
Apple looks to protect dropped iPhones by shifting their orientation mid-flight - xmpir
http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=12&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=%28apple.AS.+AND+20130321.PD.%29&OS=an/apple+and+pd/3/21/2013&RS=%28AN/apple+AND+PD/20130321%29
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Lost_BiomedE
Seriously, just allow the battery to eject on impact. The problem was solved;
then apple made the problem again by having a non-removable battery.

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gk1
Wow, I never realized this... So interesting!

I remember tossing my Nokia 3310 to a friend, and I completely overshot him.
It hit a cement wall and just blew apart (disassembled) into several parts.
After I pieced it back together I couldn't believe that it still worked. Try
that with an iPhone...

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speeder
I had a Nokia phone that had a flip, forgot the model name.

Once I dropped it from 4 stories high in a shopping center, parts flew
everywhere, even parts that were supposed to be glued got unglued and flew.

But the flip got no damage, neither the screen... I went around picking the
parts and assembling the phone again, interestingly one glued part was seemly
hold in place only by the glue, but I noticed that if I twisted it only
slighly, it would fit in place, and stay put, with the tension holding it in
place without looking ugly, just awesome engineering.

After I assembled it entirely again, it worked fine, like if nothing happened,
the only thing that could hint the accident was that any minor impact now made
it fall apart again (because the formely glued parts now being held in place
by tension).

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StavrosK
I wonder if we'll get a deluge of jokes about which side a buttered iPhone
would fall on.

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fyolnish
Well, it wouldn't be much of a joke since this patent makes it predictable.

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StavrosK
But the claim is the butter also makes it predictable, since "toast always
lands buttered side down".

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Lexarius
After toasting the iPhone, its electronics should no longer be in working
order, so only the butter should be exerting its orientation preference.

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moe
Wouldn't it be more effective to deploy a small parachute?

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ChuckMcM
No, the amount of surface area the parachute would need would in order to
apply sufficient braking force in time would be too large.

That said, a bumper case where the "bumper" was an airbag would be eminently
practical. If the phone could notify the case that it had been falling "too
long" (which is to say the phone now believes it is travelling too fast to
resist damage) a small electrical trigger to activate a chemical reaction and
inflate a bumper cases 'edges' to 10x their size would effectively prevent any
damage for most situations. Unlike the parachute the energy absorbing effects
of airbags are available nearly instantly.

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xmpir
here is a more readable article:
[http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/03/21/apple-looks-to-
pro...](http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/03/21/apple-looks-to-protect-
dropped-iphones-by-shifting-their-orientation-mid-flight)

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taylodl
I suppose if you can keep the device from falling on a corner then you're
good. That seems to be the worst-case scenario. It'll probably be a couple
years before we see this in any of their devices.

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ck2
Is apple trying to patent a gyroscope?

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cududa
No, they're trying to patent a system in which one component is a gyroscope.
They reference previous patents related to gyroscopes - if you bothered to
look at the application.

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outside1234
Or they could actually design the iPhone to actually have enough metal and
thick enough glass.

I've dropped my Samsung Nexus S a hundred times without damage. Just saying.

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gilesvangruisen
iPhone Cat coming soon.

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nevi-me
iCat Phone coming soon too

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xmpir
i wonder if this will be implemented...

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bonzoesc
I doubt it. They're trying to patent this because the economic incentive is to
patent everything regardless of if you plan to use it.

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stcredzero
Says something about patents and their effect on society, doesn't it?

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andreyf
He just did?

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stcredzero
The gp commenter just said something about the company's motivations for
patenting. I expanded it by pointing out the implications for society in
general when all companies do that. (Kantian imperative)

Yet another way to think about it: It turns IP into a zero-sum game, where it
should be a positive-sum game.

