“Apple has been granted a patent today for their invention relating to an apparatus and method to communicate multimedia documents or content to a mobile or fixed device over a wireless network,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple. “In particular, the mobile or fixed device may be configured as a digital periodical or advertising device to transmit and receive converted multimedia documents or content delivered using multimedia messaging service over a wireless network.
“Wireless communications has enabled widespread easy access to mass media and multimedia information via mobile devices, cellular phones, personal digital assistants, smart phones, or the like,” Purcher reports. “Although the availability of multimedia information is ubiquitous, proper viewing, display, and delivery of information for an enjoyable user experience is still lacking. This is especially the case for viewing periodicals such as online magazines or news content on a mobile device where a large display is desirable.”
Purcher reports, “Apple’s granted patent covers an apparatus and method for delivering mass media and multimedia information to a digital periodical or advertising device preferably using Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and having an electronic flexible screen or display.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take:
prior art – there goes the patent out the door!
I’m sure Apple will show me otherwise, but I think I’d just rather have a mini projector to shoot the image onto a sheet of paper for personal viewing or a wall to share with friends and family.
Okay, you don’t want a projector. I do.
Regardless, I don’t see this being what I want. Let’s forget about the dimensions of a real newspaper/magazine and go with a smaller format – let’s call it maxiPad size, or just under a standard 8 1/2″ X 11″ piece of paper. That makes the “housing” on the right side of this thing 9″. Roll it up, retract it, whatever, and you have at best something akin to a paper towel roll to carry around. No thanks.
Make my iPhone able to project said media onto whatever surface I chose, and it still fits in my pocket, going everywhere with me. Besides being more flexible (not *that* kind of “flexible”), it is also more functional.
I have visions of future lawsuits from FAIL companies reminiscent of Samsung saying Apple/Sony/Tuvie/Rolltop etc. stole their ideas from the story ‘Minority Report’ by Philip K. Dick (1991); or the book ‘The Diamond Age: or A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer’ (1995) by Neal Stephenson; or Star Trek Voyager… (o_O)
Looks like an Apple Watch related patent.
As long as it fits in the garbage can like the regular newspaper did–should be good to go..