The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of twenty-two newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. Two of the noteworthy granted patents issued today include one that details Apple's advanced autofocus features for iOS cameras while a second patent covers wild new 3D gestures coming to a future iPad.

If you own Apple's latest iPad that incorporates their brilliant Retina Display technology, you know just how stunning it is to behold. The technology behind the Retina Display is obviously harder to copy than most thought. A recent report out Korea states that Samsung is struggling to come up with a matching resolution solution.

Last week Apple filed a detailed patent application relating to a new iPhone audio-sharing network concept. While the filing touches on hearing aid technology, it is by no means limited to that narrow definition. Another application applies to teleconferencing, for example. In fact, one of the benefits of this technology relates to a "conference telephone." The technology is designed to cut out background murmurs and general noise while executives discuss business with distant colleagues and/or potential clients. At the end of the day, the patent relates to both students and the enterprise. Yes, the Devil is in the details. 

The National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple claiming that Apple's use of Siri on the iPhone and (future) iPad, infringe on two of their patents relating to speech recognition.

On July 26, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals an exciting new annotation application that's in the works. If you consider that ten extremely detailed applications were published on this one project alone today, I'd have to say that it's likely a priority project. The applications cover new navigation and annotation modes that will assist readers working with electronic documents, digital books, newspapers and magazines. While it would take days to comb through these applications to list all of the coming features, our report focuses on just a few of them including a new annotation toolbar. At the end of the day, it was quite the surprise to find these patent gems and for students and professionals who need to use annotation tools, this is going to be a huge leap forward for the iPad. It's the kind of tool that will help the iPad push further into the enterprise and beyond.

Apple has been toying with a heads-up display or video glasses since 2006 and they've already been granted a patent for their invention. Then earlier this month Apple's video glasses project won a surprising second patent which we covered in our report titled "Apple's Special Project for a Video Telephonic Headset Wins a Second Patent." Today, the US Patent Office published a new patent application from Apple regarding a future heads-up display that focuses on delivering Retina Display like quality to a smaller display that's powered by a much smaller battery than an iPhone. While today's patent fills a need in Apple's video glasses project it has to be one of the driest reads of the year. For those interested in the finer details of this invention, check out Apple's latest patent application titled " Display Resolution Increase with Mechanical Actuation."

On July 26, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published yet another extraordinary patent application from Apple that reveals new details regarding Apple's future iPhone-NFC controls system. Our report mainly focuses on the new system as it relates to an iDevice controlling and interacting with a possible standalone television in addition to an expanded version of Apple's current Apple TV styled device. The updated Apple TV could one day control cable or satellite television programming and video game play via a video game controller. This would really be a boost for Apple if users were able to play high end RPG video styled games with a standard styled controller. Further, Apple's invention runs deep and they envision NFC ready iDevices being able to control standalone cameras, projectors, in-home security systems, lawn sprinkler systems, your thermostat, garage door and more. One of these fine days, future iDevices will finally support NFC; and when they do – watch out, because Apple will open the floodgates and release a new generation of applications noted in this report and others like their forthcoming iWallet. Will Apple's next generation iPhone 5 finally be the one that will introduce NFC? Only time will tell.

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of twenty-five newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In our first report of the day we covered a wild patent that detailed a wide variety of technologies ranging from a future TV system right through to a signature touch pad that could start a vehicle. In our second report of the day we cover the vast majority of Apple's utility patents that touch on everything from camera to smartphone technologies and in between we cover the user interface for Apple TV and a future ID App that will identify objects found in museums and guided tours.

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of twenty-five newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. This particular report covers a single, wild and crazy patent that touches on advancing television, advanced 5D technology, interactive gaming, teleconferencing, advanced tactile feedback technology, virtual reality data gloves and even a unique touch signature for starting a future vehicle. Is that wild enough for you? 

News out of Asia this morning states that Apple's new iPhone has now gone into production at the Pegatron plant in Shanghai, China. Volume production will begin in August. On another front, sources point to LG gaining iPad display orders and may land the vast majority of panel shipments for the rumored 7.85 inch iPad debuting in time for Christmas. LG entered Apple's iPad supply chain in March of this year.  

In a review of Apple's Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3 in February, StudioDaily noted that "two nice things in the 10.0.1 update were the ability to apply a custom sequence starting timecode and XSAN support, which lets you support an XSAN volume for media and event storage." They concluded by stating that it didn't mean true collaborative editing was here yet but that it was a start. The interesting thing about this is that Apple was just granted a patent for Final Cut Pro this week and its total focus was on this very point: collaborative editing in real-time. Final Cut Pro fans tell me that this would be a major feature that many of them have dreamed of and hoped for. Well, let it be known, it's a feature on Apple's roadmap via this week's granted patent.

