Communication Breakdown

Three patent applications made by Apple were published on Thursday, covering technologies including haptics, fingerprint recognition and RFID.

The haptic feedback patent, if approved, would bring the iPhone (and possibly other Apple devices) in line with rival handsets, which already provide localised tactile feedback in, for example, an on-screen soft keyboard.

The fingerprint recognition patent is not really to do with authentication and security, but rather for identifying which fingers are in use, so as to associate different functions with different digits.

The RFID reader patent would see RFID-communicating circuitry integrated with the circuitry behind the touchscreen itself.

All the above are just applications, though, so it could be a long while before we see any of this functionality built into iPhones or other Apple devices.

A Californian law firm is looking for potential plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit over laptop makers' battery life claims.

Girard Gibbs has put up a webpage referring to AMD's claims that "many laptop battery manufacturers calculate battery life based on a misleading test that is conducted by running computers at low energy levels, resulting in seemingly larger life span numbers".

"If you believe that your laptop battery has a shorter life span than what was advertised or represented to you, or if you would like to learn more about our investigation, please fill out the form on the right for a free consultation," the law firm urges.

Girard Gibbs says it has, in the past, achieved "significant recoveries" from companies including Apple, Sony BMG, MCI, AT&T, Mitsubishi, BMW, Whirlpool, America Online, and Paypal.

The world is rejoicing today at the news that we will all be getting a single mobile phone charger, using microUSB.

Personally, I'm delighted at the news — as delighted as I was the first time it was announced (in 2007) and the second (earlier this year).

OK, to be fair, today's new news is that the EU likes the scheme, but that's not particularly pertinent — the downside for phone manufacturers is that they will irk peripherals makers by adopting a non-proprietary standard, but that's significantly outweighed by the benefits of lower shipping costs (through using smaller boxes with no chargers) and loud claims of greenness. The industry was going to do it anyway, EU or no EU.

What is interesting about today's announcement is the inclusion of Apple on the list of compliant companies. According to Apple: "As we've said in the past, we are committed to the Apple dock connector and this initiative will not require us to change it. Today's memorandum gives manufacturers the option to provide an adapter that connects with the universal charger."

So, an adapter for Apple then. Better than a full-size charger, I suppose, but it does still mean an extra thingummy to carry around...

Apple has almost tripled its stake in the Hertfordshire-based company Imagination Technologies, which provides graphics technology for the iPhone.

On Friday, Imagination sold 2.2m shares to Apple. Added to another 11.5m shares bought on the open market around the same time, Apple now has a stake of around 9 percent in Imagination — it first bought shares in the company last December, when it paid £3.2m for a 3.6 percent stake.

Apple's investment in Imagination is, however, much less than that of Intel — earlier this month, Intel increased its own stake to around 16 percent.

In both Apple and Intel's cases, many of the acquired shares are believed to have come from Imagination's major backer, the currently debt-ridden Saudi investment firm Saad.

Last week, Intel announced it was teaming up with Nokia in a major push into the handheld computing market, taking it up against rivals including Apple.

EBay's intended spin-off of Skype as a new public company could be threatened by a dispute between Skype's founders and the internet telephony firm's parent.

The online auction giant intends to launch an IPO for Skype in 2010. However, according to a report in Bloomberg, Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis (through their new company Joltid) have accused eBay of breaking terms of a licensing deal.

The Skype founders apparently still own key technology that the platform needs to function, and they are threatening to withdraw that technology — which would disable Skype.

EBay has sued Friis and Zennstrom to stop this happening, according to Bloomberg. The argument could either sink the IPO or cause it to raise much less money than hoped for, lawyers quoted in the piece say.

It is not yet clear precisely what integral technology eBay failed to buy when it picked up Skype for $2.6bn four years ago.