Future versions of Mac OS X and iOS may be even more gesture based, as a new Apple patent shows off a variety of complex multi-touch gestures to perform various system tasks. A few of the patented gestures and behaviors and their potential functions include:

• Digging a hole – presumably to move, copy, or save files and windows
• Opening a trap door or window – possibly to open new windows or applications?
• Shredding – presumably to close or minimize a window or delete a document
• Pouring – combining gestures with physically moving a device, this could be a new gesture based method of transferring files from one device to another
• File aging - icons show gradual deterioration as they get older (aliases in Mac OS X already do this)
• Shake to arrange icons – self explanatory, instead of selecting “Arrange files” from a menu you could just shake the device

Typically Apple patents don’t indicate much more than Apple’s wildly creative side, but with how prominent gestures are in Mac OS X Lion and iOS 5, this particular patent shows a lot more real-world potential than usual. The other noteworthy side of the patent is the obvious touch-screen interface to something that looks more like Mac OS X than iOS, but you can read into that how you want. I should point out that some of the above potential explanations are my own guesses as to the gestures functionality, but you are encouraged to read the patent, look at the drawings, and arrive at your own conclusions.

More images from the patent are below, or you can read a great breakdown of the patent at PatentlyApple.com
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Soon users may not need to jailbreak in order to get custom widgets on the iPhone with iOS 5. At least, that’s what a recent patent granted to Apple suggests.

Multiple references of widgets, custom widgets, and user created widgets using a “widget creator module” are reference in the patent listing on the US Patent Office site (emphasis mine):

The GPS module 135 determines the location of the device and provides this information for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone 138 for use in location-based dialing, to camera 143 and/or blogger 142 as picture/video metadata, and to applications that provide location-based services such as weather widgets, local yellow page widgets, and map/navigation widgets).

The applications 136 may include the following modules (or sets of instructions), or a subset or superset thereof: … widget modules 149, which may include weather widget 149-1, stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget 149-3, alarm clock widget 149-4, dictionary widget 149-5, and other widgets obtained by the user, as well as user-created widgets149-6; widget creator module 150 for making user-created widgets…

This diagram from the patent displays widget references as well, including the Stocks and Weather widgets which are already included in iOS 5 beta (seen in the screen shot at the top of this post):
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A new patent for what looks like a touch screen Mac has surfaced hot off the heals of the extended Mac OS X Lion and iOS 5 demos at WWDC (PS: watch the keynote if you haven’t already, it’s a great walkthrough of both new OS’s).

This patent is a clear indicator that Apple is at least exploring the possibility of bringing touch screens to the Mac platform, or at least to a desktop OS that is more advanced than iOS. The discovery was made by PatentlyApple, who suggests that “with OS X Lion slowly adding iOS features, we may one day see such a system emerge” as fully touch capable touch screen Mac.

Diagrams from the approved patent clearly show a user interface and file system similar to that in Mac OS X that is being manipulated by touch:

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A new patent has been discovered that details a revised Dashboard system in Mac OS X that allows for multiple Dashboard environments and a new method of managing widgets. On the surface, that might not seem too exciting since Dashboard has been around for ages, but when you look at the patent diagrams, see the inventor list, and consider recent rumors that iOS 5 will likely include widgets, you start to see there’s a potential relationship developing here between iOS and Mac OS X.

This is pure speculation based on patent schematics, but the patent drawing on the left shows obvious structural similarities to an iOS home screen. Here’s that patent drawing side-by-side with an iOS screenshot for comparative purposes:

The patent specifies widgets, but what if iOS apps could run as widgets on a revised Dashboard in Mac OS X? What if the “multiple Dashboard” screens were like the multiple iOS home screens that you can swipe between? I wrote about the possibility of iOS coming to the Mac as a Dashboard replacement last year, and I continue to think it’s a compelling way to merge the two platforms. Don’t forget there’s another Apple patent out there showing an iMac touch that runs iOS and Mac OS X, so it’s probably not a matter of “if” it’s a matter of “when” this will happen. Further cross pollination is expected if iOS 5 actually does include the ability to run widgets, which presumably would be similar to the widgets already available in Mac OS X.

