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Well That's One Way to Fix the iPhone's Crappy Reception
The iPhone's less-than-excellent reception? Solved! By this patent for a push-button antenna. Better reception and a phone pimple, with a single touch. A cross-section of this wart antenna: More »Apple Patent For a Keyboard With Disappearing Nubs
Here's an Apple patent outlining a multitouch surface that raises reference dots on letters when in typing mode, dropping them again when in pointing mode. Which would seem like a great idea except for the holes in your screen. [Appleinsider]Apple Patent Application Reveals a Bumpy Tablet
Some of Apple's recently revealed patent applications may spoil the surprise over how we'll interact with the Apple tablet. According to Apple Insider's speculations, the patent applications imply that we'll have a multi-touch gadget with tactile feedback. More »Apple Countersues Nokia
Last October, Nokia sued Apple for a 10-patent infringement. Today, Apple has sued back while snubbing Nokia with this awesomely catty one-liner: More »Apple Patent Shows Dock Made From 'Elastic Sponge-Like Substance' That Conforms To Shape of iPod/iPhone
Apple patents are flowing in thick and fast, with yesterday's anti-tampering idea, and now a universal dock which can be molded to the shape of whichever iPod or iPhone you put in it. Is Apple messing with us? More »New Apple Patent Prevents You From Screwing With the Hardware
The latest patent from Apple reveals ways in which their products could be fitted with a simple label or tag that provides evidence of tampering. If the strip is compromised, it gives Apple leverage to void your warranty. More »Apple Sued For iPhone Patent Infringement, Again
These patent lawsuit stories are basically madlibs anyway, so what the hell: ST CLAIR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CONSULTANTS has sued APPLE COMPUTER over CAMERA TECHNOLOGY in the IPHONE. They have a history of WINNING LAWSUITS, and BUTT FARTS. More »The Touchscreen DSLR Is Finally Upon Us
So, this finally happened: Canon, or possibly a four-year-old with a mild passion for drawing, has filed for a patent on a touchscreen DSLR, which transfers common controls to the camera's LCD screen. The button genocide is real, people. More »Remainders - Stuff We Didn't Post (and Why)
Apple Patent Describes iPod UI "Pushed" to Other Devices...Philips Announces Very Pretty Pro LCD Line...NYTimes Columnist Proposes Boycott of "Pro-Communist China" Bing...Ooma Adds New Handsets and International Plan... More »Sony's Crazy Interactive TV Patent Lets You Throw Tomatoes at Actors
Somehow we missed Sony Computer Entertainment America's fourth wall-breaking patent application earlier this month, but here's how the concept would work: Using a PS3, you'd control an on-screen avatar to throw tomatoes at actors, and even kick their ass…literally. More »Gerbil Shirt Basically Guarantees Therapy to Come
If the Gerbil Shirt ever made it beyond the patent stage, how many of us would be living down that high school yearbook photo? More »Microsoft's Pseudo Sudo Patent
So, how exactly did Microsoft—those bastards!—end up patenting Sudo, a years-old Linux command line tool, without someone stepping in to stop them? Easy! They didn't. More »Apple's New Patent Application For Pen-Based Tablet Input
Apple may have shunned the stylus for the iPhone, but its all about pen-based input on tablets. It's just filed a patent application for tech that improves digital ink recognition by breaking down strokes and phrases. More »Nokia Patent Gives Another Glimpse Into World's Touchy-Feely Future
Gadget patents are a strange lot. Is that dual-handed interface for an iTablet, or something else? Will my remote really Tweet someday? Probably not, but this patent from Nokia had me thinking of a touch- and, more importantly, pressure-sensitive future: More »Apple Tablet May Have Two-Handed Multitouch Input
Apple's latest patent filing revolves around dual-handed touchscreen detection for typing, gesturing, controlling a 3D interface and handwriting. But it this intended for the fabled Apple Tablet, or something entirely different? More »Oh My Lord: Banana Injector Fills a Banana with Ice Cream
How is it that a patent this brilliant was filed in 1932 but has yet to become the national sensation that it so deserves to be? It fills bananas with ice cream, people! More »Sony PS3 Laugh Detector Patent Has Very Juvenile Sense of Humor
Come on, Sony. A repeating boot-to-the-butt wheel? Everyone knows the only surefire kick-based humor must involve the crotch. More »Ill-Fated Input Devices: Wonderfully Strange, But Tragically Flawed
Harry McCracken over at Technologizer has put together a fun collection of weird and wonderful mouse patents, most of which fell off the conveyer belt somewhere between the drawing board and better judgment. More »RIM Patents Hybrid Capacitive-Resistive Screen
We love capacitive screens as they enable all that responsive multi-touch goodness we demand. But compared to resistive screens, they lack the accuracy needed for, say, stylus character entry on phones. RIM's solution: layer 'em up, and file a patent. More »Back in the Day, Patents Actually Meant Something
From 1790 until 1870, patent applications had to also include a miniature model, less than 12 square inches in size, along with the idea. We wish the policy were still around, at least to weed out the more ridiculous ideas. More »Tsera Sues Apple, Microsoft... Everyone Else For Touchpad Tech