MacRumors

"Jobs," the Steve Jobs biography directed by Joshua Michael Stern and starring both Ashton Kutcher as Jobs and Josh Gad as Wozniak, can now be purchased or rented in iTunes.

The film, which scored a 26% on Rotten Tomatoes, can be purchased for $19.99 in high definition or $14.99 in standard definition. A 24-hour rental is also available for $3.99 (SD) or $4.99 (HD).

"Jobs" can also be purchased or rented via Amazon Instant Video for $14.99 and $4.99, respectively, and it is available on both Blu-ray ($22.99) and DVD ($17.99) from Amazon.com.

Originally released on August 16, the movie received mixed reviews from critics, who felt that it was unappealing and focused too heavily on Apple rather than on the life of Steve Jobs. Original Apple employees like Daniel Kottke and Bill Fernandez also criticized the movie for its inaccuracies.

During its opening weekend, "Jobs" made just $6.7 million, which was below the $8–9 million projected by its distributor, Open Road Films. In theaters the movie, which had a budget of $12 million, has earned $16.1 million in the U.S. and $19.8 million abroad, for a worldwide total of $35.9 million.

Another Steve Jobs movie, from screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, remains in the works with a prospective 2014 release date.

Microsoft today released two new anti-iPad ads, continuing its ongoing campaign that pits various Windows tablets against Apple’s iPad. In the new holiday-themed advertisements, Microsoft highlights both the Surface’s kickstand and its support for multiple user accounts.

It is officially the holiday season and we know that many of you are in the middle of deciding which devices to purchase for family, friends, and yourselves. As you consider the alternatives, you should think about what you want to do on your tablet. Surface is designed and built for people who want to do more and be productive on a tablet. This means different things to different people, so we’ve put together a series of videos (with more to come) to show you how Surface compares to its competition in accomplishing many of the things you do every day.

In the first ad, Microsoft suggests that both the Surface and the tablet’s hands-free mode keep the screen clear while completing tasks such as cooking. Windows 8.1 includes a Food & Drink app that allows users to flip through recipe pages by waving a hand in front of the device. "Free apps on the iPad don’t offer the same hands-free technology," says the voiceover.

In the second ad, Microsoft points out the iPad’s failure to support multiple user accounts in iOS, which is a point of contention for many iPad users. Both the Surface 2 and the Surface 2 Pro support both multiple accounts and parental monitoring. "The iPad doesn’t allow for multiple accounts and does not have the ability to monitor usage," states the ad.

Microsoft’s newest ads are part of a long series of anti-iPad advertisements that have attempted to point out several flaws in Apple’s tablet, including its lack of an integrated kickstand and keyboard, the absence of dedicated productivity software on the tablet its poor multitasking capabilities and its failure to offer expandable storage. Microsoft’s VP of communications, Frank Shaw, even took to the company’s blog in October to denounce Apple’s iWork software.

Despite its steady stream of ads and its vigorous anti-iPad campaign, Microsoft was forced to initiate price cuts on its original Surface tablets earlier this year, revealing in July that the Surface lineup had earned just $853 million for the company.

Though the original Surface tablets did not sell well, Microsoft released its Surface 2 and Surface 2 Pro in September, priced at $449 and $899, respectively.

Western Digital has released a new version of its WD SmartWare hard drive software following extensive reports of data-loss on Western Digital drives after the installation of OS X Mavericks.

The MacRumors Forums, Western Digital's forums, and Apple's Support Communities all had threads about lost data after connecting Western Digital external hard drives to computers after updating to Mavericks.

WD is happy to announce the release of WD SmartWare Version 1.3.6 for Mac 10.5-10.9.

Fixed an issue related to reports of some customers, under certain conditions, experiencing data loss when updating to Apple's OS X Mavericks (10.9).

The WD SmartWare update is available for download from Western Digital's website.

Over the course of the last several years, notebook and desktop PC shipments have declined as lighter, more portable tablets have surged in popularity and begun replacing traditional computers. In 2014, tablets will come even closer to dominating the PC market, accounting for half of all shipped PCs, according to a prediction from research firm Canalys.

