Apple's "Book Proofer" and "Game Center" Patents Surface
On July 18, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published two patent applications from Apple that reveal the details behind their "Book Proofer" and Social "Game Center" applications.
Apple's Book Proofer Background
Users often read electronic publications on portable devices. Electronic books, magazines, websites and newspapers, for example, can be read on tablet computers, smartphones, text readers and other handheld devices. Consistently displaying electronic publication content on heterogeneous devices can be problematic. For example, due to differences in device capabilities and characteristics, the content may display properly on one device while another device may display the content with various display errors. Thus, an electronic publisher may need to proof the electronic publication on a variety of devices and edit the electronic publication to accommodate the characteristics of each device before publishing the electronic publication.
Apple's Book Proofer Solution
Apple's patent generally elates to editing electronic documents. When the user finds errors in the electronic publication on the portable device, the user can edit the electronic publication on an editing device.
The changes made in an electronic publication can be automatically synchronized with the portable device and displayed so that the user can review the changes and continue proofing the electronic publication on the portable device. In some implementations, the editing device can monitor files associated with an electronic publication for changes to the files and, when changes are detected, the files can be automatically synchronized to a portable device coupled to the editing device.
Particular implementations provide at least the following advantages: A user can quickly proof an electronic publication on a portable device without having to manually synchronize or update the electronic publication when changes are made to the electronic publication on an editing device.
Multiple portable devices can be synchronized and proofed concurrently. Synchronization of files can be prioritized based on which portion of the electronic document is currently displayed on the portable device allowing the user to quickly view changes made to currently displayed portions of the electronic publication.
Below is Apple's patent FIG. 1 alongside their actual implementation. The design is likely to change under iOS 7 due to Apple's new flatter graphic design.
Book Proofer for creating and editing Fixed Layout EPUB for iBooks
If you're unfamiliar with Apple's Book Proofer, the noted video below provides some insight. You could also check out a review of Book Proofer by TUAW.
Patent Credits
Apple credits Jeffery Lee, Alan Cannistraro, Melissa Hajj, Casey Dougherty and Ryan Lynch as the inventors of this patent application 20130185346 which was originally filed in Q4 2012 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office. To review Apple's 21 patent claims and details, click here.
One of Apple's Game Center Patents Surface
One of Apple's key Game Center centric patents has surfaced today under patent application number 20130185325. If you ever wanted to know the thinking behind Apple's gaming social network, here's your chance to dig into all of the details.
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