Hand Gesturing Coming to the Mac via Leap

Leap represents an entirely new way to interact with your computers. It's more accurate than a mouse, as reliable as a keyboard and more sensitive than a touchscreen. For the first time, you can control a computer in three dimensions with your natural hand and finger movements.

This isn't a game system that roughly maps your hand movements. The Leap technology is 200 times more accurate than anything else on the market — at any price point. Just about the size of a flash drive, the Leap can distinguish your individual fingers and track your movements down to a 1/100th of a millimeter.

The Leap is a small iPod sized USB peripheral that creates a 3D interaction space of 8 cubic feet to precisely interact with and control software on your laptop or desktop computer.

Leap Motion technology is a breakthrough in computer interaction, using a patented mathematical approach to 3D, touch-free motion sensing and motion control software that's unlike anything that currently exists on the market or in academia. Developed over the past 4 years, Leap Motion moves far beyond the current technologies designed for distant arm waving.

The Leap will be available on the Mac and PC for $69 when it arrives on the market sometime between December 2012 and January 2013.

Say goodbye to your mouse and keyboard

Apple Wins Aperture Related Patent

Apple has received a Granted Patent that relates to Aperture, Apple's image editing application that allows users to quickly preview images and to edit images in addition to organizing them.

Aperture further provides a quick preview tool for foregoing the loading of a particular image in the display area after the particular image has been selected. Specifically, for each particular image, Aperture maintains or generates a preview image. In place of a particular image, the quick preview tool when selected causes the image editing application to only load the preview image of the particular image for full or partial display in the display area. When the quick preview tool is not selected, the image editing application loads each image in its entirety for full or partial display in the display area.

Apple credits Nikhil Bhatt, Alex Wallace, Curt Bianchi, Mark Kawano and Greg Gilley as the inventors of this patent titled "Image Application Performance Optimization." which was originally filed in Q3 2008 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Apple Wins GarageBand Related Patent

Apple has received a Granted Patent that generally relates to GarageBand's graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for providing musical instruction and more particularly to file structures associated with music-related software.

Apple states that first, "GarageBand taught you how to play. Now it tests your chops. As you play along with any lesson, record yourself. GarageBand listens in real time and tells you how you're doing. You'll see how well you played with colored notes, a progress bar, and a performance meter. You can check your rhythm and note accuracy, keep track of your progress, and beat your best score — all while perfecting your skills."

Apple credits Oliver Luedecke, Gunter Mensch and Stephan Pillhofer as the inventors of this patent which is titled "Method and System for Displaying Components of Music Instruction Files." The patent was originally filed in Q4 2008 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Steve Jobs, Woodside CA, Photographed by the Great Norman Seeff

This is one of the greatest photos that I've ever seen of Steve Jobs. The great photographer who took this picture is none other than Norman Seeff who captured so many of the greatest musicians of my generation. To view his full collection of licensable photographs, see Norman Seeff's website. The photo noted in our report should not be used in referring site reports without permission from Norman Seeff.

Update May 22, 2012 7PM: Read the story behind the photo where you could also order a lithograph. Also see "The Steve Jobs Norman Seeff Knew."

Final Patent Round-Up

Over and above the granted patents that were specifically reported on today, we present you with links to all of the other granted patents in our Final Patent Round-Up as follows:

8,185,942 Client-server opaque token passing apparatus and method

8,185,843 Managing user interface control panels

8,185,839 Browsing or searching user interfaces and other aspects

8,185,823 Zoom indication for stabilizing unstable video clips

8,185,749 System and method for revising Boolean and arithmetic operations

8,185,706 Copyback optimization for memory system

8,185,674 System having a plurality of buffers for providing audio for synchronized playback to multiple audio devices

8,185,533 System for browsing through a music catalog using correlation metrics of a knowledge base of mediasets

8,185,529 Immediate search feedback

8,185,166 Thermal spray coating for seamless and radio-transparent electronic device housing

8,185,149 User programmable switch

8,185,084 Wireless headset having adaptive powering

8,184,943 Transport controls for a media device

8,184,804 Hash function using a piling-up process

8,184,423 Electronic device with automatic mode switching

8,184,130 Method and apparatus for image acquisition, organization, manipulation, and publication

8,184,096 Cursor transitions

8,182,638 Media player with machined window undercut and transparent wall disposed therein

8,182,293 Apparatus and methods for connecting two electrical devices together

8,182,139 Calibration of temperature sensing circuitry in an electronic device

Notice

Patently Apple presents only a brief summary of granted patents with associated graphics for journalistic news purposes as each Granted Patent is revealed by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Readers are cautioned that the full text of any Granted Patent should be read in its entirety for full details. About Comments: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit comments.

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