Welcome to Patent Bolt, a dedicated Intellectual Property news site that specializes in dissecting patent applications from leading industry players such as Microsoft, Google, Samsung and others. If you love to explore future inventions, you'll love our site.
Over the years there's been a wide variety of keyboards that have come to market. Some have been weird, others practical and of course there's always the outrageously expensive ones for the rich and famous. Of late we've all seen the new Chiclet-styled keyboard from Apple for the desktop along with various virtual keyboards found on tablets. While virtual keyboards offer us great versatility, traditional Keyboards offer power users that needed tactile feedback that's perfect for long stretches of work. So wouldn't it be nice to have the best of both worlds? Well, yes it would and a new Microsoft patent that surfaced last week actually shows us that a hybrid solution is in the works. It's even imaginative – in that printed keys could be a thing of the past in the not-too-distant future. Our report details what Microsoft has up their sleeve for next generation keyboards for the desktop – and you just might find that their ideas are untraditionally creative. Whether you're a gamer, blogger or even a CAD designer, Microsoft might have the perfect solution for taking our old tired keyboards to the next level.
HTC is a well-respected Android smartphone OEM whose Thunderbolt and Evo 3D designs ranked in the top 5 last Christmas. But in this new age of smartphones, a design could live or die in a single quarter. Being different counts and HTC thinks that catering to multimedia users of YouTube, music videos, movies, TV shows and home movies may pay off. Their latest design, as noted in our cover graphic, delivers new multiple speaker configurations and a superior back stand design. What's odd about this invention is that it's without traditional wireless broadband detailing associated with a smartphone. Which makes me wonder if this design isn't really a future iPod touch challenger? With Google ramping up Google Play, could HTC be preparing such a beast?
Early last summer MIT was showing off their "Deep Shot" technology to the press and it was stated at the time that Google owned the rights to it. A new patent published by the US Patent and Trademark Office confirms that Google not only owns the new technology but also has one of the original inventors working on this project at Google Research. Basically the technology works like this: A user takes a picture of a website like Google Maps on their desktop with a smartphone which then enables the user to open the site in the same state on their phone. Not as a static photo, but as a fully interactive map like the one on their desktop. When you're an on-the-go person, this is an excellent feature to have on your smartphone. Google's patent also indicates that they're already working on applying this technology to video games. The bottom line is that with Google's marketing and technical muscle behind this technology – there's an excellent chance of this becoming a killer app. The caveat however, is that Google will have to work with major industry players like Microsoft and Apple to first make their Dee Shot technology an industry standard.
In Q4 2011, Lenovo stepped over Dell to become the second largest PC OEM in the world and some analysts now believe that they're headed for number one this year. On that note, we decided to check out Lenovo's published intellectual property over at the US Patent and Trademark Office to see what we could find of interest. In today's report we'll briefly take a look at three new inventions from Lenovo regarding two notebook advancements and even a new trick for tablets. If you're interesting in this rising star, then you just might find some of these ideas worth checking out.
It came to light in 2008 that an Apple research team was working on a visual headset for the iPod. In recent months news has surfaced that a next generation super high res micro OLED display is ready to support new visual headsets coming to market later this year. The stunning miniature displays pack quite the punch with a resolution of 2560 x 2048. Since that news, we've reported on a Sony research team working on a video headset for a future PlayStation while noting that Google may want in on this new market as well. While the race is clearly on to get the first commercially successful video headset to market, Patent Bolt has discovered that Microsoft has been secretly working on a video headset since September 2010. A New Microsoft patent reveals that they've been working two styles of headset. The first relates to an aviation styled helmet aimed at Xbox gamers while the second resembles a pair of sunglasses for use with smartphones, MP3 players and other future devices. With Microsoft's success with Kinect for gaming and beyond, it would appear to me that they might just have the edge in this race. Today's report provides you with a few insights into one of Microsoft's latest projects.
A new Samsung patent that has been published by the US Patent & Trademark Office reveals an invention that will allow users to take a digital photo or graphic of their choosing and electronically wrap it around their entire device. Users will also be able to change the design at any time of their choosing. This will all be done via a smart device-skin or film layer that's associated within the device's display unit. Samsung appears to be so confident that this will become the next consumer crazy, that they're even considering a retail version of this smart device-skin to be sold as an accessory at retail stores for older Samsung smartphones. Today's interesting patent presents us with the basics of the smart device-skin concept. But we also present you with a video that will illustrate where this concept could actually be going in the future. It's a concept that could one day change how we interact with our devices and it's certainly a wild one.
We first reported on a Samsung invention back in 2011 when they revealed that they were working on a cool foldable display. Today we cover a more robust patent focused like a laser beam on their upcoming "Flexible Display." We say upcoming because Samsung just confirmed last week that they plan to kick-start mass production of flexible displays in late 2012 for 2013 devices. Future Android devices from Samsung could take on the shape of a book or even something cylindrical in nature like a smart bracelet. A quick look at our cover graphic also indicates that they have another cool form factor in the wings that includes a pull-out flexible display. It's clear that hot Android smartphones sporting flexible displays from Samsung could ignite another round of wild innovation in the mobile space in 2013. And for device-crazed consumers, we see nothing but exciting times ahead. Report Updated September 11, 2012
Google thinks that it's time to introduce an all new input interface advancement for mobile devices running Android. The new input interface is designed to detect motions consisting of single and double taps, hovering and swiping the camera that's built right into each and every Android device. The input interface also allows for a combination of gestures so that tasks could get done a little quicker. The new system appears to allow a user to map out a combination of gestures to perform tasks associated with web browsing, music and more. Like always, some will welcome these newly advanced gestures for Android while others will bemoan yet more changes being added to their already busy lives. Unfortunately, progress and revolutions have a way of steam rolling over the latter. It's just the way it is.
A 2012 patent reveals that Sony is working on a new 3D Controlling System for differing markets and levels of gaming. Some have written about this patent before but have missed the boat entirely. Sony's proposed 3D controller will add great depth to video gaming in general and multiplayer gaming in particular. Sony is even thinking of adding 3D video-centric glasses to the mix over time. On another level, it's simply a potential Nintendo Wii and Xbox Kinect Killer. At the end of the day, if you love 3D video gaming and especially multi-player gaming – then you won't want to miss out on our report.
