Apple patent points to 'pinch-to-zoom' replacement

Soon it may be easier to keep those fingerprints off your iPhone screen

Pinch-to-zoom may soon go the way of the original iPhone according to new patents filed by Apple with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office.
The new invention described in the paperwork (filed in May 2011) would use a sensor to determine the proximity of a user's face, and automatically zoom and focus what was on the screen accordingly.
The invention would come with two modes, comfort and zoom, which work as analogues to one another, and provide user's with a tailored viewing experience without having to touch the screen at all.

In your face!

The technology would use either a camera, infrared proximity sensor, or SONAR sensor to detect the closeness of a user's face to the display.
Calibration for the system would require the user to hold the applicable device at various distances while it gathered data to establish the proper display scale size as it pertained to that user.
The patent described the ability to potentially use facial recognition software to establish a better sense of distance, and thus provide more accurate reference data for the proper dynamic scaling.
Once all the test data was stored, the device would be able to more accurately provide readability and comfort to the user based on whatever mode was selected.

Comfort vs. zoom

Apple's invention features two different modes that offer variations on the same techniques.
As described by the patent paperwork, comfort mode is designed to "maintain the visual content at a comfortable size for the user regardless of how far the display is from the user's face."
If using the comfort mode, the content on screen would shrink as the user's face comes closer to the device, and would enlarge as the screen was moved further away.
Zoom works in the exact opposite fashion, and "provides a convenient way to zoom in and out of visual content."
As the screen is moved closer in zoom mode, content visible scales larger, with the on-screen content diminishing in size as it is moved farther away from the face.
Like any other patent, there's a chance this technology may never see the light of day.
Until Apple actually begins touting the technology as a feature in the next wave of iPhones or iPads, this auto-zoom will just remain a good idea we hope to see implemented soon.

Via AppleInsider, USPTO

Apple ordered to pay millions in FaceTime patent suit loss

Bummer

A U.S. court has ordered Apple to fork over $368 million (UK£231, AUD$353) to a U.S. company in a FaceTime patent dispute.
The prosecuting company - Connecticut-based VirnetX - claimed the FaceTime feature in several Apple devices infringes on patents owned by the firm.
VirnetX originally sought $708 million (UK£442, AUD$680) however it looks like, pending an appeal, it will have to settle for almost half.
Though Apple likely won't miss a few hundred million from its billions in quarterly profit, VirnetX's win potentially backs up a claim filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that could lead to a sales ban of some of Apple's most popular products.

FaceTime trouble

According to its website, VirnetX is an internet security software and technology company with patented technology for 4G LTE security.
Its court case centered on allegations that the FaceTime application on the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Mac computers violate four VirnetX patents registered between 2002 and 2011.
If Apple wanted to use its patents, VirnextX claimed, should have paid license fees for technologies that include a method of creating a secure communication link between different types of computers using Tunneled Agile Routing Protocol (TARP).

Viral VirnetX

In a somewhat snarky post-trial comment, VirnetX CEO Kendal Larsen stated in a press release that its win "further establishes the importance of our paten portfolio."
A VirnetX lawyer stated after the ruling that the company would file an order seeking to block "further use of its inventions."
The company has slung similar claims against Microsoft (it won $200 million/UK£125/AUD$192 in that 2010 case), Cisco, Siemens and other firms.
Apple, which denied infringement and maintained the technology covered in the patents is a small part of its systems, can appeal the decision.

Via BBC, Bloomberg