Amazon patents electronic pen technology, mum on plans

Amazon.com launched two new Kindles in quick succession this year. So what will its next electronic reader look like? How about one that works with an electronic pen? Amazon recently received a patent for an "electronic input device such as an electronic pen" that can be used to annotate paper documents and locate the corresponding digital version.

The utility patent, No. 7,546,524, was granted June 9 and lists its inventors as Colin Bryar, Hilliard Siegel, and Steven Kessel. The original patent application was filed on March 30, 2005.

The patent describes an "Electronic input device, system, and method using human-comprehensible content to automatically correlate an annotation of a paper document with a digital version of the document."

Here's more description from the abstract:

An electronic input device such as an electronic pen is provided to annotate a paper document. The input device records an annotation and an image of human-comprehensible content in the document sufficient to identify the document and possibly a location in the document. The human-comprehensible content is used to locate a digital version of the document and determine a corresponding location of the annotation in the digital version of the document. A computer system such as a server system may receive and store the annotation in association with the digital version of the document. The server system may further augment the digital version of the document with the annotation and send the augmented version to an output device for display and/or printing.

Amazon spokeswoman Patty Smith declined to comment. Current Kindles, including the new DX, aren't touch screen, but if they ever go that route, an electronic pen or stylus would be an interesting addition. The idea of scanning printed books and newspapers -- and finding electronic versions on the Kindle or other devices -- could be a powerful feature too, driving more sales of digital content.

Here's another image from the Amazon patent filing:

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Ultrasound on an iPhone

Most people associate iPhone applications with playing games, finding restaurants or listening to music. But a new iPhone app from Bothell medical device maker SonoSite actually could help doctors save lives.

SonoSite -- which makes a hand-held ultrasound device --  today introduced a new app called SonoAccess that allows doctors to access instructional ultrasound images and videos on the go. The app, which is free, includes 28 videos and 17 case studies that doctors can use to study ultrasound techniques.

“There are not a lot of resources that give simple, practical tips on how to optimize the position of the probe or position the patient," said Dr. David Auyong, a Seattle anesthesiologist who was quoted in the release.  "Having a resource for continuing education available 24/7 like this will be helpful.”

So, next time you see your doctor on the iPhone, you can rest assured that they are at work rather than checking baseball scores or tuning into Pandora.

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Veteran Windows exec leaving Microsoft after long transition

Jawad Khaki, a longtime Microsoft executive who was an early member of the Windows NT development team, is leaving the company at the end of the month. Khaki, whose role has been in flux since late 2007, said this morning that he decided it was time to start a new phase of his life, much as Bill Gates, Jeff Raikes and other Microsoft executives have done.

Khaki, 51, was a Windows networking leader for many years, including a role as vice president of Windows networking and device technologies during the rocky Windows Vista development cycle. Khaki was shifted to corporate vice president of the Windows Hardware Ecosystem Group in late 2006, around the time Windows Vista shipped, and remained in that role for about a year before leaving the position in late 2007 and taking an extended leave.

He said he has been in a transitional mode inside the company since coming back, shifting from his prior role and weighing new possibilities. After 20 years at Microsoft, he's now looking for ways to combine his philanthropic and technology interests after he leaves.

"If you divide it up, you spend the first portion of your life learning, then earning, then serving, then resting," he said. "I'm in the serving portion of my life right now. But serving doesn't really mean that I'm going to retire." Sometimes, he explained, "the best way to help out is to pursue projects that others may not really be doing, to help people," but still with a commercial focus.

Khaki, a leader in the local Muslim community, was recognized with Walter Cronkite Faith and Freedom Award from the national Interfaith Alliance Foundation for his work in the community following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

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Rock n Roll Marathon runners will have RFID tags on shoes

As many as 25,000 runners are expected to hit the streets of Seattle this Saturday in the first ever Rock n Roll Seattle marathon -- a festive road race where local bands play music at every milepost. But there's also a unique technological twist -- and runners will find it on their shoes.

Seattle-based Impinj -- along with partner ChronoTrack Systems -- are providing each participant with a radio frequency identification tag that will track start, split and finish times. The companies claim that their weather-resistant tag -- a plastic device known as a D tag that includes a miniature RFID antenna and chip -- is more reliable than other race tracking technologies.

RFID has been used in marathons in the past. But because Impinj uses ultra high frequency RFID tags, Casey Hagen said their system allows race organizers to collect more accurate data at a cheaper price.

