One of the reasons why Google bought Motorola was for the patents, even though a lot of those patents aren’t as valuable as they once were. But the company has just filed for a new patent, US 13/556,081, which shows us how Motorola/Google is looking to help out drivers on these dangerous roads out there.
This patent really isn’t new, it was actually filed about two months after the acquisition closed. It’s described as a system that identifies unknown obstacles on the road, automatically recording and photographing them then relaying this multimedia information to vehicles behind you to warn you of these obstacles. As the patent says “an inter-vehicle alert system controls the camera to initiate capturing video data which includes the video data.”
Now many of you are probably wondering why Motorola is getting a patent on this. Well Google did just sign an agreement with various car manufacturers to get Android in the car. And this could be part of that. Especially since Google recently purchased Waze, which has since been integrated with Google Maps, I’d find it hard to believe that is not part of the new Android-powered consoles in newer cars.
Currently, smartphone manufacturers are moving past smartphones and tablets. We’re seeing a number of them working on wearables, like Samsung, LG, and many others. And the next step is also inside the car. Especially once we see Android in more and more cars and trucks. This is a pretty interesting patent, and one that I’m interested to see what Motorola and Google does with it.
What are some of your ideas for what Motorola and Google have planned to do with this patent? Maybe to integrate it with Waze and Google Maps more? Which would be pretty cool, I think. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Via: Phandroid