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Apple Patents Alternative To NFC
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."
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?
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I guess I can not carry two devices on me any more.
Apple probably will have a dating service app bundled in . . .
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.
Network device discovery process, indeed.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
RIP, Bonjour, and Hall Effect. Stir. Patent.
---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
I can give the Samsung (or any other party's) lawyers some ammo: prior art. A low-cost data interface using the magnetometer to extract data from a variable magnetic field. The granted patent covers this process almost verbatim, more than one and a half years after its first (published) development.
Hyperbole: I use it liberally!
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*
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.
As far as I can infer from the summary, they are computing a hash of the readings of the compass sensor and pasting over them a Tasker task that switches bluetooth on and off. Patent-worthy? The part that computes the hash -- maybe, but it is hard to believe.
came from Apple
Allow me to revise the argument: "not innovative" (I hesitate to write "obvious", since, it's not really that obvious) if a garage tinkerer can arrive at the same conclusion.
I'm not sure if the Apple patent is innovative of not. But I think it's a terrible thing to proclaim that garage tinkerers are incapable of innovative thought. In fact I would say through history, they may even be the leading source of true innovation.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Except that this isn't pairing. In fact, it sounds like this isn't even a form of data transfer at all. This is effectively a passive detection system for alerting some other form of wireless (e.g. Bluetooth) that it should try to establish communication. The comparison to NFC is apt, since they serve similar functions in some cases, though NFC seems to be far more capable than what the summary describes.
That said, it's possible that the power draw may be better with this approach than with NFC, and it may also be something that they can enable with a simple software update for any smartphones that have a compass built in (I'm no radio or magnet expert, so this is speculation on my part). If this can indeed be enabled with a software update, it would mean that on day one they would have hundreds of millions of devices already in people's pockets and using their standard, and it would also mean that they could save money by not having to include extra hardware for NFC in later models. That first point would be a pretty compelling reason for vendors to adopt their standard rapidly, since NFC has been hampered by the chicken-and-egg problem of having too few devices with it for stores to adopt it, but having too few stores using it for manufacturers to add it to devices. It's getting there, but it's been slow going.
Apple acquires patents from the AFC (American Football Conference) after talks with the NFC fall through. Apple just had to get a piece of the $10B American Football industry.
"Apple probably will have a dating service app bundled in . . ."
There has been a device on the market, from Japan, for some years now. I don't remember what it's called. You can code in your personal tastes... perhaps you have particular dating preferences, say tall brunettes for example. Or even a fetish. When the device detects someone with similar coded characteristics or preferences, the devices beep and guide the people to each other.
I see no reason a similar app could not be developed for smart phones.