Well, assuming this patent isn't just a joke, it really has nothing to do with iPhones. It's all quite ridiculous relative to current devices and none of it is even possible given current constraints. It seems to me that they are just trying to patent the idea first so that in 2056 when someone actually figures out how to make a device sprout wings to stop it's fall that they can point ot this and say "look! we thought of this first!"
Personally, I'm not sure it was worth the money Apple paid to submit the patent, but they submit so many they probably thought it negligible.
It reminds me of all those patents in the 1940's for rocket propelled ... everything, when rockets were clearly the future, but before anyone could actually build a reliable one. The inventor would essentially put "rocket goes here" in the drawings even though at the time they couldn't be built.
Say what? The motor in the iPhone is already strong enough to move the phone about on its axis when it's resting on a desktop (the App Cyclroramic I mentioned). In mid-air, with no friction from resting on a surface, it would be able to move even quicker. This is not future tech - this can be done right now.
Well, assuming this patent isn't just a joke, it really has nothing to do with iPhones. It's all quite ridiculous relative to current devices and none of it is even possible given current constraints. It seems to me that they are just trying to patent the idea first so that in 2056 when someone actually figures out how to make a device sprout wings to stop it's fall that they can point ot this and say "look! we thought of this first!"
Personally, I'm not sure it was worth the money Apple paid to submit the patent, but they submit so many they probably thought it negligible.
It reminds me of all those patents in the 1940's for rocket propelled ... everything, when rockets were clearly the future, but before anyone could actually build a reliable one. The inventor would essentially put "rocket goes here" in the drawings even though at the time they couldn't be built.
Now Apple is going to sit back and laugh their balls off as Samsung wastes millions try to copy this crap.
So complicated. You just need some sort of shock-absorbing frame, for example bezels around the front and back surfaces of the device, to pop up and out then you don't need to worry which side hits the ground first.
jonshf do you really need to be reminded that air friction is a negligible effect with falling bodies that are solids like a phone or a rock? Galileo proved that over 500 years ago dropping rocks off the tower at Pisa. The force of impact will change, but not the acceleration by gravity which remains constant. All this device will do is estimate the rate of rotation and attempt to make the phone land on its side rather than it's face. To work it would need some estimate of how high up in the air the phone is located. I assume an estimate will work for most cases. So don't try and drop your phone off a building to see what will happen unless you have insurance.
Just spread some butter over the side opposite to the fragile one
Found just last night (by accident, if one believes there are any) on an archive from a 1988 Text BB - sent to me by a non-geek friend (or I never would've keyed in on the irony's source):
Law of Selective Gravity(The Buttered Side Down Law):
An object will fall so as to do the most damage.
Law of the Perversity of Nature:(Mrs. Murphy's Corollary)
You cannot successfully determine beforehand which side of
Seems pretty out there to me. Added weight is clearly the biggest issue. I can think of several ways to break a fall, but all involve a lot of added weight. Seems like one of the more speculative patents that Apple takes just to CYA in the distant future.
How about if the current metal rim becomes an airbag for instance? Like a bumper case on steroids.
Say what? The motor in the iPhone is already strong enough to move the phone about on its axis when it's resting on a desktop (the App Cyclroramic I mentioned). In mid-air, with no friction from resting on a surface, it would be able to move even quicker. This is not future tech - this can be done right now.
I don't see how.
A weighted plunger inside the device (the most practical method mentioned) would take up half the phone if it had enough weight to seriously shift the device orientation in mid flight. The other suggestions (growing wings, etc.) are just silly for the time being. It reminds me of all that transforming suit crap in the Iron Man movies. None of that is possible in the real world. At all. It's just CGI.
Dunno if anyone posted this already, but a flexible display, whenever implemented, definitely wont be made of glass or crystal. It would be plastic.
Make a clear, plastic, scratch-proof/resistant front front for such a display, and people wont even know the difference. That would be definitely possible in the near future, with Samsung already showing them at CES 2013.
Comments
They should deploy a parachute and pop out fins.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
Well, assuming this patent isn't just a joke, it really has nothing to do with iPhones. It's all quite ridiculous relative to current devices and none of it is even possible given current constraints. It seems to me that they are just trying to patent the idea first so that in 2056 when someone actually figures out how to make a device sprout wings to stop it's fall that they can point ot this and say "look! we thought of this first!"
Personally, I'm not sure it was worth the money Apple paid to submit the patent, but they submit so many they probably thought it negligible.
It reminds me of all those patents in the 1940's for rocket propelled ... everything, when rockets were clearly the future, but before anyone could actually build a reliable one. The inventor would essentially put "rocket goes here" in the drawings even though at the time they couldn't be built.
Say what? The motor in the iPhone is already strong enough to move the phone about on its axis when it's resting on a desktop (the App Cyclroramic I mentioned). In mid-air, with no friction from resting on a surface, it would be able to move even quicker. This is not future tech - this can be done right now.
Wait till you see the patent for anti-gravity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
They should deploy a parachute and pop out fins.
That would be Samsung's response.
Now Apple is going to sit back and laugh their balls off as Samsung wastes millions try to copy this crap.
Great work apple.
Analysts, pundits, and journalists will start punishing Apple's stock price if this technology isn't a rumored feature for the rumored iPhone 5S.
"Apple needs to follow through on every pie-in-the-sky patent application we uncover," said pundit Ricardo Cabeça.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jguther
<...>
So, if anything, the iPhone would have to be made from a SOFTER material. Unfortunately this is not a solution, because of asthetics and wear.
Well, Dali showed us how it could look like for watches, didn't he ? I like the idea of a totally flexible iPhone ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Plagen
Just spread some butter over the side opposite to the fragile one
Found just last night (by accident, if one believes there are any) on an archive from a 1988 Text BB - sent to me by a non-geek friend (or I never would've keyed in on the irony's source):
Law of Selective Gravity(The Buttered Side Down Law):
An object will fall so as to do the most damage.
Law of the Perversity of Nature:(Mrs. Murphy's Corollary)
You cannot successfully determine beforehand which side of
the bread to butter.
How about if the current metal rim becomes an airbag for instance? Like a bumper case on steroids.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EricTheHalfBee
Say what? The motor in the iPhone is already strong enough to move the phone about on its axis when it's resting on a desktop (the App Cyclroramic I mentioned). In mid-air, with no friction from resting on a surface, it would be able to move even quicker. This is not future tech - this can be done right now.
I don't see how.
A weighted plunger inside the device (the most practical method mentioned) would take up half the phone if it had enough weight to seriously shift the device orientation in mid flight. The other suggestions (growing wings, etc.) are just silly for the time being. It reminds me of all that transforming suit crap in the Iron Man movies. None of that is possible in the real world. At all. It's just CGI.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rtdunham
"A propulsion mechanism, such as a gas canister...."
Pepper spray. Cut way down on snatch-and-grab iphone thefts.
You can already buy an iPhone case with a built in Pepper spray so someone stole your idea!
Dunno if anyone posted this already, but a flexible display, whenever implemented, definitely wont be made of glass or crystal. It would be plastic.
Make a clear, plastic, scratch-proof/resistant front front for such a display, and people wont even know the difference. That would be definitely possible in the near future, with Samsung already showing them at CES 2013.
That should make displays crack-free.
I got it now. Apple is making a Transformer iPhone. iPrime.
Gives new meaning to the word "flip" phone.