Out of the total PC market, which includes notebooks, tablets, and desktops, tablets are predicted to make up a total of 50 percent of all shipments. Apple's iPad line up will account for 30 percent of tablets shipped, while Android tablets will make up 65 percent of shipments. Microsoft's tablets are expected to be responsible for five percent of total tablet shipments.

In the third quarter of 2013, tablet PC shipments accounted for 40 percent of total PC shipments. Canalys forecasts 285 million tablet shipments in 2014, which will surge to 396 million units shipped in 2017.

While Apple will remain a highly profitable player in the PC market over the course of 2014, Canalys expects that the company will see a decline in its market share. In 2013, Apple managed to hold the top vendor position in the PC market thanks to combined sales of iPads and its desktop and notebook computers.

"Apple's decline in PC market share is unavoidable when considering its business model. Samsung narrowly took the lead in EMEA this quarter and Apple will lose its position to competitors in more markets in the future," said Canalys Senior Analyst Tim Coulling. "However, Apple is one of the few companies making money from the tablet boom. Premium products attract high value consumers; for Apple, remaining highly profitable and driving revenue from its entire ecosystem is of greater importance than market share statistics."

In August, Canalys' research suggested non-iOS tablets had surpassed the iPad in global market share for the first time, with Apple responsible for 42.7 percent of tablet shipments while tablets from Samsung, Amazon, Acer, Lenovo, and others combined to make up 57.3 percent of shipments.

Canalys predicts that Apple's share of the tablet market will shrink further in 2014 under the continued onslaught of less expensive Android and Windows tablets. Apple's cheapest tablet is the original iPad mini, which is priced at $299 and still significantly more expensive than competing products like the $229 Nexus 7 from Google and the $229 Kindle Fire HDX from Amazon.

Honda today announced the launch of Siri "Eyes Free" integration for select Honda and Acura vehicles. The functionality, which launches as a dealer-installed accessory for the 2013-2014 Honda Accord and 2013 Acura RDX and ILX models, allows users to interact with Siri hands-free systems in these cars without having to take their eyes off of the road.

Owners can direct Siri to perform a number of specific tasks while they keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel. Using Eyes Free mode, Siri takes hands-free functionality even further and helps minimize distractions by keeping an iOS device's screen from lighting up.

Additional functionality includes:

- Sending text messages and e-mails
- Reading incoming text messages and emails
- Setting up calendar entries, reminders, and alarms
- Checking the weather
- Turn-by-turn voice navigation (when the audio system is set to Bluetooth® Audio or iPod mode)
- Sports scores and stock quotes

The launch of Siri Eyes Free for Honda and Acura vehicles, which was first announced in January, is just the first step in extending the iOS experience to vehicles, and Honda will be holding a Google Hangout next Tuesday at 10:00 AM Pacific Time to make further announcements about iOS integration for the company's vehicles.

One of the iOS 7 features highlighted by Apple at the operating system's initial unveiling in June was "iOS in the Car", a system for interacting with iOS devices not only through Siri Eyes Free but also through in-dash displays in vehicles. The feature did not launch with the rest of iOS 7, and Apple continues to list iOS in the Car as "Coming Soon".

Apple has implemented changes to its App Store search engine to compensate for small typos, misspellings, and spacing issues, reports TechCrunch. Previously, an app name had to be spelled correctly and with the proper spacing in order to bring up desired search results unless a developer thought to include misspellings in keywords.

Sources familiar with the matter confirm to us that these App Store search engine changes went into effect a few weeks ago.

The improvements could lead to increased app downloads for affected developers, particularly those with hard-to-spell or lengthy titles, as many are only now beginning to realize.

According to App Store SEO firm SearchMan, comparing App Store search data taken earlier this year to search data from November shows a notable improvement in search results for misspelled words in many cases. "Newz," for example, used to show nine results, but with the built-in spelling correction, it now displays over 2,199.

