Hasta La Gadget!

Sometimes lending a phone to a friend or stranger can be an uncomfortable situation since you never know if they decide that after they place their call to explore your phone a little bit. Even if you have nothing to hide it’s still a little invasive, but thanks to a recent patent filed by Apple, perhaps those uncomfortable and awkward moments could be a thing of the past. The Apple patent describes a system in which users are able to unlock their iPhone through a variety of different gestures, and depending on the gestures, only certain functions would be made available. (more…)

Apple Patent Describes New iOS Unlocking Methods original content from Ubergizmo.

When it comes to smartwatches, Motorola is definitely not a newbie to the industry having launched the MOTOACTV smartwatch awhile back, although with rise of smartwatches such as Pebble with Samsung entering the fray with the Samsung Galaxy Gear, we guess we wouldn’t be surprised if Motorola was looking to reevaluate matters and launch something that could compete with existing products. Thanks to a recently discovered Motorola patent, we might have an idea of what sort of device Motorola could be looking to make.

The patent was filed for back in February earlier this year, so it’s safe to say that it’s relatively new instead of an idea that has been sitting around in storage for the past couple of years. The patent describes several features of such a device, one of them being a “gaze detection” feature that would allow the watch to know when the wearer is looking at it. The patent also describes how the watch would feature dual touchscreen displays, and a host of features that includes a heart monitor, a body temperature monitor, a pulse monitor, and etc. for the more fitness-minded consumer.

Of course with this being a patent there’s really no telling if and when Motorola will turn it into a reality, but what do you guys think? Would you like to see a new smartwatch effort from Motorola?

Motorola Patent Hints At Possible New Smartwatch original content from Ubergizmo.

Apple is always out to file a patent on just about any technology its engineers can dream up whether or not it intends to actually put that technology into a product. A new patent application has turned up that was published by Apple recently showing a way to turn a device like the iPhone into […]

What do you need when it comes to hosting a great party? Well, you would obviously need a fantastic host to begin with, great food and enough booze to flow all night long, and of course, music. The right kind of music can send your party into the kind of groove that you have always dreamt up of, and it is the perfect scenario where Hollywood movie parties are depicted. Apple might want to have a say in how you could kick off something different in a large scale manner – headphone parties, or silent discos if you will. The company has just been granted a new patent that would let the user share the tempo of a master track with other devices which have been “invited” to a party, and these connected devices will pick similarly paced tunes on their own and synchronize their playback.

The other “attendants” to your party could make up part of an ad hoc local network, but the beauty in this particular idea is the fact that it will also work just as well whenever folks are separated by miles. Apple has even proposed to throw in a social networking element which would enable aspiring DJs share their avatars and other different identifiers. Will such a patent ever be part of Apple’s future products?

Apple Patent Lets You Share Your Music Tempo With Others original content from Ubergizmo.

The fabled Apple television set is still a fable, lo these many years after it first was whispered into the waiting ear of an analyst or blogger, but today Apple has secured a new patent (via AppleInsider) which could renew interest in rumors of Apple’s television plans, since it describes an iPhone-based remote control system for completely setting up a home theatre system tailored to specific types of content, moods and themes.

Apple’s multimedia system/smart home-type remote would be able to recall, store and set things like lighting, channels, music and window shades as well as set stereo components like amplifiers and more to desired settings. It’s essentially a Logitech Harmony universal remote, with settings like “Watch a movie” or “Play a game” very similar to those available on Logitech’s highly customizable home theater control devices, but with a lot more options and features thrown into the mix, and a control scheme that extends to connected home devices, which could conceivably include things like Philips Hue connected lighting system.

The system also has some neat automated components, like suggesting themes and whole home settings based on metadata associated with content being watched. This means that you don’t have to sit down with intent aforehand to watch something and choose the appropriate theme – while you’re browsing or channel surfing, and if you happen to light upon something you seem to like, the system could suggest an appropriate mode to go with it. So if you get sucked into Spartacus, for instance, Apple’s iPhone-based multimedia concierge could offer to change your system over to the idea setting for classical epics with a single tap.

Apple’s patent appears to be designed to work with content sources including broadcast television, since it contains a provision for waiting for a commercial break before it even offers up any kind of scene suggestions at all, so it could definitely be included in any kind of over-the-top service that the Mac maker might have in the hopper. The patent application itself is quite a few years old, which might be reason enough to suspect this idea has been shelved, but at the time of its original filing it also would’ve looked a lot more science fiction than it does given today’s technology.