"There's a lot more robust data communication," said Hagen, field applications manager at Impinj. "The technology today can not only just read everyone but it can read everyone multiple times and with many data points for the runners running over the line."

That means the system can collect times -- not only at the start and finish -- but also midway through the race and at secret "cheater points" in order to prevent the infamous Rosie Ruiz problem of someone cutting into the race at the last minute. 

The Impinj tags also are disposable, which allows race organizers to automatically match bib numbers to the shoe tags rather than having to input data from older tags.  

This weekend's marathon also marks the first time that Impinj's RFID technology has been on display at a road race in its hometown. 

Running races are actually turning into a sizable business for Impinj, a 9-year-old company which only entered the market last September in conjunction with ChronoTrack.

Evansville, Indiana-based ChronoTrack has now distributed more than two million shoe tags at about 600 races, said Matt Shine, director of marketing.

Impinj spokesman Jim Donaldson declined to say how much money those races have brought in, though he did describe ChronoTrack as a "significant customer."

But why shoe tags? Why not just incorporate the salt grain-sized RFID chip and accompanying antenna into the bib itself?

"That's a good question," said Shine. "That's the holy grail and what everyone is going to in the running industry."

Up until now, companies have stuck with shoe tags because it provides more accurate times by picking up the signal from the thresh-hold antennas on the ground. Putting the tags into the bib is "a more complicated problem," said Hagen.  

But he's confident that the industry will get there.

For now, it is shoe tags.

Saturday's race -- with about 25,000 runners -- will not be the biggest for the companies. They tracked and timed 40,000 runners at the Cooper River Bridge Race in Charleston, South Carolina.

They have had inaccurate counts in the past with older technology, in part because the plastic shoe tag fell off during the race or it didn't get picked up by the antenna. But Hagen says with the new-and-improved UHF technology: "If the tag gets in front of the antenna, we have very reliable reads." (Editor's note: The above statement has been clarified since first being published).

So, now you know who to blame if you don't like your time this Saturday.  

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PhysioSonics raises cash

PhysioSonics, a University of Washington spin out that's developing an ultrasound device to monitor blood flow in the brain, has raised $2 million in funding to move toward commercialization of its first product. Chief Executive Brad Harlow declined to say when the Seattle company might roll out the system, but he added that it is "moving along faster than any of us expected."

The technology traces its roots to research at the UW developed nearly a decade ago, but was only licensed out a couple years ago. 

Typically, hospital staff press an ultrasound machine against a patient's head in order to get the blood flow information. But Harlow said his company's technology automates that process with a small device that a patient wears during the procedure that provides read outs to doctors and nurses. 

Investors in the company include Johnson & Johnson Development Corp. and an undisclosed "strategic" partner. The company raised $4 million for the neuromonitor last year, with Harlow saying that investors have committed another $1.5 million to close later this year.

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RealNetworks cuts a few jobs

It's not anything like the 7.5 percent workforce reduction made by the company last year, but RealNetworks has made a "very small" number of additional job cuts, company spokesman Bill Hankes confirmed this afternoon. Fewer than 10 positions were cut in the company's media software group in Seattle as part of the routine reorganization, he said.

The Seattle-based digital media company employed about 1,670 people total following its decision to cut 130 jobs in December. It hasn't made any other significant job reductions since then, Hankes said.

The media software group includes the RealPlayer digital media program, among other products and teams. Earlier this week the company released a new version of the software, RealPlayer SP, with features including the ability to easily transfer videos downloaded from YouTube and other sites to mobile devices for offline playback.

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Details: Microsoft's Windows 7 price cuts, upgrade promotions

Microsoft, trying to revive its flagship product in the middle of a recession, is pricing the primary edition of Windows 7 for home users 17 percent below the retail price of its predecessor.

The unusual move is one of a series of Windows 7 pricing announcements being made by the company today as it gears up for a scheduled Oct. 22 launch. Under the plan, Windows 7 Home Premium will be available for $199.99 in stores, $40 less than Windows Vista Home Premium. That matches the original price of Windows XP Home -- which was released in 2001.

Microsoft also will offer current Windows XP and Windows Vista users an upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium for $119.99, or $10 less than the comparable Windows Vista upgrade price.

In addition, the company is rolling out a promotion designed to spur early Windows 7 sales, saying it will offer Windows 7 Home Premium upgrades for $49.99 and Windows 7 Professional upgrades for $99.99 to people who place pre-orders during the next two weeks in the U.S. and Canada, with different offers and time frames in several other countries around the world.

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