13 posts and columns on invention

News Byte

Beauty and the Geek: Hedy Lamarr Remembered for Broadcasting Invention

in News on November 28, 2011 at 4:00 am PT

Historian Richard Rhodes wants to make sure Hedy Lamarr stays famous for more than just her looks. His new biography of the actress, out Tuesday, highlights her lesser-known scientific and intellectual side. In 1941, Lamarr was co-inventor of a “spread-spectrum radio” system, designed to better guide World War II torpedos while evading detection by randomly switching frequencies; it wasn’t used at the time, but became a precedent for modern wireless communications. Here’s an interview with Rhodes, from NPR.

A Schmidtstorm and More: 2010 in Pictures Photoshops

in Mobile on December 31, 2010 at 7:01 am PT

Looking back, 2010 “the year of” a lot of things–the tablet, the smartphone, the tweet and location. But it was also a year of complete silliness in tech. Because if you can’t laugh at Eric Schmidt telling critics of Google Street View to “just move,” Apple telling people that their grip–not the iPhone 4′s antenna–is faulty or Oracle’s “samurai CEO” Larry Ellison in a kimono, then, really, what’s the point?

Viral Video: "Despicable" See

in News on July 9, 2010 at 12:39 am PT

It’s a geek’s dream: Lots of cool gadgets and wacky inventions wielded by nerdy villains. That would be “Despicable Me,” an animated movie opening this week and starring Steve Carrell as Gru.

Confirmed: Intellectual Ventures Owns Smartphone Motion-Control Patent

in News on March 26, 2010 at 12:01 am PT

Patent #7,679,604, the broad motion-control patent I’ve been writing about all week, has passed through a number of hands over the years. First assigned to ArrayComm in 2006, it was subsequently handed over to Durham Logistics, a limited liability company that is itself managed by another obscure Las Vegas LLC called Memscom. But there’s one more company at the end of that oblique line of ownership: “Invention capital outfit” Intellectual Ventures.

New Motion Control Patent Could Shake Up Smartphone Industry

in Mobile on March 24, 2010 at 5:00 am PT

Here’s a potentially noteworthy development in the patent litigation-riddled mobile device market. Last week, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a very broad patent on motion-based smartphone control, one that could have significant implications for the industry.

Apple: At My Signal, Unleash Hell …

in Mobile on March 2, 2010 at 6:30 am PT

And there it is. Apple has filed suit against HTC, the manufacturer of a number of smartphones running Google’s Android OS, claiming the company infringed some 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone’s graphical user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.

The Entire D6 Interview With Intellectual Ventures' Nathan Myhrvold (3 of 3)

in News on September 19, 2008 at 11:12 am PT

We’re posting all the interviews from the sixth D: All Things Digital conference that took place in late May. Here is a video of an interview Walt Mossberg did with Nathan Myhrvold, founder and CEO of Intellectual Ventures. In it, Mossberg wrangles with the former Microsoft CTO and research guru over his controversial company, which is assembling a large body of patents and inventions. In this third part, Myhrvold takes questions from the audience.

The Entire D6 Interview With Intellectual Ventures' Nathan Myhrvold (2 of 3)

in News on September 18, 2008 at 11:13 am PT

We’re posting all the interviews from the sixth D: All Things Digital conference that took place in late May. Here is a video of an interview Walt Mossberg did with Nathan Myhrvold, Founder and CEO, Intellectual Ventures. In it, Mossberg wrangles with the former Microsoft CTO and research guru over his controversial company, which is assembling a large body of patents and inventions. In this post, Myhrvold talks about legendary inventor Thomas Edison and the history of patents and inventions, “invention capitalism,” the patenting of software and its abuse by tech giants, multi-touch technologies and where innovation will come from next.

The Entire D6 Interview With Intellectual Ventures' Nathan Myhrvold (1 of 3)

in News on September 17, 2008 at 4:42 pm PT

We’re posting all the interviews from the sixth D: All Things Digital conference that took place in late May. Here is a video of an interview Walt Mossberg did with Nathan Myhrvold, Founder and CEO, Intellectual Ventures. In it, Mossberg wrangles with the former Microsoft CTO and research guru over his controversial company, which is assembling a large body of patents and inventions. The Wall Street Journal wrote a piece today about Myhrvold’s efforts today, covering a lot of what he talked about at D6.