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New Gestures for Mac OS X and iOS Shown in Apple Patent: Digging, Shredding, Opening a Trap Door, Pouring, Shake to Arrange

Aug 12, 2011 - 2 Comments
New Gestures coming to Mac OS X and iOS says Apple Patent

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 … Read More

User Created iOS Widgets Are Coming to iPhone, Apple Patent Suggests

Jun 22, 2011 - 4 Comments
Widgets mentioned in iPhone patent

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 … Read More

New Mac Touch Patent Surfaces, Shows User Interface Manipulation by Touch

Jun 9, 2011 - 7 Comments
A new Mac Touch Patent

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 … Read More

New Patent Looks Like iOS Running Atop Mac OS X as a Dashboard?

May 31, 2011 - 1 Comment
New Dashboard patent for Mac OS X

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 … Read More

Pages App Going to the Cloud for True Cross Platform Compatibility?

May 22, 2011 - Leave a Comment
Apple Pages to the Cloud patent

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 … Read More

Apple Working on Displays with Privacy Viewing Mode Option

May 20, 2011 - 2 Comments
privacy-viewing-mode-apple-patent

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 … Read More

iTunes Cloud Music Streaming Confirmed by Apple Patent?

May 19, 2011 - 5 Comments
overview of Apple iTunes Cloud Streaming

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 … Read More

iOS to Gain ‘Chameleon-Like’ Reactive & Environmentally Aware Features & Screen Savers?

May 12, 2011 - 5 Comments
iPod and iOS with environmentally aware screensaver

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 … Read More

Hybrid e-Paper & LCD Display coming to iPad and iPhone?

Apr 7, 2011 - 4 Comments

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 … Read More

Thunderbolt coming to iPhone and iPad?

Apr 6, 2011 - 1 Comment

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, … Read More

Virtual Keyboard and Magic Mouse with Integrated Display Shown in Apple Patents

Jan 20, 2011 - 5 Comments

Two new patents have surfaced that may provide a look into the future of Mac input devices. The first is for a Magic Mouse that has an integrated touch screen, which could adjust to display things like virtual buttons, keys, menus, text, and video. The patent application shows a diagram of the Magic Mouse displaying … Read More

Mac OS X to gain updating menu items?

Dec 22, 2010 - 3 Comments

PatentlyApple is at it again, this time they discovered a patent for automatically updating Mac OS X menu items. The idea is somewhat simple; given items in pull down menus would be actively updating, and text or data would scroll in that menu item. The concept is not limited to pulldown menus, as PatentlyApple describes: … Read More

Touch Spiral Interface to Replace Cover Flow in iTunes, Mac OS X, and iOS?

Dec 20, 2010 - 2 Comments

I’ve always liked the way Cover Flow looked and I found it a pretty nice way to flip through albums in iTunes and files in Mac OS X. Well, Cover Flow’s days may be numbered, as a recently discovered Apple patent reveals a touch responsive spiral user interface to navigate through iTunes albums, and possibly, … Read More

MacBook Touch? Apple patent shows touch screen MacBook

Aug 21, 2010 - 8 Comments

Apple may be working on a MacBook Touch, and will integrate high resolution touch screens into future Apple hardware, according to a recently discovered Apple patent. The information is pretty straightforward, as Patently Apple puts it “There’s no wishy-washy lingo about it” since the patent specifically names a MacBook, MacBook Pro, and the MacBook Air: … Read More

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