So, we all know Apples is filing patent applications like it’s their business. This is what they’ve been using for legal ammo as of late, attempting to block the competition and not giving consumers the final say in what they will or will not buy. Well, the questions has come up quite a few times, “Just where the heck has Google been in all of this?”
While I originally assumed that perhaps the internet search giant just didn’t “play ball” that way, today we’ve learned that ‘ol Googs has made a trip by the patent office, filing for a new patent of their very own. The patent in question is ”Input to Locked Computing Device,” new method for unlocking a device from Google and their way of circumventing Apple’s “slide-to-unlock” patent — something Apple has been using to attack Samsung for allegedly violating.
The diagram shows a method for unlocking that looks similar to HTC’s Sense 3.0 lockscreen where you can drag icons and jump straight to the chosen application, or even executing shortcuts like directly calling a specific contact or shooting them an SMS. Let’s hope we’re looking at Jelly Bean’s new lockscreen, coming soon to an Android device near you.
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very interesting...this is gonna get ugly I think...Patents and lawsuits and more lawsuits...All over swiping of a finger......
ufkal said:
very interesting...this is gonna get ugly I think...Patents and lawsuits and more lawsuits...All over swiping of a finger......
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Here's the thing I'll never understand about Google losing the patent war over the lockscreen.
Apples "slide to unlock" screen only slides in 1 direction. The AOSP lockscreen (hell any Android "slide" lockscreen for that matter) slides in both directions, slide to the right to unlock, slide to the left for sound on/off. Sounds like 2 different types of lockscreens to me.
spc_hicks09 said:
Here's the thing I'll never understand about Google losing the patent war over the lockscreen.
Apples "slide to unlock" screen only slides in 1 direction. The AOSP lockscreen (hell any Android "slide" lockscreen for that matter) slides in both directions, slide to the right to unlock, slide to the left for sound on/off. Sounds like 2 different types of lockscreens to me.
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Well, the slide to unlock is a set direct pattern in the same direction on gingerbread and below. How they're saying the nexus infringes on it is beyond me. Also, can't wait for el Google to get the notification drop down patent...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Related
I have a theory that Google intentionally leaves the stock apps horrible as to let the third party replace them, therefore bolstering the quality and quantity of apps. It makes sense, considering the only app you really can't replace is the settings(im sure if you tried you could do it with root). I have no evidence, but it would work to, again, improve the third party apps.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA Premium App
I agree, and I guess that's Google borrowed form Apple.
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...no. I don't really see it.
You have people modifying Ferraris and Lamborghinis left and right with body kits and exhaust that deviate the car away from the tried-and-true formula that is akin to those companies. Similar to android, it doesn't matter how good or stable of an OS it is or what it has, if there is a need/want for something, someone will have an app for it because, ultimately, everyone has a different taste. The ideology of Google/AOSP, which is different from Apple, is to give developers a clean plate to personalize their phone while providing support for the core system. It has nothing to do with supplying "horrible" first party apps.
What lude219 said.
Moreover, it's not just the execution but also the concept that users will disagree on. I like HTC's Time/Weather widget that is animated and has neat visual effects. One friend of mine uses a minimalist widget that's strictly a text read-out, and thinks all the graphics are a waste and stupid. Another friend thinks the whole thing is stupid and would rather use the Weather Channel's app on an as-needed basis.
We're all different. Android's strength is not in doing anything in particular, but in providing the freedom for manufacturers / carriers / individual users / communities to do for themselves what they want, and thereby allow for this really nice ecosystem. Freedom is amazing.
SciFiSurfer said:
What lude219 said.
Moreover, it's not just the execution but also the concept that users will disagree on. I like HTC's Time/Weather widget that is animated and has neat visual effects. One friend of mine uses a minimalist widget that's strictly a text read-out, and thinks all the graphics are a waste and stupid. Another friend thinks the whole thing is stupid and would rather use the Weather Channel's app on an as-needed basis.
