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Daily Crunch: Periodic
Proview Thwarted In Chinese iPad Trademark Suit, Brings Case To U.S. Shores
Apple Patent Application Details Ultra-Flat Keyboard
The Tale Of A Wolfram Research Co-founder And His Beloved “Periodic Table Table” [Video]
These iOS vs. Android Flame Wars Have To Stop
NPD: Apple Still Leads Tablet Shipments, But The Fight For Second Place Rages On
NVIDIA Rebrands The Tegra 3′s Architecture, Wants Everyone To Now Call It A 4-Plus-1 SoC
NPD: Apple Still On Top In Mobile PC Shipments, But HP Takes The Cake In Notebooks

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 01:00 AM PST

Here are some of yesterday’s posts on TechCrunch Gadgets:

The Tale Of A Wolfram Research Co-founder And His Beloved "Periodic Table Table" [Video]

NVIDIA Rebrands The Tegra 3′s Architecture, Wants Everyone To Now Call It A 4-Plus-1 SoC

Proview Thwarted In Chinese iPad Trademark Suit, Brings Case To U.S. Shores

These iOS vs. Android Flame Wars Have To Stop

Proview Thwarted In Chinese iPad Trademark Suit, Brings Case To U.S. Shores

Posted: 23 Feb 2012 06:05 PM PST

The dispute between Apple and Proview over the “iPad” trademark has just gotten a lot more domestic. Proview, which owned the “iPad” trademark in several countries until they sold the rights to Apple, has been alleging shenanigans, specifically that part of the company never authorized the sale. Apple, for their part, says that everything is in order, and they have the signatures of the recalcitrant Shenzhen branch of Proview to prove it.

A Chinese court found that while the ownership of the trademark was not yet able to be settled, there wasn’t enough evidence to support a sales ban on the iPad. But now Proview has brought the court to California, alleging that Apple defrauded them of the trademark by approaching them as a fictional company: IP Application Development Ltd., or IPAD Ltd.

IPAD Ltd apparently applied to Proview for the trademark as an abbreviation of its name, and promised future products wouldn’t compete with Proview’s. If true, this is a fairly serious offense, and Apple’s ownership of the trademark could be overturned. The legitimacy of the emails (which the Wall Street Journal claims to have seen) will surely be contested, but if it’s all on the record, it could be curtains for the iPad in China — at least, unless Apple wants to pay Proview’s extortionate fees for the privilege.

The suit was filed in California on the 17th, and the China case was suspended yesterday. There is no word on when the U.S. case will go to court.

Apple Patent Application Details Ultra-Flat Keyboard

Posted: 23 Feb 2012 05:16 PM PST

An interesting patent application from Apple has just been made public, and it looks like one that may actually get some use (and seems like a “legitimate” patent, to boot). It has to do with a new mechanism for keyboard keys, one that loses much of the depth necessary in mechanical or scissor-switch mechanisms, yet purportedly doesn’t sacrifice the tactile feel we all crave from a keyboard.

Most compact keyboards use a scissor-switch mechanism, which is generally a hinged affair with a scissor-like attachment between struts that offer resistance, and push the key back upwards. They’re not quite as big and comfortable (and clicky) as mechanical keyboards, which have a larger spring mechanism, but they suffice if they’re built well. In a mechanical keyboard, the key may travel 4 or 5 millimeters up and down. In a scissor-switch key, it might go 1.5-2.0mm.

Apple proposes a totally new type of keydown mechanism — one that does without the symmetrical-spring design we’ve been using for so long. Instead of a couple hinged arms pushing directly against the key-pressing pressure, the key would be the end of a longer tongue of metal attached firmly somewhat further up the keyboard. When you press down on the key, the metal bends and hits the mechanical sensor that sends a keydown signal to the computer. The result? The key now travels as little as 0.2mm.

