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Apple Files Patent for OS Embedded Advertising

Jason Barry — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:32:15 -0500

Steve Jobs has submitted one of the most devious patents of all time: operating system advertising. That’s right, according to the patent, Jobs wants you looking at ads embedded right into your operating system.

To take it one-step further, the patent attorneys who filed the application did their due diligence making sure every aspect and use of the "innovation" was outlined in detail. This passage sheds a little light on just how invasive and annoying this could be:

“The operating system is configured to present one or more of the advertisements to users of the computer device. In some implementations, the operating system can disable one or more functions during the presentation of the advertisements and then enable the function(s) in response to the advertisements ending. That is, the operating system can disable some aspect of its operation to prompt the operator to pay attention to the advertisement.”

Not only are they going to put ads in front of your face, they are going to do everything in their power to make you pay attention to them. This basically says they would go as far as crippling the device while the ad is displaying. Further, in the application they talk about measures to verify user presence, such as user confirmations throughout the ad.

The application makes careful notation not to distinguish its platform so that this technology could be used on any device, i.e. “portable and desktop computers, servers, electronics, media players, game devices, mobile phones, wireless devices, email devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), embedded devices, televisions, set top boxes, etc” per the filing.

Would Apple be foolish enough to implement this?

Not an actual demonstration.

Prisoner Sues Intel and Jobs Claiming They Stole Virtualization Technology

Paul Lilly — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:41:13 -0600

According to Mathhew Robert Young, a state prisoner at the Snake River Correctional Institution in Oregon, he's the one responsible for virtualization technology (VT), which was stolen from him by both Steve Jobs and Intel. Young says he told Jobs about the technology, and when Jobs never responded to an alleged offer to buy the intellectual property for $250 million, Young pitched it to Intel, allowing the chip maker to make VT work with its Core 2 Duo processors. In a civil action suit filed with the U.S. District Court in Oregon, Young says he's entitled to $5 billion and claims he can prove his allegations with a live demonstration.

"Pro se plaintiff is the only person in the world at present who knows how to make both the [Core-2 Duo micro processor, and the Virtual Technology] work, and pro se plaintiff can in fact come before this U S District Court and prove it by a factual DEMONSTRATION," and that "plaintiff declares here that this action is a JUST cause, and not for harassment purposes," Young wrote in his court filing.

In a separate but perhaps related matter (and by 'perhaps,' we really mean 'definitely'), Young is also claiming he is being "unlawfully held and restrained of his liberty and freedom in the Snake River Correctional Institution," which has also been brought to civil action.

iFrail: Steve Jobs Suffering from Hormone Imbalance

Pulkit Chandna — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:17:34 -0600

Steve Jobs' health has been a cause of great speculation in recent days. Most conjectures pointed at sickness of some sort or the other, though the gravity of the purported illness swayed wildly in each theory. Perhaps fearing that the rumors would eventually dent the spirits of investors, Steve Jobs broke his silence by issuing a statement detailing the current state of his health.

Jobs acknowledged that he is suffering from a hormone imbalance that sends proteins level in a patient's body plummeting. His doctors believe that it will take him until spring to recover fully. His unnamed ailment closely resembles Crohn’s Disease, which impacts the upper intestine, according to a report. One thing is for certain that Apple aficionados must be amassing more information on the Crohn’s disease - few might even be working on a more effective cure.

Apple investors and fans must be feeling a lot better after receiving official word on Jobs’ health. Perhaps Jobs felt that had he delayed an official statement any further it could have opened the door wide open for wilder speculation. After all, it was only a few months ago that his obituary was published. We wish him a speedy recovery.

U.S Justice Department Spares Steve Jobs et al in Stock Backdating Case

Pulkit Chandna — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:20:40 -0500

Earlier this month, we reported that disgruntled Apple shareholders had filed a class-action suit against Steve Jobs and other Apple bigwigs. They had alleged that the defendants including Steve Jobs were complicit in the backdating of stocks from 1997 till 2001 and had benefited from it wrongfully - at the expense of poor shareholders.

But the U.S Justice Department has decided against pursuing the allegations against Jobs and Co. Previously, an internal probe at Apple and an SEC inquest had both given a clean chit to Steve Jobs in this matter.

Image Credit: ShanaLogic

Steve Jobs and Other Apple Honchos Face Serious Fraud Charges

Pulkit Chandna — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:21:32 -0500

The ghosts from Apple’s past have returned to haunt the company. A couple of years ago, an internal inquest was launched into the alleged backdating of stock options grants at Apple made between 1997 and 2001. The investigation uncovered several irregularities - and forgeries - that eventually prompted the Securities and Exchange Commission to step in.

Although SEC filed charges against then Apple CFO Fred D. Anderson and general counsel Nancy R. Heinen, the company’s top brass including Steve Jobs were given the clean chit and lauded for their cooperation in the investigation.

However, disgruntled Apple stockholders Martin Vogel and Kenneth Mahoney believe there is more to the stock-option-backdating story than what met SEC’ keen eye. a class-action suit against Apple CEO Steve Jobs, already beleaguered Anderson and Heinen, and four others from the Board of Directors.

The plaintiffs alleged that Apple’s blue-eyed boy Steve Jobs was the beneficiary of one such backdated stock option and profited to the tune of $20 million, and that Apple’s account department didn’t deem it necessary to record this spending in their books.

Also up for legal debate will be the catastrophic decline in Apple stocks – that wiped $7 billion in share value within two weeks – after Apple’s announcement of the internal investigation and whether shareholders deserve to be redressed for it.

Image Credit: Gear Fuse

Over 5 billion Songs Sold on iTunes

Pulkit Chandna — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:41:36 -0500

iTunes has registered more than 5 billion song downloads hitherto and has also emerged as the most frequented online movie store in the world. The increasing popularity of digital distribution channels like iTunes points to the end of the storage-media era - perhaps good riddance.

Apple Ceo Steve Jobs, who himself is a digital distribution champion, must be happy with the fact that iTunes is pioneering the digital distribution revolution. Movie buffs are renting and purchasing 50,000 films every single day from iTunes to go with the amazing feat of 5 billion song downloads.

iTunes is Apple's golden goose and Steve Jobs, by the look of it, the fabled King Midas.

Image credit: Richard Foley