The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 58 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover five of Apple's inventions relating to dual camera effects such as the bokeh effect; two inductive charging patents covering the iPhone and Apple Watch; one covering the Apple Watch Feature for Heart Rate Estimation; and lastly one covering liquid metal for a metal glass shell for a device. We wrap up this week's granted patent report with our traditional listing of the remaining granted patents that were issued to Apple today.

Granted Patent: UI for Camera Effects like Zoom and the Bokeh Effect

Apple's newly granted patent covers their invention relating to electronic devices that utilize multiple cameras to provide improved camera capabilities. In some embodiments, multiple cameras of fixed focal length are used with variable digital magnification to mimic optical zooming capabilities. In some embodiments, multiple cameras of fixed focal length are used to mimic, or simulate, a bokeh effect. The described embodiments also include complementary user interfaces that enable these improved camera capabilities.

Patently covered this as a patent application on December 16th and it's already a granted patent. You could find more details there. Apple's granted patent 9,854,156 was originally filed in Q3 2016 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Granted Patent: Magnetic Shielding in Inductive Power Transfer

Apple's newly granted patent covers their invention relating to connectible devices, and more specifically to magnetic shielding in inductive power transfer between connectible devices.

Patently Apple first covered this invention as a patent application in September 2015 prior to the iPhone X adopting it. The report was titled "Apple Invents a New Magnetics-based Docking System with Inductive Charging," and you can get more details of this invention there. Apple's granted patent 9,852,844 was originally filed in Q1 2015 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Another inductive charging patent granted to Apple today was 9,853,507 titled "Self-locating Inductive Coil." It was originally filed in May 2014. Patently Apple covered it as a patent application back on November 05, 2015. The report was titled "Apple is on a Roll as their Fifth Wireless Inductive Charging Patent Surfaces since Late September," and you could get more details of it here.

Granted Patent: Apple Watch Feature for Context-Aware Heart Rate Estimation

Apple's newly granted patent covers their invention relating to heart rate estimation and in particular to context-aware heart rate estimation. In some embodiments, a "direct" measurement of the user's heart rate based on a pulse sensor (such as a PPG sensor) can be refined using a physiological model that is informed by context information, such as the user's current activity and/or intensity level as well as user-specific parameters such as age, gender, fitness level, previous heart rate measurements, and so on.

In some embodiments, a device can generate heart rate data samples using a pulse sensor (such as a PPG sensor). The device can determine a direct heart rate estimate based on the heart rate data samples. For instance, the device can perform noise reduction and frequency-spectrum analysis (e.g., a template matching analysis) to identify a most likely heart rate, and the direct heart rate estimate can be based on the most likely heart rate.

Apple's granted patent 9,848,823 was originally filed in Q3 2015 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office. To review more of the details of this invention, click here.

Granted Patent: Liquid Metal, Metallic Glass Parts including Core and Shell

Apple's newly granted patent covers their invention relating to methods of constructing parts using metallic glass alloys, and metallic glass alloy materials. Apple has never outright confirmed the use of liquid metal to create any part of a device to date.

Apple's patent FIG. 7A below depicts a metallic glass part having a metallic glass shell surrounding an internal cavity; FIG. 7B depicts a metallic glass part having a metallic glass shell surrounding an internal alloy core.

In this granted patent, Apple notes FIG. 7A depicts an example of a metallic glass part 700 having a metallic glass shell 702 and an evacuated core (i.e. internal cavity) 706. FIG. 7B depicts an example of a part 700 having an alloy core 710 in place of the internal cavity 706 of FIG. 7A.

Interestingly Apple notes that "In some embodiments, the metallic glass shell can be constructed by 3D printing, such as by laser heating or electron beam heating.

As usual, Apple lists devices that could take advantage of liquid metal today or in the future: iPhone, iPod, iPad, Television, Apple TV box, Apple Watch, MacBook, iMac (desktop), keyboard and mouse.

Apple's granted patent 9,849,504 was originally filed in Q2 2015 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

The Remaining Patents granted to Apple Today

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 Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.