First iPhone unlocking service ‘days away’

Unlocking a phone, or the selling of a service to unlock a phone, is not illegal in the UK, according to Ofcom.

Two websites are vying to offer the first commercial service for unlocking Apple’s iPhone so that the device can be used outside the US in Europe and elsewhere.

The “unlocks”, which would be bought as a piece of downloadable software over the internet, will enable the phone to be connected to any network in “multiple countries”, the sites claim.

So far the iPhone is only available in the US on AT&T, but in the past two months a number of hackers have posted details on the internet of how to unlock the phone, meaning that it need not be tied to any particular network.

The latest offerings differ in that they do not require any sophisticated equipment – only a single download – and will appeal to owners of the phone in Britain and elsewhere who have bought the phone in the US and are keen to insert their existing SIM card.

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Apple patents “wide touchpad” for notebooks

Cupertino (CA) – Apple has received a patent for a touchpad that basically extends for the entire length of a notebook computer, adding to a series of related patents expected to make their way to future MacBooks.

As the patent notes, most laptop computers have a very small touchpad so the surrounding area of empty space can be used to rest the user’s palms. The new idea from Apple would be to have this empty space filled with a much wider touchpad.

The patent calls it a touch pad with “a width that extends substantially into the palm rests areas.”

Apple claims the technology could be used to decipher what kind of input is being made on the touchpad, “to either accept the contact as an intentional input command (e.g., cursor control command), or reject the contact as unintentional (e.g., when operating as a palm rest).”

It seems to go hand in hand with another Apple patent that has been making waves in the portable computing market, a multi-touch input device that can determine where the user’s touch is in relation to the entire touchpad and how much pressure is being exerted.

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Apple patents “wide touchpad” for notebooks

Cupertino (CA) – Apple has received a patent for a touchpad that basically extends for the entire length of a notebook computer, adding to a series of related patents expected to make their way to future MacBooks.

As the patent notes, most laptop computers have a very small touchpad so the surrounding area of empty space can be used to rest the user’s palms. The new idea from Apple would be to have this empty space filled with a much wider touchpad.

The patent calls it a touch pad with “a width that extends substantially into the palm rests areas.”

Apple claims the technology could be used to decipher what kind of input is being made on the touchpad, “to either accept the contact as an intentional input command (e.g., cursor control command), or reject the contact as unintentional (e.g., when operating as a palm rest).”

It seems to go hand in hand with another Apple patent that has been making waves in the portable computing market, a multi-touch input device that can determine where the user’s touch is in relation to the entire touchpad and how much pressure is being exerted.

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Microsoft Disputes FCC’s Rejection of Web Devices That Use TV Airwaves

Today Microsoft plans to try to convince regulators that it can connect consumers to high-speed Internet over unused television airwaves without interfering with existing broadcasts.

In a document that it plans to file today with the Federal Communications Commission, Microsoft disputes the agency’s recent findings that prototype devices either interfered with TV signals or could not detect them to avoid interference. Microsoft’s first prototype was defective, but the firm said another model worked successfully in a demonstration it gave to the FCC last week.

The filing is Microsoft’s latest attempt to get FCC commissioners to approve a plan that would let a new generation of portable wireless devices connect to the Internet without relying on existing wireless carriers. The devices in question, which were designed and made by Microsoft, would use vacant TV airwaves, known as white space, to carry Internet service to homes and offices, including those in rural areas. The airwaves will be available when TV broadcasters move to digital signals in early 2009.

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Microsoft Disputes FCC’s Rejection of Web Devices That Use TV Airwaves

Today Microsoft plans to try to convince regulators that it can connect consumers to high-speed Internet over unused television airwaves without interfering with existing broadcasts.

In a document that it plans to file today with the Federal Communications Commission, Microsoft disputes the agency’s recent findings that prototype devices either interfered with TV signals or could not detect them to avoid interference. Microsoft’s first prototype was defective, but the firm said another model worked successfully in a demonstration it gave to the FCC last week.

The filing is Microsoft’s latest attempt to get FCC commissioners to approve a plan that would let a new generation of portable wireless devices connect to the Internet without relying on existing wireless carriers. The devices in question, which were designed and made by Microsoft, would use vacant TV airwaves, known as white space, to carry Internet service to homes and offices, including those in rural areas. The airwaves will be available when TV broadcasters move to digital signals in early 2009.

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