Have you ever been in a meeting where someone forgot to set their phone to vibrate for incoming calls? Sometimes to be polite, you may smile at the person because the ringtone is the Flintstones theme or some other silly tune and then there are other times when your nostrils will flare if you're in the middle of a pivotal point in your presentation when the stupid phone will ring. Yes, those are the dumb-phones and Apple wants to change all of that and put smart haptics into their future iPhones to really make them, well, smart. Apple's plans are quite extensive to ensure that no matter what environment you're in, your future iPhone will be able to adapt and/or adjust the alert to whatever is needed and appropriate – autonomously. Yes, like in meetings.
In January of this year we posted a report titled "Apple Considers Integrating a Display into their Magic Mouse." This idea has once again surfaced in a new Apple patent that the US Patent Office published today titled "Incorporating Chromatic Sensors in Computer Mice." The first half of the patent discusses how the Magic Mouse will be able to improve performance when used on highly reflective surfaces such as glass, while the second half of the patent discusses how they'll be able to implement chromatic sensors so as to turn the Magic Mouse into a handheld scanner. This is a really great idea that I hope will come to market instead of being placed into File 13.
In an Apple Discussions forum on Spaces for iPad, Robb Manning stating back in 2010 that having "the ability to touch one button and switch spaces to where I have safari up to do some research would be awesome." Well, today we move closer to that reality. The USPTO has revealed a patent that shows that Apple is bringing Spaces to the iPad. In fact, if you look closely in one patent graphic, you may actually be getting a sneak peek of OS X Lion on iPad. This spices things up a bit wouldn't you agree?
In January of this year, Apple won their first solar device related patent. That particular patent presented methods of adding solar power into the power mix of portables via a voltage converter within the device. Today, the US Patent and Trademark Office published a new Apple patent relating to a new power adapter that could utilize solar energy along with other conveniences. Although this could take a little time to come to market, Apple's fifth solar related patent is at least confirming that their R&D teams are prioritizing this green-project.
Patently Apple has been keenly watching the ongoing patent war between Apple and Nokia for some time now. We began in May 2010 and again this past February with a report titled "Nokia vs. Apple: Hunting Down Infineon's Documents." Although the patent wars between these two parties have only begun, the fact remains that Nokia lost a key case against Apple last Friday. Although flabbergasted with the verdict, Nokia wasted no time in continuing their scorched earth approach against Apple. In fact, according to new court documents, Nokia and their subsidiary Intellisync have filed a new complaint against Apple alleging Apple has infringed on six additional patents. Patently Apple gives you easy access to all of these patents for your review.
In our last granted patent report of the day, we generally explore a rather old yet important patent; One that will provide you with a rudimentary overview of Apple's longer term ambitions of automating both our home and office environments. And yet, in the short term, Apple's patent allows us to see some of the thinking that likely went into their AirPlay feature. In fact, if the illustrations that are presented in this patent ever pan out, then it's obvious that Apple will use a method like Airplay to further automate our various environments beyond the living room. Yet something tells me that home automation is going to take much longer than any of us want to admit.
The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 20 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In our second patent report of the day we focus entirely on one of Apple's original iPhone patents that relate to deep touch panel technology. Being that this patent only became public days before the original iPhone officially debuted, we think that this patent deserves the spotlight. There's no doubt that this vital patent could be used in any current or future patent infringement case brought against Apple or cases that Apple may open against overstepping competitors.
The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 20 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In our first report of the day, we look at several minor patents including a design win for the Mac Mini that was issued to Apple in China along with Apple's iPhone and iPad antenna system. Yet the most important patent in this first group goes to a series of newly advanced inductive charging docking stations that have never seen the light of day. With HP's TouchPad coming to market this summer with cool wireless charging capabilities, Apple needs to get these patented docks to market before HP scores a major point with consumers this fall.
Tampering with a winning user interface is a tricky thing. People don't generally like drastic user interface changes and yet, there are times early on in a new device cycle, where reinvention from within is necessary to keep the competition on the run and in a panic. Apple's iPhone user interface led the way in 2007 and the copycats do what they do best: they copied it. Well, Apple appears to be at it again and sending out signals that change is in the wind. Both in September and December of 2010, Apple hinted that they were considering the use of a new UI element called Spirals: An interesting UI that could be used for media, especially photos. Today, Apple introduces us to something they simply refer to as "Segmented Graphical Representations." It's a new Graphical User Interface element that presents one larger graphic, such as album art, and then segments it into a series of smart interactive tiles. The idea may begin with the iTunes Store, but Apple shows us that it could very well spill over to other iOS elements like the address book and beyond. Leaders lead and Apple is likely to take iOS to the next level sometime in the future. Until then, the competition will just have to sweat it out.
Apple improved facial recognition in iLife 2011's iPhoto while adding new slideshow features and themes. It now appears that Apple is already working on the next round of improvements by adding more advanced facial recognition features to iPhoto for home slideshows or work presentations. Interestingly, the patent shows us that this iPhoto feature is designed to work on iOS devices. Another Apple patent published today discusses a new handheld device latch that will make it easier to access batteries. Apple is mum as to which handheld device the latch is for. And lastly, there's news of a third party developer working on a tripod for iPod and other iOS devices that could help us take steadier videos and photos. That was only a matter of time, though it probably won't be ready in time for this summer.
On March 23, 2011, Apple's trademark application for "Smart Cover" was made public in the Canadian Intellectual Property Office database. The trademark, which was originally filed for in Jamaica this past January, came under the spotlight during the launch of the iPad 2. This isn't our typical trademark report as there's a unique twist to it that's definitely worth noting.
The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 22 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In our third and final report of the day, we say goodbye to Shake, get ready to bury the clickwheel and lastly – take a look at pattern searching via Apple's Spotlight – that's still alive and well.
