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Apple Patents Alternative To NFC

Posted by Soulskill on from the bet-it'll-have-a-cooler-name dept.

another random user sends word that a set of newly-granted Apple patents published by the USPTO includes an alternative to the near field communication (NFC) technology that has begun to pop up in mobile devices. From the article: "Apple has received a Granted Patent relating to techniques for triggering a process within a portable electronic device that identifies itself for purposes of establishing communications with another device that is in proximity. At the moment, NFC is the technology that's getting all of the attention lately in respect to making it easier for two mobile devices to share information. While Apple is likewise doing research with NFC, they're also working with an alternate methodology for which they've now gained a patent for. In accordance with Apple's newly granted patent, a method for network device discovery monitors a compass output in a portable electronic device. As the portable device and an external device come closer to each other, a magnetic field signature is computed based on the monitored compass output. A determination is then made as to whether the computed signature could be associated with or implies that a previously defined type of electronic device (with which a network device discovery process can be conducted) is in close proximity. In other words, as the two devices come closer to each other, their respective magnetic characteristics cause the compass output to change in a way that implies that a network device discovery process should be initiated between the two devices."

6 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. Betamax, here we come... by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So will Apple try to licence this technology to other mobile manufacturers, or will it forever remain on the shelf, never attaining sufficient popularity for POS vendors to support it?

    --
    Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
    1. Re:Betamax, here we come... by Tough+Love · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I put this in the same category as Apple refusing to adopt other standards, such as USB power. Reinforcing its reputation as an operation that doesn't play well with standards.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    2. Re:Betamax, here we come... by complete+loony · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think the main problem is this fascination with building sub-standard cryptographic primitives into the network layer. NFC should just be a transparent network transport, assumed to be insecure. That higher level protocols can use for key exchange and other encrypted tunnel protocols.

      --
      09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
    3. Re:Betamax, here we come... by lxs · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If my experience is anything to go by, it will be the exact opposite. People with Android and other phones will have no problems but iphone users will be standing there poking at their tiny screen, wondering why their superior machine won't play with non-Apple world. Apparently sending a picture to a photo kiosk (they all seem to run on XP embedded) via bluetooth is beyond its capabilities.

  2. Apple does it again! by John+Pfeiffer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And so Apple makes their products incompatible with the rest of the universe in yet one more way! It's not easy being an Apple customer, is it?

    --

    Friend: "The NIC is misconfigured..." Me: "No prob, I'll just telnet in and fix it." *Silence*
  3. *facepalm* by ilsaloving · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Okay, Apple is pulling a '90s Microsoft now. NFC isn't good enough cause they can't control it, so they just HAVE to make their own. Just like Microsoft did with WAV files, TrueType fonts, etc.