Patents

Apple filed an interesting patent that involve methods for integrating external sound into your iPhone or iPod. In this patent that was filed, Apple describes methods for integrating external sounds in with music or even recording the external sound for later playback.

What intrigued me most is an application that involves the user being able to hear announcements from the pilot or flight attendants. This application would also allow a person to speak to an attendant if you needed anything, all without taking off your headphones. The external Sound could also be integrated into the music in which you are currently listening.

If you missed an announcement, that is OK because you would be able to rewind and listen to it again. I like where Apple is going with this.

Some people are speculating that the new patent application Apple filed, entitled, “Audio User Interface For Computing Devices,” is in fact talking about the iPhone.

After all, what better device than a phone to incorporate voice commands? Trying to navigate through menus while driving is an insanely dangerous activity. But navigating through the screens and menus by voice command could work! Even though this is a refresh of an old patent from 2004, the new language submitted in the patent rings very appropriate for the iPhone: “an audio user interface that generates audio prompts that help a user navigate through the features of a computing device. The audio prompts provide audio indicators that allow a user to focus his or her visual attention upon other tasks such as driving an automobile, exercising, or crossing a street.”

According to an article on Information Week, “By one estimate, cell phone distractions contribute to a yearly cost of 2,600 fatalities, 330,000 injuries, and a total societal cost of $43 billion.” Don’t be the first iPhone fatality! Until technology like voice interface arrives, be careful.

[Via Information Week]… more...

When Apple said they had well over a couple hundred patents on the iPhone they weren’t joking. But one of the iPhone’s pinnacle features is its keyboard and future models should sport an updated version.

Below is an image of the smart keyboard.

Read more on the patent.

Via: Engadget

Earlier this month there a some dispute over the iPhone Nano due to these patent filings by Apple. You can see it down below.

It looks to be a rotary style iPhone in what appears to be an iPod’s case. This died down for a bit but not after a JP Morgan analyst claimed Apple was poised to release a new, smaller, less featured and cheaper iPhone Nano based on these patent filings. That is a bold claim to make but it was later retracted.

This didn’t raise too many suspicions but a Blog post by Engadget that a new interface for the 6th Generation iPod was leaked. You’d just pass this off as a rumor right? Well you would until Apple took down the post and video on Macrumors.

I speculate that Apple is not totally done with the iPod and would want to merge the device with the iPhone to create a cheaper model. It’s been rumored that the 6th generation iPod will be widescreen and the video was far from that.

Enough with this Nano iPhone talk! Come on people. First JP Morgan analyst Kevin Chang says a Nano-like iPhone is coming out by Christmas. Then analysts from JP Morgan refute the idea a few days later. I understand the fascination with Apple patents and everything related to the iPhone but do we honestly think Apple would be so stupid!

Why would Apple build 6 months of hype for iPhone 1.0 only to replace it with a different form factor in the same year? Why would Apple make such a big deal about multitouch screens only to revert back to click wheel navigation? It’s bogus and people need to really think about how this “leaked” iPhone would be 2 steps backward in Apple’s quest for significant phone marketshare.

You might be thinking to yourself that people are over with this news. But if you ask Russell Shaw of ZDNet, this may indeed be fact and covered up by paranoid Apple legal teams.

I am thinking Chang got it right, but the “by Christmas” availability claim for this new device provided the skeptics and the intimidatable with enough ammo to… more...

Posting here from my iPhone as I get better and better at typing. At first I was really worried about typing on this but I am getting better and better.

Some one gave me a couple of pointers that were extremely helpful:

- when typing hold your finger down, if you miss a letter just slide over to the correct letter. This tip is very very important and made me suddenly understand why the letters pop up like this.
- trust the built in correction. Even if you start misspelling a word keep typing, 9 times out of 10 the error correction will figure it out. It really works!

Something else I realized was that I never really touch types when I used my blackberry, I always had to stare at the keyboard. Same with the iPhone but instead of using a combination of looking at the keys along with the tactile feedback of feeling the keys on the blackberry it is a matter of looking at the letters as they popup.

Neither the blackberry nor the iPhone can replace the speed and ease of a full keyboard but in a few short days I’ve gone from worrying about… more...

Little has been mentioned of the Bluetooth 2.0 headset Apple plans to release with the iPhone on June 29th, but that’s to be expected given the insignificance of the device.

However, according to Apple Insider, the Federal Communications Commission has given the green light for the launch of the Apple Bluetooth headset. For the tech-heads out there, the device carries part number A1221 and FCC ID BCGA1221, although this means nothing to the average Joe.

One thing that is still in the dark is the lack of pricing information given on this device. In the U.K, a decent Bluetooth headset costs around the £30 mark, so can we expect Apple with their high-price plans on most products they sell to be around the £50 or £60 mark? We’ll wait and see.

It’s also worth noting that Apple is also going to launch a wired version of the headset alongside the iPhone on launch day, no images of this have come in yet.

MacNN reports that Apple has developed a way of preventing other wireless devices and accessories for the iPhone from interfering with the iPhone’s wireless signals, and further more the fruity technology giant has patented the design.

The patent is supposed to address the problem of interference from peripherals or other wireless gadgets when brought too close to the iPhone, most notably any attachments that may be added to the iPhone’s accessory list in the near future. More to the point, the chip-technology, which could be trained to recognize unwanted signals, is being designed to keep the iPhone’s signals as clear as possible.

With a bit of luck the next time I make a phone call near a stereo system I won’t receive an unpleasant buzzing noise rattling down my ear.

There is a fluttering of activity and Mac Fanboys are getting their panties in a twist over a new patent application Apple has filed for a “Backside Interface for a Handheld device”. What is the reason for all the hooplah?

Well, maybe it’s because the diagrams associated with the patent application shows a seemingly small iPod Nano-like device with a QWERTY keyboard and iPhone-like navigation on the back. Of course, the first instinct is to assume what everyone has been saying since the iPhone was announced in January: The next iPod will have multi-touch and will eventually be turned into an iPhone.

But I say, not so fast! Who is to say this device will not be either iPod or iPhone but rather a third device: The iRemote. Think about it. Apple has released the Apple TV, they have released a modified iPod Shuffle as the remote for Front Row. It only makes sense that they would upgrade a new remote that works for every Apple product out there.

The idea that an iPod the size of a Nano could be used as a phone is preposterous and downright silly. But the idea of… more...

It looks like LG has more iPhone competitors in their plans as they have submitted 2 new patent applications that call for some pretty amazing touchscreen capabilities. One of the filings is called, “Mobile Communication Terminal Having Multiple Displays” and if it plays out they say it will, you will have 2 touchscreens on a clamshell phone that can act independently or together. (Think Nintendo DS).

The other, “Mobile terminal providing graphic user interface” is one of the coolest things I have heard about in a long time. It consists of dynamic buttons that react based on behavior. According to Unwiredview.com,

when you are riding the bus, it might be difficult to tap the correct icon due to vibration. If you missed it the first time, the icons near the tap area can move closer making it easier for you to get the right one. Or the phone might select the nearest icon and launch an application.

If implemented, both of these features would surely pique some interest with potential iPhone purchasers.

[Via Unwirednews.com]