SearchMan CEO Niren Hiro did find, however, that there's a cap of 2,200 results on misspellings, and some erroneous searches, such as "shoping" are seeing fewer results than before as the App Store now corrects for misspellings rather than looking for keyword matches. Some misspellings are also not returning many results, as a misspelled search for "restaurant" still turns up only two apps.

While autocorrected searches are a welcome and long overdue change in the App Store, app misspellings represent only a small percentage of App Store searches. According to App Store optimization firm Straply, which tested various spellings of "Angry Birds," correct spellings drove 98.48% of searches while misspelled variations failed to generate even a single percent of search volume.

Apple's spell check improvements come several months after the company implemented significant changes to its App Store Top Chart ranking algorithms to boost app discoverability.

When Apple gave its full unveiling of the new Mac Pro at last month's media event, many observers were disappointed that the company did not also announce new higher-resolution displays to complement the radically redesigned professional desktop, which Apple touts as being able to support up to three 4K displays simultaneously.

But the recent introduction of new 27-inch and 32-inch 4K display panels from AU Optronics (via Reddit and AmongTech) is sparking speculation that Apple could yet have a display announcement in the relatively near future. Both panel sizes offer 4K resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, which could use the new Thunderbolt 2 connectivity standard to support either much larger desktops than with the 2560 x 1440 resolution of the current Apple Thunderbolt Display or high-quality "Retina" sharpness at an equivalent of 1920 x 1080.

Apple currently uses well-regarded LG panels in its Apple Thunderbolt Display, and it is unclear if the new panels from AU Optronics will meet Apple's exacting quality standards. Still, many have been looking for technology that would even allow Apple to offer a 4K display alongside the Mac Pro, and the new AU Optronics panels using the embedded DisplayPort (eDP) signaling standard embraced by Apple appear to be a significant step in that direction.

Even if Apple were to launch 4K displays using these panels, timing remains unclear as Panelook listings for the new panels indicate that they are "in production" but with customer sampling and mass production not scheduled until the first quarter of next year.

Also in question is whether Apple would even use 16:9 3840 x 2160 panels for a 4K display, as some have suggested that the company may prefer to push Thunderbolt 2 to its limit and support the wider 4096 x 2160 "Cinema 4K" standard given that the display will undoubtedly be targeted at professionals, many of whom in the film industry will be working with content using that resolution standard adopted for film production.

Apple has been awarded a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (via AppleInsider) for a digital camera including a refocusable imaging mode adapter, with the document also discussing the potential use of a similar camera system in a device like the iPhone.

The patent details a camera that is able to be configured to operate in a lower-resolution mode that includes refocusing capability in addition to a high-resolution non-refocusable mode, with the camera's body containing an image mode adaptor to switch between the two.

Also cited in the patent is the plenoptic imaging system used in the Lytro light-field camera, which Apple draws inspiration from but points out that its own microlens array can produce higher-quality images because of a higher spatial resolution. Apple also cites the Lytro's camera system as prior art in the patent.

A digital camera system configurable to operate in a low-resolution refocusable mode and a high-resolution non-refocusable mode comprising: a camera body; an image sensor mounted in the camera body having a plurality of sensor pixels for capturing a digital image;

An imaging lens for forming an image of a scene onto an image plane, the imaging lens having an aperture; and an adaptor that can be inserted between the imaging lens and the image sensor to provide the low-resolution refocusable mode and can be removed to provide the high-resolution non-refocusable mode,

The adaptor including a microlens array with a plurality of microlenses; wherein when the adaptor is inserted to provide the low-resolution refocusable mode, the microlens array is positioned between the imaging lens and the image sensor.

Apple's patent outlines how such a lens system could be integrated with a more complete camera solution incorporating image correction and other features, either in a standalone product or within a mobile device.

