Apple files patent for new AirPods case that will charge other devices

The Apple AirPods have been criticised for their design, battery life and most of all, availability. But it seems Apple has big plans for their awkward wireless earphones. The company has filed for a patent around the AirPods and its something quite out of the ordinary.

According to the patent documents, a special case for the Airpods will offer provision for inductive charging. This means it could provide power to devices such as Apple Watch, iPods, iPhones, iPads and even MacBooks in the future.

The schematics of the case show a watch on top of the case, which is probably the most suitable device. The current Apple Watch Series 2 comes with a 273 mAh battery while the current AirPods case has a 398 mAh battery. If Apple were to make a slightly bigger case, it could very well charge the AirPods and the watch.

The patent goes on to say, “Such devices can include, for example, portable music players (e.g., MP3 devices and Apple’s iPod devices), portable video players (e.g., portable DVD players), cellular telephones (e.g., smart telephones such as Apple’s iPhone devices), video cameras, digital still cameras, projection systems (e.g., holographic projection systems), gaming systems, PDAs, as well as tablet (e.g., Apple’s iPad devices), laptop (e.g. MacBooks) or other mobile computers. Some of these devices can be configured to provide audio, video or other data or sensory output.”

But in making a bigger case, Apple could risk the factor of portability. Of course, this is just a patent filing and it doesn’t mean that we are going to see an AirPods case with inductive charging anytime soon.

Publish date: April 10, 2017 1:11 pm| Modified date: April 10, 2017 1:11 pm

Amazon wants to build warehouses in the sky to store products

By tech2 News Staff /  30 Dec 2016 , 12:13

Amazon.com Inc has filed for a patent to use airships to store products and serve as a base for delivery-drones. The patent application was filed two years ago but was spotted only on Wednesday by Zoe Leavitt, an analyst at technology data and research firm CB Insights. According to the patent filing, drones launched from the so-called “airborne fulfillment centers” (AFCs) would use far less power than those launched from the ground.

The AFCs would hover at about 45,000 feet (13,700 meters) and be restocked and resupplied by “shuttles or smaller airships.” The AFC can function as an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), but the patent application includes a provision for shuttles to the airship. There is a known Airship with a dual configuration that can work as a manned or unmanned vehicle. The Airlander-10 crash landed, but the test flights were successfull. The Airlander-50 is a bigger version, specifically meant for lifting heavy cargo.

The drones on board the airship can use very little energy on their way down, which would help Amazon cut costs during delivery. The patent covers an inventory management system, and drones can also be used to ferry goods from one airship to another. Amazon, which was not immediately available for comment, has laid out plans to start using drones for deliveries next year.

With inputs from Reuters 

US Supreme Court to hear arguments in Apple vs Samsung patent and copyright dispute

Image: Getty Images

  10 Oct 2016 , 17:41

After five years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on Tuesday in the bitter patent dispute between the world’s two top smartphone manufacturers over the amount Samsung should pay Apple for copying the iPhone’s distinctive look.

The justices’ ruling, due by the end of June, could have a long-term impact for designers and product manufacturers going forward because the Supreme Court, if it agrees with Samsung, could limit the penalties for swiping a patented design.

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd paid Apple Inc $548.2 million last December, fulfilling part of its liability stemming from a 2012 verdict for infringing Apple’s iPhone patents and copying its look.

But Samsung will argue before the Supreme Court that it should not have had to make as much as $399 million of that payout for infringement of three patented designs on the iPhone’s rounded-corner front face, its bezel and the colorful grid of icons that represent programs and applications.

It will be the Supreme Court’s first case involving design patents in more than 120 years, when the products at issue were carpets and rugs.

Cupertino, California-based Apple sued its South Korean rival in 2011, claiming Samsung stole its technology and the iPhone’s trademarked appearance.

Samsung has said it should not have had to fork over all of its profits on phones that infringed the patents, which contributed only marginally to a complex product with thousands of patented features.

Apple has said Samsung was properly penalized for ripping off its work.

With the many years of fighting behind these fierce rivals, this case has become mostly about money, said Michael Risch, a professor at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law.

“The infringement has been affirmed, now it’s whether this huge judgment should be affirmed,” he said.

Risch joined a group of 50 university professors who filed a

Apple ordered to pay $302.4 million after losing patent retrial against VirnetX

  03 Oct 2016 , 12:27

A federal jury in Texas on Friday night ordered Apple Inc to pay more than $302 million in damages for using VirnetX Holding Corp’s patented internet security technology without permission in features including its FaceTime video conferencing application. The verdict came in a new trial in Tyler, Texas that had been ordered by the judge in the case, Robert Schroeder, who last August threw out VirnetX’s $625.6 million win over Apple from a previous trial because he said jurors in that case may have been confused.

VirnetX and Apple have been fighting over patents for years. The case began in 2010 when VirnetX, a Nevada-based patent licensor, filed suit in