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Innovation is alive and well at RIM, especially in the anti-creepshot vector. A new patent, issued to the company yesterday by the USPTO, would cut down on “inconspicuous” camera shots like the ones taken by corporate espionage enthusiasts and total pervs.
The patent would let you (or, more likely, your IT department) set a pre-determined amount of time that your camera must be still and focused before it can snap a pic. That would presumably make it more difficult to take surreptitious board room—or bathroom—photos. As with all patents, it could be a while before we actually see this technology incorporated into BlackBerry devices, if ever. And cutting down on clandestine camera usage obviously won’t propel the beleaguered company back to its former glory. Progress is progress, though, and anything that makes it harder to take weirdo upskirts should be celebrated. [USPTO via Engadget]
As if RIM weren’t struggling enough, they’ve just cut out the entire pervert market.
“As with all patents, it could be a while before we actually see this technology incorporated into BlackBerry devices, if ever” – what is the average time it takes a patent like this to be passed and more importantly how will the administrators value a pending patent for the big sell off of all the worthwhile bits of RIM next year.
This seems a bit daft! The majority of photos I take with my phone are ones which I didn’t have time to pull a proper camera out for, and this would pretty much kill any chances of doing a quick snapshot…
So essentially these new blackberries won’t take a photo of anything if you have to move to keep it in shot? Oh dear . . .
Yeah, that’ll stop the perverts. Glad to see companies putting the world to rights one crap feature at a time.
I’ll stick to me iPerv then…