Future Version of Magic Mouse Receives Granted Patent

Apple has received a Granted Patent titled "Hybrid inertial and touch sensing input device." Apple's patent covers a method and apparatus for tracking coarse and fine motions associated with a future version of the Magic Mouse. The advanced mouse could add an inertial sensor to the touch sensor that already exists. The method includes receiving inputs from an inertial sensor and a touch sensor, and dynamically adjusting a velocity estimate of the electronic input device based on weighting or predetermined thresholds of the inputs to maximize a tracking range of the input device.

Apple's patents states that "the methods described herein may also be utilized in other applications such as game controllers." Today's granted patent relates to another patent application that we covered back in 2010 titled "Apple Could Advance Gaming & Paint in Magic Mouse Upgrade."

Apple credits Farshid Moussavi as the sole inventor of granted patent 8,300,020 which was originally filed in Q3 2008 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Apple granted Another Touch Related Patent

Apple has received a Granted Patent titled "Capacitive sensor coupling correction." Apple's granted patent generally relates to the field of touch sensor panels. More particularly, Apple's granted patent is directed at one exemplary aspect of correcting spurious signals generated by changes to parasitic capacitive coupling as a result of a touch event. Apple's invention normalizes the effects of the changes to the parasitic capacitive coupling that could occur in touch sensor panels in the presence of a touch event so as to reduce or eliminate the appearance of erroneous touch events.

Apple's patent FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process of computing both metal and connecting trace correctional coefficients; Patent FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computing system including a correction module.

Apple credits John Elias and Steve Hotelling as the inventors of granted patent 8,300,019 which was originally filed in Q3 2008 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Apple Granted Patent for Maps + Compass

Apple has received a Granted Patent for their original "Maps + Compass" application. Apple's granted patent relates to devices with touch screen displays that provide maps and directions. In 2008 many of the smartphones were still using physical buttons for map navigation. Apple saw the need for their iPhone touch screen to display more transparent and intuitive user interfaces for providing maps, directions, and location-based information.

Apple credits Michael Matas, Chris Blumenberg, Andre Boule, Stephen Lemay and Richard Williamson as the inventors of granted patent 8,302,033 titled "Touch screen device, method, and graphical user interface for providing maps, directions, and location-based information." The patent was originally filed in Q2 2008 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Apple Granted Patent for Video Editing App "Motion"

Apple has received a Granted Patent relating to their video app called Motion that works with Final Cut Pro.

Apple's formal Patent Abstract describing Motion states that "A user could control the animation of an object via an interface that includes a control area and a user-manipulable control element. The control area includes an ellipse. The user-manipulable control element includes a three-dimensional arrow with a straight body, a three-dimensional arrow with a curved body, or a sphere. In one embodiment, the interface includes a virtual trackball that is used to manipulate the user-manipulable control element."

Apple credits Gregory Niles, Guido Hucking and Brian Walsh as the inventors of granted patent 8,300,055 which was originally filed in Q2 2007 and revised in Q1 2011. The granted patent was published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Apple Received Four Granted Design Patents Today

Apple has been granted four design patents today which cover the second and fourth generation iPod Shuffles, the image of an iBook turning a page and a 2008 logo/Icon for something called "AlterNative," which if correct, never came to market. You have to wonder what Apple had in mind for an app or service called AlterNative.

Send in your feedback: what do you think Apple had in mind for "AlterNative?" 

The Answer finally came through via feedback from Rand, as noted in our comment area below. To find this icon, you simply click on the Radio icon on Apple TV's main menu, scroll down the categories to Alternative Rock and viola, the result is what we see below. Thanks for the feedback Rand.

A second reply came from Zeph, as noted in our comment area. Apple's "AlterNative" icon could also be found on your Mac under iTunes, in Tile Mode and Genres as note in the graphic below. Thanks for the feedback, Zeph.

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.