I have to admit that Apple has had a brilliant idea – again – with the iPhone apps initiative. For the user it is perfect: buy and download an application for just 79 cents. If the app is crap then the wasted 79 cents are not going cost a minute of sleep. It is even so cheap that people buy lots and lots of fun application, i.e. apps with no real purpose but to create a smile on your face.
And that is what makes it the perfect platform for hobby developers. Create an application that people want to try out. It does not have to be full of high tech functions, but must appeal to the inexperienced iPhone user. And because the buyers are in a buying mood right now, chances are not bad that such an application will be downloaded a thousand or a million times worldwide. With a sales revenue of 70% this platform can be the chance for a lot of clever people to become millionaires. Fast.
(English text below)
Gerade macht das Schlagwort „Intelligent Object Recognition“ im Internet die Runde und war eine Zeit lang sogar in der Top Ten bei Twitter (hier die Meldung). Warum? Vermutlich weil es etwas mit dem iPhone zu tun hat und damit natürlich sofort als cool gilt.
Aber was verbirgt sich dahinter? Es wurde ein Patent von Apple öffentlich (US Patent Application Number 20090175499, Volltext) in welchem diese sich Folgendes haben schützen lassen: eine Methode einem Nutzer mit einem mobilen Gerät Informationen über ein Objekt zu verschaffen, wobei die Information in Echtzeit aus einer externen Datenquelle besorgt wird.
Das Original:
A method of providing a user with information related to an object in real time comprising:identifying the object with a portable electronic device;establishing a communications channel with an external source;searching for information related to the identified object on the external source,acquiring the information via the communications channel; andenabling the user to access at least a portion of the information on the portable electronics device.
Wenn dieses Patent bestand hat, hat sich Apple gerade das Internet der Dinge patentiert. Denn was ist dieser Ansatz anderes als Information über Dinge bereit zu halten? Dies könnte zwar dem Ansatz einen gewaltigen Schub geben (allein schon wegen des Apple-Coolness-Faktors), aber wenn Apple anfängt Lizenzgebüren zu verlangen könnte das auch ganz schnell das Ende der kostenlosen Services sein. (Persönlich denke ich ja, dass das die Idee nicht patentierbar ist, da sie Stand der Technik ist.) (Abbildungen aus www.semprom.org und http://mashable.com/2009/07/10/iphone-object-recognition/; http://vicos.fri.uni-lj.si/projects/mobvis/. Copyright wird von den entsprechenden Eigentümern gehalten.)
Intelligent Object Recognistion with iPhone———
In English:
Right now „Intelligent Object Recognition“ is one of the top keywords on Twitter (here the news). Why? Probably because it has something to do with the iPhone which makes it cool, automatically.
But what does it mean? A US patent has been published (US Patent Application Number 20090175499, complete text) in which Apple patented the following: a method of of providing a user with information related to an Object, whereby this information is retrieved in real-time from an external database.
The original:
A method of providing a user with information related to an object in real time comprising:identifying the object with a portable electronic device;establishing a communications channel with an external source;searching for information related to the identified object on the external source,acquiring the information via the communications channel; andenabling the user to access at least a portion of the information on the portable electronics device.
If this patent is legitimate then Apple pretty much just patented the Internet of Things. Because, providing the user with information about an object is what the Internet of Things is all about. On the one hand this could get really things going (just think of the build-in Apple-Coolness-Factor), but if Apple starts demanding license fees this could be the end of the free service. (Personally, I think the idea cannot be patented, because it is already state of the art. See above picture.)
(Pictures with www.semprom.org und http://mashable.com/2009/07/10/iphone-object-recognition/; http://vicos.fri.uni-lj.si/projects/mobvis/. Copyright belongs to the respective owners.)
(English text below)