Microsoft v. Android: now B&N Nook gets software patent lawsuit

Computerworld Blogs: "Microsoft is suing more Android device makers: now it's Barnes & Noble with it's partners Foxconn and Inventec. Steve Ballmer's gang doesn't like B&N's Nook e-reader, so has slapped them with a software patent lawsuit."

The Amazon Bookstore of the Future: Pay to Preview Content?

Eric Engleman's Amazon Blog (TechFlash): "What will Amazon.com's bookstore of the future look like? A newly granted Amazon patent hints that people may have to pay if they want to preview excerpts of a book before deciding whether to buy it. The patent, which lists Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos among its inventors, envisions a system in which consumers 'pay different amounts to view portions of content from the electronic form of a work,' including individual chapters, pages, even words."

Barnes And Noble Counters Suit on Nook Patent Violations --Authorlink.com

Barnes And Noble Counters Suit on Nook Patent Violations --Authorlink.com: "Barnes & Noble moved this week to counter claims that the company has violated Xerox Corp. and Alcatel-Lucent SA patents involving the Nook electronic reader. The two claimants are asking Barnes & Noble, Inc. to pay royalties for the alleged violations. But the bookseller filed a counter lawsuit July 29 stating that neither claim is valid, and it asked the court to rule in its favor by issuing a so-called declaratory judgment that the company is not infringing on any valid patents of Xerox and Alcatel."

Microsoft Patent for Page Turn Animation? And If So, Do We Care?

From the NYTimes.com Bits Blog:

On Thursday a tidbit of news circulated around the Web that Microsoft had filed a patent in late 2009 hoping to lay claim to the look and feel of page turns on a touchscreen device.

The patent states that when “one or more pages are displayed on a touch display” a “virtual page turn curls a lifted portion of the page to progressively reveal a back side of the page while progressively revealing a front side of a subsequent page.” Just like real pages in a paper book.

Many bloggers speculated that if Microsoft is awarded the patent for page turns, Apple would have to remove, or license, the interface technique it currently uses in its iBooks application.

But the page turn doesn’t necessarily make sense in digital form and seems to be an unnecessary and archaic carryover from print.

Of course many might disagree with me on this: it is a topic of debate among fans of user interface design and digital books.

Jason Kottke, blogger and Web designer, had this to say about the iBooks page turn:

The page flipping animation in the iBooks app though? Super cheesy. It’s like in the early days of cars where they built them to look like horse-drawn carriages. Can’t we just scroll?

Craig Mod, a book designer, also noted earlier this year that the page turn is something of a relic: “The metaphor of flipping pages already feels boring and forced on the iPhone.” ...

Amazon's New Dual-Screen Patent - What Does it Mean for Nook and Other Dual-Screen Competitors?

From Engadget:

Looks like the battle for e-reader dominance between Amazon and Barnes & Noble could soon expand beyond the recent spate of price drops and into the courtroom as well: the USPTO just granted a 2006 Amazon patent on e-readers with secondary LCD displays (like the original Kindle's scroller-navigation panel), and several of the claims are potentially broad enough to cover the Nook and many other devices with both electronic paper and LCD displays. What's more, Amazon agreed not to file for any corresponding foreign patents during the four-year approval process and thus wasn't required to publish the patent application -- meaning this is likely a complete surprise to the entire industry. ...