Pocketables

Google has a patent pending on new smartphone unlock screen

Yesterday's news about Apple's victory in a slide-to-unlock case against Motorola has certainly increased the weight of other, similar cases against Android manufacturers, and has also caused me some worry for Google, Android manufacturers, and smartphone users in general. Without using a "gesture on an unlock image" to access our phones, how can we unlock our touchscreen devices? 

Google seems to have at least some idea, as it was recently revealed that they filed a fairly complex patent for a device unlocking interface. Instead of just unlocking the device, the "Input to Locked Computing Device" patent specifically covers unlock inputs which also execute actions, such as launching the dialer or email app. Usually, this would work by dragging a certain icon or notification into the screen unlock area. HTC actually had a similar system in its Sense 3.0 software where users could drag the unlock ring to an application in order to open it. 

As well as accepting touch inputs, the lockscreen can also accept things like passkeys and even voice commands. Considering that the patent was actually filed well before Siri, this seems fairly innovative. There is also a section in the patent which deals with ring unlock, a feature currently found in Android Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich devices.

If it is granted, the patent would serve as a formidable defense against Apple's slide-to-unlock, even though all of the actions but the voice command still require some sort of gesture. Even so, while having a defense against lawsuits is nice, I really wish these kinds of patents weren't an issue. If Apple didn't sue everyone over slide-to-unlock, then maybe Google and others wouldn't be so worried about grabbing patents to counter it.

Perhaps this patent isn't so bad, though. After all, it might force the likes of Motorola and Samsung to update their devices to Ice Cream Sandwich, if only to be protected from slide-to-unlock.

[USPTO via Engadget]

Apple is awarded victory in German slide-to-unlock lawsuit against Motorola

Things had been looking up for Motorola in the ongoing Apple versus Android/Motorola lawsuit battle, so much so that the company even had the nerve to ask for a large chunk of Apple's iPhone revenue. Today, though, the tables have turned. Apple has used their trump card, a recently won slide-to-unlock patent, to score an important victory over Motorola in a German court.

According to the ruling, Motorola's implementation of slide-to-unlock in two of their smartphones infringes on Apple's aforementioned patent, number 1964022, which covers "unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image." While Apple failed to comment, a seemingly unconcerned Motorola spokeswoman did say, "Motorola has implemented a new design for the feature. Therefore, we expect no impact on current supply or future sales.

However, patent consultant Florian Mueller of the FOSS Patents blog isn't so sure. Although the current ruling would, at best, prevent the sale of the two Motorola phones in question until the lockscreen is changed, he still considers the case a "very significant win for Apple against Android." A victory like this would likely have an impact on the numerous other Apple lawsuits against Android manufacturers, and since Google has recently acquired Motorola, could be seen as a ruling against the company and Android as a whole.

Personally, I hope this kind of ruling does not set a precedent, and I would love it if both Apple and Android manufacturers would fight with better products instead of lawsuits. I am fairly sure that "Gestures on an unlock image" are here to stay anyways, regardless of what Apple says, but it will still be interesting to see how far they try to take this.

[BBC Technology]

Apple to release iOS 5.1 on March 9th?

Updates to any operating system are great. They bring fixes, refreshed looks, and numerous great additions for the end user. Unfortunately, updates are usually kept quiet until the release date, and there is no company known more for secrecy than Apple.

The latest leak of information from the Cupertino, California, based company is about iOS 5.1. We haven't heard anything about the update for iOS 5 yet, and even though we now know the alleged release date, we're still in the dark about exactly what 5.1 will bring. 

Anyway, that date is March 9th. While that's still a month away, it's definitely a very plausible date; although we don't cover it, the iPad 3 is rumored to be announced later this month and released in March, so a coinciding release of 5.1 and the iPad 3 would make sense.

An incremental release would not usually be such a big deal, but given the problems that the iPhone 4S and iOS 5 in general have had, it's nice to know roughly when some of those problems should go away. 

