Apple Granted Patent for Calibrating Compass in iDevices

Apple has been granted a patent today for their invention relating to techniques for calculating and removing the contribution of an interfering, local offset magnetic field from the output of a 3-axis magnetic sensor so as to obtain an accurate reading of the Earth's geomagnetic field.

For example, the device may be designed to automatically infer that it has been attached or fixed to the dashboard of a car, such that the 3D calibrator should be set aside in favor of the 2D calibrator. Thereafter, when the device determines that it has returned to a "3D mode of use", responsibility for providing the output direction is entrusted to the 3D calibrator.



About Apple's Patent Figures: FIG. 1 is a diagram of a magnetic measurement space that appears in an example 3D calibration process for an electronic compass in a portable device; FIG. 3 depicts an example 2D mode of use where the portable device has been fixed to the dashboard of a car that is being driven; FIG. 4 shows an example 3D mode of use wherein the portable device is being held in its user's hand; FIG. 5 shows another possible 2D mode of use where the user is riding a bicycle to which she has fixed the portable device.

For more on this patent, see granted patent 8,370,097.

Apple Granted Patent for Editing on iDevices

Apple has been granted a patent for their invention relating to multifunctional devices with touch screen displays, and more particularly, to conducting edits (e.g., cutting, copying, or pasting user-selected content) on such devices.

Apple's First Patent Claim: Apple claims a method, comprising: at a multifunction device with a touch screen display: displaying at least a portion of a structured electronic document on the touch screen display, wherein the structured electronic document comprises a plurality of boxes of content; determining whether the structured electronic document meets one or more predefined document complexity criteria; selecting one or more entire boxes of content in response to one or more finger gestures when the structured electronic document meets at least one predefined document complexity criteria; and selecting a gesture-specified portion of text, wherein a respective end of the selected portion of text is placed within one box of content such that only a portion of text in the one box of content is selected when the structured electronic document does not meet at least one predefined document complexity criteria.

To review Apple's other 21 patent claims and invention detailing, see granted patent 8,370,736.

Apple Granted another Patent for Lists & Documents GUI

Apple was granted a patent today for their invention relating to portable electronic devices, and more particularly, to portable devices that display portions of electronic documents and/or portions of lists of items. This patent that was last filed in 2012 actually dates all the way back to 2007. It somewhat relates to patent 7,469,381 titled "list scrolling and document translation, scaling, and rotation on a touch-screen display," that was used against Samsung.

To review Apple's 30 patent claims and their invention's in-depth detailing, see Granted Patent 8,368,665.

Apple Granted Patent for a Method of Fabricating Touch Sensor Panels Such OLED

Apple has been granted a patent today for their invention relating to fabricating a touch sensor panel, and more specifically, to a method of patterning thin film on a glass substrate with an uneven surface.

To review Apple's 23 patent claims and invention detailing, see Granted Patent 8,368,661.

The Remaining Patents that were granted to Apple Today

It's Granted Patent Day

Readers should be aware that every Tuesday the US Patent and Trademark Office publish Apple's Granted Patents. Granted patents are approved patent applications that Apple applied for months or even years ago. In the vast majority of cases, "granted patents" aren't covering any new kind of technology on the day the patent is being granted. New Apple technologies are generally revealed on Thursdays by the US Patent Office in the form of published patent applications. Some Mac sites confuse this process by making claims and presenting bylines on Tuesday that insinuate that Apple has just revealed a new technology or process. In 99% of cases, this is simply untrue and readers should be made aware of this fact. Known exceptions would include patents that were recently acquired by Apple or a domestic and/or foreign patent application that Apple had never presented in the US before under its own brand name.

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.

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