14 DAY TRIAL // The most impressive thing about the iPhone was its screen and the fact that you could see it automatically rotate as you changed the handset's angle.
It was proof that manufacturers are finally starting to come up with innovative products, mobile phones that somehow aren't like anything we've ever seen before. Well, it looks like Apple wasn't the first to think about the way a mobile phone could alter the screen from portrait to landscape and that Sony Ericsson had the idea several years ago.
In 2004, Sony Ericsson filed a patent that was issued on the 1st of August 2006 which appeared to discuss, in some detail, the same thing.
The patent seems to be discussing the method by which an image could be dynamically resized and rotated, but it doesn't really mention the technology behind the orientation sensors. Bottom line is that iPhone's screen could infringe Sony Ericsson's patent, or not, but it is very probable that Apple checked every possible detail before announcing the iPhone just to make sure there would be no problems including patent infringements.
For the people who are interested, this is what the abstract states: Mobile terminal with ergonomic imaging functions. The present invention, by way of example embodiments, provides for a mobile terminal with ergonomic imaging or camera functions.
A single display can be used, for example in portrait mode while terminal functions are being used and in landscape mode while imaging functions are being used. The change between the two orientations can be accomplished automatically.
In some embodiments, the capability is also provided to process an image for assignment to a terminal function, where the image has at least one display attribute that makes it at least partly unsuitable for use with the terminal function. The processing may include resizing, cropping, and/or rotating the image. This processing can be accomplished so that a landscape image to be viewed conveniently in a portrait orientation.