Now, naturally, everyone will (and should) object that such a short key travel can’t possibly be comfortable. Apple is aware of this:

The skilled artisan will appreciate that it is desirable to make the keyboard (and computing device) thinner, but users still want the tactile feel to which users are accustomed. It is desirable for the keys to have some "bounce-back" or "snappy" feel. As can be appreciated by the skilled artisan, substantially flat keyboards, such as membrane keyboards, do not provide the tactile feel that is desirable for a keyboard. Similarly, simply reducing the travel of a typical rubber dome scissor-switch keyboard also reduces the tactile or "snappy" feel that a conventional dome-switch keyboard provides.

But they claim that by using a metal collapsing dome (the part that must be pushed down fully to cause the switch to activate) and an “elastomeric spacer”, combined with the natural resistance of the metal lever the user bending, they are able to provide a comfortable tactile experience while still losing a millimeter or two off the depth.

Then there’s the business of making sure they can fit all these metal levers next to each other in a keyboard configuration, which they seem to have nailed down. All told, it looks like quite a brilliant design. But will we see it in practice soon?

The patent was filed for in August of 2010, so it’s not like they just thought this up yesterday — and the MacBook Air’s design hasn’t changed significantly since it came out. It might be due. But it’s also possible that this design was filed, tested, and found wanting. Even the best designs can fail in the real world; perhaps no metal was suitable or inexpensive enough for the lever construction. Or maybe they tended to fail far earlier than existing keyboards.

We’re expecting a serious makeover for the Air and MacBook Pro lines this year, and this could very well be one of the features. But until it’s announced by Apple (or leaked by an unscrupulous supplier), it’s still just pie in the sky.

[via Apple Insider]

The Tale Of A Wolfram Research Co-founder And His Beloved “Periodic Table Table” [Video]

Posted: 23 Feb 2012 11:16 AM PST

Out of the annals of history comes this doozy. A man by the name of Theodore Gray is a co-founder of Wolfram Research, best known as the creator of Wolfram Alpha, the two-year-old computational answer engine, which Siri uses for 25 percent of her mobile searches.

Along with Stephen Wolfram, Gray helped develop Mathematica, the computational software used in technical computing that makes Wolfram Alpha, among other things, tick. He is an author, polymath, and, it seems, an amateur Chemist — or should I say, element collector. Yes, as the story goes, about 10 years ago, he built and created his own wooden “periodic table table” (presumably on company time), complete with compartments underneath in which Gray collects samples of the periodic table’s elements. This feat of carpentry, Rams-ian design, and wizardry won him an “Ig Nobel Prize” in Chemistry back in 2002.

Yesterday, a new video, or rather episode of “Bytesize Science,” emerged on YouTube wherein Gray discusses the tale behind his periodic table table. The video has been being passed around, and was tipped to us (thanks to Kirk Zamieroski). We thought it was worth sharing, based on pure awesomeness, the high quality kitsch, and DIY mastery. Luckily no radioactive elements made it into the table — or at least we didn’t spot any lead. No one was hurt in the making of the table, as far as we know, other than perhaps Schrodinger’s cat?

As the video’s uploader points out, Gray has gone on to win less Ig Nobel awards, becoming the 2011 winner of the ACS Grady Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public, and the periodic table table is a “testament” to his love for chemistry — and his compulsive eBay purchasing habits.

We hope you enjoy.

(Check out Theodore Gray’s website here.)

Image credit: Popular Mechanics

These iOS vs. Android Flame Wars Have To Stop

Posted: 23 Feb 2012 08:12 AM PST

I just want to start this out by saying I love you guys. I really do. TechCrunch is lucky enough to have a really smart, well-informed readership which keeps us diligent in our reporting. You guys are also pretty hilarious, and who doesn’t enjoy a good ROFL now and then.

But if there’s one thing I’ve learned through the comments section here at TechCrunch, it’s that these Android vs. iOS fanboy flame wars need to stop.

How ridiculous, right? How absolutely petty and meaningless are the things we get fired up over?

