A report posted by Wired's Gadget Lab today stated that "It looks like we'll be getting MacBook Pros with Retina displays sooner than later — or at leastthat's what we've gleaned from a recently published Apple patent application and comments from an industry expert regarding Apple's supply chain." Someone is mixing things up and slapping lipstick on a pig. The patent application published today is simply a continuation of a 2007 patent and doesn't lend credence to retina-display Rumors.
On May 17, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple revealing a new manufacturing process. The main focus of this particular invention concerns the creation of devices with a unitary housing without seams or gaps. In March of this year we learned of Apple's use of ultrasonic welding in context with fastening parts within devices such as the iPhone. Today we learn of ultrasonic welding being used in conjunction with metal foil so as to create seamless form factors. It's the kind of stuff that keeps Sir Ive giggling in his sleep.
On May 17, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals a newly invented hybrid business card and gift card system. For any company principle or representative attending large events and tradeshows, Apple's unique hybrid calling card and promo gift card is something that could make exchanging cards with new contacts a little more inventive, if not interesting. Who wouldn't want to receive a few new tunes or other gift by taking a business card at an event? It's a way to at least ensure that your business card doesn't get chucked in the garbage by day's end. But there's more to the system and our report details it all.
On May 17, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals their intention of reinventing the speakerphone system for iOS devices. Although not detailed, the fact is that the new speaker positioning could provide iOS devices with general superior sound, even when docked.
Texas based Rotatable Technologies is suing Apple for infringing on a 1999 patent that they acquired titled "Display Method for Selectively Rotating Windows on a Computer Display." The lawsuit claims that Apple's iPhone and iPad tablets infringe one or more claims of their patent. Rotatable Technologies also launched a similar lawsuit against Nokia earlier this month.
The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of twenty-one newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. The most surprising one of them all is one that snuck through the patent system until today. The newly granted patent, which has never been seen before, reveals a wireless remote control for a vehicle's steering wheel. At a time when local and federal laws are being drafted to enforce "hands free" operation of smartphones and other devices in vehicles, Apple's invention comes to the rescue to provide their customers with a sound solution. The design borrows from Apple's iPod clickwheel but with a new touch-sensitive design. Interesting enough is that one of the engineers working on this project was a principal designer at California's famous Frog Design.
Apple was first granted a design patent for their Upper West Side Apple Store in New York back in November 2011. Six months later and the US Patent and Trademark Office have granted Apple their second design patent for this same design. Steve Jobs has once again been posthumously credited as one of the designers. In addition to this, it should be noted that Apple has been awarded twenty-one granted patents today. Beyond the thirteen utility patents that we list covering such things as security, podcast management and the MacBook's Hard Drive, this report covers a major virtual keyboard victory for Apple which just might be one that Apple could challenge their many copycatters with.
According to a recent survey sponsored by Intel on the subjects of "Mobile Etiquette" and "Digital Sharing," 9 out of 10 American adults believe that people are sharing too much information about themselves online, with nearly half of U.S. adults reporting that they feel overwhelmed by the amount of information shared. There's a lot of ground covered in this survey and some of the findings may even surprise you. If anything, the results of this survey will provide you with a unique fingerprint in time revealing the status of mobile etiquette in 2012.
Two patent applications that were published in January and February 2010 illustrated how a future iteration of the Magic Mouse might support a new graphics and/or painting program from Apple. Today we learn, through a document filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office, that Apple might be thinking of resurrecting MacDraw. Note: This report was updated June 13, 2012.
On May 10, 2012 the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that relates to Apple TV. More specifically, Apple's patent is about making Apple TV more accessible to those with disabilities. Additionally, new Nike + iPod patents have surfaced today from both Apple and Nike that claim that they've made improvements to the system while one last entry today briefly touches on new location based technology relating to beacon-based Geofencing.
On May 10, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published several patent applications from Apple covering 3D object recognition and FileMaker database technology. This is by far the largest number of FileMaker patent applications published in a single day. This could bode well for new upgrades announcements at FileMaker's Conference in July.
The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of twenty-one newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. This past Sunday we reported on a newly discovered European patent application from Apple relating to Display-Integrated Cellular Antennas for a future MacBook 4G and today Apple chalks up their thirteenth patent win on this hot trend. Other patents that Apple has been granted today relate to iOS touch event processing, a series of utility patents and a few design patents that cover the iPod nano's display module and a mysterious handheld device that never made it to market. It should be noted that Steve Jobs is listed as one of the designers of this mysterious design.