Over the years Apple has filed for a wide variety of trademarks so as to protect their distinct imagery and/or marketing strategies. Beyond the normal trademarks such as the iMac or iPhone, they also trademarked some pretty odd ones too. They trademarked their famous marketing line "There's an App for that," along with covering store designs and even store fixtures of one sort or another. So it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that Apple has now filed for the Mac's classic startup chime. The Mac's startup chime is made up of a single chord played when a Mac is turned on. According to Wikipedia, the chime indicates that diagnostic tests running immediately at startup have found no hardware or fundamental software problems.

On July 19, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published two patent applications from Apple that reveal coming tweaks to OS X and possibly iOS. The first patent covers changes coming to the OS X Finder while the other patent is a little more ambitious. We find Apple introducing us to "virtual boundaries" associated with an upgrade to the docking system that will accommodate multiple docks for apps, operating system components and more. It's also believed that the Finder tweaks found in today's patent may actually be associated with Apple's upcoming OS X Mountain Lion.

Back in January Peter Oppenheimer stated that the iPad was continuing "its unprecedented adoption in business. And as more businesses adopt iPads, Apple needs to ensure corporate IT departments that their security meets higher standards. Last week four new security patents came to light and were captured in our report titled "Apple Advances Security System Technology for the Enterprise." Today, four additional security patents have been published by the US Patent and Trademark Office that cover systems and methods for tamper-resistant booting, fighting against malicious code aimed at portable devices and more.

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of twenty-five newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In our second granted patent report of the day we cover Apple's OpenCL patent and one that relates to a yet unreleased docking station that provides a moveable connector that is designed to better protect iDevices from damage. We conclude our report with a list of fourteen utility patents covering such things as a data synchronization protocol and a multisector parallel plate antenna for iDevices.

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of twenty-five newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In today's first granted patent report we focus entirely on a single patent that represents another major iPhone and iOS interface victory for Apple. Some may be bored to hear about it, many will moan, groan and shout that the patent system is broken because of it. Yet to Apple's legal team, it's simply music to their ears. Apple reinvented the smartphone, and today they get another patent victory to celebrate that fact. Wherever you are Steve, Cheers! 

Specialty glass Company Corning, famous for its "gorilla glass" used in Apple devices, has an ultra-slim flexible glass called "willow glass" that has the potential to enable displays to be wrapped around a device. Corning said it's currently shipping samples of willow glass, which is compatible with OLED displays, to companies. Companies like Samsung and Microsoft already have patents on this type of concept and Nokia has a concept video that's very interesting. The race to overtake Apple's iPad is hot, as competitors team up with cutting edge University research labs to find that next great thing that could topple the iPad. Yet Tony Fadell, Apple's former Senior Vice President of the iPod Division, thinks that Apple has more technology coming to the iPad that will keep the iPad on top.

During Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference last week in Toronto, Canada, Steve Ballmer vowed that they weren't "going to leave any space uncovered to Apple." He later added that "We have our advantages in terms of enterprise management," and then shouted "But we are not going to let any piece of this [go uncontested to Apple]," reported CRN. So why is Microsoft freaking out now? Because Apple is getting a little too close to home base. Back in January Peter Oppenheimer stated that the iPad was continuing "its unprecedented adoption in business. Nearly all the top companies, within major Fortune 500 markets, including pharma, manufacturing, hospitality, consumer products, financial services, healthcare and retail are actively using iPad to improve workflows, business processes and customer engagement." Some of the companies that Oppenheimer pointed out included the likes of Royal Dutch Shell, Credit Suisse, Kimberly-Clark, St. Jude Medical, Nike, Danske Bank and Facebook. Adding to this, John Paczkowski of All ThingsD reported that 95% of the tablets going into the Fortune 500 Companies were iPads. Is it clear enough that Apple is focusing on the Fortune 500 and the enterprise market in general? If it's not, then consider a new round of high profile security patent applications published this past week by the US Patent Office that reveals that Apple is developing new features to work with the already high end Advanced Encryption Standard approved by the US Government. So it's no wonder Mr. Ballmer was freaking out this past week. The one time consumer-centric company called Apple is now on the warpath toward the enterprise at full throttle with iOS leading the charge. So yes Mr. Ballmer, we get it, you just woke up and you're freaking out. So enough with talk, let the war games begin. But for now, we'll take a look at Apple's new security patents.

Apple's trademark filings for both "Mountain Lion" and "OS X Mountain Lion" were made public this past Friday – while being officially filed on July ninth in the US. Interestingly Apple's filing for Mountain Lion in China added much more coverage and detail. In fact, Apple added 3 specific entries relating to television. And lastly, Apple has been granted a design patent in Hong Kong China for a USB connector that appears to have a possible twist to it. We specifically point that out in one of our report graphics. Apple's OS X Mountain Lion is due to arrive before the end of the month.

