Patently Apple

Apple's Magic Mouse Wins Design in Europe

 
The European Trademark Office, referred to officially as the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, has published five sequences of registered designs under 001185821-0001 to 0005 for Apple's Magic Mouse. The application was filed for in Germany in December 2009 with Apple's Andre K. Bartley acknowledged as the designer. The registered designs were officially published in Europe on Tuesday January 26, 2010.  

 

Apple's iPad: Welcome to the Revolution

 

On January 18, 2010, Patently Apple began a miniseries titled "Apple: The Tablet Prophecies" that primarily focused on presenting Apple's known tablet-centric patents to the public prior to the tablet's debut.  Yesterday, many of Apple's patents leapt off their dusty pages right into the heart of the iPad, Apple's revolutionary ebook and productivity device. It was a thrilling ride for most who witnessed the features of Apple's iPad unfold before their eyes: Especially those who have faithfully followed Apple's weekly published patents over the years. Some of the patents fulfilled dated back to 2005, while others only weeks ago. This report takes a quick look back at some of the patents that are no doubt directly linked to Apple's iPad while pointing out the fact that Apple's iPad marks the beginning of something much bigger. In my view, we were all witnesses to the birth of the NC Revolution.

Apple's iPod Touch to Gain Video Camera and LED Backlighting

 

On January 28, 2010, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals one of the next chapters for Apple's iPod Touch. The patent covers both the iPod touch and iPhone gaining a video camera. Being that the iPhone 3G-S now has that built-in, it's obvious that Apple's iPod touch is next in line.  A secondary patent of interest relates to the iPod touch gaining an LED backlight display sometime in the future.

 

 

Bloomberg: Apple, "Almost like a Terrorist Organization"

In a Bloomberg Television news segment that aired yesterday called "Apple's Code of Silence," they interviewed former Apple senior systems engineer Edward Eigerman who was fired at some point in time for "violating the intellectual property rules at Apple" prior to an Apple product release. Eigerman discussed the internal security measures at Apple with Bloomberg's Matt Miller and Deirdre Bolton. The over-the-top interview remark and question made by Deirdre Bolton, noted at the 1:08 mark of this video, is noted as follows: "There are some journalists who have described working there after speaking with people who have left, that it's almost like a Terrorist organization. I hate to say it that way, but it's like these small cells where secrecy as you mentioned there's to be no overlap between products or between knowledge. What does that do for the company – or to the company?" Whether it was Deirdre Bolton or Bloomberg's editorial staff who crafted this description is irrelevant. Apple is one of America's most respected technology companies and Steve Jobs one of the most respected CEO's in American history. Their question, especially out of their New York Office, comparing Apple to a terrorist organization was completely unprofessional and out of line. For the sake of ratings, this professional news organization has stooped to the lowest levels of journalism. On the eve of Apple announcing a revolutionary new product, Bloomberg decided to be on the stupid side of history. What a sad day for journalism. They could always pretend to hide behind their twist that "some journalists" were the source, but Bloomberg knew full well what they were doing here in posing that question for the sake of cheap sensationalism. That was an uncalled for sucker punch, in my view, and one that they should own up to and apologize for. – That's my opinion for January 27, 2010.

Operation Apple: What will they Call their Tablet?

 

My favorite television drama show, ever, is 24 – bar none. Once a new season begins, it has me hook, line and sinker. It's a drama that's over in the blink of an eye leaving you stranded until the next nail biting episode airs the following week. Well, for Apple fans, the drama leading up to tomorrow's event has been the same. Patently Apple posted a three part series called Apple: The Tablet Prophecies last week and there's been excellent wall-to-wall news coverage from other Mac sites, including rumors - to entertain everyone. The drama will end in about 24 hours and "Operation Apple" will be revealed. This report is really a follow through on a series of reports about possible brand names for Apple's coming tablet. As many already know, it's really been a passion, if not a crusade of MacRumors - to find Apple's possible branding of the tablet. Patently Apple has pointed to MacRumors TabletMac report and added a few details of interest. AppleInsider provided us with an overview of the rumors this past December and in this report – we're going to confirm some of these facts that have shown up in the Canadian Trademark Office. There appears to be at least one distinct connection between Apple's own "Message Pad" filing and the three rumored candidates that indirectly point to Apple. At the end of the day, it may not matter one iota if Apple has chosen to brand their tablet with something altogether different. Yet until such time, take a moment to review the coverage that these three rumored names hold and perhaps it'll spark you to add what you think Apple will call the tablet tomorrow.