Appletell

In a move that could possibly gauge howeffective its licensing system for iPod accessories is, Apple has a filed a lawsuit against Atico International for infringing on its “Made for iPod” label. Apple complained that Atico’s iPod speakers product line, which include the AM/FM Portable Boom Box, AM/FM Alarm Clock Radio and Portable Speakers, have violated several of its key patents.

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The US Patent and Trademark Office published several of Apple’s patent approvals today, all of which relate to different aspects of the iPhone’s functionality. The first patent that has been approved deals with organization of the iPhone’s interface, mainly to reduce the clutter of adding too many visual elements to a document. The patent indicates the use of nested interface elements, for example, clicking a button to bring up a menu with operations that the user may perform.

The second patent approved by the US Patent and Trademark Office demonstrates user input on the iPhone’s touch keyboard and how the iPhone highlights the letter that is pressed, as well as how long the button stays highlighted.

The third patent relates to touch gestures which can select, as well as delete items using the iPhone’s touch screen. The process recognizes gestures in the order of first editing a list, selecting an item for deletion, and then finally being prompted on whether or not to delete the item.

Check out the three iPhone patent applications at MacNN.

Computers.  Displays.  Cell phones.  Music players.  Online music.  Storage.  Networking.  Apple is already in a ton of markets, many of which, unfortunately, are tightly tied together.  However, Apple is still a relatively young company and can branch out so much more.  The questions is, if at all, where?  Will they enter the digital camera market?  The gaming market?  The GPS and auto market?  Or maybe even video cameras?  It could be any of the above, especially given the fact that Apple has applied for so many patents lately.  It will be interesting to find out, but heres my thoughts:

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Apple has been awarded a patent titled “Method and apparatus rendering user accounts portable”; the 11-page document describes a method for transporting a user’s home directory and account settings on a portable device like an iPod or iPhone. Should Apple implement this feature, you’ll be able to sit down at any Mac, hook up your iPod and log in like how you would on your own computer.

Apple was awarded a similar patent in 2003; this feature was initially implemented in the early builds of Mac OS X Panther. However, for reasons unknown, it was removed in later builds. It was originally described as: “Panther’s Home on iPod feature lets you store your home directory - files, folders, apps - on your iPod (or any FireWire hard drive) and take it with you wherever you go”.

Via [AppleInsider]

Apple recently filed a patent application that describes an “improved feedback mechanism for touch pads”. This patent includes “devices capable of illuminating the touch sensitive surface of the touch pad” and “methods for providing visual feedback at the touch pad.” As usual, this is only a patent application, so it’s unclear when Apple will actually implement it, if the company ever does.

Backlights are currently reserved only for the MacBook Pro’s keyboard; the intensity of these lights can be automatically adjusted based on the built-in ambient light sensor. I’d imagine that a backlit trackpad would not only keep the trackpad lit, but could possibly highlight the ‘path’ your fingers take, for a brief second or two. An interesting patent, nonetheless.

Via [US Patent Office]

A number of new patent applications were released today describing usage in Apple’s iLife and iWork suites. The patent applications are as follows: “Movie Authoring”, “Text flow in and around irregular containers”, “Predictive styling”, “Automatic sub-template selection based on content”, “User interface for Web page creation/editing”, and “Publishing and subscribing to digital image feeds”. The filings aren’t particularly interesting, as the features aren’t revolutionary, nor do they imply any special Leopard-only features. MacNN has the full deets on each of the patent applications. 

Read [MacNN]

It seems like Apple’s trying to protect the “Multi-Touch” trademark worldwide; according to AppleInsider, the electronics giant discreetly applied for the trademark at an intellectual property office in the Far East. Should the application be approved, this will give Apple control over where and when the trademark could be used by other parties.

The restriction applies not only to mobile phones, but other products like televisions and video game consoles. This fuels the speculation that Apple will be bringing Multi-Touch to the Mac and other products. A recent patent application revealed that the company has plans to produce a Multi-Touch Mouse, allowing users to do some nifty things on the mouse’s surface.

The trademark application is still under review.

Via [AppleInsider]

The iPod and (very soon) the iPhone are some of the most coveted gadgets today; it seems like every crook or thief simply wants one. With all that negative publicity about getting mugged and what not, Apple finally seems to be taking personal security rather seriously.

A new patent filed by the company reveals a new feature that protects “electronic devices from extended authorized use”. It covers a method to prevent a device from being recharged if certain conditions are met. These “conditions” include a timer that expires, using another power supply, or if the device is outside a determined geographical boundary.

The last feature hints at GPS functionality built into the iPod/iPhone. While it’s highly unlikely we’ll see that any time soon, we can always hope.

Read [iLounge]