Over the years, Apple has dreamt up a revolutionary styled docking station, some smart docks, docks based on straight forward inductive charging methods and some with loopy inductive charging methods and yet we still have Apple's plain old boring dock. But it seems that Apple isn't done just yet with designing new docks and today we see that their design team went over the edge with a dozen or more docking systems. And this time around, most of them involve mating a power-clip to a docking station that could also end up being your MacBook or iMac. One of these designs may end up making it to market one of these days or they'll all simply end up in Jony Ive's toy box to rust with all of the other rejected ideas. C'mon Jony – pick a new docking system and get on with it already.

On July 12, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals their intent to build an ejectable tray into future iDevices, including the iPod touch, which will accommodate specialty modules such as a smart card. Apple has updated this patent which was actually granted to them in March of this year. The activity involving this patent is a great sign that Apple may be putting the final touches on this feature before bringing it to market. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) recently approved Apple's Nano SIM which opens the door for Apple's future iWallet application to come to market. Apple's current patent goes beyond just smart cards and will allow future iDevices to store data on flash cards and beyond.

On July 12, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals a new iPhone case accessory that will come with a built-in noise windscreen. This may sound like a minor feature but it will be greatly appreciated by consumers of older iPhones. On a personal note, my wife phones me after work at a downtown location every day on her 3G iPhone. Almost every day I tell her that I hear the people talking around her louder than her own voice. It's one of the reasons that I've held back on buying an iPhone for myself. Yes, it's that annoying. So while this patent may be for an iPhone accessory case today, it may also indicate that this will become a standard iPhone feature in the future. One could only hope.

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 23 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In our third and final granted patent report of the day we focus in on Apple's sixth granted patent for solar power related technology. Our report also covers a secondary granted patent for an anti-theft system for iDevices based on using an accelerometer. Whether this one even passes the laugh test is up to you to determine.

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 23 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In our second granted patent report of the day we once again focus on a single major patent relating to Apple's all important Multi-Touch technology that allows iDevices to be thinner, brighter and require less power. We close out our report with a look at industrial design wins out of China and a list of seven additional utility patents covering such things as the assembly of an iPod and managing "to do" items or "notes" on iOS devices.

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 23 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In our first granted patent report of the day we mainly focus on a major patent relating to iTravel, Apple's transportation check-in system. The timing couldn't be better for this patent as Apple recently announced that a new feature called "Passbook" was coming to iOS 6 this fall. Scott Forstall, Apple's Senior Vice President of iPhone Software, stated that Passbook would include travel services such as a boarding pass and express check-in which today's iTravel patent covers. The Near Field Communications (NFC) aspect of the patent will also be important for Apple's future iWallet application. To round off our report, we cover two of Apple's latest industrial designs wins and list an additional ten utility patents for the super geeks and legal professionals amongst us to review. 

Earlier this week, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a very special granted patent of Apple's relating to a Head Mounted Display system. The Los Angeles Time mistakenly reported that "Apple may be taking a page out of Google's book." No, no, no. Apple's patent predates the iPhone while Google's patent is shown to have been filed be in 2011. So if anything, it's Google taking a page out of Apple's book, again. Admittedly, Google's vision for video glasses does in fact appear to be far more aggressive than Apple's humble aspirations, but it may be more realistic. Apple's main focus is connecting the headset to an iDevice in order to watch movies. Its secondary focus is shown to be working with telephony and the internet. Yet considering that the patent was actually filed prior to the iPhone debuting, the idea was way ahead of its time. Apple's patent presents us with a grand overview of the optical options that they're considering for this device and hints that it'll be mainly aimed at consumer entertainment and gaming.

Industry sources tell DigiTimes that Apple will be making revisions to the next iPad's backlight module by reverting back to a single LED structure in an effort to eliminate overheating issues. The new iPad that is being designed for Q4 will also sport Sharp's new indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) panel technology to allow the device to feature an even thinner design and longer battery life. DigiTimes sources also stress that the changes will not affect the luminosity or clarity of the Retina Display.

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 22 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. this week. This particular report covers three interesting iOS patents covering the creation of music playlists and application windowing. Additionally, we cover one of the key advancements in MacBook Pro's keyboard and several industrial designs including the iPhone face cover and the "Hi-Drive" icon. And lastly we cover twelve utility patents that relate to such things as the assembly of the iPad's display and an editor for program files.  

On July 5, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a series of patent applications from Apple covering a wide range of technologies. In particular, our report briefly touches on inventions relating to a digital signal filter for iOS device cameras, an iPhone wireless headset and Apple's Logic Pro's Surround Panner. For security fans, there's a specific one covering in-place encryption. In addition to patents, it was revealed by the US Patent and Trademark Office that Apple has filed for two iOS 6 related trademarks covering their 3D photo-realistic navigation feature called "Flyover" and their new Maps + Compass Logo reflecting its upcoming "Turn by Turn" feature.