1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

News Apple patents multi-function solar laptop casing

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Gareth Halfacree, 29 Jan 2014.

  1. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

    Joined:
    4 Dec 2007
    Posts:
    17,428
    Likes Received:
    7,278
  2. BlackRaven

    BlackRaven Freaking printers!

    Joined:
    20 Feb 2010
    Posts:
    89
    Likes Received:
    0
    How do they give a patent based on a document that keeps repeating the word "may"?
     
  3. samkiller42

    samkiller42 For i AM Cheesecake!!

    Joined:
    25 Apr 2006
    Posts:
    6,855
    Likes Received:
    681
    So, how long before Samsung or another companies develops something similar? Or, Another small unheard of company speaks up and claims they did it first??

    Sam
     
  4. raxonb

    raxonb Minimodder

    Joined:
    5 May 2009
    Posts:
    247
    Likes Received:
    7
    "By charging the battery with battery charging power"...for the hard-of-thinking, fair enough. And for the people who buy anything Apple: "The iBright iLight in the iSky iSends iMagical iInvisible iEnergy iFairies to make your i(Enter product here) switch on and make iSounds and flash iLights"
     
  5. DriftCarl

    DriftCarl Minimodder

    Joined:
    2 Nov 2004
    Posts:
    602
    Likes Received:
    12
    OK so I have never heard of the solar cells being incorporated into a display screen before. So I give apple that. But solar charging portable devices is nothing new. I hope apple don't try and say they have the exclusive patent to solar charge any laptop.
    Remember apple, you have patented the specific technology, but you HAVE NOT patented the idea, so please don't try to bully everyone else into paying you silly amounts of money.
     
  6. Bede

    Bede Minimodder

    Joined:
    30 Sep 2007
    Posts:
    1,340
    Likes Received:
    40
    It's a gimmick until solar tech is vastly improved. I'd love to see solar-powered consumer laptops, but the fact is that good solar panels are expensive, fragile and still not good enough.
     
  7. RichCreedy

    RichCreedy Hey What Who

    Joined:
    24 Apr 2009
    Posts:
    4,698
    Likes Received:
    172
    if they don't produce this themselves within 5 yrs it should be null and void
     
  8. badders

    badders Neuken in de Keuken

    Joined:
    4 Dec 2007
    Posts:
    2,642
    Likes Received:
    74
    Hmm, seems like the Sol Laptop is doing a similar thing, though currently looks like vaourware as nothing's been released to Market yet : http://solaptop.com/en/
     
  9. rollo

    rollo Modder

    Joined:
    16 May 2008
    Posts:
    7,887
    Likes Received:
    131
    Welcome to the wonderful world of USA patents.

    On a different note Samsung and Apple patent 1000s of things a year are we gonna get updates on each and everyone these days?
     
  10. Stormwulf

    Stormwulf A mod to far?

    Joined:
    5 Mar 2009
    Posts:
    42
    Likes Received:
    1
    Agreed 100%

    I've been saying they should add solar tech to portable devices to extend battery life for years. Not a question of how practical the charge would be in everyday life , more to do with people in areas/situations where they can't get to a power supply for whatever reason in an emergency situation having an alternative method of getting some power into a device to call for aid.
    If it were added it would also drive manufacturers to invest in producing more efficient photovoltaic cells which could benefit everyone in the longer term.
     
  11. Guinevere

    Guinevere Mega Mom

    Joined:
    8 May 2010
    Posts:
    2,484
    Likes Received:
    176
    I don't think it is doing anything as anyone can see from that website it's nothing but a rendering of a product that has never and never will reach even prototype stages.

    Plus Apple's patent is not for a laptop with a solar panel bolted to it, it's for a crazy gestalt screen combining every bit of tech they have access to at the moment.

    They're not going to build this, I don't think they want to even build it. They're just patenting the idea to cover their bases.

    Tech companies do this all the damn time. Apple files a lot of 'just in case' patents.

    And Apple haters... Apple isn't alone in this! Just because the entire interweb is OBSESSED with Apple and the patents it files and owns, that doesn't mean they are the worst offenders.
     
  12. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

    Joined:
    4 Dec 2007
    Posts:
    17,428
    Likes Received:
    7,278
    If they're as interesting and innovative as Apple's proposed multi-function laptop casing, then yes. Yes, you will.

    Much like when we told you about Sony's anti-piracy patent, in fact; or Microsoft's AR glasses patent; or its GPU encoding patent; or Apple's anti-jailbreak patent; or HTC's dual-screen patent; or Amazon's boxing videos patent; or Apple's signet patent; or Kaspersky's hardware anti-virus patent; or Samsung's touch-sensitive AMOLED patent; or Microsoft's novel on-screen keyboard patent; or its more annoying advert-based CAPTCHA patent; or Nokia's controller fabric patent; or... Well, you get the idea.
     
  13. rollo

    rollo Modder

    Joined:
    16 May 2008
    Posts:
    7,887
    Likes Received:
    131
    Sounds good Gareth.
     
  14. RichCreedy

    RichCreedy Hey What Who

    Joined:
    24 Apr 2009
    Posts:
    4,698
    Likes Received:
    172
    i'm not an apple hater, I think all patents should have a maximum 5yr development stage, after which if no product is forthcoming, the patent is null and void.
     
  15. schmidtbag

    schmidtbag What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    30 Jul 2010
    Posts:
    1,082
    Likes Received:
    10
    Good idea in principle but who is going to check up on it? What if the product is still in development, and if so, how do you prove progression?
     
  16. sakzzz

    sakzzz Minimodder

    Joined:
    13 May 2009
    Posts:
    244
    Likes Received:
    11
    Thats the fundamental difference between patents granted in USA vs Europe. USA- you can patent a concept whereas here the claim needs to be backed up by physical evidence.
     
  17. AlienwareAndy

    AlienwareAndy What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    7 Dec 2009
    Posts:
    3,420
    Likes Received:
    70
    Yes I can see laptop users sitting outside in the sun in order to get a little extra battery life...
     
  18. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

    Joined:
    4 Dec 2007
    Posts:
    17,428
    Likes Received:
    7,278
    Boosts battery life and helps users get their daily dose of vitamin D. What's not to like? Mind you, Apple better bundle some free suncream with each laptop sold - don't want a class action from melanoma sufferers...
     
  19. DC74

    DC74 Doh!

    Joined:
    4 Jan 2011
    Posts:
    71
    Likes Received:
    2
    Putting Solar panels in the casing of anything isn't an original idea, they've been doing it with Solar powered cars and boats for years. You can hardly patent that as everyone has been doing it. Another idea that apple claims to have invented and will sue anyone to the nth degree to protect.

    That company is less about innovation and more about litigation these days. If they spent as much money on R&D as they do on lawyers they might have something more original and inventive to show us.
     
  20. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

    Joined:
    4 Dec 2007
    Posts:
    17,428
    Likes Received:
    7,278
    Read the patent, or even just the article. Heck, even the title makes it clear that Apple is not simply attempting to patent "a normal thing but with solar panels stuck to it:" "Apple patents multi-function solar laptop casing."

    I know it's cool to hate Apple, but this is a genuinely pro-Apple story: the company's come up with an excellent concept. Now, I'm not a fan of patents in general, so there's that, but Apple is hardly alone in patenting every little idea that passes through its R&D department just in case. Hell, I'd buy one - assuming I could afford it, of course...
     

Share This Page