The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of ten newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. The notables within this group include one relating to the iPhone's isolated antennas, another relating to Apple's iPhone and iPod touch user interface and three industrial design wins which include one for Apple's iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle designs. Yet the one granted patent which is by far the story of the day relates to a powerfully strategic patent covering Apple's proposed advanced video headset. This paves the way for Apple to boldly move this project to the front burner as it is now fully patent protected. In light of Apple's newly designed iPod Nano with video, we can see that Apple's next bold move in their iPod family could very well be the introduction of an iPod video headset display. The headset display could easily double as an iPod itself due to the miniaturization of components now found in today's video iPod nano. Imagine this video headset display also being able to contain a built-in video camera so that you could record hands free. And – the patent states that the video headset display design will also sport an advanced zooming feature that will allow the glasses, when not in video mode, to double as a next generation binocular headset. You'll be able to use this feature at concerts or sporting events to see your favorite artist or athlete close up no matter where you're sitting. That's in addition to it being your own private movie theatre. Can it get any cooler?
Granted Patent: Head Mounted Display System
Apple has been granted patent 7,595,933 for a futuristic head mounted display system. Details of Apple's exciting patent were first revealed in April 2008. The proposed video headset could be another twist in Apple's iPod line-up and double as a next generation binocular device. The user will be able to comfortably zoom in on images with just a button or likely a remote attached to the glasses, very much like Apple's Remote with Mic today. This will be an excellent way to enjoy watching a music artist that is some distance from your seat or any event attended - be it a NASCAR race or football game. This is a huge strategic win for Apple who could now boldly advance the product to market knowing it is fully patent protected. Other possible advances were presented in the report's opening paragraph.
Apple credits Robert Schlub, Robert Hill, Juan Zavala and Ruben Caballero as the inventors of granted patent 7,595,759 which was originally filed in January 2007. Update, March 15, 2010: 9 to 5 Mac's Seth Weintraub has written an excellent must-read article for Computerworld titled "Apple hires 'Senior Prototype Engineer' for work on wearable computing." Obviously Apple's "Head Mounted Display System" patent has now gone from being an exploratory R&D project to Level II. I'm smiling. Are you? Granted Patent: iPhone's Isolated Antennas
Apple's patent FIG. 12 is the heart of this patent. It is a perspective view of an illustrative handheld electronic device antenna arrangement in which a first of two handheld electronic device antennas has an associated isolation element that serves to reduce interference with from a second of the two handheld electronic device antennas in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Apple credits Robert Schlub, Robert Hill, Juan Zavala and Ruben Caballero as the inventors of granted patent 7,595,759 which was originally filed in January 2007. Granted Patent: Application User Interface with Navigation Bar Showing Current and Prior Application Contexts
Abstract: A graphical user interface for a portable electronic device includes an application display region that displays a current application context of an application and a navigation bar adjacent to the application display region. The navigation bar includes two horizontally adjacent regions, comprising a current context region for displaying an indicator of the current application context and a prior context region for displaying an indicator of an application context preceding the current application context. The application display region simulates shifting of the application display in a first direction upon detecting user selection of the prior context region, and simulates shifting of the application display in a second direction, opposite the first direction, upon detecting user selection of an application context different from the current application context and the prior application context. Apple credits Stephen Lemay Scott Forstall, Greg Christie, Bas Ording, Imran Chaudhri Marcel Van Os and Freddy Allen Anzures as the inventors of granted patent 7,596,761 which was originally filed in July 2006. Industrial Design Wins Apple's Second Generation iPod Shuffle: Apple has been granted design patent D601,172 for their second generation iPod Shuffle which debuted in September 2006 and retired in March 2009. Oddly the patent's filing was refreshed in March 2009, the very same month that it was replaced by a newer model. Could Apple be thinking of repurposing the shuffle for other means like a clip on camera in the future? Apple's Second Generation iPod Nano: Apple has been granted design patent D601,123 for their second generation iPod Nano sleeve. Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive are amongst those credited for the patent. Once again, Apple oddly refilled for this design in February 2009, well after the debut of the design. Connector System: Apple has been granted design patent D601,097 for a connector system that was filed for in November 2008. The design is noted below.
Notice: Patently Apple presents only a brief summary of patents with associated graphic(s) for journalistic news purposes as each such patent application and/or Granted Patent is revealed by the U.S. Patent & Trade Office. Readers are cautioned that the full text of any patent application and/or Issued Patent should be read in its entirety for further details. For additional information on any granted patent noted above, simply feed the individual patent number(s) into this search engine. To read this report in another major language, check out Yahoo! Babel Fish.
Yes PaulG, I didn't think about games this morning. But you're right, that would be cool.
Posted by: Jack Purcher | September 29, 2009 at 09:42 AM
The problem with the concert binocular mode is you wouldn't get these things past security since you can record with them and video recording a concert would probably be a no-no. I guess today they are somewhat tolerant of video recording cell phones but this looks so blatant I doubt they would allow them in.
But as Dennis Miller once said "I could be wrong..."
These glasses could also portent 3D video games on an iPhone or iPod Touch. That would be way cool for some.
Posted by: PaulG | September 29, 2009 at 09:37 AM
I'm starting to warm up to the idea. Having other features beyond watching a movie is key. The binocular idea, if it works, would be as important as watching movies for me. I go to a lot of concerts and if the glasses were cool looking (that's key), I'd definitely use them
Posted by: jo | September 29, 2009 at 08:58 AM