“Just days prior to Apple’s iPhone unveiling this past January, Microsoft filed a new patent titled Transforming Media Device which describes a communications device which could be transformed into at least three different shapes with each representing a different feature set by physically modifying the device. The three possible shapes, the document reveals, include that of a phone, media player and a camera. This report briefly reviews this new patent along with two other related patents which clearly demonstrate just how off guard Microsoft really was – the day that Apple unveiled their revolutionary iPhone,” neo reports for MacNN.
“The bottom line is that prior to and shortly after Steve Jobs’ unveiling of Apple’s stunning iPhone, Microsoft had shown their cellphone hand through a series of current patents covering a tri-forming mechanically driven media device, a Data Buddy system/device and a thin smartphone. Microsoft’s detailed patents clearly go to demonstrate just how off-guard Microsoft was the day that Apple unveiled their iPhone’s many innovations and just how off-target Microsoft really was in respect to understanding what device innovation even means,” neo reports.
neo reports, “All that you have to do is compare Apple’s easy to use morphing capabilities of the iPhone which quickly allows the user to transition the iPhone UI into that of an iPod/music player, media web browser, calculator, camera and so on with a simple touch of a virtual button to that of Microsoft’s cumbersome Transforming Media Device which forces the user to physically transform the device manually. In contrast to the iPhone, Microsoft’s Transforming Media Device is mere Buffoonery.”
Full article here.
Related articles:
Palm CEO: ‘We don’t want to follow design fads’; Nokia CEO challenges Apple over iPhone – February 13, 2007
RIM co-CEO doesn’t see threat from Apple’s iPhone – February 12, 2007
Apple’s soon-to-be iPhone rivals sound just like iPod rivals circa 2001 – February 01, 2007
O2, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile battle for exclusive rights to Apple iPhone in UK – January 26, 2007
Rogers to offer Apple iPhone exclusively in Canada – January 25, 2007
FUD Alert: Apple iPhone ‘isn’t very practical’ and a ‘security risk’ for business – January 24, 2007
Research in Motion downgraded due to Apple iPhone competition – January 23, 2007
Microsoft CEO Ballmer laughs at Apple iPhone – January 17, 2007
RealMoney: Apple just blew up the whole damn mobile-phone supply chain with its new iPhone – January 11, 2007
The massive FUD campaign against Apple’s iPhone ramps up – January 10, 2007
eWeek: Apple iPhone fallout: ‘They must be crying in Nokia-ville and other telephony towns today’ – January 10, 2007
Jefferies downgrades Motorola on fears of market share loss to Apple iPhone – January 10, 2007
Time: ‘iPhone could crush cell phone market pitilessly beneath the weight of its own superiority’ – January 09, 2007
Analyst: Apple iPhone should be given its own category – ‘brilliantphone’ – January 09, 2007
Apple debuts iPhone: touchscreen mobile phone + widescreen iPod + Internet communicator – January 09, 2007
Transforming phone? Sounds like something you might get free in a packet of cereal!
MS has is right. They are going to make a TRANSFORMER phone to coincide with the release of the movie TRANSFORMERS now in production.
Maybe it was a prop for the upcoming Transformer’s movie, but we all kno Optimus Prime would use an iPhone to call home to cybertron….
Nick Holla:
Great minds….
Patents??…
Mere Buffoonery! There is our new tagline for Microsoft.
“…more than meets the eye”
Buffoonery? That’s the secret word!
*duck drops down from ceiling*
Neo just won $25!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”tongue laugh” style=”border:0;” />
What would they call it—The Mighty Morphin Zune Ranger?
Oh, that’s an easy one: contrary to what some believe, MS can’t do software. That’s it.
A widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, a breakthrough internet communications device, are you getting it?
That has to be the funniest thing I’ve seen. Microsoft really has no clue do they?
No wonder Gates unleashed the hounds of irrationality and lied through his teeth when touting on all those TV shows the Vista version of Mac OS 5.
What a bunch of complete fsking losers. It would be pathetic if it wasn’t so funny!
