We're living in a digital world these days, and more and more of our music and video is being consumed via online methods. Apple's iTunes is one of the forerunners when it comes to offering music, movies and indeed TV shows to customers all over the globe. Even today though, there are some people who don't want to buy their content online and would rather pick up CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays instead.
A recently published patent filing latched onto by AppleInsider suggests Apple has a plan up its sleeve to deal with the common problem of blurry and underexposed images. The patent outlines a system which would see an iOS device begin buffering a series of stills prior to the point when a user presses the capture button, after which it will automatically select the best one.
Another day, another Apple patent story, but this time there's no sign of Samsung, Motorola or Google. Surely that cannot be? Yes, yes it can, actually. Wonders never cease!
Ever since the launch of the original iPhone and subsequently the iPad, it's been patently obvious that the fruit company feels the touch interface is manageable without the involvement of any kind of stylus. A prominent feature of the PDA, the stylus has been rejuvenated by Samsung (S Pen) along with others, and now it looks as though Apple is also considering an adaptation of the digital wand. Naturally, Apple has tweaked a few things around in order to secure a deal of uniqueness, but published patent filing number 166726 shows Apple is more than willing to break the mold in line with the changing face of the market.
Apple Patents ‘Wireless Charging’, Can Charge A Device As Far As One Meter Away From Charging Source
Apple is looking to arrive - fashionably late as usual - to the wireless charging circles, and unsurprisingly, the company has patented a method of wireless charging which it believes works differently to / better than anybody else's. It was only a matter of time before the patent filings began rolling through on a technology which is already out there, and as we should now be used to, Apple has "invented" its very own way of going about things.
Apple Granted Patents For Smart Cover And MagSafe, Trademarks For Word ‘Retina’ And Game Center Icon
As is becoming more and more apparent with the wave of intellectual property disputes between some of the largest names in tech - notably Apple and Samsung, designing a product and creating an innovation is only significant if the patents are then put into place. We've already seen Samsung ordered to pay an eye-watering $1.05 billion to its biggest rival over highly-publicized dispute in San Jose, and although it's way behind other names in the mobile field when it comes to its total number of patents stockpiled, the Cupertino has garnered a rep for its dogmatic approach to the patent game.
The patent wars that Apple have found themselves in over the last eighteen months are extremely well documented and have been covered all over the world as the Cupertino based company carries on the fight to protect what they believe is their registered property. The ongoing issues with Samsung and Motorola Mobility may not show any signs of coming to an immediate end but it looks like Apple may have one less thing to worry about after coming to a legal agreement with Taiwan based HTC regarding patents.
It's understandable that consumers will always have mixed emotions about any company from which they’re buying products, and for the large part, big companies like Apple, Google and Samsung are always going to do something that draws a negative reaction from some. With that said, one thing that Apple in particular can't be accused of is resting on their laurels and remaining stagnant in the marketplace. Although the Cupertino company has recently announced and launched their revamped EarPods headphones alongside the iPhone 5, a new patent suggests that they are still working on further advances in that area.
It may not be news that will appease disgruntled iPhone 5 owners immediately, but it looks like Apple could be working hard on a solution that could potentially lay to rest the issues surrounding accessory compatibility with iOS devices that are built with the company's new Lightning port embedded within. The launch of the iPhone 5 didn't throw up any surprises in relation to the smaller dock connector port, mainly due to the fact that we had already seen multiple reports of the change but that didn't mean it was any less controversial.
Facial recognition, although used by security firms and law enforcement around the world, is pretty rare in consumer society, and the only time gadgets tend to get any sort of face-spotting technology is in the sci-fi movies. Of course, the jailbreak and root communities have tried - in part - to implement something like facial recognition to our beloved smartphones and tablet, but I think you'll agree with me when I say most, if not all of them have been pretty poor.
