi-fold mobile device is the future we keep waiting for

Qualcomm's multi-fold mobile device is the future we keep waiting for originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft has patented a prompting system which allows Xbox 360 gamers to quickly purchase & install downloadable content without having to visit Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Microsoft believe that many people leave Xbox LIVE Marketplace without purchasing the content they wanted as it is a "highly frustrating" method with many steps. Microsoft patent description: An automated direct transaction and delivery system for digital content ("ATDDC") provides for automated detection of missing digital content

Detects, offers, sells, installs content.

Microsoft has been spotted patenting an idea to upsell Xbox Live content to Xbox 360 owners.

Snappily titled "Automated Direct Bids to Purchase Entertainment Content upon a Predetermined Event", this "automated direct transaction and delivery system for digital content provides for automated detection of missing digital content or resources required for a player or participant to participate in a multimedia application in either a single player or multiplayer environment is described," explained the patent (spotted by Broke My Controller).

In other words, if a friend invites you to play a racing game and you don't have a certain track installed, Xbox Live detects this and asks whether you'd like the content. From there, without changing screens, the system will take the money required, install the content and start your game. You'll be able to chat with your presumptuous friend all the while.

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Einstein, who would be 131 today, needs no introduction. The foremost mathematician of the 20th Century, he held a position at the Institute of Advanced Study, one of the most storied intellectual centers in the world. Nobel Prize. He published papers on such physics-related topics as molecular physics, thermodynamics, the behavior of photons, statistical mechanics, electromagnetism, fluid mechanics, quantum mechanics and so on. Before he became a professor he worked in the Swiss Patent Office for nearly a decade, evaluating the latest electrical inventions.

OK, he was a genius, we get it. But perhaps the best thing we can learn from Al was his humanity. He wasn't a computer: he made mistakes, he had pet theories that he promoted even though they were patently wrong; he pooh-poohed other science that turned out to be true.

What we can learn from Einstein's mistakes is that it's alright to make them ourselves. Let's make a glorious mess of that next project. Let's try out something that probably won't work. Let's tilt at the windmills of established thought. Who knows, we might learn something?

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http://www.epo.org/patents/updates/2010/20100315a.html

By Joe Wilcox, Betanews

Now that buzz about Apple's patent lawsuit against HTC has quieted a bit, I'm ready to pipe in with some contrarian analysis. I agree with other pundits suggesting that the lawsuit is competition by litigation, where Apple hopes to scare off mobile manufacturers from licensing Android. Surely some handset manufacturers will pull back, but they would be foolish to do so. For other existing and potential Android licensees, the lawsuit is a get out of jail free card. Apple's patent case should embolden, not restrain them. There may never to be a better time to license Android than now.

Apple claims infringement of 20 patents related to iPhone's user interface. Engadget's March 2nd patent breakdown is a must-read clinical analysis. But there's more to competition by litigation than the actual patents. Lawsuits often aren't so much about what's right but what lawyers think they can prove; often the winner tells the more believable story, even in patent cases. Similarly, much strategy goes into lawsuits -- how they're presented, where they're filed and when. Then, of course, there is whom. In this case, Apple took on HTC and not Google. Now why is that?

Apple's initial goals have little to do with protecting intellectual property as much as scaring away competitors. I hone in on this because Apple chose not to sue Google, Android's major developer, but instead the largest licensee of the mobile operating system. HTC's Sense UI gives Apple a bit more range to single out the one manufacturer, but based on various analyses of the patents that's more bark than bite.

Why not sue Google? I'll give eight primary reasons:

1) Apple potentially gains more by scaring off potential Android licensees than engaging in a protracted patent lawsuit. It's easier and more effective to raise bluster (and loads of free press) by engaging HTC than Google. Meanwhile, Apple can drag out the lawsuit as a distraction for HTC and other (frightened) Android licensees -- for years.

2) Apple doesn't want to take on Google, which already has come to HTC's defense. Google would fiercely fight Apple, understanding that mobile devices are the future of search and advertising.

3) Apple needs Google more than Google needs Apple. Unless Apple is willing to switch to Bing -- not a good idea considering iPhone buyer demographics -- Google search and maps are a necessary evil. If Google is willing to play tough with China, Apple is easy enough for Google to snuff off. Apple won't take on Google from a weaker position.

4) HTC is somewhat disadvantaged, being a Taiwan-based company. Google has home-court advantage (like Apple), making it a much more formidable opponent than HTC.

5) Patent lawsuits take years to resolve, hence Apple's separate complaint with the International Trade Commission. Again, Apple is using scare tactics to psychologically attack existing and potential Android licensees. So, this is quite similar to No. 1.

6) The patent claims are likely not as sure as they appear. Since most of the claims are really about Android, Google is the more sensible target of any lawsuit. If Apple lawyers were truly confident of winning against Google -- and in reasonable timeframe, they would file lawsuit against the search giant.

7) Android's open-source status creates all kinds of logistical and legal problems for Apple. The company really doesn't want to be labeled with a big Scarlet Letter as an open-source opponent. Apple has benefitted from open-source community development. It's a vocal group Apple doesn't want to piss off. Then there are all the nasty legal issues and potentially damaging precedents should Apple make a frontal open-source assault.

