Apple har med et teknisk fif forsøgt at sikre sig mod, at den nye iPhone 4S får samme signalproblemer, som prægede de første iPhone 4-telefoner.
Men fiffet kan i stedet skaffe selskabet helt andre og alvorligere problemer på halsen.
I både topchef Tim Cooks keynote ved lanceringen af den nye iPhone 4S i tirsdags og i Apples efterfølgende pressemateriale, blev telefonens antennesystem præsenteret som en teknologisk landvinding:
"Som forbedring af iPhone 4's innovative eksterne dobbeltantenne i rustfrit stål kan iPhone 4S som den første telefon i verden foretage et intelligent skift mellem to antenner for at sende og modtage," hedder det i pressemeddelelsen.
Det er en rigtig smart teknologi, mener den danske antenneprofessor Gert Frølund Pedersen.
Han gætter på, at den løser eventuelle antenneproblemer ved iPhone 4S.
"Idéen er god nok, men spørgsmålet er, om de har lov til at bruge den," siger han til ComON.
Ud fra de tilgængelige oplysninger om konstruktionen af iPhone 4S vurderer han, at Apple sandsynligvis kommer i karambolage med flere patenter, som han selv og en række andre forskere ved Aalborg Universitet har udviklet - og for flere år siden solgt til Samsung.
En gammel teknik
Gert Frølund Pedersen er professor ved Aalborg Universitets Institut for Elektroniske Systemer og kom i verdens søgelys, da han i ComON sidste år forudsage, at Apples iPhone 4 ville få modtageproblemer. Sagen udviklede sig til en mediestorm, da mange primært amerikanske iPhone 4-brugere kunne se telefonens signalmodtagelse falde markant, alt efter hvordan de holdt med hånden om det dyrt indkøbte apparat.
ComON har endnu engang bedt den danske antenneprofessor om at granske antennedesignet i en ny telefon fra Apple.
Og denne gang kan svaret blive betydeligt mere kritisk for Apple end det var under "Antennagate," som medierstormen blev døbt.
Verdensomspændende krig
Siden er Apple blevet part i en verdensomspændende patentkrig med Samsung som arg modstander.
Samsung har allerede forsøgt at få nedlagt forbud mod at iPhone 4S sælges i Frankrig og Italien, fordi telefonen krænker selskabets patenter.
Andre patenter i Frankrig og Italien
De patenter, Samsung anvender i de franske og italienske retssale, er dog ikke de samme, som dem Gert Frølund og hans forskerkolleger solgte til Samsung tilbage i 2007.
ComON har spurgt Samsungs nordiske pressetalsmand om pantentsagen, men selskabet kan på nuværende tidspunkt ikke kommentere sagen.
Selvom metoden med intelligent skift mellem flere antenner har mange år på bagen, blev den i Apples præsentation omtalt som "unik".
"Nyskabelse" stammer fra DECT-tiden
"Når Apple siger, at det er nyt, så passer det ikke. Det har været i brug meget længe. For eksempel i de trådløse DECT-telefoner. Både i baserne og i nogle af telefonerne," fortæller Gert Frølund Pedersen.
Apples patentkonflikt opstår, når en iPhone 4S skal finde ud af, hvilken antenne, der har det bedste signal. Den proces kan foregå på flere måder, men de er formentlig alle dækket af det danske patent.
"Du kan helt simpelt gøre det ved at måle signalstyrken. Men du kan også gøre det lidt smartere, - og det kunne man godt forestille sig, at Apple har gjort. For eksempel kan smartphones jo registrere, om de bliver holdt i stående eller liggende position. Problemet er, at hvis de laver beregningerne ud fra den type smarte registreringer, så bryder de et patent, som jeg har, og som jeg har solgt til Samsung," siger Gert Frølund Pedersen.
I de omtalte patenter fra sidste årti er der beskrevet flere måder at skifte til andre antennesendere, hvis brugerens hånd skærmer for signalet. For eksempel ved at kigge på, hvad brugeren foretager sig. Er han er i browser- eller gaming-mode, så vælges den rette antenne ud fra det.
Svært for Apple at undgå patent-krænkelse
"Jeg kan ikke sige, at de direkte bryder patentet, men der er ikke mange måder, de kan vælge den rigtige antenne, uden at de kommer til at bryde mange patenter. Og lige nøjagtigt det patent her dækker meget bredt," siger Gert Frølund Pedersen til ComON.
Ifølge flere medier er antennen i iPhone 4S ændret i forhold til den tidligere model, så begge antenner på ydersiden af telefonen (i top og bund) nu er omdannet til at kunne modtage data og telefonsignaler. Før var den øverste dedikeret til GPS og WiFi, men denne antenne skulle nu være flyttet ned bag glaspladen.
