A Look Back at Apple's Top Ten Patents of 2010
It was another banner year for Apple patents in 2010. The Crazy Ones of Cupertino were shown to be working on an incredible line up of ideas and projects in areas ranging from sports to Near Field Communications to next generation 3D user interfaces and devices and even green technologies. Yet at the end of the day, there were ten patents that rose to the top; Ten patents that the Mac Community clearly chose as their favorites. The Mac Community celebrates Apple's spirit of invention as it empowers and inspires us throughout the year. Will one of your favorites be on this list? Well, let the top-ten countdown for 2010 begin!
Our Methodology for Choosing the Top Ten
Our methodology for choosing the top ten is simple: It comes down to how many of the Mac Community's top writers and thinkers chose to write about one of our reports about Apple's powerful and creative ideas. The more the global community supported one of our reports, the higher the score. Each website equals one referrer and each referrer equals hundreds to thousands of reader views. At the end of the day, consider this system to be the "People's Choice Awards" for patents. Patently Apple would like to take this time to thank the global Mac Community for their support. Millions of people around the world have read about Apple's great inventions because of you. And now, let's get down to what matters.
The 2010 Top Ten Patent Countdown
iTravel: Apple's Future Travel Centric App for the iPhone
April 21, 2010 - Referrers: 61
Apple's iPad May Gain an Intelligent Bezel in the Future
Feb. 02, 2010 - Referrers: 65
New Apple iPad Designs Surface with Landscape Docking & More
Sept. 25, 2010 - Referrers: 71
Apple's Vision of a Solar Cell iPhone Supports Prototype in the Wild
June 01, 2010 - Referrers: 82
Apple Invents New Kind of Logo Antenna for Portables
Dec. 23, 2010 - Referrers: 89
Cool New Finger Swiping Camera Controls coming to iPhone & iPad
Feb 25, 2010 - Referrers: 94
Apple Introduces us to a New iTunes "Concert Ticket +" System
April 15, 2010 - Referrers: 99
Apple Introduces us to the Smart Bike
Aug 05, 2010 - Referrers: 132
iGroups: Apple's New iPhone Social App in Development
Mar 18, 2010 - Referrers: 155
The Mother Lode: Welcome to the iMac Touch
Aug 23, 2010 - Referrers: 171
Many Fans have requested to see our next tier of winning Apple patents and we're only too happy to oblige. In our next top tier, we list twelve, as two postions were tied:
(11) Apple Reveal New Touch Screen Technology for the iPhone & MacBook Tablet; (12A) A New Social Workflow Patent from Apple Highlights Facebook; (12B) A New Patent Reveals Scrollable Menus & Toolbars for OS X Lion; (13) Apple Wins Strategic Multitouch & Music Tempo Workout Patents; (14) Apple Considers MagSafe for Portable Devices like the iPad; (15) Whoa! Apple Reveals Amazing Gaming Accessories in the Works; (16A) Apple Reveals Smart-Home Management Dashboard System; (16B) Apple Reveals a Powerful Location-Based Service for the iPhone; (17) Apple Ingeniously at Work on a New Way to Share & Buys Apps; (18) Apple Files a Mysterious Projector Patent; (19) Apple Illustrates Pico Projector Coming to MacBooks; and finally number 20 for "Apple Getting Serious about Near Field Communication on the iPhone.
Tthe Number One Patent Trend of 2010
In closing out 2010, we'll point you to Apple's leading Patent Trend for 2010: Near Field Communications. This technology, when ready, will lead to new iWallet services and a wide range of other iServices related to travel, social networking, controling more in-home devices, sharing information faster and the beginning of the iKey which is presented in a video in this report. For more information about this trend, check out our Archives under Tech: NFC.
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