Transformers! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Typical Micrsoft. The illustrations depicting this device — and the basic idea — remind me of the Rubik’s cube.
The only difference is that today, even the Rubik’s Cube has gone digital — a modern version was just introduced at some toy conference…
Cool. I wanna transform the MS phone into StarScream!!!!!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”raspberry” style=”border:0;” />
This idea almost sounds too stupid even for MS. Almost.
Can you imagine them coming out with such a device now? Man, that would be too funny.
The drawings are… beyond words.
The phrase, “too many moving parts” comes to mind.
Does this thing morph into a remote controled car or something?
Yes, something in a ceral box is a great description.
“The three possible shapes, the document reveals, include that of a phone, media player and a camera.”
They missed one out! It should have been four shapes!!!
The fourth form-factor it was due to transform into was a flying chair…
…of course, you needed to throw it…
The buffoonery starts now !
AUTOBOTS!!!! TRANSFORM!!!!
Wow!s
Well of COURSE MS was caught off guard. I mean, who, oh WHO saw ahead of time, or even thought that Apple would develop and release a phone in the months and years leading up to His Steveness’ announcement. I mean, I was TOTALLY caught off guard.
(deadpan stare)
No surprise here – not at microsoft either. Everyone knows Microsoft is not an innovator rather they are a collector of ideas first tested by others to ram into their monopolies.
. . . the Acme Flying Machine Co. withdrew its air-show entry when it discovered that Boeing’s has a closed cockpit, a single wing on each side, jet engines and electric start.
iPod Transformer Flash movie on YouTube:
iPod (iFormer Robot2)
@ Jim:
MS was in fact caught off guard by *what* Apple developed. Not by the fact that Apple came out with *something*. But I have a feeling you darn well know that and are pretending to be obtuse so you can deliberately miss the point.
The article said it transforms into three shapes, “a phone, a media player and a camera.” This is misleading because all three shapes look striking similar….to a turd.
I thought MS was a software company and Apple was a hardware company. What’s with the role reversal…shouldn’t it have been EASIER fro MS to make something like the iPhone?
Why aren’t MSFT share holders calling for Balmer’s resignation?
Uncle Fester – “how about a toy, that transforms into a building, now that would be great!”
Tom Hanks – “I don’t get it”
@Oops…
“But I have a feeling you darn well know that and are pretending to be obtuse so you can deliberately miss the point.”
ya think? – lol
this is not the real patent,M$ is only 2% MS with Z but that is going to do nothing,because apple is always far away from,when M$ tries to be 5 years aheaed apple has already 20 or more,oh and updating vista via net is one more trouble and M$ is imitating linuxs upgrading sys via net thing that only makes then the most copycat company in the world,apple wrote this opinion to the lawyers because you can be more than this products:
GO APPLE!!!!
But the Microsoft Phone will come in…
BROWN.
Your potential, our passion.
But the Microsoft Phone will come in…
BROWN.
Your potential, our passion.
But the Microsoft Phone will come in…
BROWN.
Your potential, our passion.
Hmmm… first a turd music player and now a turd cell phone. Sounds like a lot of sh@% to me.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”LOL” style=”border:0;” />
Amazing the success of iPhone. The thing is months away from getting into the hands of any user.
It may or may not connect telephone calls very well and it may or may not change the world.
In the meantime, every other technology company, not just MSoft, has been declared beaten and headed to federal bankruptcy court.
Wow, just wow.
What you guys are missing is the REAL deal: Microsoft PlayReady.
A DRM tool that will be deployed by all content providers (video, audio, gaming, etc..) to control consumer access, 100% owned by Microsoft.
Microsoft is going to lose the OS monopoly eventually, and now it needs to establish roots deeply embedded in every person’s bankbook.
The dark age is coming.
Mordor rises with the Eye of Sauron.
They will crush Apple and all Macs forever, unless one unassuming hobbit can save the world: Scott Forestall.
Is that the best you can do Zune?
This is laughable at best. My grandson has a PowerRanger phone that looks similar to this MS thing look like a bad toy.
