On April 4, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals a new quick access feature allowing users to access a specific set of applications without having to enter an unlock security code on their future iDevices. In some cases the new user interface provides an animated feature that will roll the Unlock slider feature out of the way so as to reveal one or more rows of quick access apps. The invention also reveals that Apple is likely to adopt a new virtual home button that will extend the user interface right to the bottom of the iDevice. All in all, this is another cool feature that we could likely expect to see in future iDevices.
Patently Apple has been the only one that has been pounding the table for a notebook tablet hybrid going all the way back to 2008 and prior to any talk of this from the Intel camp who is now preparing their Ultrabook Convertible for release this summer. In February we posted another report that discussed integrated touch displays coming to Macs eventually and the naysayers surfaced once again to say that it was a brain dead idea. Well, today the US Patent and Trademark Office revealed Apple's patent that is in fact about a true hybrid notebook tablet in all its glory. The patent filing includes details of a very cool display with a retractable magnetic mechanism that hides itself once detached from the MacBook's main body. Today, on paper at least, Apple has finally revealed their first patent filing about a hybrid notebook-tablet with actual details.
On March 28, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published two camera related patent applications from Apple. The first one is titled "Dynamic Autofocus Operations," which generally relates to the field of digital camera processing. More particularly, it relates to techniques for improved autofocus operations in camera found in Apple's iDevices. Apple's second invention titled "Partially Lit Sensor" relates to a new image sensing system.
On March 28, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals another waterproofing idea for small portable devices. Apple has shown to have been working on a waterproof, or at the very least, a water resistant solution for over a year now. We covered this subject in a well-documented report last March. Today a new patent application illustrates that they're also working on a different angle to creating water resistant devices using a multi-layered ceramic enclosure mixed with Alumina to provide the enclosure with a good RF transmission capability. Our report also touches on another interesting process that Apple is working on called a "Shot Peening, Shot Blasting Process" for creating part flatness.
On March 28, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals an invention that generally relates to a haptics device and, more particularly, to magnetically permeable materials in haptic devices. The new haptics for iDevices and the MacBook will provide crisper sensations while avoiding over sharp feedback.
On March 28, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals new graphical user interfaces related to facilitating interactions with contacts. The newly proposed "contacts" GUI is designed for Macs, iDevices and a possible future TV. With the new contacts user interface, a user will be able to transfer a file to a contact by simply dragging and dropping a file icon onto a visual representation for a recipient contact. The communication mode for the transfer can be determined manually by the user or automatically based on the contact's current online status.
On March 28, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals that Jony Ive and his team have a few more features for their Smart Cover. In August 2012 Apple revealed a mind boggling set of new possible features for the Smart Cover that ranged from inductive charging to built-in solar panels and the use of a flexible display to name a few of innovations being explored. Today's revelations are a little tamer but still interesting. Apple is considering adding physical soft buttons to the Smart Cover so that you could easily control your tunes. They're also considering a built-in window so that you could keep tabs on incoming email, text messages, stock quotes and more.
On March 27, 2013, US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals a stunning future iPhone with a wraparound display so that both sides of this iPhone will be able to display content either individually or as one continuous display. The wraparound display will also apply to Apple's possible future wristband communication device or iWatch revealed in February. Today's invention focuses on the flexible wraparound display that could be fashioned in aluminum, aluminum and glass or a fully transparent design. This future iPhone design won't have any physical buttons so controlling the audio on the iPhone will simply require you to hover your hand over the side of the display to temporarily illustrate the controls. The new design could also produce 3D visuals through its unique dual display design. This is certainly one of Apple's hottest inventions of the year.
On March 21, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals new and improved Auto Exposure techniques for variable lighting conditions that could improve FaceTime image quality.
On March 21, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals a series of newly proposed protective mechanisms designed for future iDevices and MacBooks that will protect these devices that are about to fall to the floor or other surface. The invention for a protective mechanism is configured to selectively alter a center of mass of the electronic device. One design covers the use of an air foil while another covers the ejection of the battery in order to reduce device damage. Apple has come up with quite an elaborate design.
On March 21, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals an audio codec with vibrator support. A dual channel audio coder decoder (codec) chip that has two output pins, which can be used to drive a pair of speakers in stereo mode, or a vibrator and a single speaker in mono mode. Each channel has its own Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) and audio power amplifier to receive an audio signal for driving a speaker. This invention will allow the iPad to finally deliver "original message alerts" that are available today on the iPhone.
On March 14, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals the next step in the evolution of the iPad Smart Cover with built-in inductive charging. Simply put, this is a great idea to keep the iPad charged while on the go.
