Patent-watch

Patent Watch: iPhone Spidey Sense to Tingle?

By Rene Ritchie, Friday, May 30, 2008 a 1:27 pm

Okay, so technically Apple isn't patenting "Spidey Sense" (TM Marvel Comics, of course), but a system to warn users of impending dropped signals, be they cellular or WiFi.

So, by way of example, if I called Steve Jobs to tell him I snapped a pick of the iPhone 3.0 prototype, and Rogers' service began to cut out, I'd get a notification (sound, alert dialog, or vibe) warning me I was going to lose the signal, and on his end, El Jobso would likewise be alerted.

Patent Watch: Future iPhones to be Powered by the Sun?

By Rene Ritchie, Tuesday, May 27, 2008 a 10:12 pm

"They could be a great people. They wish to be. They only lack the light to power their devices. For this reason above all, their capacity to consumer data, I have sent them you, my only phone..."

According to a recently unearthed patent filed in late April, Apple is looking into having the iPhone join the Last Son of Krypton in drawing energy directly from the yellow sun.

The patent describes sandwiching a layer of (semi-)transparent photo-sensitive cells below the glass and LCD and above the Flex PCB, and could apply equally to iPods and even MacBooks.

While definitely future-thinking, it could well make removable battery concerns a thing of the past.