Patently Apple

iTunes 9 Patent for arranging iApps on your Desktop Hints at iWatch

Every once in awhile an engineer describing a product will in some form or another reveal an application or a new device that the patent is intended to legally cover and in doing so allows us to at least understand what future devices that Apple may have in store for us. Today, a simple patent covering an iTunes 9 feature for arranging and rearranging iApps on your desktop points to this feature applying to a PDA (iPod touch), smartphone (iPhone) and watch. Oh really? And to top off today's report we cover new patents that discuss GarageBand's "loops" feature and advanced syncing which is likely associated with yesterday's release of iTunes 10.  

LED iPod Touch with Video Cam & FaceTime Fulfills Major Patents

 
Apple's Special Music Event presented us with one of the largest caches of new iPod related products in a single event. Apple updated Apple TV with the A4 processor and the click-wheel returned to the iPod Shuffle. The iPod nano was dramatically redesigned and it it's not too difficult to envision the iPod nano one day morphing into a futuristic iWatch. Yet it was the refreshed iPod Touch that came through to fulfill a number of major patents covering video-telephony, a video camera and LED display technologies which this report presents.  

Apple's All New iPod Nano, One Step Closer to an iWatch

 
Well, Apple did it again in typical Apple style. One of the big surprises at today's big event was an all new redesigned iPod nano. The redesigned iPod Nano just happens to fit one of the ideas that we presented in our August 14, 2010 report that described a "one sensing touch element." As you could see above, that aspect of the patent came to life. Yet far more important is the fact that Apple is now one step closer to delivering the ultimate consumer product: The iWatch. In fact I'm surprised that they didn't sell a watch strap accessory to hold the new redesigned iPod nano. Perhaps that's in the works.  

Tritton Technologies Files Patent Infringement Case Against Apple

 
On August 30, 2010, a San Diego based gaming technology company by the legal name of Tritton Tech of Texas, LLC and known as Tritton Technologies, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Nintendo and Apple Inc., in the District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The company claims that Apple's iPhone 4 violates their 1993 patent which covers accelerometers for sensing linear translation along three axes of a Cartesian coordinate system and three angular rate sensors for sensing angular rotation about the three axes.

Apple Wins Major Patents for iPhone Gesturing, iMovie, iTunes +

 
The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 19 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. The notables within this group include five industrial design patents relating to the iPhone, iPod touch and iPod nano. Among the standard granted patents, we see that Apple has finally picked up two iMovie related patents that date all the way back to the year 2000 – as well as one for the iTunes interface and two for LCD related technologies. Yet the one that is likely the most important for Apple today is a major motion, gesturing and touch related patent that covers all of Apple's iOS related devices that will certainly provide Apple with a larger sledgehammer going into any law suit current or future.

A Look Back at Apple's Summer Patents, Surprises & Issues

Who knew that the Summer of 2010, and particularly August, would produce two of the most popular patents of the year? Who knew that the Summer of 2010 would unravel so many interesting surprises? In today's report we'll review some of the more interesting twists and turns that came to light this summer that are definitely pointing to some rather exciting new developments that are bound to dominate the news cycle in the second half of 2011. Yet let it be said that the summer of 2010 didn't go without its share of controversies and we'll cover the ones that definitely made their mark. But at the end of the day it's really all about some of the products that are in Apple's future; products that will once again have the competition scrambling in panic for many years to come.

Apple Considers New Audio Jack with Built-in Mic for Future iPhone

 
One of Apple's new patent applications published yesterday describes a possible future iPhone audio Jack with built-in mic combination so as to save space should Apple decide to add new ports or future features.

An Apple A4 Chip Related Patent Surfaces

 
Today, in a newly published patent application from Apple Inc., we get to see a glimpse behind one of the many processes behind their new powerhouse A4 processor. Apple's patent reveals systems and methods for providing a system-on-a-substrate. In particular, this patent relates to systems and methods for reducing the total size of a system's circuitry by providing all of the components of the system on the same microchip. A microchip that the patent reveals is behind the iPad, iPhone and likely to be used in other future Apple products such as Apple TV.

