Even though it's been called the idiot box by all of us at one point in time, it's still where many of us end up in front of when our never ending day gives us an hour or two to kill. All we want is to turn off the net and get a little entertainment that's a little more polished – be it a movie, TV show, video game or even a little music. The biggest and coolest thing to come to TV of late has been the shift to the flat screen. Playing video games on these units in 1080p is just phenomenal. Yet the question always is: what's next? In today's report we take a look at four recent Sony patents that definitely provide us with a peek at what they're working on. Some of the ideas are rather interesting and are bound to be features that we'll all take for granted in just a matter of years. And again we'll ask the same old question: What's next? When it comes to the idiot box we're still hopeful that one day it will joint its brethren in the smart-device category. Yes, the smart TV is coming to a showroom near you, one day; and all of us idiots just said Amen.  

On February 28, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a granted patent from Apple that could be considered a foundational 3D interface patent. The patent describes a new "transition engine" that will be added to OS X and iOS. This new engine will allow a user to choose a tiny object on their new 3D desktop and zoom it out to see what it is or to read a filed PDF or view a photo or video and then allow it to zoom back to the position on their desktop with a cross fading effect in play. It could also transition using an animated effect. So instead of clicking on the object to open it, the user will have the ability to simply zoom an image or app in and out with ease. When you think about it awhile, it's one of the coolest and most refreshing ideas that I've read about in some time.  

On February 28, 2012, The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of twenty-four newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In our second report of the day we primarily focus on two patents. One involves yet another win for Apple's future Telephonic MacBook and the other for a dynamic input graphic display. The latter patent is really interesting as Apple envisions how a device interface could one day morph depending on its orientation. Some of the ideas may have been implemented in iOS devices already, but others could still be on the drawing board for a future device.  

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 24 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. Today's first granted patent report highlights three out of five important Multi-Touch patent wins. The three key patents cover such matters as multitouch auto scanning, multipoint touchscreens and Apple's 3D curved substrate lamination process that integrates multitouch technology into their Magic Mouse. No matter how you slice it, it's a huge day for Apple on the Multi-touch patent front.  

Who would have thought of Samsung storming the Kitchen Appliances market years ago? Who could have guessed that they would storm and succeed in both the Android smartphone market as well as challenge Apple's iPad? So when a 2012 Samsung patent illustrates that they already have a working model of a multiplayer, multiplatform gaming system in the works, you have to take them very seriously. Is Samsung preparing to storm the gaming market? Only time will tell.  

Earlier this month both Business Insider and eWeek made it abundantly clear that they thought Google's foray into hardware, beginning with a music gadget for the home, would be a disastrous move. Well, according to a new Google patent, they've have their sights on making hardware as far back as Q3 2010. Google's patent clearly illustrates their desire to deliver not one, but two distinct Android phone docks. One is aimed for the desktop market while the other is aimed for the car dock market. In particular, the car dock model will offer users a series of unique apps including one for full turn-by-turn navigation. At the end of the day, Google's delivery of some common ground devices designed to serve the entire Android ecosystem only makes sense.  

Patently Apple is proud to introduce our new spinoff called Patent Bolt, a blog primarily focused on reporting about exciting new inventions from some of the leading players in the PC and mobile industry outside of Apple. Patent Bolt is an exciting new addition to our site that will meet the needs of many communities looking for better IP news on the coming inventions that could change our world.  

At this year's CES, Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer revealed that Kinect was coming to the PC – and on February one they introduced Kinect for Windows. Even though we're not quite sure what Kinect for Windows will offer PC users, a new Microsoft patent application reveals that Kinect will in fact work with documents. Microsoft's latest Kinect related patent focuses on a new feature called the Seekbar. The patent also hints that the Natural User Interface associated with Kinect will work itself into future computers, tablets and phones that have integrated cameras. Considering that it's been reported that Microsoft is already in the early stages of licensing its Kinect technology to the likes of Vizio and Sony, it's only a matter of time before we find that Kinect is integrated into our computer displays and beyond. With Google developing a voice activated TV Remote and Apple thinking of one utilizing Siri and 3D Motion, the race is on to deliver the next TV related Killer App – the Smart Remote. Today, we get a tiny glimpse of what Microsoft has on Kinect's drawing board.  

Google has invented an original search based gesture for future Android devices. In some cases, the new "continuous gestures" will allow a user to simply and quickly draw a circle around what they want to search for in the form of the letter "g" or in the combination of "g + o" as noted in our cover graphic above. When the user lifts their finger from the display, the search is automatically initiated. If a user wishes to use another search engine such as Yahoo or Wikipedia, they simply use a different continuous gesture in the form of the letter "S." This will trigger a pop-up menu with search engine options such as Wikipedia, Yahoo or others. Being that it's a new gesture concept, Google has gone to extraordinary lengths to explain this concept to both users and realistically, the USPTO examiners, to ensure that they nail this gesture as their own going forward. Our report tries to accommodate Google's presentation, and if you're not the reading type, then pretend that's it's a Playboy article and only look at the pictures.  

On February 23, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a series of very interesting patent applications from Apple that reveal a wide range of technologies. Those covered in today's report include a new beat-matched crossfading DJ-Styled feature for Macs and iOS devices; advances in 3D motion technology that could be used in a future version of Apple's Magic Mouse or TV remote; new advanced dual image sensors for future iOS cameras and a peek at a few iPhone technologies that will accommodate even thinner iOS device designs in the future.  

A Communications-Precision Time and Frequency Solutions company by the name of Brandywine Communications Technologies has launched a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple. The case involves the iPhone and iPad's use of voicemail, as presented in their patents.  

A recent patent filing by Google surprisingly indicates that they're seriously eying the desktop and notebook markets for Android. Interestingly, the patent seems to focus on similar capabilities now found in Apple's Multi-Touch Trackpad and Magic Trackpad. In many ways that's understandable considering that Google is working on the Android for x86 project along with a serious list of other Intel-Android related projects. Android is headed for the desktop and today's report lays out Google's specific work on trackpad operations corresponding to touchscreen events.