If you like to hold your iPad right up by next to your eyeballs because you are basically blind, you might someday have some relief. Apple has a new patent that changes the size of the display based on the distance of your face from the screen. More »
Ironically, leaving a silenced phone set to vibrate on a hard surface like a table can actually create more of a disturbance when it rings and bounces around. So Apple has patented a system that uses the iPhone’s mic and accelerometer to listen for vibrations and scale back its intensity when it gets too loud. More »
Apple has a couple new patent applications this morning, spotted by AppleInsider and detailing two very useful features for mobile devices. The first is a method for detecting and adjusting noise resulting from an iPhone vibrating in silent mode, and the second is a design for auto-zooming of content based on the proximity of a user’s face to a screen to present content at the best size for reading depending on how close they are and what they’re looking at.
The vibration motor patent is intended to make silent mode on an iPhone truly silent, by eliminating the noise it can make when the phone is on a flat, hard surface and notifications come in. With a phone call, that can become a major annoyance, especially if you’re not in a position to be able to get to the phone to silence it right away. To remedy this, Apple has worked out a system where microphones or motion sensors on a device can pick up on cues that indicate a phone is making a lot of noise, and change the vibration levels and patterns to compensate and minimize rattle.
Apple covers two types of vibration motors in this patent, including the rotational model it uses in the current iPhone 5 and older models, and the linear magnetic version it implemented in the iPhone 4S and CDMA iPhone 4. Methods to compensate for excessive vibration in both are described, and Apple also addresses how to still provide notifications that will signal a user even if vibration has to be turned way down, describing visual feedback and soft audio alerts that would actually still be quieter than an iPhone rumbling on a hard table top. Already, users can set their camera flash LED to provide notifications via their iPhone’s accessibility settings, which is one way to get around having either an audible or vibration alert signal.
The other patent filing that turned up today describes a replacement for pinch-to-zoom, which provides a way to dynamically alter the size of content based on how close a user gets to the screen. Text and images can both be enlarged or reduced according to what a device’s camera, proximity sensor or SONAR sensor (which Apple described in a previous patent) tells the system about how far away a user’s face is. In one mode called “comfort,” the system would zoom out on content when a user gets close to the screen, and enlarge it when they back further way, making it more convenient and easier to read in each situation. In another mode, called “zoom,” the action is reversed, which could come in handy for more visual content, like if you’re surveying a full painting at a distance, and then move in close for a look at some particular detail.
If executed well, this could come in handy as a replacement or supplement for the pinch-to-zoom gesture on small-screened devices especially, where zooming in and out is a constant, repetitive process, especially when viewing web content and trying to navigate full web sites not optimized for mobile. Both the zooming and the vibration alert patent show Apple’s attention to the finer details of the smartphone user experience, and while neither of these designs may ever make it to market, you can tell Apple’s aware of where its devices (and smartphones in general) offer opportunities to significantly improve a user’s enjoyment of their phone.
If your heart grew two sizes when Apple and HTC decided to settle their patent disputes with money instead of lawyers (or guns?), prepare for shrinkage. When asked if Samsung would follow suit—or lack thereof—its mobile head, J.K. Shin, gave an emphatic no. To the jousting field! More »
Like Samsung, HTC has also been having some arguments with Apple over patents. But in this case, the argument hasn’t escalated to a billion dollar lawsuit. Instead, it just ended rather peacefully. Apple and HTC agreed to quit fighting by signing a 10-year licensing deal covering past and future patents. More »
Apple’s A6 processor, as noted in our iPhone 5 review, is already proven to be two times faster than its predecessor, thanks to its dual-core processor. But as the clock speed is increased, processors tend to get hotter due to the intense oscillation within the SoC. Apple’s next-generation iPhone could be outfitted with internal fans. A recent patent entitled “Cooling System for Mobile Electronic Devices” has just been filed by Apple on Thursday. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple Awarded Patent For Touchscreen Maps Interface, Key Apple Patent Used Against Samsung Has Been Declared Invalid,
Apple had a couple of new patent applications published by the USPTO today (spotted by AppleInsider), including one detailing how internal fans could be made to fit mobile devices to help dissipate heat, and another for headphones that become speakers for when listening goes from private to shared scenarios, which even describes how in-ear models could work that way.
The patent for internal fans includes a design that combines device physical feedback along with cooling powers to save space compared to when those components are separate. In one permutation, there’s also a design for taking air in through existing holes like a headphone or connector port, and expelling excess heat through the same mechanism. That would also help with space-saving efforts.
