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 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.
Apple definitely has their eye on the corporate world as a new patent application published by the US Patent and Trademark Office today reveals that they've invented a new and more convenient way to sign electronic documents. Many professions and governmental agencies have to deal with signing legal documents every day and Apple's new methodology may be the magic bullet in making this process convenient for electronic forms. Apple has also created several security measures that will appeal to both corporate and consumer markets alike. Whether Apple plans to keep this technical methodology for their new signature application alone or try to make it an industry standard is unknown at this time.
On April 12, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals a new electronic content authoring tool in the works that's configured to optimize authored content for one or more intended devices. According to Apple, the existing solutions on the market today are simply not adequate to eliminate barriers between content creators and the presentation of high quality electronic content on a variety of platforms. Today's report presents you with a grand overview of Apple's new authoring tool which includes a few cool user interface elements that we're likely to see surface in the not-too-distant future.
Earlier today we introduced Apple's 3D Avatar App which covered a basic overview of the new application in the works. Now a second patent application has surfaced and it actually shows that the app is already running on an iPad! We have the screenshot to prove it. The new patent application focuses on how the app will work with color palettes and more. The big news however is that the new 3D Avatar App is in its final stages of development and that's very cool. Evidently phase-one of the application is geared for the younger crowd, but other editions could be in the works as discussed in our first report today. One of the 3D characters in this Avatar App that we illustrate in our report has an Apple T-Shirt on. It makes you wonder if Apple is planning to debut this 3D Avatar app alongside a cool new Apple based game of sorts to kick this off just right. At the end of the day, Apple is in the final stages of a great new app for the iPad.
Apple certainly has a fascination for avatar creation apps of late. In the last year or so they've invented several interesting avatar related apps including one for a very sophisticated Personal Shopping app for the desktop and another covering Advanced Avatar Editing for the iPhone. In today's latest patent application, Apple reveals a new application in the making that will primarily be used for avatar creation, though Apple does clarify that they may use the underlying technology in other professional applications. On one hand it's like Photo Booth on steroids and on the other hand it's definitely being aimed at the 3D video game market. In either case it'll be a blast to play with on an iPad. In fact, Apple notes that this app could eventually apply to next generation displays that include "movable," heads-up and three-dimensional (e.g., holographic) systems. Now that caught my attention.
On March 15, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that delves into the world of Multi-Player gaming. Apple provides us with a number of gaming examples and meaty details of how they'll provide team members of a multi-player game with the ability to view common objects within a game from differing perspectives. If you're a hard-core multi-player gamer that wants to see what's coming to iOS gaming, then you'll enjoy this report. Additionally, our report details Apple's new "Find my Friend" App that was first introduced in October 2011. Some of the very same technology that's behind Apple's "Find my Friend" will be applied to Apple's next-gen multi-player gaming. With Apple's new iPad launching tomorrow with its Insanely Great Retina Display – gaming is about to go to the next level.
Acoustic musical instruments, such as drums and pianos for example, are typically velocity sensitive. This means that when a user hits a piano key softly, a quiet sound is produced, and when a user hits a piano key with more force, a loud sound is produced. This velocity-sensitive property allows musicians to create more expressive sounds and music.Today many touchscreen inputs aren't velocity sensitive.Apple's invention provides an exemplarymethod that includes receiving in the processor an acceleration value outputted by the accelerometer. The method includes associating the acceleration value with a function indicated by a touched location on the touch-sensitive display, such as a piano key. The function is the output of a musical note and modifying the function includes modifying an audible volume, pitch, or attack time of the musical note. The end result is Apple's GarageBand App for iPad.
Last week a patent filing revealed that Apple is planning to bring a teleprompter tool to both iMovie and Final Cut Pro X sometime in the future. This week, the adventure deepens. Apple now reveals that they're also thinking about bringing a new and novel Storyboard tool to both programs. This must have been an idea that Steve Jobs brought to the table being that it was an everyday tool used by his Pixar team. And to close off our report, we reveal an interesting patent figure that was published today that might have been an accident. The patent figure shows us a never seen before iPhone accessory. Time will tell if the idea ever pans out, but you should check it and weigh-in for yourself.
Yesterday, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that revealed their intent to add a new teleprompter feature to both iMovie and Final Cut Pro. Sometime in the future you'll be able to both film yourself on an iPad while reading your very own script like the pros. This is Apple's second patent relating to future iReporter tools for iOS devices. Is it a trend? Well, last March, KBTV anchor-reporter Mike McNeill was the first person to shoot a news segment using the iPad 2 and Apple may want to tap into this new trend relating to Street Reporting. While this type of reporting won't be mainstream anytime soon, it surely has its place in impromptu situations or for informal video casts. This is Patently Apple reporting live for J-A-C-K news.
The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 15 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In our second patent report of the day, we focus entirely on a single patent which covers Apple's Next Generation Automated Location Services. These services will one day go far beyond simple GPS services and into the realm of consumer and public sector situational based location services that are far more reaching.
On December 1, 2011, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that revealsone of the next chapters for Apple's hardware using non-visual controls. Apple's new invention also describes using Siri-like voice control assistance in future devices. This is likely the first of many new patents to follow covering this new trend of advancing to next generation interfaces that will one day be used in our home appliances, built-into our kitchen counter tops, used in our vehicle dashboards and far beyond.
