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30 Comments
- zydeco, on 05/20/2009, -1/+11How did Apple get a patent for this when Sun showed off the concept 16 years ago?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKJNxgZyVo0 (Jump to 2:10) - stripesonfire, on 05/20/2009, -0/+6anyone else think this will become an industry standard and then abusing its patent by suing any company that places a webcam behind the lcd screen?
- inactive, on 05/20/2009, -0/+4because the people in the patent office are fanboys or bribed. corruption is rampant.
- sifeliz, on 05/20/2009, -0/+4http://imgur.com/mmnq7.jpg
- wastern, on 05/20/2009, -3/+6I knew this was old...but 2006... wow
http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/26/apple-patent-em ...
macnn is slow - rickytan, on 05/20/2009, -0/+3You must be new here.
- newbill123, on 05/20/2009, -1/+4Patents are given on implementations. The concepts demonstrated in the Sun video are no more patentable than an episode of Star Trek.
Apple's patent for the webcam + view screen is for the interleaved arrangement of sensors in the same plane as the led's. If Sun implements that idea in a screen they ship next year, they may be subject to a patent suit. If instead they used a large one way mirror akin to the tech used in teleprompter's, Apple would have no legal standing to sue (though a teleprompter company might have a patent that's not expired).
Video's like Sun's Starfire and Apple's Knowledge Navigator http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGYFEI6uLy0 are for inspiring stock investors and impressing the media, not for gaining patent protection. - al13n, on 05/20/2009, -0/+3I don't see how this could work as a webcam. The sensors would pick up light coming from all directions so there is no way you could get a sharp image this way. This is why cameras have lenses. But it would make a pretty decent scanner. Maybe they'll just make the sensors very directionally limited or something.
And there's another thing. The images captured with this would probably look weird because each sensor would recieve light rays that are parallel to rays captured by other sensors so there would be no perspective distortion. - inactive, on 05/20/2009, -0/+3I hate looking people straight in the eyes
- crashlock, on 05/21/2009, -0/+2I recommend buying some iStock!
- newbill123, on 05/20/2009, -0/+2Putting cameras and view screens in the same spot has been a demonstrable idea for decades in entertainment with the idea of the "video phone". But single reflex camera viewfinders and one-way mirrored, speech teleprompters have gone two separate ways to solve variations of this problem. Referring to a Jetson's-like video of an idea isn't going to save your hide if you stepped on someone's patented implementation details in bringing your product to market.
There's the (long expired) patent awarded for the "premature burial" alarm bell. It's really not much more than a string tied to a bell that goes into a coffin, but it was patented and for those 18 years it was under protection you had to either pay for the bell patent or you used a variation that had a different noise maker (e.g. horn or whistle). The concept of the premature burial alarm wasn't protected; just the bell implementation.
And no, I don't think patents are awarded only for successful implementations. But it's more that I don't want to get into talking about the flaws in the current patent system (where I probably agree with you more than disagree) than am I trying to gloss over its flaws. - zydeco, on 05/20/2009, -0/+2I'm not saying Starfire and KN were meant to put IP in a public forum. But doesn't it make it hard to defend this patent in court if someone can say "Well, I saw this idea a decade ago and decided to implement it on my own while Apple was filing the patent". How can you disprove that?
And if you think all patents are awarded on successful implementations, you've never tangled with a patent troll. - migitalwarfare, on 05/20/2009, -0/+2has nothing to do with it
- ultrafez, on 05/20/2009, -2/+3Digg has an unhealthy obsession with Apple - it should go to one of those meetings.
"Hi, my name is Digg, and I'm an Appleholic." - inactive, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1I guess there are numerous varieties to the patent... Apple's lawyers just like Steve Jobs know how to twist and turn these things anyway.
http://www.cornerone.com/landing.cfm/5427,-%20Teak ... - BoneheadFarker, on 05/20/2009, -3/+4Hmmm...did anyone else just get the sense that Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia?
- inactive, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1I thought that product has already been buried beneath the 'surface'.
- sonicEd, on 05/20/2009, -1/+2Why no link to the patent? Patents originally were supposed to be used to teach, but now they are only used to litigate. Sad really. A quick search and I could only find the app: http://www.google.com/patents?id=NBKaAAAAEBAJ
- ultrafez, on 05/21/2009, -0/+1Fine thanks. I'm not stupid enough to run something that I get from an email attachment or download from somewhere dodgy from the Internet. I've never had a virus, I have antivirus on my old laptop but I haven't even bothered on my new one.
- ChrisTek, on 05/20/2009, -1/+2Obviously to build a hi-res webcam into the screen of their laptop/desktop line. It was only a matter of time.
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http://www.shmran.net/ - sonicEd, on 05/20/2009, -0/+1Maybe that's why they were awarded a patent. If you knew how they did it based on very little info, it would not be patentable.
- datdamonfoo, on 05/20/2009, -2/+2iStupid.
- amitait, on 05/20/2009, -2/+2iSue
- al13n, on 05/20/2009, -1/+1In fact, the field of view would be 0° and the captured area would always be exactly the size of the screen, no matter what the distance from the screen is.
Perfect for scanning, not so good for anything else. - gOofytj, on 05/20/2009, -1/+1That would be awesome for video conferencing, imagine being able to look someone straight in the eyes!
- catbeller, on 05/20/2009, -1/+1How's that virus/spyware/zombie thing working out for you?
- kelmaster1, on 05/20/2009, -5/+4How was this made popular yet there are no comments?
Anyway, really short article. Kind of cool technology though. - inactive, on 05/20/2009, -6/+4does digg love apple or apple love digg?
- Tyr7BE, on 05/20/2009, -4/+1Microsoft Surface, anyone?
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