The Apple Beat: Apple's back in the news, but not for new products

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Apple's been a hot topic of late but not because of any new products or services. Sure, the new MacBook Airs have arrived and now offer even better battery life thanks to newer Intel processors. The biggest Apple news this past week was the company's stock surging to over $600 a share, the new addition of Burberry Wunderkind Angela Arhendts as the new Senior VP for Retail, as well as Apple winning the long-contested patent lawsuit against supplier and arch-rival Samsung.

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New Nokia patent to allow gesture recognition that starts or ends outside the screen

A new patent filed by Nokia will reportedly allow future devices to recognize gestures that start or end outside of the touch screen. According to WMpoweruser, the gesture capability can be used to dial numbers, launch search inside apps or for universal search, and open applications. Hopefully this feature comes out soon so we can try it out ourselves.

New Google patent aims to offer free taxi rides for online shoppers to stores

Google is imaging a new method to entice online shoppers to head over to retail stores. The tech giant recently received a patent that is meant to develop means for online ads that can offer consumers free taxi rides to actual stores in order to avail certain promotions. According to The Verge, this concept can involve various software algorithms and even Google’s self-driving cars. A “get me there” button could appear near the ad and trigger a ride. However, the trick will be getting the right customer and not just someone who would just want to take a free ride to the store.

Google says in the patent filing, “The invention involves automatically comparing the cost of transportation and the potential profit from a completed transaction using a number of real-time calculations.”

Google and Samsung enter 10-year patent licensing agreement

Google and Samsung have entered an agreement to license their patents over the next decade. The move is seen to help speed up product development and research and lessen any future patent lawsuits. Looks like Samsung wants to stay in Google’s good graces even as the company develops its own operating system and Google acknowledges the importance of Samsung devices for the Android market.

Source: Samsung Tomorrow