“Google last week saw a patent it filed for back in 2010 published that describes a manner in which users interact with a smartphone–or PC–to unlock the device and perform at least one command,” Don Reisinger reports for CNET.
“According to the patent filing, the commands can be anything from placing a phone call to opening an application,” Reisinger reports. “Unlike typical unlocking mechanisms, which bring users back to the last screen they had opened before locking the device, Google’s technology immediately brings users to their desired activity.”
Reisinger reports, “Since Apple already owns a slide-to-unlock patent, it appears that the added functionality might be Google’s way of securing this patent… Just yesterday, Apple won a key ruling in a German court that said Motorola Mobility is violating Apple’s slide-to-unlock patent in several of its mobile devices.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “MacademiaNut” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Apple wins permanent injunction in Germany against Motorola over slide-to-unlock patent – February 16, 2012
Apple charges Samsung Galaxy Nexus infringes ‘Slide-to-Unlock’ invention in Germany – January 20, 2012
Apple’s ‘Slide to Unlock’ patent worries Taiwanese government, forces investigation – October 27, 2011
Like Google’s Android, Microsoft’s Windows 8 looks like it violates Apple’s new ‘Slide to unlock’ patent
– October 26, 2011
Very Good Google, good job getting around the “slide to unlock” feature…
Now you just need to came out how to avoid the other 199 iPhone patents 🙂
Apple has double tap the home button to reach predesignated apps. Maybe they can add more functionality to that, integrating an area that hybrids slide to unlock/double tap home (iPhone 5??), to achieve the same thing. What they can do though is say, Google, Motorola, you can’t slide to unlock, period. Another functionally, if tide to sliding and unlocking the phone, can’t happen.
My son has an LG phone, which has a touch and hold area on the screen to unlock. Since it’s a feature phone and not Android, I don’t know if Google can do that. But it’s not copying IP as far as I can tell.
Well This is great for Apple. Fist it’s most likely an invalid application since they did not reference Apple’s patent as prior art. (naughty google) second it prevents google from claiming that Apple’s slide to unlock patent is invalid because it’s trivial. Third if Google implements this it will suck as it just makes the unlock process more complex. Lets face it 90% of the time when you unlock you want to go back to what you were doing or go to the home screen.
Android is a rip-off of iOS…
and what makes it worse is the US company has given it away carelessly to other countries outside of the of USA.
i don’t care if LINUX is at the core – I don’t believe GOOGLE has the rights to re-engineer LINUX to be at the core of Android either – hence why it was not charging to licence it as a system. However, it has allowed others to PROFIT from being on a cellphone or tablet.
I am wishing for the death of ANDROID.
Thank God the GPL exists and is not controlled or owned by any government or company.
Google had the right to use Linux, even you personally have the right to base an OS off Linux.
Linux is opening computing up to the world, not just rich folks in the good old USA and hurray for that. If information is indeed power then it should benefit everyone not the few who were blessed by their place of birth.
“Google has the right to use Linux….”
There’s a lawsuit (Oracle v. Google) that you might look into, questioning whether Google in fact has any such right.
http://fosspatents.blogspot.com/2012/01/judge-says-oracle-google-trial-will.html
That’s a dispute over Google’s right to license certain elements of Java that weren’t open-sourced. Linux doesn’t appear once in that article.
Google, you should have never crossed Apple!
This^
Apple’s notifications on the locked screen already slide to open to a specific app.
Apple has already done this to some extent through the iOS5 notification pane. You can slide to unlock on a specific e-mail, MacDaily News, or other notification line to go straight to that e-mail story, etc!
And This^
added functionality might be Google’s way of securing this patent
No. Apple have the prior art. You can add a gizmo to a LASER, but the source patent remains and so do the royalty requirements. Google Are On Drugs. (‘GAOD’) 😉