Apple Wins Major Touch Technology Patent along with Patents for the Original iPod, iPod touch, Graphic Gradients, Shake & More

 
The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of nine newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. The notables within this group include design wins for both the original iPod and the iPod touch along with other patents covering Apple's now defunct Shake application, the technology behind multi-conic graphic gradients and most importantly, a major touch related patent that may have played a role in Apple's latest Magic Trackpad desktop device.

The Mother Lode: Welcome to the iMac Touch

 
While most of us were getting ready for the iPad's arrival in January and Patently Apple hard at work preparing our major series called the Tablet Prophecies, a major iMac Touch patent was being quietly published in Europe. And while some of the graphic figures of today's patent did slip out in Europe, we were never able to verify whether they were legitimate or not. Well, today we finally get to post the Mother Lode of all information concerning the iMac Touch and it's absolutely brilliant! Ironically we had just posted a report on Saturday titled "Apple Patents Point to Future MacBooks with IPS & Touch Displays" when we discovered the European Filing. The naysayers will have to eat crow on this one, because Apple's method of transitioning from OS X to iOS is clearly outlined for both the iMac and MacBook – and it's a grand slam home run. Imagine having an iMac on your desktop one minute and a gigantic iPad the next. Imagine playing iGames on this dream machine - Wow! Imagine reading a double-page book on this - Unbelievable! Apple takes the mystery out of how OS X could finally co-exist with iOS on a Mac and you've got to see this one to believe it.

Apple Patents Point to Future MacBooks with IPS & Touch Displays

On July 19, 2010, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a series of ten meticulously detailed Apple patent applications covering the technology behind Apple's high-resolution LED-backlit IPS displays. These high-end displays could be found on today's iPad, iPhone 4 and even on the latest upgraded iMacs. According to Apple's newly published patents, it appears that Apple's MacBook line-up is destined to gain these incredible displays as well – even though they already possess a pristine LED-backlit display with wide-angle viewing, today. Yet the big news buried deep within all ten of this week's display-centric patents is a clear-cut fact that the MacBook is destined to also gain a multi-touch display. There's no wishy-washy lingo about it and today's report will show you the details. 

Apple, Taking Target Marketing Seriously

 
Apple's new advertising centric webpage states that "iAd rich media ads bring motion and emotion to mobile advertising through branded experiences that entertain and inform. With the iAd logo on each ad, your target Apple audience will know a great experience awaits them behind the banner." Yeeeesss, Apple is taking Target Marketing seriously – very seriously. In fact we learned just yesterday that Apple has recently acquired a new powerful geo-location patent that packs quite the punch. It's focused on delivering informative content proactively rather than reactively in response to a person's manual query to a service or human. Beyond delivering advanced marketing retail services, the patent provides us with a series of other feasible life-based scenarios. For instance, the new service could give home users the ability to announce a Garage Sale that they're having to anyone in a given vicinity or send emergency live Amber Alerts to your iPhone along with photos of the missing child in question. Advanced geolocation services could go far beyond just commerce.

Apple May Add Speed Enhanced Autofocus to Future Cameras

 
On August 19, 2010, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that appears to be describing a next generation autofocus feature for future iOS devices that will add speed enhanced autofocus operations. Technically speaking, any of the camera features described in Apple's patent could equally apply to iSight.

Apple Keeps Advancing Portable Device Security

 
Being the leading portable devices company in the world, Apple is constantly advancing new security features so that consumers and business executives could be assured that their sensitive data is locked down. Apple's iOS based devices currently come with a certain degree of security with features like "Find My iPhone" (or iPad etc), high end encryption and remote wipe. Apple is also working on advanced biometrics such as using heart sensors to detect an unauthorized user which is once again covered in today's security patent. Some of the other new security features that may one day work themselves into Apple's portable devices include the device taking a photo of the thief (smile now) or recording the thief's voice. Apple's iOS security is getting so smart, that it'll even know what kind of vehicle that the thief is using your device in – be it a plane, train or automobile and notify the proper authorities.