We're all different. Android's strength is not in doing anything in particular, but in providing the freedom for manufacturers / carriers / individual users / communities to do for themselves what they want, and thereby allow for this really nice ecosystem. Freedom is amazing.
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That's kind of what im saying. Rather than lock you down like Apple, give choice.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA Premium App
Name: Gesture Calc
Hi,
Would like to mention a new Windows Phone app, Gesture Calc. It is an app I made for the 30 to launch contest last month, but it is also now in the marketplace.
It's a calculator app similar to the one that comes with your phone but with gestures for operations. My thought was that with the touch screens available on smartphones, the standard calculator is kind of boring. So instead of using the buttons, you can trace things like plus,minus,divide, etc. on the bottom of the screen.
The app is completely free, with no trial limits, and does not have any ads. Just looking for any feedback for stuff I can add to the app.
Thanks!
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Source: This thread
Download: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/5658afdd-0233-403d-94e4-9eb393785eef
Korhaan said:
the standard calculator is kind of boring.
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Hmm... What do you mean by that? Do you know people who entertain themselves by calculators??? I know nobody, even my 2 years old daughter (she's prefer Galaxy Tab with colorful games) Calculators are used for calculations, not for entertainment so they can't be "boring".
sensboston said:
Hmm... What do you mean by that? Do you know people who entertain themselves by calculators??? I know nobody, even my 2 years old daughter (she's prefer Galaxy Tab with colorful games) Calculators are used for calculations, not for entertainment so they can't be "boring".
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By "kind of boring" I mean very similar, and without many differences from the layout of calculators from the 60's. The gesture addition is just an experiment to see if people like a feature like that. I don't mean I intend a calculator to be an entertainment app. However, I could add farm animal noises to all the buttons so it is more entertaining though.
Oh, yeah, the farm animal noises - it's what people usually missed from calculators at all
By the way, do you like a gesture feature? Can you calculate more effective or fast with gestures?
that's a good idea to make a "entertainment" calculator
sensboston said:
By the way, do you like a gesture feature? Can you calculate more effective or fast with gestures?
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Yeah I actually like using the gestures. Not sure if it is faster though. Haven't tested the speed of doing a bunch of calculations.
BootyShaker - the app uses your phones accelerometer and touch input to manipulate round object joggling as realistic as possible on any selected image.
Features:
Create new projects using pictures from your phone gallery or taken with your camera
Add circle regions to the image
Scale and rotate the image in the design window
Run your project and make the marked circle regions wiggle by shaking the phone or by touching the screen.
Set some advanced settings for your project: gravity, damping, weight, frequency
Set overlapping circle regions to merge or overlay
Save a project
There are some similar apps out there, but it was developed without any influence of predecessors, which makes this app stand out from the rest:
Objects react to actual gravity, not just the shake gesture.
User friendly UI and easy editing
Follow BootyShaker on facebook
The app has a trial option which has almost all that you need: you can save up to three projects and add two shake objects. The trial is also ad supported, which you can get rid off for just 0.99$
Get the app from WP7 marketplace
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*****UPDATE 2012.10.01*****
I am planing to finish some UI improvements and bug fixes in the middle of October. And i am looking for beta testers willing to try it out.
Please PM if you want to participate. Thank You!
Wow, they kicked my "Am I Drunk" App out that uses Facial Recognition, Voice Recognition, Accelerometer, and other items to help determine if you're drunk but they allowed this?
THAT IS GREAT, ahahaha! Terrific, glad they have a sense of humor.
lseidman said:
Wow, they kicked my "Am I Drunk" App out that uses Facial Recognition, Voice Recognition, Accelerometer, and other items to help determine if you're drunk but they allowed this?
THAT IS GREAT, ahahaha! Terrific, glad they have a sense of humor.
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Damnit, they booted that app? I thought it was awesome lol
lseidman said:
Wow, they kicked my "Am I Drunk" App out that uses Facial Recognition, Voice Recognition, Accelerometer, and other items to help determine if you're drunk but they allowed this?
THAT IS GREAT, ahahaha! Terrific, glad they have a sense of humor.