The other interesting aspect of the patent application is that Scott Forstall is listed as one of the inventors. If you aren’t familiar with that name, Scott Forstall is the the Senior Vice President of iOS Software at Apple, he reports directly to Steve Jobs and is considered to be one of the masterminds behind Mac OS X and iOS. Prior to being the SVP of iOS Software, Forstall was a Senior Director on Mac OS X. But he switched to the iPhone role in 2008, so why would he be listed on a Mac OS X patent in 2011? More evidence or am I reading too much into this?

You can read more about the patent and a few others over at PatentlyApple, and you can see the full “Multiple Dashboards” patent diagram below:

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The always resourceful PatentlyApple has dug up an interesting patent that shows Apple is working on a platform independent word processor. While Pages isn’t specifically mentioned, it would be logical for the Pages app to be the focus of this patent considering it is Apple’s flagship word processor. Other than competing with web-based productivity offerings from Google and Microsoft, the patent shows some very practical uses of providing much needed cross-platform page layout consistency.

One of the most useful goals addressed in the patent is to remedy the font and character inconsistencies that appear when displaying documents on different platforms. Here’s how it would work, described by PatentlyApple:

Some embodiments presented in Apple’s patent application describe a system that typesets and renders a document in a platform-independent manner. During operation, the system first obtains the document, wherein the document includes text content and associated style information including one or more fonts. The system also generates platform-independent font metrics for the one or more fonts, wherein the platform-independent font metrics include information that could be used to determine the positions of individual characters in a rendering of the document. Next, the system uses the platform-independent font metrics to determine how the document is divided into line fragments and pages. Finally, the system uses the determined division while rendering the document, so that the division of the document into line fragments and pages is the same across different computing platforms.

Patently Apple suggests this could be a part of Apple’s Post-PC strategy, which seems very plausible. Nearly everyone has had the experience of a document looking vastly different across platforms, with font and formatting inconsistencies that can sometimes be severe enough for a document to be unusable without significant reformatting. Having the ability to create a document within Mac OS X or iOS and then sending it to a cloud word processor where the formatting would present exactly as intended on another platform would be extremely useful.

This is one of many newly discovered Apple patents that give an insight into the future of Apple products and computing in general.

A newly discovered patent shows that Apple is working to build displays that have a unique ability to direct their viewing angle, creating a controllable privacy mode that blocks peripheral observation of the screen. This ‘privacy mode’ would be activated by something like a touch event that would instantly change the displays viewing angle. As usual, this patent was found by Patently Apple, who says:

The patent describes a method of allowing a user to steer display light beams in various directions to effectively provide themselves with a new privacy option. The new privacy option mode only allows those directly in front of the display to view its content. Anyone on the periphery would simply see a blank display

The patent diagram shows a design similar to an iPod Classic, but PatentlyApple says “don’t get caught up into the illustration showing an older iPod” because the patent application is focused on a wide array of touch compatible portable hardware, ranging from music and video players, to computers and televisions, and even medical equipment.

This is one of a variety of Apple patents that have surfaced recently that demonstrate just how innovative Apple is. Like all patents, this may never see the light of day in an actual product, but it does provide a fascinating insight into Apple inventions, and who knows, maybe we’ll see a controllable privacy mode in iPads sometime down the road?

As if there was any remaining doubt that Apple was working on a cloud player for your iTunes library, a patent has surfaced that describes just how part of the service will work. Somewhat amusingly, one of the drawings contained within the patent is, well, of a cloud.

So how will this work for the end user? The gist is that iOS devices will have the option to locally store small cached snippets of songs you want to play, and the remaining portion of the song will be downloaded and streamed while that initial local cache is playing. This setting will be contained within iTunes, as indicated in the patent image at the bottom of this post. Patently Apple describes this further:

The electronic device could receive and locally store initial portions of media items in the electronic device. When a user then instructs the device to play back a media item, the electronic device could initiate playback of the locally stored portion of media item while requesting a stream from the user’s media library for the remaining portion of the media item

Also, in an indicator that Apple is planning far into the future, the iTunes cloud patent shows that users will be able to select the speed of the network that which they are streaming onto. These network settings include 3G, WiFi, and, somewhat surprisingly, 5G coverage. This is also referenced in the graphic below.

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An upcoming iteration of iOS may include further abilities to respond and react to environmental stimuli, according to a patent granted to Apple. The patent describes sensors that make a device aware of its speed, direction, temperature, and orientation on Earth, in addition to utilizing a microphone and camera to detect changes in the surrounding environment, and more importantly, adjust items on display based on these factors.