8) The iPhone-Android phone market looks much like the Mac-Windows PC market did in the 1980s and 1990s. Apple unsuccessfully sued Microsoft for infringing on Macintosh user-interface intellectual property. The lawsuit dragged on for years, ending in settlement in 1997. But what if in the early days of the Windows PC, Apple had sued clone king Compaq instead? Compaq was more vulnerable to a UI copyright claim than Microsoft, and other DOS/Windows licensees would have received the message to back off. By attacking HTC, Apple hopes to prevent a repeat "us against everyone else" scenario.

What Apple Fears

Apple has good reasons to fear Android. In the three months from December to February, Android's US smartphone subscriber share shot up from 2.8 perent to 7.1 percent. Worldwide, in 2009, Android smartphone market share -- based on sales -- rose from 0.5 percent to 3.9 percent, according to Gartner (The first Android phone, the T-Mobile G1, shipped in late 2008). Last month, Google CEO Eric Schmidt asserted that 60,000 Android handsets are shipping by the day.

All this circles back to my claim that the patent lawsuit is a bluff. My reasoning:

1) Apple chose HTC, not Google. There is no immediate risk to any patent claims against HTC. Since the real claims are against Google, Apple may find the court -- or even the ITC -- reluctant to rule against an Android licensee in good faith. There is perceived risk, but none in the short term, which is long enough for a united Android front to do market damage against iPhone -- particularly in emerging markets.

2) Apple filed against HTC and not other licensees. Apple had its chance to take on Android licensees, choosing instead to go after one. HTC is enough:

• If the claims are shaky.
• If Apple is looking for one case to establish precedent.
• If the more immediate objective is to scare off existing or would-be Android licensees.

HTC being enough for this lawsuit isn't enough to legally or even logistically hurt other Android licensees.

3) Apple is unlikely to sue other Android licensees anytime soon. A good legal strategy -- from cost and logistical perspectives -- is to make a single case. Rather than being afraid, existing and would-be Android licensees should feel emboldened by the HTC lawsuit. Behind the bluster, Apple has really given the all clear -- it's safe to go ahead; that's Apple's tell. Apple's bluff is meant to convince other licensees that they can't win; so they lay down their Android hands. Yes, Apple could file against other Android licensees, but the only immediate benefit would be to create more fear -- that licensees should fold their hands. Hardware manufacturers should look at Google's backing HTC; there is a heavy-sitting ally at the table across from Apple.

Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

π Day BBC News reports Apple loses appeal in Word patent case The NY Times reports Apple's spat with Google is getting personal Engadget: Dead iPad battery? Never mind replacing it, Apple just sends another iPad

Darkworks, the Paris-based Action-Adventure developer, announced the availability of its TriOvizÂ@ for Games SDK. TriOviz is a patent-pending post-process that enables 3D games on consoles and regular 2D displays. The result is a high-quality, cutting-edge experience for the console audience without expensive barriers to adoption. Darkworks will be giving demonstrations of its 3D technology this week at the Game Developers Conference and Expo in San Francisco.

Developed by Darkworks, the TriOviz for Games SDK leverages existing three dimensional graphics information to greatly enhance the depth-of-field; as well as volume and position of geometry and characters within a scene. This negates the need for rendering multiple images so TriOviz for Games does not require intensive computing power – the resolution, performance and game play integrity are maintained.

As a post-process, Darkworks' SDK easily integrates into the production pipeline, supporting both popular and proprietary game engines; requiring as little as a couple of days or a week to integrate, depending on the implementation.

"Darkworks is enthusiastic to bring a truly innovative technology to top game developers and publishers in order to make the 3D experience a reality today for even the most technologically demanding console titles. Always boundary-pushing, video games will lead the entire entertainment industry in the 3D era," said Guillaume Gourand, co-founder and managing director of Darkworks. "Consoles already broadcast 3D interactive content in real-time and their interactivity – by nature – empowers game developers to make a more immersive experience than is possible in movies"

Previously a technology only available to Blu-RayÂ@ & DVD video publishing, TriOviz processing utilizes innovative yet inexpensive glasses that render 3D entertainment with beautiful, true colors and sharp images. Unlike the red-and-blue anaglyph of the past, TriOviz for Games maintains the content's art direction and images can be seen in 2D without glasses. Games can be enjoyed by everyone in the room with or without glasses seamlessly.

Key Features of TriOviz for Games

• First and Only 3D Software SDK for AAA Console Games: TriOviz for Games works on Xbox 360™, PlayStationÂ@3 and PC, delivering an immersive 3D experience to the most demanding games while maintaining performance, game play and content integrity.
  
• 3D Experience on 2D TVs; No Additional Equipment Required: Consumers can enjoy 3D games on their existing HDTV or even SD televisions without having to purchase additional hardware.
  
• Low-Impact Integration for High-Impact Return: TriOviz for Games supports both popular and proprietary game engines, resulting in minimal man-hours to deploy or hit to performance, while maintaining the original creative vision.

"The success of films like Avatar and buzz over 3D devices at CES illustrates that audiences are ready to embrace 3D for their entertainment," stated Gourand. "We believe we can offer a quality, rich experience that honors the creators' vision and is hassle-free for the end users as they explore the emerging in-home 3D trend."

The first game implementing the Darkworks 3D technology is already announced, with future titles to follow Spring 2010.