[enscr]

Now that @assaflavie has written about it, does it constitute as 'prior art' and nobody can patent it?

[josho]

Exactly that. You cannot invent (patent) something that has already been invented. Now you could go ahead and invent (patent) something that builds on his ideas, as long as those ideas are a novel addition (not an obvious next step).

[lnanek2]

Isn't it first to file nowadays, not first to invent? Not that there aren't shipping phones and other devices with this already anyway.