The patent was discovered by PatentlyApple, who describes the feature as “Chameleon-like” and suggests these adjustments could be geared towards fashion, of all things:

Apple’s patent covers systems, methods and computer-readable media for displaying dynamic tags or screen savers that change based on detected characteristics of the user’s environment. In particular, the patent covers dynamic tags that could serve as a fashion accessory by changing based on characteristics of the user’s environment.

PatentlyApple then elaborates on how the camera could detect colors and then adjust items on the screen accordingly:

…the electronic device could dynamically change the appearance of the tag based on the evolution of the sensor outputs. For example, if the electronic device determines from the camera that the color schemes of the user’s room have changed, the displayed tag could adjust to reflect the new detected colors.

The patent goes on to provide a description of the technology in use, describing a raindrops screensaver that adjusts its behavior based on environmental factors. The patent drawings clearly show a device that looks like an iPod nano (on a side note, this indicates that future iPod nanos may include cameras) but PatentlyApple says that other devices are clearly specified (emphasis mine):

It should be noted that while Apple’s patent illustrations are all related to a future version of an iPod nano, the fact is that the patent states that their invention will also apply to the iPhone, iPod Touch (PDA), iPad (tablet) and other devices which includes a laptop, gaming device and even medical equipment.

Can you imagine these kind of reactive features being used in future screen savers, apps, and games across Apple’s entire portable lineup? Some apps already take limited cues from things like the microphone, and many apps use the built-in accelerometers to adjust behavior on screen, but this looks like it has the potential to expand on these reactive concepts dramatically.

PatentlyApple is on a roll today, first finding a patent for futuristic virtual Apple keyboards that puff air to emulate the feel of pressing buttons, and now with this. Pretty impressive stuff, assuming Apple ever implements this technology in upcoming products.

Head on over to PatentlyApple to see more drawings and to read more about this, it’s a good read as always.

A new patent shows that Apple may be working on a hybrid e-Paper and LCD display for iPad and iPhone that can switch between the two screens as needed. The patent details a multilayered screen where the entire display or just portions of it could change to offer either the incredible detail of e-Ink (a la Kindle) for text, or the LCD display for standard use.

PatentlyApple describes the feature as “a next generation iPhone that would effectively offer us a smart hybrid display that could switch between a standard LCD and an e-Paper display. In fact, it’s so smart that the display could actually subdivide itself into quadrants that could intelligently switch display types depending on the content that the user is running.”

If you have ever seen text on an Amazon Kindle, it looks extremely crisp. You can see the difference between the iPad display and Kindle screen when zoomed in at 26x here:

It’s not hard to imagine why a hybrid e-Ink & LCD display would be a huge win for future iOS devices. Paired with another recent patent that shows Apple may be bringing Thunderbolt to iPhone and iPad, the future of the iOS lineup is looking very impressive.

You can see more pictures and read more about the patent at PatentlyApple.

Information has surfaced that suggests high speed Thunderbolt ports are coming to future iterations of iPhone and iPad. The first is a patent for a hybrid DisplayPort/Thunderbolt & USB 3.0 connector that was found by PatentlyApple. The patent clearly shows a wide pin connector that looks very similar to the existing iOS hardware USB cables, but the connector would include USB 3.0, USB 2.0, and a DisplayPort connectivity. The mention of DisplayPort is significant because Displayport is now the high speed Thunderbolt interface on new MacBook Pro models.

To give further support to this theory is a job opening at Apple for a “Thunderbolt Software Quality Engineer.” The position was discovered by AppleInsider, who suggests Apple is “looking to bring its new Thunderbolt port to new devices beyond the MacBook Pro.” The job posting appears to have been edited on Apple’s site, but earlier versions of it apparently referenced ARM processors, which is the CPU architecture behind the iPhone and iPad.

If you’re wondering how this would affect you, AppleInsider describes the speed of Thunderbolt as “fast enough to transfer a full-length high-definition movie in less than 30 seconds, or to back up an MP3 collection large enough to play nonstop for a full year in just 10 minutes.” In other words, future Mac to iOS device syncing and file transfers could happen nearly instantaneously.

Ultra high speed connectivity sounds great, but there’s also a good chance that you won’t need to sync with a physical cable at all in the near future. A report from the New York Times earlier this year suggested that an upcoming version of MobileMe will be made free and include wireless syncing capabilities for iPhone and iOS hardware. Maybe we’ll see this debut on iPhone 5?