Swampster Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Software updates for everybody else imminent then!... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17058508 methinks Apple has some friends, high up in Germany... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
140609 Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 well thats what they get from copying init, they should have tried to come up with their own design then this would'nt have needed to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steev Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 well thats what they get from copying init... No, it isn't. It's a prime example of why software patents are broken. The patent was awarded in 2011 after being filed by Apple in December 2005, there was a mobile phone which used some form of "slide to unlock" released in March 2005. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resident Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 No, it isn't. It's a prime example of why software patents are broken. The patent was awarded in 2011 after being filed by Apple in December 2005, there was a mobile phone which used some form of "slide to unlock" released in March 2005. I had a Sony Mobile phone. I couldn't tell you the model name but the image below is it http://4photos.net/photosv2/8289_sony_mobile_phone.jpg It had a physical slide button marked "Slide to unlock" So Sony got there first. Do you see Sony suing for it? No because Sony can come up with fresh, new ideas by themselves. Apple can't so they have to steal from others and then claim it as their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 The problem is the patents system and the judges knowing **** all about anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
floyd77 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 It had a physical slide button marked "Slide to unlock" So Sony got there first. Do you see Sony suing for it? No because Sony can come up with fresh, new ideas by themselves. Apple can't so they have to steal from others and then claim it as their own. Not, they're not suing as their patent wasn't for physical buttons. They didn't patent the words 'slide' 'to' and 'unlock' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altus Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Not, they're not suing as their patent wasn't for physical buttons. They didn't patent the words 'slide' 'to' and 'unlock' Another phone, the Neonode N1m, had similar slide to unlock functionality before iPhones existed and Apple applied for their patent - see 9to5mac.com's report. So even if you think taking an existing, very widely used, concept from the physical world and duplicating it's function on a computer in a very obvious way should be patentable, Apple shouldn't have been given the patent because of prior art. The long term impact will be minimal as Google's been given it's own mobile unlocking patent which actually does something more than just replicate an existing concept. I wonder what will happen if Apple tries to implement similar functionality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greengeek Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 They even referenced the NeoNode device in their original patent application. And people wonder why I'm anti-apple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resident Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 For support of what Altus & Greengeek are saying: http://dailymobile.se/2011/10/27/patented-slide-to-unlock-original-design-no-the-neonode-n1m-did-it-first/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phanerothyme Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Pff - we had slide to unlock (something very similar) on our POS touchscreens in 2002-3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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