MDN word “science” – It doesn’t take a rocket science student to tell that this thing is DBA (dead before arrival).
Transformers- robots in disguise
Transforming Media device – P.O.S. in disguise!
I hope they spend billions making it and trying to market it, just like the XBox, Zune, and their many other failures. After that, they’ll just do what they always have fallen back on – stealing from Apple.
M$ innovation– the phone opens and closes. Royalties will abound.
Moving parts means breakable parts.
Microsoft, a good company in disguise.
Richest company in the world. Figure they could at least hire somebody to draw the damn patent correctly. Notice how in “phone view” the keypad’s in portrait and when it’s in the hand, it’s landscape.
Wait…maybe the keypad transforms too!
The Buffoonery starts now!!
I particularly liked this nugget:
“The device can provide for near to eye capabilities for enhanced image viewing.”
Hmmm. Sounds like a magnifying glass to me.
From buffoonery it is not many more steps to beleaguered.
I think that the Rubik’s Cube is prior art.
Now how do I twist this into a cell phone?
Brau,
I wouldn’t say the XBox is a failure. Sony loses money on each PS sold too (of course they do become profitable as time goes on and manufacturing is recouped.). But the real money comes from licenses, royalties, and software.
Which brings me to think about Apple, Inc. More and more they are proving to be a software company. I love their software, I hate being tied to such a limited scope of hardware, mainly referring to video cards here.
I would like to put OSX on the gaming machine I built. I have more horsepower, hard drive space, RAM, video power, etc. than the high end Macs or Dells at half the cost. And I only used top name components that were on sale. Stuff for Macs never goes on sale. The old ATI 800XL with 256 is still $400. It’s been under $150 on the PC side for a while now.
My Mac is a G5, so I can’t run windows on it for gaming. But I’ll be getting a MacPro soon to help with that. Still limited on the video card front.
BTW, I did love the “Buffoonery” comment…funniest thing ever!
Neo is back.
Neo is writing opinions and being witty !
I am glad the effects from that Macsimum security site they had hid at are wearing off.
The brainwashing is wearing off.
Neo is wriring, is telling us about the industry, is giving us views.
Views, Opinions, Ideas, it’s all this business is about.
Welcome back Neo.
Good work.
Good having you back.
Neo is back.
Neo is writing opinions and being witty !
I am glad the effects from that Macsimum security site they had hid at are wearing off.
The brainwashing is wearing off.
Neo is wriring, is telling us about the industry, is giving us views.
Views, Opinions, Ideas, it’s all this business is about.
Welcome back Neo.
Good work.
Good having you back.
Neo is back.
Neo is writing opinions and being witty !
I am glad the effects from that Macsimum security site they had hid at are wearing off.
The brainwashing is wearing off.
Neo is wriring, is telling us about the industry, is giving us views.
Views, Opinions, Ideas, it’s all this business is about.
Welcome back Neo.
Good work.
Good having you back.
Eureka! Finally someone who understands the business that Microsoft
is really in: they’re in the buffoonery business! Yes!
Pictures of the Apple iPhone clone Meizu M8 / miniOne
http://www.meizume.com/showthread.php?t=720
“MDN Magic Word” is ‘window’ like this knock-off phone uses Windows Mobile 6
Jerry T: yep, I wish I could use off the shelf GPU cards in MacPro too. It really annoys me that we’re stuck with Apple’s own brand, they should be like Hard Disk and RAM where we can use any.
“MDN Magic Word” is ‘maybe’ as in maybe Steve Jobs will change his mind and OSX will have driver support for all nVidia and ATi cards?
“Buffoonery” IS in the Apple Dictionary. Now all they need to do is add the Microsoft logo.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
Maybe it in the Leopard upgrade.
That Meizu M8 / miniOne has a screen resolution of 720×480 pixels (same as regular DVD) which is higher than Apple iPhone. 🙁
It also has a 3MP camera. 🙁
Doesn’t have OSX though.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />
Oops, missed the Z…
“Buffzoonery”
It’s too bad that Apple had to show the iPhone so early, it would have been better if they had dumped a few mill’ into this turkey first. You owe Apple one M$, they saved you bundles… Chumps!
