Bill Proposes Crackdown on Patent Trolls

Litigation has become an ever-growing part of the innovation game, and Congress is preparing to crack down on patent trolls with a bipartisan bill proposing the Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes, or SHIELD, Act.  The bill proposes that trolls be forced to pay the legal costs if their patent lawsuits fail in court.  The bill already has some friends in high places, including President Obama and the new chair of the House Judiciary Committee.  If the SHIELD Act becomes law, the States could become a much more peaceful place for technological incubation, without fear of frivilous litigation.

Apple Patents Continuous-Shot Photo Process

If you lack zen-like stillness when shooting with your iPhone, or if you haven’t yet mastered the fine art of triggering the shutter in time, Apple’s newly uncovered patent may bring you some relief.  The design uses continuous capture to take a series of full-resolution photos rapidly as soon as the camera app is opened, and place them in a memory buffer.  Once the shutter has been triggered by the user, the most recent images will be scored automatically for quality to present the user with what is likely to be the best image.  As Android and Blackberry tout their advances in mobile photography, Apple could be preparing to launch some improvements of their own with the next iOS release.