Apple proposes location-based iPhone home screens

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  • Reply 21 of 28
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,759member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mcmlxix View Post


    Is this really even an ?invention??



    All of these patents are getting ridiculous. Just about every website knows where you are based on IP (which isn?t fool proof) and targets its ads, news, weather accordingly. It?s nothing more than knowing your audience.



    So what tech/invention does Apple bring to the human race with this?



    It's simply an implementation of convenient services for the user that are different from what you're talking about.



    And if it's patentable, Apple should go ahead an patent it. In fact, they should patent as much as they possibly can.



    It's for the benefit of the useer. Why the hell complain about it??
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  • Reply 22 of 28
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


    And if it's patentable, Apple should go ahead an patent it. In fact, they should patent as much as they possibly can.



    I disagree. The whole patent system is overdue for complete redesign. Patents should only be awarded to really breakthrough ideas, not silly things that are so obvious that nowhere bothered to apply before. I guess the fee schema might work that fee doubles with each new patent application, so it gets pricey to try to patent every possible nonsense.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


    It's for the benefit of the useer. Why the hell complain about it??



    What is the benefit for the user ? Patents only slow the progress.
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  • Reply 23 of 28
    floccusfloccus Posts: 138member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ivan.rnn01 View Post


    Umm... Not quite. Patent Commissions differ in their preferences and rules. What you're saying is rather true for European Commission. No way to patent "method" here nowadays, technical proposals only, i.e. implementations, while in the US Office you still can apply with "method and apparatus".

    Method is closer to an idea, than to an implementation. I have a patent (my employer helped me to fill the application). And because my application was rather about "method", we decided to apply in the US Office.



    Actually, if you don't over extend my wording, I'm exactly correct. The idea is location based data discrimination/display, nothing to patent there. The method for achieving the idea (which is patentable in the US as you say) would be to use a GPS location receiver to tell the handset where on earth it is, use that to determine a zipcode, access a weather report for that zipcode from some source, and display it. The implementation is the actual code and protocols used and how the software/hardware are designed to make it happen. But really, the point is that others need to stop crying about what a self evidentiary idea this is and realize that Apple figured out a way of doing it and can make it happen, which is why they can get a patent.
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  • Reply 24 of 28
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,759member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Brainless View Post


    I disagree. The whole patent system is overdue for complete redesign. Patents should only be awarded to really breakthrough ideas, not silly things that are so obvious that nowhere bothered to apply before. I guess the fee schema might work that fee doubles with each new patent application, so it gets pricey to try to patent every possible nonsense.







    What is the benefit for the user ? Patents only slow the progress.



    No, lazy, visionless also-rans (as in, the iPhone's competitors) slow the progress.



    HTC, Nokia, Motorola . . . where were you all in 2007?? And it's two years later and you STILL can't get your ish together with something truly inspiring and desirable.
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  • Reply 25 of 28
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    Agreed. To me, the lack of a user customizable home screen with persistent notifications and info is one the iPhone's major lacks.



    And, as per our discussion, the patent at hand suggests that Apple has been trying to figure out how to make such a feature especially useful before implementing it.



    I hope we can see that in 4.0.
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  • Reply 26 of 28
    This patent sounds much more interesting but sadly there is no information not even a link provided

    Is the iPhone's CPU even capable of real time speech recognition?



    PS: AppleInsider is only a news site? I am eager to know about what happened to the great Apple push notification system, does it work? A review would be nice. I also don't see a Snow Leopard review...
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  • Reply 27 of 28
    ivan.rnn01ivan.rnn01 Posts: 1,822member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by floccus View Post


    Actually, if you don't over extend my wording, I'm exactly correct. The idea is location based data discrimination/display, nothing to patent there. The method for achieving the idea (which is patentable in the US as you say) would be to use a GPS location receiver to tell the handset where on earth it is, use that to determine a zipcode, access a weather report for that zipcode from some source, and display it. The implementation is the actual code and protocols used and how the software/hardware are designed to make it happen. But really, the point is that others need to stop crying about what a self evidentiary idea this is and realize that Apple figured out a way of doing it and can make it happen, which is why they can get a patent.



    You're not exactly correct in above reasoning, but it's still OK.

    Apple have indeed found their niche. They patent geo-location usage for mobile devices. So, it is perfectly possible, that no one did exactly this before.



    P.S.

    Related claims:
    1. US Patent 7512234 - Providing location data about a mobile entity (JP 10170625, Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 1998, No. 11, Sep. 30, 1998)

    2. United States Patent 6721406 Telephone caller location data retrieval

    3. MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA, Feb 02 (MARKET WIRE) -- Quova, Inc., the leading provider of Internet geolocation data services, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted the company a patent on a new method and system for identifying the geographical locations of Internet users.

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  • Reply 28 of 28
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    Several reasons, I would say.



    Apple wants to make sure that when they do add a feature, they do it in such a way that it integrates seamlessly with existing functionality, is discoverable by the user, and is easy to use.



    Apple wants to make sure that any given feature, no matter how "common sense" it may strike some, is actually useful to many of its users. The kinds of things in vogue with the kinds of people who jail break their phones may not actually appeal to the majority of users.



    Finally, Apple is militant about the above because the endless proliferation of "features" leads to exactly the kind of clutter and complexity that they built the iPhone to combat.



    If all you care about are "features" and raw functionality, then it is actually not that hard to write app after app that do various cool things. Doing it in a way that integrates with the all-over user experience and is easy to implement and use is another matter entirely. Being extremely focused on the latter is what distinguishes Apple from their competition.



    +1 excellent post. Really, the ultimate response.



    I'll add that the location based "Home" screen does not sound appealing at all. I'd be pretty P'O'd if my home screen kept changing every time i unlocked it while driving across the state. Location based LOCK screen is what they should be researching. I like the idea of the wallpaper changing automatically to show various data. The wallpaper / lockscreen overlay could both be dynamic reports from various applications. Push notifications could scroll across the lockscreen, the wallpaper could show weather (maybe even radar), or traffic (maps), or RSS...



    The Home Screen is the wrong place for Apple to be looking to customize. Lockscreen is where its AT. At the very least, I want to touch my Home Button, and be presented with enough info to decide if I need to slide to unlock, or not.
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