*yahoo ROFL emoticon placed here more than once*
The diagrams crack me up. This is priceless.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”cheese” style=”border:0;” />
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Oh, bugger it….
Microsoft’s patent FIG. 7 noted below, illustrates a multi-modal portable communication device having multiple internal services and capable of consolidating services in accordance with an aspect of the invention
Fig 7.
—————————
Satellites ——> [ DRM ] <—— Internet
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[ Cancel or Allow ]
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Malware ——> [ Interface Component ] <—— DHS
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[ Cancel or Allow ]
/|\
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Activation ——> [ DRM ] <—— EULA
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[ Allow or Allow ]
/|\
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[ User Interface ]
</pre>
Well, it appears once againt that DOA has struck Micro$oft.
Oh, did I forget to de-intialize: DOA = Delusions of Adequacy
MW: “meaning” as in Mr Bill has been meaning to do something original for nigh onto 30 years know. At least it’s in development…
What worse, an idiotic Transformer phone, or MS seriously thinking they’ll have their own iPhone ready & available for the Holiday shopping season?
Ballmer, you’re Apple’s best friend. Just keep doing your best.
Here’s the Microsoft TransPhone Carrying Case:
http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Peek-A-Blocks-Shape-Sorter/dp/B0002YDPRO
Is this part of the Wow?
Coming to a sad realization. Cancel or allow?
@Preview Test
Quite the funniest post of the day!
“Microsoft’s multi-modal multi-language portable communication device”
Are they kidding?
It took them 5 years to put lipstick on a pig. How on earth are they going to manage to get any ONE of the “multi-modal multi-language” features to work right…
Countless man-hours of study, research, and consumer testing in interface design and this is what they ended up with?
Sorry to use the already-used up “Wow” phrase, but holy-double-wow!
How many Edsels can one company pump out? Yikes!
—
—
I wonder how long it much longer it’ll be before we start reading about sweeping management changes at Microsoft. It’s gotta be coming soon; this company is ripe for change. How many black eyes can they take before they actually do something about it?
Another boring MDN anti-Microsoft hate article, or should is say “digest”?
mac NN
does the nn stand for No News ?
Why thank you, SydneyStephen. I was planning on diagonals too… but the lack of a Preview Test made it impractical.
Microsoft’s obsession with physically manipulating this “device” to allow certain functions makes me wonder what they really know and understand regarding how software actually works. After all, it did take Microsoft five years to release “Service Pack Vista”.
Next to the thrill of discussing Apple’s release of a new product here at MDN is the satisfaction of denigrating the release of some poorly design product from the world’s leader in pandemic OS. I think that other sites will also express feelings of absolute bewilderment to abject horror at this technological embarrassment imagined by the brain trust at Redmond.
@MDN
Don’t miss this. The horror is still unknown to most.
Vista’s DRM is reason enought not to upgrade.
But once you install Vista, you’re part of the game, whether you want to be or not. And if you think you understand the rig, wait a few months: it will change on you. With that change will come new rules by which Microsoft will govern your computer use, and there’s jack shit you can do about it. And as Vista achieves market penetration and saturation, it won’t just be about digital content — it will become much more far-reaching.
Yep – yet another dead product from Microsoft.
btw, does anyone know IF they are actually turning a profit on any of their shit products these days?
Im sure they cant beat the major fuck-up that was Vista: Cost $10billion + 6 years ($500million marketing alone)
“Close Microsoft down”.
Cancel or allow?
ALLOW!!!!!!!!!
Less is More,
Good read. I didn’t know that Vista’s DRM was that bad. And I’m assuming neither does the majority of the general public that will be subjected to it in the coming months. This made me angry, and I don’t even use Windows!
Now, I think that </i>this</i> is good grounds for litigation. They can’t do that, can they? I just switched 2 of my best friends before Christmas- looks like I was just in time to save them.