Patentkrigen mellem Apple og Samsung har bølget frem og tilbage gennem de seneste måneder. Apple har i lang tid forsøgt at stoppe en lancering af Samsungs tablet-computer, fordi den angiveligt bryder Apples patenter på multitouch.
Der er to oprindeligt danske Samsung-patenter, som Apple sandsynligvis krænker, nemlig henholdsvis Apparatus and method for selecting an antenna in a communication system, og Apparatus and method for stabilizing terminal power in a communication system.
(Opdatering: Artiklen linkede tidligere til patentansøgningen for det første patents vedkommende. Nu er linket til det godkendte patent, som blev givet 5 januar 2010.)
English version: Apple's sale of iPhone 4S to be threatened by Danish antenna patent
Professor Gert Frølund who foresaw "Antennagate," may again become a thorn in Apples side. He has long since taken out a patent on the antenna solution that is used in the new iPhone 4S - and sold the patent to Samsung.
Apple has a applied a technical trick that should guard the new iPhone 4S against the same signal problems that characterized the first iPhone 4-phones.
But the trick may instead become the cause of an entirely different and more serious kind of trouble.
Both in CEO Tim Cook's keynote at the launch of the new iPhone 4S last tuesday and in Apple's subsequent press materials, the phone's antenna system was presented as a technological landmark.
"Improving on the innovative stainless steel external, dual-antenna design of iPhone 4, iPhone 4S is the first phone to intelligently switch between two antennas to send and receive," says the press release.
It is a really smart technology, says the Danish antenna Professor Gert Frølund Pedersen.
He speculates that it probally solves any antenna problems the iPhone 4S would have had.
"The idea is good, but the question is whether they are allowed to use it," he told ComON.
Based on available information about the design of the iPhone 4S his assessement is that Apple is likely to come into conflict with several patents that he and other researchers at Aalborg University have gotten - and sold to Samsung several years ago.
An old technique
Gert Frølund Pedersen is the professor at Aalborg University's Institute for Electronic Systems who caught worldwide attention when here on ComON last year correctly predicted the iPhone 4s antenna problems two weeks before the phone went on sale.
The story evolved into a media storm as many, mainly American, 4-iPhone users saw the phone's signal reception decline significantly when they changed their grip on the phones.
ComON has once again askedthe Danish antenna professor to evaluate the antenna design in a new phone from Apple.
And this time the answer may be considerably worse for Apple than it was under "Antennagate," as the media storm was baptized.
Since that time Apple has engaged in a worldwide war of patents against Samsung, who is fighting back with its own patent claims.
Samsung has already tried to get an injunction against the iPhone 4S sold in France and Italy, because the phone violates its patents.
Other patents in France and Italy
The patents that Samsung uses in the French and Italian courts are not the same as those Gert Frølund and his colleagues sold to Samsung back in 2007.
ComON have asked Samsung Nordic press spokesman for a clarification, but the company declined to comment on the matter.
The method of intelligent switching between multiple antennas was in Apple's presentation of the iPhone 4S described as "unique" but is in fact a well known and rather old technique.
"Innovation" is derived from the DECT-time
"When Apple says that it is new, it's not true. It has been in use for very long. For example in the DECT cordless phones. Both in their bases and in the DECT- phones themselves," says Gert Frølund Pedersen.
Apples patent violations likely occurs when an iPhone 4S tries to establish which antenna has the best signal. The process can be done in several ways, but they are almost all likely to be covered by the Danish patent.
"You can quite simply do it by measuring the signal strength. But you can also make it a little smarter - which one could imagine that Apple has done. For example, smartphones register whether they are being held in portrait or landscape position. The problem is that if they make calculations based on the type of smart registrations, they will violate a patent that I have which I have sold to Samsung, "said Gert Frølund Pedersen.
The patents describes several ways to switch to other antenna transmitters, if the user's hand is shielding the signal for example by noting what the user is doing. Thus the system can select the correct antenna based on whether the user is in browser or gaming mode.
Difficult for Apple to avoid patent infringement
"I can not say that they are directly breaking the patent, but there are not many ways they can choose the right antenna, without coming to break many patents. And just exactly what this patent covers a very broad," says Gert Frølund Pedersen to ComON.
According to media reports the antenna in the iPhone 4S is changed compared to the previous model, so that both antennas on the outside of the phone (top and bottom) now are converted to receive data and telephone signals. Before, the top antenna was dedicated to GPS and WiFi.
The patent war between Apple and Samsung have waved back and forth over the past months. Apple has long tried to stop the launch of Samsung's tablet computer because it allegedly breaks Apple's patents on multitouch.
There are in fact two originally Danish now Samsung-owned patents that Apple is likely offending with the iPhone 4S antenna system, namely Apparatus and Method for Selecting an antenna in a communication system , and Apparatus and Method for stabilizing terminal power in a communication system.
(Update: The article earlier linked to the pending patent applications from 2007 for the first patent. That link are now to the patents as it was granted on January 5, 2010.
