Patently Apple has discovered a new patent application in Europe that's quite fascinating. Many assume that Apple is using Corning's Gorilla glass for the iPhone 5 but Apple's latest patent puts that into question to a certain degree. Especially in light of Apple's use of thinner In-Cell glass, Apple may have used a new process for strengthening their thinner glass. The patent doesn't confirm if the patent pending process was used in the manufacture of the current iPhone 5 or is one destined for future iDevices. But it's abundantly clear that Apple has a new process for strengthening thin glass that involves the use of a very sophisticated "Glass Ion Exchange Bath" system. While those who love Apple products can feel the magic of using their iDevices, most will never know the depth and lengths that Apple will go to get a product just right. Apple's latest patent is proof of Apple's dedication to excellence.

In Asia, following supply chain players carefully seems to be the hottest trend in tech reporting. At times, reading about these leaks provides us with a glimpse of possible new product trends in the pipeline or supplier shifts that could affect the market in one way or another. In today's rumor report we cover an off-beat observation made by Korea's IT News filed late yesterday. 

Today, the US Patent & Trademark Office published Apple's latest trademark filing for their redesigned "FaceTime" logo. Apple originally filed for the new design earlier in the week. Due to Apple's redesigned iOS 7 UI going flat, many icons will have to be updated with the US Patent and Trademark Office in the coming months.

Late on Friday, the Hong Kong IP Office granted Apple eight new design patents. All of the eight designs relate to the Apple Store and/or Apple's In-Store displays and cabinetry found in retail stores such as Best Buy, Future Shop and others worldwide. Noteworthy are two of the tabletop stand-designs that are aimed for Apple Stores. They appear to present a new design. The new stands are designed to be viewed in portrait mode rather than the traditional landscape mode. Additionally, the tabletop stands contain new distinct slots that appear at the bottom and/or top of the new designs depending upon the model chosen.

According to new market research from ABI, more than 39 million tablets shipped worldwide during the first calendar quarter of 2013. That represents the second largest volume of shipments to date; only bested by the previous quarter ending calendar year 2012. The spending power of the largest three world regions is continuing to drive market growth.

Logic Devices, who has provided high performance application-specific circuits for industrial and defense systems for nearly 30 years, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple. The patent infringement lawsuit concerns Apple's iOS and more.

The color on the iPhone's IPS LCD Retina display is sharp, crisp and bright. Samsung's S4 display may be bigger, but AMOLED displays in general can't match the quality of Apple's Retina. Apple's CEO Tim Cook recently described the color saturation of OLED as being awful. Some may argue pixel counts are higher on some Android phones, but Apple re-engineered the pixel to accurately fit in four times the density of color in the same space. So pixel counts don't tell the full story. The interesting thing that we learned today is that Samsung may be experimenting with an IPS LCD display for a portion of their next generation Note III smartphone lineup.

ABI Research reports today that the average US implied subsidy for Samsung devices is 84% as compared to Apple 74% and HTC 80%, although absolute value of subsidy is $110 higher for the average Apple product. OEMs and their carrier partners increasingly have to continue to employ highly tactical methods to make sure that their devices are subsidized to a competitive price point in order to help prevent consumers acting to avoid their product on price point alone.

Apple received a Granted Patent relating to a user interface that uses motion tracking back in 2012. They've been working on this since 2009. In some circles, this is considered a head tracking user interface. According to Apple's patent, the technology takes advantage of Apple's built-in iSight camera through a process described in the patent in which the camera sets your face up as a profile that replaces the mouse and obviously touch in iDevices. It now appears that Apple is finalizing this technology for use in iOS 7 according to Scott Buscemi reporting for Mac 9to5.

On June 27, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals a key new combination input port. The new port will save on space as the MacBook Air continues to get thinner. But where the invention really gets interesting is when the combination port could be used in Apple's hot iPhone and iPad designs. Until Apple launches their iPad Mini with Retina, I bought my wife an 8GB HP Slate the other day and purchased a 32 GB SD Data Card. The first thought that came to mind was why doesn't Apple provide this option? Today we know why. Apple's Jony Ive will be able to design his future iDevice magic without having to take up space for an SD Card Slot. That's Apple, the innovator – dong what they do best: Create cool devices with features that drive the copycat competition crazy.

On June 10, 2013 Apple introduced a peek at iOS 7 and one of the highlighted features was their new iTunes Radio service. Today, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals that they've been seriously working on this project since December 2011 – though there's evidence dating the project back to at least 2010. Revelations found in our report today cover such matters as dynamic playlists, a user feedback system, an easy drag and drop feature to readjust playlists quickly and more including eight detailed patent figures clarifying many of the noted features.

Apple has visited factories of Taiwan-based ODM Wistron and has qualified Wistron for OEM production of iPad mini, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers. Since Apple has released iPad mini orders to Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) and Pegatron in 2013, Wistron may begin production in 2014 or 2015 at the earliest.