Tag Archives: GooglePatent

Google wins face-to-unlock for multiple users patent, makes us hungry for Android support

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Google wins facetounlock for multiple users

Google has won a face-to-unlock patent that seems to let multiple users share one "computing device." Point your face at the built-in camera, and you'll be allowed access to your personal profile -- and when it's time to move, someone else can do the same to take your place. While there's no connection to a real-world product and relates more to biometric ID than consumer technology, it does tickle hopes that we could see the feature included alongside official multi-user support in a future iteration of Android.

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Google wins face-to-unlock for multiple users patent, makes us hungry for Android support originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 19:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google’s smartphone patent doesn’t mind which end you talk into

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Googles smartphone patent doesnt mind which end you talk into

The rectangular, predominantly symmetrical nature of most smartphones means if you're not looking, you might find you're holding the handset the wrong way around when a call comes in. Google's most recently awarded patent may seek to end your orientation confusion by adding a microphone and speaker at both ends of the device. That way, when you pick it up to answer a call, it'll determine which way you're holding it and select the microphone and speaker accordingly. Then again, this is a patent filing, so it's just as likely to wind up lining the bottom of a Mountain View engineer's drawer.

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Google's smartphone patent doesn't mind which end you talk into originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 10:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google patent app describes NFC sharing between devices, gives us Beam deja-vu

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Android Beam has been with us since October of last year and now we might just be getting a look into how it came to be. A patent application made public today describes "sharing application states" across messaging apps, ongoing phone call status, as well as playback position for video and audio on multiple devices via NFC and "other" wireless communication. If you think the potential uses for the tech discussed in this filing from September of 2011 sound strikingly familiar, you're not the only one. Could this really be a part of Android Beam, or does Google have something else up its sleeve?

Google patent app describes NFC sharing between devices, gives us Beam deja-vu originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 16:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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