[Your Daily Mac]

Apple dishes out a warning to developers who play the app ranking system

You know, as successful as app stores, markets, and worlds have become, I still think they're among the worst places to purchase content. There are pointless reviews and ratings along with reviews and ratings that are paid for by the developer. Plus, there are usually a bunch of garbage apps that somehow make their way to the top apps. 

I always thought that, regardless of the operating system I was using, it was a little fishy that those apps would actually be downloaded and ranked high enough to be so prominently displayed. But now, we know why that happened, and Apple isn't happy about it. 

It seems that there are companies to which developers can pay money (of sometimes upwards of $5000!) and get their apps in the top rankings. These companies use bots to download that app enough times to be featured, and then stop downloading it when it gets to the top, because by then it has enough momentum to be downloaded by actual humans.

Here's what Apple had to say:

Once you build a great app, you want everyone to know about it. However, when you promote your app, you should avoid using services that advertise or guarantee top placement in App Store charts. Even if you are not personally engaged in manipulating App Store chart rankings or user reviews, employing services that do so on your behalf may result in the loss of your Apple Developer Program membership. Get helpful tips and resources on marketing your apps the right way from the App Store Resource Center.

This is just one app store, though. I really hope Google and Microsoft will take the same approach. I'm pretty sick of seeing BEST GAME EVER!!!1 - PUZZLE GAME FOR THE GODS in front of great games and apps when, in reality, it sucks.

[Apple Developer]

Motorola wants 2.25% of Apple's revenue from all 3G devices sold

We have heard quite a bit about Android manufacturers having to pay per-device licensing fees to other companies, but the Android manufacturers turning the tables on others is almost unheard of. Occasionally, though, they score a big break like Motorola did in a European case against Apple. The Google subsidiary won an injunction over a basic 3G patent, and are now trying to put it to work to get as much as they can from Apple.

How much, you ask? Well, in addition to temporarily taking Apple's 3G devices off the shelves in Germany, they are seeking payment of an additional 2.25% of the revenue from every 3G device Apple sold, ever. Doing some math will reveal that if upheld, Apple would owe Motorola 2.1 billion for past devices, and royalties for any future products.

Of course, there is almost no chance that Motorola will be granted their request, even if they reduce their demands. In fact, Apple is already appealing the ruling in question, and it just doesn't seem possible that they would ever stand for paying out so much to a competitor. Still, many manufacturers pay Microsoft royalties for their devices on some questionable patents, so I suppose it's not completely outside the realm of possibility.

[Phandroid]

Research firm claims iOS apps crash more than Android apps

If I were to ask someone on the street which of the top two mobile operating systems suffers from crashes more often, I am certain that most of them would say Android. Even as an Android fan, I must admit that just from my general use I get the feeling that Android applications are more crash prone that their iOS counterparts. However, according to app monitoring company Crittercism, that is not the case.

Through data collected from over 200 million application launches on both platforms, the firm found that about two thirds of the crashes reported came from iOS devices. This data may be skewed by the fact that the company tested more iOS than Android devices, but the much more balanced quartile data comported with the previous findings.

According to the quartile data, iOS apps in the first quartile crashed 0.51% of the time to Android's 0.15%, and those in the second quarter crashed 1.47% of the time to Android's 0.73%. There is still one caviat, which is that this data is not new enough to account for much Android 4.0 app performance. Oddly, the worst performing Android version so far was 2.3 Gingerbread, which could suggest that the changes in 4.0 would also cause crashes. In my limited experience, though, Ice Cream Sandwich has seemed much more stable than previous versions.

Realistically, this data has no effect on how we use our smartphones, and will probably not change anyone's mind about a purchase. Still, false perceptions about Android instability (and iOS's reliability) seem to have been at least partly exposed. This is by no means conclusive, but it is interesting, and perhaps it will serve to quell some of the baseless flame wars between mobile users.