That’s not to say that Android and iOS and their respective hardware counterparts aren’t important. I mean, it could be loosely argued that without the hardware and software (and apps and services) that we spend our lives writing about, the Arab Spring uprisings wouldn’t have been possible. The technology itself can surely make a difference in the world, and of course you should care about that.

But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the fact that we’re choosing sides (and defending them with zealous rage) in an entirely meaningless war.

Now, don’t get me wrong. We at TechCrunch love rivalry. We love Google vs. Microsoft, Apple vs. Samsung, Apple vs. Google, Arrington vs. Arianna, and all the other fun rivalries that spring from this, our field of technology. I honestly can’t even think what the world would look like without them. They are spokes in the ever-turning wheel of our capitalist society, and they’re entertaining as hell to watch play out.

When corporations of this size duke it out in ad campaigns or in the courtroom or on store shelves, well that’s what this industry is supposed to look like. And there are other rivalries that are even more fun. The People vs. Netflix price hike was great, as was The People vs. Verizon’s $2 “convenience fee.”

It is downright amazing to see a company do a 180-degree turn based on the collective voice of their customers. It’s a beautiful thing.

But what’s happening with iOS vs. Android is different. Instead of seeing an epic clash between two companies, or watching a customers-vs.-company saga unfold, we’re seeing customers in Group A join sides with Company A, while Group B joins sides with Company B. Apple and Google are supposed to hate each other, but just because we use their products doesn’t mean we need to hurl hateful, meatless comments at each other.

There’s a big difference between a competitive rivalry and a pointless one. Ours is pointless, and for one very good reason:

Fanbois, Apple doesn’t give a damn about you. Also, Fandroids, Google doesn’t give a damn about you either.

Both companies care about the “us,” but no one individual matters to this or that corporation. And here’s another truth bomb: if you don’t give any substantial reasons for why “Android is better” or “iPhone is better,” then no one else is going to make a decision based on your comment either.

So I find it a little bit odd (read: crazy) that we’ve drawn such aggressive lines against each other. If anything, Android makes iOS better and iOS makes Android better. Fierce competition and rivalry is what makes everything better, but we don’t seem to be visualizing the big picture.

Instead, we’re saying things like this to each other:

Of course, there are plenty of comments that intelligently and constructively argue the pros and cons of each platform. These comments are the reason that all the other (^) reasonless-ly nasty comments don’t make us cry into our keyboards. They also bring up new points for future articles, which is much appreciated.

When it comes down to it, though, I’m not your mom. Say what you want. I’d like to think that writing this would calm the storm and we could all start being productive human beings in a smart discussion about the value of each platform. But I doubt that will happen.

So all I really want to do is zoom out a little bit. Look at the big picture. People are dying of famine, disease, war; the world is rapidly changing; economies are crumbling and elections are underway. Things are happening that are really deserving of your passion, yet here we are throwing rocks at each other over which phone is better, when it doesn’t make a damn difference anyway.

It’s embarrassing and a waste of everyone’s time.

I’ll leave you with one of those intelligent and constructive comments I was talking about before:

NPD: Apple Still Leads Tablet Shipments, But The Fight For Second Place Rages On

Posted: 23 Feb 2012 08:01 AM PST

Another day, another take on Amazon and Apple duking it out in the tablet market. The data comes from NPD's DisplaySearch wing, and the results don’t come as much of a shock. By their count, Apple is still sitting at the top of the heap, accounting for 59.1 percent of the tablets shipped in Q4 2011 while Amazon is sitting pretty in second place with 16.7 percent of tablet shipments under their belt.

At first glance, the results seem very similar to those announced by iSuppli this time last week — the only major shift is that iSuppli has book retailer Barnes & Noble slightly ahead of Asus.

NPD DisplaySearch brings up an interesting point though — while Apple's shipments grew in all of their markets, Amazon's Kindle Fire and BN's Nook Tablet are currently only available in the United States. Though they occupied third and fourth place respectively in NPD's rankings, both Samsung and Asus were bolstered by solid results from the EMEA markets (that's Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to you and me).