The Lytro-like technology naturally leads to speculation that it could be used in Apple's rumored standalone point-and-shoot digital camera, which was first rumored in 2012 after Steve Jobs was quoted his biography done by Walter Isaacson stating his desires for the future involved the reinvention of three industries, with one of them being photography. Isaacson's biography also noted that Jobs had met with the CEO of Lytro, although it has been unclear how much direct interest Apple had in Lytro's technology.

Supplies of the iPhone 5s have been steadily improving since the device's launch two months ago, and according to a new survey by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, supplies are now approaching demand levels at Apple's U.S. retail stores with 90% of model/location combinations currently showing as available. Munster's survey is a weekly tracker of 60 U.S. stores and has seen significant improvement in iPhone 5s availability from just 31% two weeks ago and a paltry 10% back in early October.

Total available iPhone 5s SKUs (excluding unlocked) have increased to 90% from 31% two weeks ago, and 10% at the beginning of October. Separately, we note that the lightest stocked store we checked had 67% of available SKUs. We view the improvement in supply as an encouraging sign that Apple has begun to catch up to demand. We continue to believe that Apple will reach supply-demand equilibrium by early December.

While overall iPhone 5s availability of 90% slightly lags that of the iPhone 5 at 95% at this time last year, Munster notes that supplies of the iPhone 5s actually better reflect the current popularity mix of the various carriers, with AT&T and Verizon models seeing almost universal availability and only the less popular Sprint models lagging.

Munster's tracker currently omits the just-launched unlocked SIM-free models, as those devices are still showing 1-2 week shipping time and in-store availability is not shared through Apple's online store for those models. Munster appears to have been considering the unsubsidized T-Mobile models as representative of the broader category of unlocked for tracking purposes, as users have found that many of the carrier-specific iPhone 5s models are in fact already unlocked.

Hong Kong-based nonprofit Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) has brought forth allegations (via Reuters) of major labor issues at Chinese factories belonging to Biel Crystal, a Hong-Kong based display supplier to Apple.

The workers rights group accuses the company of labor violations, such as forced 11-hour shifts, seven days a week, with only one day off each each month. Other accusations include the inadequate compensation to workers when they are injured, with employees reportedly required to sign blank contracts. The report also states that five workers at a company factory have committed suicide since 2011.

Apple also commented on the new accusations towards Biel Crystal:

"We insist that our suppliers provide safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect, and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes wherever Apple products are made," Apple said in a statement sent to Reuters in response to the SACOM report.

Biel Crystal employs more than 60,000 workers and has two factories in the Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Shenzhen. The new accusations also come after a number of alleged labor violations at Apple suppliers earlier this year, including reported workers rights issues at iPhone 5c supplier Jabil Circuit and primary supplier Pegatron. Apple also later issued a statement on the labor controversies surrounding Jabil Circuit, pledging to investigate.

Apple announced in July that it was forming an academic advisory board for its Supplier Responsibility program, saying that it wanted to ensure “safe and ethical working conditions wherever its products are made.” Apple has also published Supplier Responsibility Progress Reports every year since 2007, tracking the ethical progress of its suppliers in order to bring transparency to its product manufacturing process.

Last week, Samsung was ordered to pay Apple $290 million in damages after a jury ruled that the Korean company had copied key features and design elements from the iPhone last year. Shortly after the payment amount was decided last week, Samsung filed a motion to delay its payments to Apple, requesting a reevaluation of the validity of patent No. 7,844,915 covering Apple's “pinch-to-zoom“ gestures.

Now, FOSS Patents is reporting that Samsung's motion to stay its damages was denied last night by Judge Lucy Koh, basing her decision on three factors including the status of research, the impact of a stay on the trial and case as a whole, and whether granting a stay would unethically favor Apple.

While the retrial jury, which ultimately awarded Apple $290 million in damages replacing a $410 million of the original verdict (resulting now in total damages, subject to appeal, of $929 million), was deliberating, Samsung brought an emergency motion to stay the whole case pending reexamination of Apple's '915 pinch-to-zoom API patent. Its lawyers untruthfully said that Apple's only procedural option left (in order to salvage the patent) was a notice of appeal, but Apple pointed in its response to what the actual USPTO communication said, which was the opposite, and said Samsung's stalling strategy had "crossed the bounds of reason."

