A new patent application surfaced at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office entitled “Display that Emits Circularly-Polarized Light” and discovered by AppleInsider today points at a new kind of LCD screens capable of playing nice in outdoor viewing when an iPhone or iPad user is wearing sunglasses to protect himself from harmful UV rays. The problem with polarized sunglasses – not necessarily LCD screens exposed to directly sunlight, something Apple’s own displays have long been criticized due to poor performances when compared to the Amazon Kindle – is that they “only allow through light with an electric field that vibrates in the vertical direction”, and considering current LCD displays have an electric field that vibrates in one direction, the user wearing polarized sunglasses may see distorted images when looking at the screen from certain angles. Polarized sunglasses and LCDs don’t play nice together, and Apple’s proposed solution is aimed at building an LCD display that, with circularly polarized light, allows sunglasses to not see black areas, distorted images, and so forth.

The layer receives the linearly-polarized light on one surface, converts the linearly-polarized light to circularly-polarized light, and then emits the circularly-polarized light from another surface,” the application reads. “By emitting circularly-polarized light, the display reduces the perceived distortion found at some angles when the display is viewed through a linearly-polarizing filter.

The patent design seems to suggest Apple might get around the problem of iOS devices used outdoors assuming people generally tend to wear sunglasses in direct sunlight. The patent credits John Z. Zhong, Wei Chen, Cheng Chen, Victor H.E. Yin, and Shawn R. Gettemy as inventors.

A few months ago we covered the story of Fei Lam, whose site, WhiteiPhone4Now.com had been forced to shut down. He managed to sell $130,000 worth of iPhone 4 parts that were in the elusive (at the time) white color. The story since then went quiet, until yesterday when Apple decided to file a lawsuit against Lam and his parents.

The suit claims that the site led to the infringement and dilution of Apple’s trademarks and that it was involved in deceptive practices through selling the iPhone conversion kits. Curiously, Apple has also filed a voluntary dismissal of the lawsuit, which as MacRumors suggests, may mean that a settlement has been reached, although the request for dismissal without prejudice may mean that Apple could come after Lim again at a later date.

Defendent Lam willfully and without authorization has used Apple’s trademarks in connection with the sale of his “White iPhone 4 Conversion Kits,” which among other things included white front and back panels with Apple’s logo and “iPhone” trademarks that are used in connection with the promotion and sale of Apple’s well known iPhone 4 handheld mobile digital electronic devices.

Included in the suit from Apple are quotes from an instant messaging conversation between Lam and Alan Yang, a business owner in Shenzen who obtained the parts for Lam. Of importance is that Yang notes he was having difficulties getting parts shipped out because customs agents in Hong Kong were raising concerns over trademark issues.

Apple has requested a permanent injunction barring the Lam, and his parents who are also included in the suit because he is a minor, from any further sales and forfeiture of all profits from the sale of white iPhone 4 parts, reimbursement for legal expenses and additional financial penalties. If you are interested in more details of the case, check out PatentlyApple which has done an extended summation of the suit.

[Via MacRumors]

According to a report by The Korea Herald, in a recent visit to South Korea Apple COO (and temporary CEO) Tim Cook has discussed with Samsung the possibility of implementing AMOLED displays in the next-generation iPad, dubbed iPad 3. The “industry sources” cited by The Korea Herald claim that Apple would be interested in the technology for an “upgraded version” of the iPad 2, with the website also relaying an old rumor that suggested Apple could release another iPad model later this year.

Apple wants to tap into Samsung’s AMOLED technology for an upgraded version of the iPad 2, considered as many by the iPad 3 that is likely to be launched toward the end of this year,” a source told The Korea Herald on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

Tim Cook is not only the COO, but also acting CEO of Apple. During Cook’s trip last week, Apple seems to have offered Samsung an advance for the AMOLED displays, the source said.

Apple’s rumor timeline in regards to AMOLED displays produced by Samsung goes a long way back to 2009: various reports from last year indicated the company had considered AMOLED screens for the iPhone 3GS, but couldn’t implement them due to production capacity issues, high costs and the PenTile technology used by Samsung at the time.  Also last year, when Apple was rumored to be working on a new iPad, speculation surrounding the supply chain in Asia claimed Apple was negotiating with Samsung over the usage of AMOLED displays, which didn’t happen as the company preferred standard LCDs with IPS technology produced by LG, among others. Manufacturing issues with LG displays that allegedly caused problems with iPad 2 shipments in the last quarter might lead the company to choose another supplier for the next-generation iPad, though The Korea Herald is also claiming Apple is considering a major shift in the technology being used and an early launch later this year.

Samsung’s AMOLED technology is said to have dramatically improved over the past months to be suitable for tablets, sport brighter colors and deeper blacks, better behavior in direct sunlight and low power consumption. Samsung is currently using AMOLED in its Galaxy S smartphones, and it’s also rumored to use the displays in future tablets running Android. Samsung is currently facing a lawsuit from Apple, whose claims of patent infringement for the design of the iPhone and iOS copied by Samsung’s Galaxy devices and TouchWiz UI have led the tech press to believe future collaborations between the two companies may not go as smoothly as before. [The Korea Herald via 9to5mac]