Patent-watch

Apple Exploring Contacts on the Home Screen - Apple Patent Watch

By Jeremy, Friday, Jan 15, 2010 a 7:51 am

The Apple patents keep on rolling out and today the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office accepted Apple’s filing for a patent that would allow for contact icons to be placed on the home screen, along with the ability to invoke apps, retrieve and display contacts information, or dynamically display related information all tied to an individual contact.

blockquote>"The icon can also be used to invoke one or more applications that are personalized to the contact. The icon can be modified to display information related to the contact. In one aspect, an icon associated with an entity can be temporarily displayed on the mobile device based on the proximity of the mobile device to the entity."

This is pure speculation on our part but it's possible you will see this patent come to life in the upcoming iPhone OS 4.0. Hopefully when January 27th comes we all will see what is in store for the future of the iPhone OS.

Now please excuse me while I go add a few more contacts on the home screen of my Moto Droid, since it's been doing that for a while. ;)

One more screen shot after the break!

Apple Exploring iPhone/iTablet Stylus and Dynamic Multi-Model User Interfaces -- Patent Watch

By Rene Ritchie, Thursday, Jan 14, 2010 a 10:22 am

AppleInsider brings word of two interesting Apple patents, one involving user interfaces that changed depending on the user's situation, the other -- wait for it -- for an iPhone/iTablet stylus.

The stylus patent, credited to John G. Elias, co-founder of multitouch maestros, FingerWorks, involves:

3D Multitouch Interface for iTablet and/or iPhone 4.0? Apple Patent Regurgitation!

By Rene Ritchie, Tuesday, Jan 5, 2010 a 3:10 pm

The Baltimore Sun has regurgitated a recent Apple patent filing for a 3D, multitouch, zooming user interface. So the speculation jumps immediately to iTablet/iSlate and iPhone 4.0? Is this the "surprising interaction method" we'd heard rumored? Or just another in a long list of patents Apple may or may not ever get around to implementing in a real device? Place your bets in the comments!

Multi-touch Tactile Keyboard for iTablet -- Apple Patent Watch

By Rene Ritchie, Thursday, Dec 24, 2009 a 1:09 pm

AppleInsider has come across an interesting patent from Apple, titled "Keystroke Tactility Arrangement on a Smooth Touch Surface that details a multi-touch tactile keyboard for an iTablet-like device:

"The articulating frame may provide key edge ridges that define the boundaries of the key regions or may provide tactile feedback mechanisms within the key regions. The articulating frame may also be configured to cause concave depressions similar to mechanical key caps in the surface."

"Preferably, each key edge comprises one to four distinct bars or Braille-like dots. When constructed in conjunction with a capacitive multi-touch surface, the key edge ridges should separated to accommodate the routing of the drive electrodes, which may take the form of rows, columns, or other configurations."

Hyper-Reality 3D Displays and Dynamic Music and Video for Better iPhone Battery Life -- Apple Patent Watch

By Rene Ritchie, Thursday, Dec 17, 2009 a 10:09 am

Tis the season for Apple patents, with both hyper-reality 3D displays, and a system for making dynamically better battery life on the iPhone and iPod.

Retro iTablet, Remote Mac Control via iPhone, Mighty Morphing iPhone Dock -- Apple Patent Watch

By Rene Ritchie, Wednesday, Dec 16, 2009 a 9:49 am

In the ever-envigorating game of "What's That Apple Patent for Anyway?" this time we get a look at a multi-touch click-wheel iTablet, a way to remotely control your Mac from your

First up, an un-thin looking iTablet-style device with a retro click-wheel but an even more interesting backstory, according to 9to5mac, as:

Apple Looking at "Grab and Go" Simplified Sync for iPhone, Mac, Apple TV -- Patent Watch

By Rene Ritchie, Thursday, Nov 5, 2009 a 12:36 pm

AppleInsider has the goods on yet another Apple patent, this one for a "grab and go" simplified sync solution that would let iPhone users more easily and organically share bookmarks, iTunes content, Time Machine backups, business and personal documents, video game status, etc. between Macs, Apple TVs, the cloud, and other gear real and imagined:

Apple Reviewing 100 New Claims to Add to 10+ Year Old (QuickTime?) Patent

By Rene Ritchie, Wednesday, Nov 4, 2009 a 3:33 pm

Apple is reviewing 100 new claims they want added on a 10+ year old patents says Peter Hoddie on Twitter.

MobileMe Media Sync

By Rene Ritchie, Tuesday, Oct 20, 2009 a 7:02 am

Synchronization of Media State Across Multiple Devices, one of the latest patents filed by Apple, aims to use MobileMe to make sure if you start watching a movie in iTunes or on the AppleTV, then switch to your iPhone, you're at the exact same place in the movie (and back again) -- with no USB sync required.

Patent Watch: Apple Wants to Lock Down Your iPhone

By Jeremy, Monday, Oct 5, 2009 a 6:55 am

Apple has applied for a patent for "provisioning" services on a mobile device based on a custom carrier profile:

Carrier provisioning profiles are distributed to computing devices via an activation service during the provisioning process. The carrier provisioning profiles specify access limitations to certain device resources which may otherwise be available to users of the device.