Amazon and BN have the potential to pick up even more steam in the tablet space — and potentially throw their competitors into a tizzy — if they can cultivate an international presence. Amazon may have a tougher time than their rivals, as the inclusion of their Silk web browser may run afoul of European data protection laws.

It seemed for a long time that if a true iPad competitor would appear, a big name like Samsung or Asus would have been behind it. With Amazon firmly ensconced in second place though, they’re quickly becoming an obstacle that these other manufacturers have to surmount before they can claim the silver medal.

Take Barnes & Noble for instance – though they’re not out to own the tablet market like Apple has, they’ve recently taken steps to compete with Amazon on their own price-conscious turf. This by itself may not have Amazon quaking in their boots, but the fact that companies like Samsung and Asus are hard on work on more robust, less expensive tablets certainly should.

With the iPad 3 expected to launch sooner rather than later, Apple will likely hang onto its crown for a long time to come. Still, there’s plenty of room for the rest of the tablet pack to fight for a strong second place finish, and if recent announcements are any indication, it’s going to be one hell of a fight.

NVIDIA Rebrands The Tegra 3′s Architecture, Wants Everyone To Now Call It A 4-Plus-1 SoC

Posted: 23 Feb 2012 07:42 AM PST

Nvidia unveiled the Tegra 3 platform last year at Mobile World Congress. Since then the chip has lived its short life mostly misunderstood. You see, it’s a quad-core chip with another 500MHz companion core that handles low-power background tasks — an architecture Nvidia previously called variable symmetric multiprocessing. But that’s a mouthful and likely a bit hard to properly market to consumers.

From here on out Nvidia wants the Tegra 3 to be called a 4-Plus-1 chip, m’kay? Nvidia even went as far as trademarking the new name.

The fifth so-called companion core is part of the Tegra 3′s popularity. It handles less strenuous tasks while the device it powers is in standby mode. Think of it as a bench player, a sixth man if you will. It’s always ready to jump, handle a bit of defense or sink a three while a starter rests.

The Tegra 3′s first birthday is coming up next week at MWC where it will no doubt be commemorated by the announcement of several high-profile smartphone and tablet announcements. There’s nothing like working on your birthday.

NPD: Apple Still On Top In Mobile PC Shipments, But HP Takes The Cake In Notebooks

Posted: 23 Feb 2012 07:15 AM PST

The PC industry is in decline, unless of course you count tablets. NPD is apparently doing just that, leaving Apple in the top spot among mobile PC vendors.

According to the firm, Apple shipped nearly 23.4 million mobile PCs in the fourth quarter of 2011, which is 128 percent year-over-year growth. Cupertino shipped over 62.8 million mobile PCs over the entirety of 2011, representing 132 percent year-over-year growth.

Of course, these numbers include the iPad, which makes it easy to understand why the rest of the pack is so far behind. The company shipped more than 18.7 million iPads in Q4, which means that nearly 80 percent of its mobile PC shipments can be attributed to the tablet. Apple shipped 48.4 million units in 2011, up 183 percent year-over-year.

This left Apple with a 26.6 percent share in the industry, and three times as many units shipped as the next mobile PC vendor in line: HP.

Speaking of HP, the company shipped 8.7 million units to take a 9.9 percent share. Meanwhile, Dell, Acer, and Lenovo rounded out the top five shipping between 6 and 7 million units each, and maintaining approximately a 6 percent share of the market.

But the story changes when we’re talking about notebooks. The iPad can’t do anything to help Apple there.

HP, on the other hand, takes the lead on notebooks shipping 8.7 million units in Q4, representing a 15.5 percent market share. Dell trails behind with an 11.8 percent share after shipping 6.7 million units, while Acer rounds out the top three also holding an 11.8 percent share and shipping 6.6 million units.

Lenovo comes in fourth with 6.1 million units shipped (a 10.8 percent market share), and Apple falls into fifth shipping 4.6 million units and taking an 8.3 percent share.

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