The title and description of the patent are both intriguing. Called, Smartglass, Microsoft describes it as:

computer hardware and software for phones, mobile devices, televisions, video game consoles, media players and audiovisual devices

A search for Microsoft +Smartglass yielded nothing. But, Smartglass is apparently a self-tinting glass (PDF link). It uses electrical signals and depending on the lighting. So how does this apply to mobile devices? My guess is, rather than using the Power button to put the phone to “sleep,” the screen could be tinted. Or maybe I’m just thinking too far ahead.

If Microsoft does come up with a sw+hw implementation that did something so futuristic with their Windows Phone devices, it’d be pretty cool. The only thing is, Saint Gobain and a bunch of other companies already do such glasses. In fact, there is a SmartGlass Inc. too.

Trademark Application

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Microsoft Files For Mysterious “Smartglass” Trademark

The descriptions for the 5 trademarks are around managing medical records. Here are the different descriptions:

Repair and installation services for computer hardware and software in the field of managing medical records and data

Education services, namely providing of training services in the field of managing medical records and data; Providing a website featuring blogs and non-downloadable publications in the nature of articles and brochures in the fields of medical records and data and improving dataflow, workflow and business practices at hospitals, medical clinics, other medical facilities, healthcare insurance companies and other payers of medical bills; Providing on-line magazines in the fields of medical records and data and improving dataflow, workflow and business practices at hospitals, medical clinics, other medical facilities, healthcare insurance companies and other payers of medical bills

Medical apparatus featuring enhanced management of medical records and data

Medical services featuring enhanced management of medical records

Consulting services in the field of improving dataflow, workflow and business practices at hospitals, medical clinics, other medical facilities

Telecommunication services; electronic data interchange services for healthcare transaction information; Providing on-line chat rooms and bulletin-boards for transmission of messages among computer users concerning managing medical records and data, and improving dataflow, workflow and business practices at hospitals, medical clinics, other medical facilities, healthcare insurance companies and other payers of medical bills

Electronic storage of medical records and data

Computer software for managing medical records and data

Online non-downloadable software for managing medical records and data

When I was doing some research on the name, I came across another trademark application by Foundation of Santa Barbara Regional Health Authority. This trademark was filed in 2002 and is currently dead.

Trademarks: (1), (2), (3), (4) & (5)

Update: Todd Bishop over at GeekWire has some background on this story.

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Caradigm: Microsoft & GE’s Joint Online Health Record Management Suite

I came across a patent that Microsoft has been granted that deals with NFC based communication. The thing about the patent is, it was filed back in 2006. Like always, Microsoft was working on a technology before it became cool.

Near Field Communication is now slowly penetrating the market with OEMs and software vendors both offering support. According to a 2006 patent Microsoft has been granted, they hypothesize use of existing web formats (XML) to transfer information via NFC. Some claims from the patent:

[1] employing a near field communication (NFC) compliant air link as the wireless communication link; and exchanging information between two or more NFC compliant devices and/or an electronic tag over the NFC compliant air link utilizing a web-based format.

[2] employing a near field communication (NFC) compliant air link as the wireless communication link; and exchanging information between two or more NFC compliant devices and/or an electronic tag over the NFC compliant air link utilizing a web-based format.

[3] transferring the wireless messages utilizing an object exchange (OBEX) format over the NFC compliant air link.

[4] utilizing extensible markup language (XML) schema and/or microformat schema to preserve structured data during transfer.

Microsoft isn’t supporting NFC in their current version of Windows Phone, and according to reports, isn’t expected to till 2012. Though the patent talks a lot about kiosks, the title makes me wonder if Microsoft might be able to leverage this technique in Windows 8 or a future Windows version. By having NFC supported tablets and phones, a web format-based implementation to transfer information between the two devices might be more open for developers to work on. Windows 8 development has a lot to do with web-based languages and tablets. An interesting quote from the patent shows what all is possible:

 The types of information passed can include, but are not limited to, information such as raw data, tables, charts, graphics, audio, games, communication protocols, and software applications and the like. Instances disclosed herein provide techniques for transporting data and do not impose restrictions on types of data that can be transported.

HP did something similar with their webOS devices–Palm Pre and the TouchPad. Though HP was not using NFC, their Touch to Share implementation allowed users to transfer information from their tablet to the phone. Wrapping the information with existing web standards would allow developers to be able to offer this functionality without much hassle. Here’s a video of HP’s Touch to Share:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Though the patent does not talk about mobile based payments (Google Wallet) and controlling other devices for a better entertainment experience (Nokia Play 360), that are some of the use cases of NFC being advertised today.

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MSFT Might Use NFC For HP’s ‘Touch to Share’ Like Tablet-Phone Love Making

I was having dinner with my relatives tonight and there were 3 iPhones and 2 WP7s (both mine, there would’ve been 3 but I had send the Lumia 800 review unit back). Anyway, my kid brother (he started blogging recently, calls himself the iOSJedi), my cousin sister and my father are iPhone users (4S, 4 and 3G respectively). My kid brother has now taken to using popular apps so he’s not “regular people” anymore. He’s an upcoming tech writer, my father and cousin are quite the opposite, they couldn’t care less about half the apps that Scoble talks about. They don’t use Instagram or Path, they aren’t heavy RSS readers, they do use Facebook and aren’t Twitter users. Having an account on a social network (the number these websites talk about) is quite different to having active users.