While Judge Koh ruled against Samsung's motion to stay its damages; a reevaluation of the pinch-to-zoom patent will still take place. The court also states that Apple has other options to influence the outcome of a reexamination, such as filing an appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board or the Federal Circuit.

Notably, Apple's claim of a pinch-to-zoom patent was denied last July by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which followed a preliminary rejection in December 2012.

Nokia has launched a new web ad for its Lumia 2520 tablet running Windows 8. The Lumia 2520 is similar to the Windows Surface tablets from Microsoft and includes a larger battery in its separate physical keyboard to push battery life to as long as 16 hours.

The new ad pokes fun at Apple's tablet by making references to the iPad Air's new 'Pencil' television ad and suggesting that iPad owners will need to carry a notebook everywhere because the iPad has no keyboard.

Ah, working on the move. Goodbye laptop, hello new tablet!

Here we go, everyone wants one! Yes, my friends, it's thin. Thinner than a pencil! Oh yeah.

Oh, it's light too, yeah. Oh, did I mention, one of these has been to space?

Hang on, negative Nancy. What's with all the questions? It's got everything you need. You don't need a keyboard, you touch the screen.

Argh. I wish this thing had a keyboard. I'm about as productive as a cat wearing mittens right now. Time to get the beast out I guess.

Oh, this? I'm just giving it a rest. Been working it pretty hard.

Oh, not the battery. Well, you don't see me getting caught with my trousers down. Not when I'm still lugging around this puppy. Ah. Oh, you again. Just act cool and nobody has to know.

I do love this thing. It's still light and you never notice it in your laptop bag.

Wait a minute, what's that? A Nokia Lumia 2520, you say? So, um, did I buy the wrong tablet?

The Nokia Lumia 2520 with built-in LTE is available for $400-500 from AT&T or Verizon, or directly from Microsoft -- Nokia's separate battery/keyboard is an additional $150, though Nokia is offering the keyboard free with purchase for a limited time.

There are, of course, a number of third-party iPad keyboards available as well.

Microsoft has agreed to purchase Nokia's device and services division, though that transaction has yet to complete.

Over the course of the last several months, Apple has improved its in-store iPhone sales, according to a new survey from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (via AllThingsD). Approximately 25 percent of iPhones are purchased within an Apple Store, up from an estimate of 20 percent earlier this year.

The majority of iPhones in the United States are still sold through carriers, however, with AT&T responsible for 21 percent of sales and Verizon responsible for 18 percent. Best Buy's iPhone sales accounted for 13 percent of total sales, and Sprint, Amazon, and other mass retailers like Target, Walmart, and Costco accounted for 5 percent each.

Carriers also sell the most overall cell phones, but Apple, though it only sells the iPhone, accounts for a total of 11 percent of all retail phone sales.

Back in July, Apple CEO Tim Cook told employees that he would like to improve Apple Store iPhone sales with new promotional tactics. According to Cook, the iPhone is Apple's central "gateway product" to other devices like iPads, which makes it vital that users purchase their iPhones where they can be exposed to other Apple products.

To encourage sales within Apple retail locations, Apple has launched new features for its Apple Store app, including an iPad version, and debuted an in-store trade-in program in August with the goal of improving the company's U.S. sales numbers.

Though Apple has seen slight improvements in in-store iPhone sales, further increasing iPhone sales within Apple Stores remains an uphill battle as Apple has roughly 250 retail stores in the United States that compete with more than 10,000 third-party retail outlets that offer the iPhone.

While PrimeSense, Apple's latest acquisition, is best known for developing the chip powering Microsoft's original Kinect motion-sensing gaming system, its 3D sensors have also been used in several industries beyond television and gaming.

It has been widely rumored that Apple will incorporate motion sensing technology into a potential upgraded set top box or television set, a logical potential use for PrimeSense's assets, but other uses of PrimeSense's sensors indicate Apple could also incorporate the technology into Macs and mobile devices, 3D scanners, or interactive retail displays.