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ouch, did they tell you why they rejected it? Marketplace is full of drinking apps, doesn't seem like yours could be any more "evil". I was rejected too, two times. Have been struggling for almost two months, since I have no direct access to apphub.
*****UPDATE 2012.10.01*****
I am planing to finish some UI improvements and bug fixes in the middle of October. And i am looking for beta testers willing to try it out.
Please PM if you want to participate. Thank You!
The app is now free, throughout all March. So go and get it! Enjoy!
"move that ass"
I got it... Cool app
Hi all,
I've been working on a simple watch display that gives you a virtual aquarium on the watch. Do you happen to know how I'd go about turning it into a widget? As it is, it launches as a normal app and that's fine but I'd like it to be something like a watch face.
Screenshots:
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Video: http://youtu.be/GFWP7N6m8Nk
I think it's cool to have the tiny fish swimming around, the neon tetras swim around as a shoal and the angelfish float around fairly realistically. If you tap the screen, they swim away from where you tapped. It wouldn't be hard to add some other functionality like the ability to feed them by tapping the top of the screen or something but the app closes when the screen times out.
Any comments?
Note: I'm not a graphics artist...
Hterag said:
Hi all,
I've been working on a simple watch display that gives you a virtual aquarium on the watch. Do you happen to know how I'd go about turning it into a widget? As it is, it launches as a normal app and that's fine but I'd like it to be something like a watch face.
Screenshots:
I think it's cool to have the tiny fish swimming around, the neon tetras swim around as a shoal and the angelfish float around fairly realistically. If you tap the screen, they swim away from where you tapped. It wouldn't be hard to add some other functionality like the ability to feed them by tapping the top of the screen or something but the app closes when the screen times out.
Any comments?
Note: I'm not a graphics artist...
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Nice and you now have 11 post! That's one tiny virtual fish tank......lol. Really neat work.
Chris
Thanks and here's a video!
http://youtu.be/GFWP7N6m8Nk
No offence, it's nice that you're building something, but this is one awful looking aquarium. Perhaps add some water texture, and use better fish images...
hurdlejade said:
No offence, it's nice that you're building something, but this is one awful looking aquarium. Perhaps add some water texture, and use better fish images...
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Well, I was very explicit in the first post:
Hterag said:
Note: I'm not a graphics artist...
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Feel free to contribute some better images if you want or if you know someone else that could, point them here. I just used those ones temporarily while I got it to do something. They were resized (badly) from another project I had to fit the Gear screen.
Google ruined the keyboard for me. Before the word you were typing was in the center, now it only shows up in the message you are writing. I assume the logic is the word being there twice is redundant. But now I have to continuously look around in the message instead of in that one box to be sure my typing is correct.
I went back to SwiftKey for now which I hadn't used since Google enabled swipe. Judging by the reviews I'm not alone.
Its definitely taking some getting used to for me. A little frustrating but I'm flexible. As of now I agree, I liked the way it corrected in the previous version better. But I'm getting the hang of it. I swipe more often than not so it doesn't seem to play as big of a role in messing me up. Could we be missing a setting (in correction section) that would change it? Idk haven't dove to deep into it yet
I haven't been able to find a setting. I hope I will get used to it as for now it makes me not want to type as much. Feels slow.
Yeah, I hate that the word you are typing doesn't show as a suggestion any more (other than the floating weird which I shut off) I've been trying out other keyboards.
lightsout said:
Google ruined the keyboard for me. Before the word you were typing was in the center, now it only shows up in the message you are writing. I assume the logic is the word being there twice is redundant. But now I have to continuously look around in the message instead of in that one box to be sure my typing is correct.
I went back to SwiftKey for now which I hadn't used since Google enabled swipe. Judging by the reviews I'm not alone.
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You might be interested in this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1016053 I'm using Ross minimal android l theme
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skw5115 said:
You might be interested in this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1016053 I'm using Ross minimal android l theme
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Thanks man. Been playing with SwiftKey actually again recently. Just installed this one love the themes.
Does the Super Switftkey Keyboard themer posted above require root?