Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Nathan Myhrvold

Nathan Myhrvold Tried To Convince Microsoft To Make An iPhone-Like Device In 1991

Amit Chowdhry — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 22:47:15 +0000

Nathan Myhrvold, former Microsoft CTO and co-founder of Intellectual Ventures, was recently interviewed in Men’s Journal in an article called “How a Geek Grills a Burger.” In the article, Myhrvold is considered a “mad scientist” that was living out a “nerd fantasy.” He also works as a chef and is known for having a six-volume cookbook.

Among some of the nerdy projects he has worked on are studying astrophysics with Stephen Hawking and having a giant Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton in front of his home.

During his tenure at Microsoft, Myhrvold supposedly tried to convince the company to make an iPhone-like device in 1991. He had predicted an iPhone-like device would be huge. Back then he described it as a “digital wallet” that would consolidate all personal communication including a phone, contacts, notepad, schedule manager, books, and music library. He also said that the could would not be very high ($400-$1,000) as the retail.

Microsoft was cost conscious at the time though. “Hey, it was better than predicting the wrong thing,” states Myhrvold.

Myhrvold was portrayed as using patents owned by Intellectual Ventures for “mafia-style shakedowns” in a piece by This American Life / Planet Money. The Men’s Journal decided to portray Myhrvold as a geeky genius.

Intellectual Ventures Suing 13 Companies for Patent Infringement

Riley Kennysmith — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:15:01 +0000

Intellectual Ventures is suing a group of companies for patent infringement. Companies being sued include Acer, Adata Technology, Asustek Computer, Best Buy, Dell, Elpida Memory, Hewlett Packard, Hynix Semiconductor, Kingston Technology, Logitech International, Pantech and Wal-Mart. According to TechCrunch, the patents deal with memory technology and methods.

Intellectual Ventues brought another patent suit against nine other companies last year. Intellectual Ventures is headed by Nathan Myhrvold, former CTO at Microsoft.

Intellectual Ventures Made About $700 Million In 2010 Revenues

Amit Chowdhry — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 21:49:35 +0000

Intellectual Ventures is a company known for applying for tons of patents. They make a lot of money from forcing companies into paying them for royalties. It turns out that Intellectual Ventures made $700 million in 2010 licensing revenue or $2 billion total to date. Intellectual Ventures was started by former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold. Some people believe that Intellectual Ventures is a patent troll, but if you have read Superfreakonomics, you will learn that the company is involved in creating some useful inventions. [TechFlash]

Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold Apply For Sophisticated Keg Patent

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:13:37 +0000

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and former CTO Nathan Myhrvold are credited for the invention of a “temperature-stabilized storage container” used for storing and transporting “water or flavored water, dairy product or fruit juice, carbonated soda, wine, beer, or distilled spirits.” This type of container “may store a beverage such as beer, for example, at a temperature appropriate for serving depending upon the type of beer.”

Looks like Bill and Nate are putting their geekiness to good use here. The high-tech keg would also have an electronic display that shows the temperature using transmitters and sensors. If the patent is granted, then it would become intellectual property of Searete LLC. Searete is tied to Intellectual Ventures, a Bellevue-based company run by Myhrvold. Gates and Myhrvold meet fairly often to come up with different ideas.

Whoever thought that Bill Gates wasn’t hip may have a different opinion of him now. Personally I’d like to see an advanced keg like this start becoming available at higher learning institutes. That way in about 20 years from now, I can look at my kids and college and tell them how our kegs were made only out of metal and a tube and that is all we needed.

[via TechFlash]