iOS 5’s “New” Camera Feature Violates Microsoft’s Patent
9to5Mac stated:
This is a pretty cool trick that works in the Camera app on iOS 5: Simply swipe your finger from left to right to bring the camera album roll up. Continue swiping from left to right to flip through your images. If you go too far, tap once to reveal the on-screen toolbar with image controls and hit Done to immediately return to your camera.
For anyone who uses a Windows Phone that sounds like something you are already familiar with and Microsoft knew it would be loved so they protected it with a fancy ass patent. Here’s patent #20110119619 filed on February 15, 2010:
A user interface can display active and passive content. For example, a camera viewfinder image can be displayed on a screen, as part of a strip, concatenated with one or more other images, for example, images that were previously taken with the camera. A user can cause the viewfinder image and the other images to move together across the screen. This can allow a user to easily examine the other images and the viewfinder image without, for example, switching between different screens in a user interface. Media captured with a device can be associated with a media category by positioning a user interface element near one or more other elements associated with the category.
I know nothing about patent law but that’s pretty spot on there. Now I don’t want to hear about how Microsoft is a patent troll. Let’s focus on how Apple has stopped innovating and it’s becoming clearer that the ‘revolutionary’ iPhone is something to be talked about in the past tense. The OS is showing its age and as flattering as this may be for Microsoft it’s also their core business – making software and profiting from it.
I know, Apple is so good they don’t sue over silly patents like the one they have against Samsung based on the fact that both the Tab and the iPad look like an app launcher (come on where is Palm-HP suing them both for copying the Treo’s interface?). Anyway, between the use of Azure, the royalties they get from Exchange support and now this, it looks like iOS 5 will be a great success for Microsoft.
via WMPowerUser
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rofl at the patent trolls on the 9to5mac site… read the comments for it, funny as. wonder what they’re doing on the mac site though 😛
This is one of the many reasonsssssssssss why I like windows phone, its so unique, quick, and smooth…. MSFT will not sue Apple…..MSFT WILL GET PAID…….
Apple is done with innovations!!!!! Apple said updates will be delta, in short the future updates will be patches only, that’s means they will wait for MSFT to produce a feature on the windows phone then Copy it!!!! Damn you Steve,, I don’t want to comment on Samsung or Google, I don’t consider them Major competition when it comes to innovations!!!
Most likely, Steve Jobs hasn’t been working at Apple and this is probably how Tim Cook will run Apple from now on that Steve Job … retired.
Incredible… just in-friggin-credible. And not in a good way.
If this was an Apple patent that another company copied, Apple’s legal army would be mobilizing immediately. I doubt MS will do it, at least not now. But if Apple accumulates a bunch of infringements, then they have to.
Apple was going after regular people that were simply making IOS look alike ui’s ever since windows mobile. Wow Apple!!