[Technologizer]

iPhone 4S finishes last in cold weather test

When I got up this morning the temperature outside was about -20°C (-4°F). That's nothing though, as about 200km from here they measured a country-low -37.2°C (-35°F). Whenever I'm outside, I make sure that my phone is deep in my pocket in order to actually have a phone when I get back inside. I'm not just paranoid, and a new test done by the Finnish magazine mikroPC (in a controlled weather chamber) shows exactly how far gone cellphones can end up if used out in the cold. 

iPhone 5 specs leaked by Foxconn employee?

The iPhone 4S was released in October 2011, which was just four months ago. During those four months, not much has been said about the next iteration of Apple's smartphone hit; today, though, that changes. 

A source from Foxconn leaked a few specs about the iPhone "5" today, and they're probably true, considering that they aren't outrageous. Also, at least two prototypes have been seen by this Foxconn employee, and both of them are different. I would bet money that at least a couple of these rumored specs turn out to be true. 

• The next iPhone will have at least a 4-inch screen. This was on both of the devices, so expect this to come to fruition.
• The long-rumored, iPod touch-esque teardrop shape isn't going to show up in the next generation, either. 
• Both devices, however, do not share the same form factor as the iPhone 4/4S.

Rumor has it that the new iPhone will actually be released this summer, which kind of comes as a surprise to me. Since the iPhone 4S was released in October, I would've expected the same release timeframe for this year. 

[9to5Mac]

Apple claims Galaxy Nexus violates slide-to-unlock patent in Germany

Apple just recently acquired a US patent on their ubiquitous slide-to-unlock lockscreen, but already they are putting another version of the same patent to good use in their ongoing patent war against Android. In the latest battle, Apple has alleged that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus violates a utility patent the company holds in Germany, an promising battleground considering a recent injunction against Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the country.

However, this lawsuit is interesting because instead of suing on the bases of their actual patent, they are citing a utility patent. As a utility patent is granted with almost no approval process in Germany, there is no assumption of the validity of the patent. It simply shows that Apple filed for the real patent at a certain time. Still, they seem to be looking for a big win against Samsung, who has resorted to citing a 2011 Dutch ruling which questioned the validity of Apple's slide-to-unlock patents as their defence.

Putting technicalities aside though, this lawsuit seems rather far fetched to me. Even if their utility patent does cover sliding in any direction, the Android 4.0 lockscreen has put something of a circular twist on the traditional horizontal slider. Unless the patent covers moving your finger left to right on the screen, this hardly seems like infringement. If anything, Apple should be claiming that a Gingerbread or Froyo device violates the patent, as its lockscreen is much more similar to theirs.

Not only that, if they do succeed in this case, it is likely that they would be able to move on to the likes of HTC and Samsung's TouchWiz based phones. No matter that HTC's phones unlock with a downward gesture and Samsung's lockscreen looks like a puzzle piece, if this patent gets held up simply because a lockscreen uses a sliding gesture, then all these devices are at risk. 

I certainly hope that Apple doesn't win this lawsuit, much less get the Galaxy Nexus banned from the good people in Germany, but even if they do there's always pattern lock to fall back on.

[FOSS Patents]

 

How tied are you into your respective smartphone or tablet ecosystem?

So you're buying up a ton of apps on your Galaxy Nexus. Or your iPhone 4S. Or even your Lumia 710. But a couple of years go by, and you're ready to upgrade. You look at all of your options, but since you've already poured an insane amount of money into your ecosystem of choice, you just can't bring yourself to leave. 

Every operating system is guilty of keeping its users locked. If I had to total up my entire spendings on the iPhone App Store, I wouldn't be surprised if it was over $250 already. I've been using an iPhone since the 3G model, so that's not too outrageous of a guess. 

If I found a phone with the same build quality with the same materials (there is something amazing about glass touching your hands) running Windows Phone or Android, I would love to switch. iOS is going downhill and fast. But at the same time, I can't help but feel that I would lose money by switching to another platform: I would have to re-purchase all of my apps, which would total about what I had already spent, plus the price of the new phone. 

Then again, maybe it's just me. Maybe I look at the money too closely. But I'm still curious: do you feel that you're "locked-in" to a particular app ecosystem because of how much you've already spent for apps? Would you have any reservations about switching now?