Apple : Apple granted patent for Google Glass-like wearable headset

Apple granted patent for Google Glass-like wearable headset
Devs livid at Apple's refusal to acknowledge iOS and Mac app crashes
Galaxy Nexus was pulled due to Apple injunction, Google confirms
Court denies Samsung's request to postpone Galaxy Nexus ban

Apple granted patent for Google Glass-like wearable headset

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Google's Project Glass has been one of the biggest tech stories of 2012, but it seems that Apple was thinking about a similar pair of AR specs as far back as six years ago.

Earlier this week the USPTO published a patent Apple had originally applied for in 2006, which certainly makes for interesting timing given Google's recent re-reveal at its I/O conference.

The filing speaks of "methods and apparatus, including computer program products, implementing and using techniques for projecting a source image in a head-mounted display apparatus for a user."

It remains unclear whether Apple is envisioning such a project, given that the name on the patent is iPod mastermind Tony Fadell, who has now left the company to pursue his own endeavours.

You're so vague

The rest of the text relating to the patent is - as a lot of these documents tend to be - quite vague.

It mainly pertains to the method of projecting images in front of the users eyes and does make reference to connectivity to an external 16:9 device.

The major difference between Apple's patent filing and what we know about Google glass is that information is projected to both eyes, using a head mounted display

As the patent was filed six years ago it's unclear whether this tech remains in Apple's thoughts.

Perhaps the publishing of this patent is a result of Apple chasing it up with the USPTO in order to remind Google to beware of a potential infringement? Please don't tell us another patent war is brewing though.

Devs livid at Apple's refusal to acknowledge iOS and Mac app crashes

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Reports are flooding in from all sides that a variety of apps and games across all Apple devices are spontaneously and inexplicably crashing after being updated.

Developers and users from all over the world reported that app updates that were found stable during testing are causing apps to crash before even reaching the splash screen, turning the screen black and returning devices to their home screens.

Multiple app developers chimed into the debate, and Instapaper creator Marco Arment has even compiled a list of all affected apps, updating it throughout the day.

"Last night, within minutes of Apple approving the Instapaper 4.2.3 update, I was deluged by support email and Twitter messages from customers saying that it crashed immediately on launch, even with a clean install," wrote Arment on his blog.

"This didn't make sense," he continued. "Obviously, Apple had reviewed it, and it worked for them. My submitted archive from Xcode worked perfectly. But every time I downloaded the update from the App Store, clean or not, it crashed instantly."

He says that Instapaper was fixed after a few hours, but notes that the problem is "not isolated" - his blog lists well over 100 apps and games known to be affected.

Developers blame Apple

Arment blames "a seemingly corrupt update being distributed by the App Store in many or possibly all regions" on his blog, and other developers seem to agree.

Metronome+ developer Joe LeBlanc told TechRadar that there's "definitely something going wrong with the package that is being delivered to the user from the app store."

LeBlanc's app was updated yesterday, and no sooner did he notice the issue on his own device than users in the US, Japan, Korea, Germany, and France began flooding his inbox with complaints.

"It's frustrating," he said. "I've already gotten slammed in the reviews (for example nine 1 stars in Japan - my biggest market) because users are not able to use my app and they don't know why."

Another app developer, Francisco Castillo of Fugitive Pixel Studios, told TechRadar that his Mexican-market game Guerra por Votos stopped working as soon as the update went out.

"Right now I'm waiting," Castillo wrote. "I'm extremely pissed off."

Castilla said his device's error log blamed Apple's FairPlay DRM for the crashes, and other developers, including Readdle CEO Igor Zhadanov, agree.

"It seems Apple's FairPlay DRM mechanism wasn't applied properly to application packages that are delivered to the user when he or she downloads the update," Zhadanov told TechCrunch.

"After the installation, the application doesn't pass DRM validation and terminates immediately."

LeBlanc told TechRadar that Apple responded to his inquiries with a fairly boilerplate email, and many developers are reporting that Apple has ignored them altogether.

One thing's for sure: the company's signature stoicism certainly isn't doing them any favors in this situation.

Galaxy Nexus was pulled due to Apple injunction, Google confirms

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Google has confirmed the reason that its Galaxy Nexus smartphone has been removed from sale is the injunction won by Apple last week.

A California court banned the soon-to-be-Jelly Bean device from sale in the United States amid Apple claims that the Samsung-made device infringes on its intellectual property.

Since Tuesdal, potential customers visiting the product page on the Google Play Store, have been greeted with a 'Coming Soon' message. Google had, until today, refused to say why.

The Android-maker has now confessed to ABC news that the legal ruling is to blame, rather than the process of rolling out Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to the phone.

Apple strikes a double blow

Judge Lucy Koh's decision pertained mainly to the universal search functionality on the Galaxy Nexus, which allows users to search all areas of the device, as well as the web, at one time.

Earlier this week, Google told The Verge that a fix was in the offing that would allow the device to return to its store next week, with Jelly Bean in tow.

Meanwhile, Judge Koh had earlier overturned an attempt by Samsung to lift the injunction.

The injunction from Apple strikes at the heart of its two key rivals. The Galaxy Nexus offers the purest version of Android on any current smartphone, while its also made by Samsung, Cupertino's main hardware foe.

Court denies Samsung's request to postpone Galaxy Nexus ban

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A California court denied Samsung's request for a stay on a preliminary injunction against sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the U.S.

Judge Lucy Koh of the Northern California U.S. District Court issued the injunction on Friday, banning sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus "and any product that is no more than colorably different from the specified product and infringes U.S. Patent No. 8,086,604."

Samsung subsequently requested that Judge Koh suspend the injunction pending an appeal to the Federal Court of Appeals or a decision by the Federal Circuit, but Koh denied the request.

The patent in question is owned by Apple, and relates to a "universal interface for retrieval of information in a computer system." In other words, a search function.

The irony of getting Google's products banned over a search-related patent is hopefully not lost on Apple.

There are plenty of Androids in the sea

"Although some consumers may be disappointed that they cannot purchase the Galaxy Nexus, the Galaxy Nexus, as Samsung itself has repeatedly insisted, is not Samsung's only smartphone product on the market," wrote Judge Koh in her decision not to stay the sales injunction.

Samsung argued that the Galaxy Nexus is the only smartphone that offers a "pure" Android experience within its price range.

The day before, Judge Koh denied a similar request to stay an injunction on sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in relation to another of Apple's patents.

The court danced around the issue for weeks, though, first denying, then granting Apple's request for a preliminary ban on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

"We believe this ruling will ultimately reduce the availability of superior products to consumers in the United States," Samsung said today in a statement issued to TechRadar.

"We will continue to pursue an appeal of the Galaxy Nexus preliminary injunction, which we filed on July 2 to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Meanwhile, we are also working closely with Google to resolve this matter," the statement continued.

On Tuesday, Apple posted a $95.6 million court-ordered bond to cover damages to Samsung should the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy Tab 10.1 bans later be reversed.

The tech giants' patent battles rage ever onward, with Apple alleging that Samsung is in violation of eight patents across a total of 17 devices.

Yahuui Blog

Friday, July 6, 2012