Apple Patent Bingo: iPhone Game Rentals?

In the grand tradition of surveilling Apple's every patent filing for the tiniest hint about just which earth-denting device Steve Jobs will whip out next, Apple Insider (via Trademork) brings word on: methods to auto-detect game compatibility (to make sure you don't accidentally buy a Nano game for your iPhone?), an automatic online backup, data storage, and update service for already-purchased games (Software Update meets .Mac?), as well as a game rental and/or subscription service (expanding the iTunes Movie Rentals model?).

For those of us playing along at home, this all comes hot on the heels of a trademark application that hopes to push Apple's brand into the larger gaming space, including hand-helds and consoles, and an earlier patent application that covers interface for multi-touch gaming.

With all this, and the SDK dropping this Thursday, could John Carmack's Quake Engine for Mobile OS X be far behind?

Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.