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3 Apr 2024 | 106
Microsoft files patent for 'PhonePad', hints at future Windows plans
A recently published Microsoft patent application hints at future efforts to make Windows leap across the species boundary. Windows already does so, in a way, with the Continuum feature. Hook up a keyboard and a display to the phone, and it turns a phone into a PC, with the same binaries on the phone turning into a (sort of) …
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Wednesday 23rd March 2016 14:25 GMT JetSetJim
Re: Linky
Out of time to add to post, so here go's a precis of the patent (IANAL, but have read a few patents in my time):
It basically seems to be an "invention" that device A auto-detects presence of device B (doesn't Bluetooth do that?). In one instance, device A has limited i/o capabilities (e.g. a small form factor phone) and so control of device A can be made via the i/o interface of device B - e.g. a larger form factor tablet. Of particular note is that the i/o device (B) may have crap compute power, whereas the original device (A)has the processing grunt. So you combine the two and have a Better Experience (TM).
Another pertinent example given is "Consider a game scenario where four players in a room are playing a multi-player game. The phone of one user may run the game and the gamers may interact with the game through their own separate tablets. In one embodiment, the phone may cause different gamers to have different interfaces and different presentations.".
Not sure it seems hugely inventive
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Wednesday 23rd March 2016 14:26 GMT Doctor Syntax
"sufficient obfuscation to avoid getting your idea pinched"
Or sufficient obfuscation to hide the fact that it's not a particularly original idea.
The requirement to prove originality in a software patent ought to be to show that the problem has been known for some time without a successful solution. Is this different to what Ubuntu have also been demonstrating for some time?
I have a nasty feeling that MS might be claiming royalties from the work others have put into their own implementations of the same requirement.
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Wednesday 23rd March 2016 14:48 GMT Charlie Clark
I have a nasty feeling that MS might be claiming royalties from the work others have put into their own implementations of the same requirement.
Well, if that is the case you can't really blame MS but the US patent system which privileges filing even the most spurious patent. Maybe the current dispute over CRISP / CAS9 will help sort out this mess.
However, I can't help thinking that this may be difficult to enforce and invite a raft of claims of prior art. Still, even then the patent could be a useful bargaining chip.
Instances of possible prior that fall out of my addled head: Samsung had a hub function specifically for games; Amazon's WhisperSync across the Kindle/Audible boundary.
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Monday 28th March 2016 19:19 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Oh Dear
What do you mean by "chucked out"?
If you mean, it would/should be searched, examined, and then granted or refused, then yes, you're absolutely right. If you mean refused before any of this has been done, then you are 100% wrong. Just because you "believe" it to be not an invention does not mean that it isn't, and it is not the job of any Patent Office to just assume that this is the case, no matter how "tempting" this might seem.
An Application can only be refused when the Applicant has had the opportunity to amend his claims, based on the description, in response to a communication from the Examiner handling the file. And without reading and studying the whole derscription, no-one responding to this article can be 100% sure that there is no detail in the description which would/could serve as the basis for a grantable claim.
A Patent Examiner
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Thursday 24th March 2016 13:37 GMT Roland6
Re: Really?
Microsoft are already doing it. Here's a demo showing Xbox handing over to cloud when more processing power is required.
Nice in the lab, but not so good in the real world. My son has several Xbox games that are notionally 'local' that become unplayable when the Internet connection starts to get congested...
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Friday 25th March 2016 07:59 GMT big_D
I've been saying
for years, we just need a small hockey-puck sized device, that provides CPU and storage and it seamlessly (wirelessly) connects to whatever I/O is currently convinient - audio (a la Echo), a watch or smartphone sized display and wireless headset, tablet sized display, with loudspeakers or a desktop monitor, keyboard and mouse.
The "puck" would provide consistency and provide you with the processing power, but how you access your data depends on what you are doing and what you need. That means all apps and data remain consistent and don't necessarily rely on a network connection - there are still enough times where a net connection is non-existent or too slow to be useful (many of our customers are based out in the countryside and have ISDN speeds, if they are lucky, and you might get a GPRS signal on your mobile, if you are lucky.
Day-to-day I use OneDrive for syncing my data onto devices - and I tend to permently sync the stuff I need regularly on those devices, so that even off-line, it is available and I can work on it. But the Surface Pro 3 shows that having a tablet, notebook and desktop (desktop dock and external monitors, keyboard and mouse in the office) is a great solution, it adapts to my needs on the move and has all of my data to hand, but in the office, it turns into a "proper" and comfortable experience - all with the same apps and data everywhere.
If that could be moved right down to the "puck", with wireless displays, then you only ever need to take it out of your pocket / bag for charging.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
