Friday, January 13, 2012

Apple 3D breakthrough? Should Apple's new 3D GUI IPR for iOS worry other vendors?

STORY via Patently Apple >>

I've been trying to follow mobile 3D developments for quite many years now. This is no sudden technology disruption: 3D has been around for more than 50 years and there's no doubt at some point some company will get this right. As opposed to television sets, individual-user 3D-enabled handheld devices have the advantage of only have to cater to one single user, so it's more appropriate for glasses-free 3D viewing.

There have been a few handsets on the market supporting 3D content, but the first mainstream handheld electronic gadget is probably Nintendo's 3DS. I've tried the 3DS a few times. I'll reserve judgement here as I understand I'm not the core addressable audience for the device. But to go mainstream in handsets, some company is going to have to do better in 3D.

Will that company be Apple?

Apple has filed a number of 3D-related patents over the past few years. If you work at a large handset company, I recommend your IPR department do their research here.

Here's some new info via the very useful site Patently Apple on a new 3D GUI patent applications for iOS. Stick-figure drawings in patents aren't always so clear,
patent application from Apple that reveals an exciting new 3D GUI for iOS mobile devices.

The patent covers the use of device sensors such as gyro sensors to adjust the 3D display. I would think that this isn't the only patent out there covering this general approach and it will be interesting to see who gets to market first with a 3D smartphone with a real WOW effect.

3D will be coming someday. It might even be holograms. But some company will get this right. Get ready to stick out in a crowded marketplace full of look-alike products.

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