In terms of its likelihood for actual use, I’d guess that it probably won’t be employed in a shipping product, but instead represents one line of Apple’s thinking about how to cool mobile devices, but not the one they ended up spending much time on. The more logical path seems to have been to work on processor efficiency, which Apple is clearly committed to with its in-house processor design and engineering efforts.
Headphones that do double duty as external speakers is a much more practical and likely invention, looking at Apple’s product release history. It describes methods for turning both external on-ear type headphones into speakers with rotating ear cups, and ways to make even in-ear headphones like Apple’s own EarPods into speakers powerful enough for multiple people to enjoy. The headphones in all cases can detect their orientation, and even their proximity to a user’s ear to determine in which mode they should be operating.
Apple is clearly still interested in evolving its headphone design, since in introduced the new EarPods alongside the iPhone 5. And external speakers for iOS devices are consistently strong performers in terms of accessory categories. The main concern would be quality: making drivers small enough but powerful enough to sound good at any decent volume would be a significant engineering challenge.
Concerns have been voiced lately about Apple‘s happenings, such as the company’s changes in management, Foxconn’s continual difficulty in keeping up production levels for the iPhone 5, and a slowdown in earnings growth. Despite the recent announcements and launches of the iPhone 5, the iPad mini, and the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, among others, Apple still closed today at the five-month low of $558. This comes in contrast to the company’s all-time high of $705.07 back in September.
According to the Financial Times, Apple has experienced an overall stock drop in market value since September of $138 billion. Investors have been vocal about their concerns regarding the aforementioned issues with production and such, though the iPad mini has given it a much-needed boost, being labelled as the company’s “best new product in years.” After today’s decline of 3.8-percent, Apple has experienced its largest drop since 2008.
One of the larger issues affecting the company right now is concern regarding whether Apple’s manufacturers can meet the current demand for products. Foxconn’s CEO Terry Gou issued a statement that “it’s not easy to make the iPhones. We are falling short of meeting the huge demand.” The iPhone 5 is a difficult product to make due to its complexity, and presently there is a 3 to 4 week delay.
Analysts believe that Apple is facing the same type of issues with the iPad mini. Other issues involve the ongoing patent spats, including its loss in court today that requires the company to shell out $368 million in damages. All of this is compounded by the fairly sudden alterations in staff, with it being revealed that Scott Forstall was on the way out and other workers were being shuffled around.
[via Financial Times]
Apple closes at five-month low, shares down 20% is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
VirnetX is not a company that, strictly speaking, makes things. It is, instead, a company that collects patents the way joyless millionaires collect hermetically sealed comic books: for profit. And while it just scored an impressive $368 million in a successful Apple lawsuit, it’s not stopping there. It’s out for a full-on iPhone, iPad, and Mac ban. More »
The Apple and Samsung patent wars have reached the point to where mentioning the ongoing battle is almost cliche. Now, adding to the chronicles is Apple’s latest move, wherein it states that Samsung is violating its patents with the Galaxy Note 10.1 phablet smartphone. In addition, the fruit-logo’d company is also seeking to have Android Jelly Bean added to its current lawsuit against the Korean company.
Apple presented the claims earlier today at the District Court for the Northern District of California. According to the company, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1 infringes on some of its patents, and should be added to its ongoing lawsuit. In addition, Apple is seeking to have the Jelly Bean-running Galaxy Nexus added to the lawsuit.
Says Apple attorney Andrew Liao, Apple “wants to add 17 devices that could use a stylus,” although none of them actually ship with a stylus. In addition, Samsung’s attorney Victoria Maroulis stated that the Korean company wants to add the iPhone 5 to its complaint against Appple. The arguments were presented to Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal, who is yet to issue a ruling. Reports Bloomberg, Grewal is concerned that denying both companies their latest requests could trigger a whole new slew of lawsuits.
The lawsuit to which Apple wishes to add these two issues is set for trial in 2014. So far, Apple has already scored a preliminary order that blocks the sale of Samsung Nexus smartphones in the US. Recently, Samsung was found guilty of infringing six out of seven Apple patents, while Apple was told to publish a public statement on it website proclaiming Samsung’s innocence over claims Apple made in regards to the Galaxy Tab.
[via Bloomberg]
Apple seeks to add Galaxy Note 10.1, Android Jelly Bean to Samsung lawsuit is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