Point being, Scoble’s app list, not everyone cares. Pandora, yes, there are people who might want it. But then again, not in India. Or half the world where Pandora does not work. I started using Path when I bought my brother’s 4S and somehow I have started liking it. It’s now a place where I update and push to Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter at once. It is convenient and the UI seems interesting. I miss it on the WP7. Instagram is another app that I would love to have on the WP7, it is like Angry Birds—isn’t the most useful or productive app but for a platform, it should be there. It does not matter whether WP7 can do Microsoft Office like no other platform, if it does not have Instagram, it is missing something.

If Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) is a +1, the lack of Instagram, Pandora, Path is a -1. WP7 doesn’t exactly offer something more than iOS or Android to everyone; some would like Office, some would like Instagram. Some like both—and that’s the customer Microsoft should sell to. “We can do this AND this!” is a better sales pitch than “We do this brilliantly but can’t do this.”

This brings me to one argument that is being made with Nokia’s Microsoft partnership. More phones=more developers doing apps. That in my opinion is the Android way of things. The iOS way of doing things is quality and a new opportunity for developers, WP7 is, so far, taking the Android route. It will not work… for quite some time. One can’t wait for more phones to sell to then get developers to do apps. We will keep going around in a circle:

If there are more phones out there—>we will do apps—>if there are more apps—>we will buy more phones

Microsoft needs to use the iOS model… go to the app developers and show them the quality of the platform. WP7 has quite a few benefits over Android when it comes to the platform, go to the guys at Instagram and help them do apps. It doesn’t matter if the first version is a direct clone of the iOS version. Android is a clone of iOS—nobody cares! I would like to point out that the official Foursquare app, while a good effort, is a shitty app. It does not get new features, is slow and well I don’t like to use it. Having said that, Microsoft should hire app developers to whom startups can outsource WP7 client development. It does not have to be the best client amongst platforms—it simply has to be there and actually work.

Now if you ask me, the “Nokia will sell more apps that will get more developers on board” is very dicy situation. You won’t sell phones with that belief, but buzz like Ben’s #SmokedByWindowsPhone and the positive reception by the tech press at CES will bring WP7 into the eyes of developers who then can be convinced to do an app for the phone, we will sell phones, thereby you will sell more apps—that’s how you hook developers.

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Selling More Windows Phones

OneNote for iPad is an excellent decision. Mary Jo Foley makes a valid observation around possible Office for iPad pricing. I’d like to see Microsoft embracing the iPad too. They’re a software company. There is Office for Mac, there should be Office for iOS. The tablet version of Office is certainly not going to be like the full fledged desktop Office. It’ll  be more functional than Office Web Apps and will respect the platform’s design elements.   Given Apple’s head start in tablets, Microsoft bringing their flagship product to the platform takes away a huge USP from Microsoft’s own tablet platform.

If the iPad can do Microsoft Office, why do I need a Windows tablet?

It’s a simple question, the answer to which will be a complicated marketing speak listing out a bunch of feature comparisons of Windows 8 against iOS. The biggest one being you can switch to a full desktop.

Well, it’s a tablet.

At this point, I don’t have a convincing line of argument. If Frank Shaw has one, I’d love to hear it. It’s a tricky situation Microsoft has itself in. Bringing a suite like Office which clearly is a reason to sell Windows 8 tablet on the iPad or not. If Microsoft does, they are shooting themselves in the foot.

Let’s talk about Kinectimals for iOS. According to Kotaku, the iOS version does everything the WP7 version can do. And it supports the iPad too. Microsoft is now making a strong case for an Xbox in an Apple household. When Microsoft demonstrated WP7 and Xbox making sweet love together it made a statement; a statement that you should invest in Microsoft’s living room ecosystem. Now that Microsoft supports the same functionality on iOS, give me one good reason to buy a Windows Phone device if I own an iPhone?

Now that Microsoft supports full capabilities in one app, it’ll make Microsoft look foolish if they don’t for all games. And if they bring full Kinect/Xbox integration to iOS, they are pretty much shooting themselves in the foot regarding Windows Phone 7′s major USP. It’s a lose-lose situation for Microsoft.

Let’s talk about SkyDrive. Microsoft introduced a SkyDrive app for the iOS. SkyDrive team’s single best decision yet. I tried to convince my university’s IT department to endorse SkyDrive over Dropbox. (Live Mesh and free account for each Exchange backed @syr.edu user.) A snappy response I got was, “Does it have Android and iOS clients like Dropbox?” I did not respond. Now I will. The iOS app looks promising, it makes SkyDrive useful for iOS users; it is the WP7 app that has me baffled. It is useless. Given the native integration in WP7, the SkyDrive app offers pretty much nothing to me. I’ll cut my rant short, here’s what I need:

1. The ability to upload an email attachment (PDF file) to my SkyDrive from my phone
2. Access to my stuff at devices.live.com and the ability to move around files in there

Till Microsoft can’t provide these, the SkyDrive app has no use for me (and I’d say majority of the WP7 users who are aware of the native integration). Microsoft cloud promise with SkyDrive and Live Mesh is a broken promise since access to content at devices.live.com is limited. The WP7 app Microsoft released is so lame that the only plausible explanation is them trying to avoid the shit storm of

Microsoft released a SkyDrive app for iOS, leaves WP7 users wanting…

An attempt to not shoot themselves in the foot but given that they aren’t doing enough to give me access to devices.live.com, any announcement around SkyDrive is shot in their foot.

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Shooting Themselves In The Foot