Multiple companies have already taken advantage of PrimeSense technology via its existing Carmine sensors and NiTE natural interaction middleware.

The Technology

PrimeSense uses "Light Coding" for its 3D depth sensing, which involves a near-IR light source that projects an invisible light into a room or a scene. A separate CMOS image sensor then reads the IR-light and captures it along with a series of synchronized images.

The infrared patterns cast by the IR-light, which enable depth acquisition, are then deciphered by the company's chips to create a virtual image of a scene or object.

Mobile Devices, Gaming, and Mapping

PrimeSense's newest 3D sensor and most recent technology, the Capri, is a system-on-a-chip small enough to be incorporated into mobile devices and laptop computers. According to PrimeSense, the Capri enables a mobile device to "see the world in 3D," letting users interact with their surroundings, "blurring between the real and virtual worlds."

A demo of the Capri at Google I/O earlier this year focused heavily on the augmented reality applications of the technology rather than gesture-based uses. The Capri is able to scan a full environment in 3D, including furniture and people, providing an on-screen representation. It is also able to measure virtual objects and provide relative distances and sizes, which could have a number of uses in interactive gaming, indoor mapping, and other applications.

Apple has filed several different patents that pertain to similar technology, including a 2009 patent that referenced "hyper-reality" displays to allow users to view 3D objects on electronic devices and a 2012 patent describing the use of motion sensors to create a virtual three-dimensional interface for iOS devices.

At Google I/O, PrimeSense suggested that its Capri chip was ready for market and could be embedded into various mobile devices by manufacturers. An embedded Capri chip could then be used in "hundreds of thousands" of applications created by app developers using a companion SDK. Apple could potentially include the Capri or a similar chip in its future iOS or Mac devices as well as a potential set top box or television, opening up a new avenue of app development.

3D Scanning and Printing

PrimeSense's chips can be used to create highly accurate 360 degree scans of real world objects, which can then be sent to 3D printers to create an exact replica of an object. The technology can also be used to scan real world objects and incorporate them into applications, which PrimeSense has demoed as useful in home decorating and catalog-style apps.

PrimeSense's 3D scanning technology has already been used by 3D Systems to create a 3D peripheral scanner called "Sense," which is aimed at consumers. Apple has expressed some interest in 3D printing to create prototype products and PrimeSense’s sub millimeter accuracy 3D scans could possibly be useful in the creation process.

Interactive Displays and Retail

On its website, PrimeSense describes interactive digital displays that incorporate touch, almost touch, object pointing, and gesture interfaces that can be used to attract and engage users as well as incorporating analytics information such as people counting, tracking, and demographics classification.

With PrimeSense sensors, digital signs and displays can respond to people's presence and movement via touch or "almost touch," which allows 3D sensors to "see the space between the user and the display."

Apple is reportedly working on increasing customer engagement at its Apple Stores, through the implementation of Bluetooth LE iBeacons that would give customers additional information on products via their own mobile devices. PrimeSense’s technology could also be used to improve customer engagement, through the use of immersive, interactive displays and 3D technology incorporated into its Apple Store apps.

Currently, companies like Bodymetrics use the technology to allow customers to get their bodies scanned in-store and at home, which then facilitates virtual try-ons.

Competition

Though Microsoft originally relied on PrimeSense technology for the Kinect, it purchased PrimeSense rival Canesta in 2010 and has since developed its own in-house solutions for the Kinect motion sensing system that shipped with the recently released Xbox One.

At the time of Microsoft's purchase, PrimeSense rival Canesta was believed to have more potential as it utilized a specialized chip geared specifically towards 3D recognition, while PrimeSense was more affordable. It is unclear how the two technologies compare at the current point in time, but PrimeSense will undoubtedly flourish under Apple’s wing.

Future Use

While news of Apple’s PrimeSense acquisition first surfaced in July, confirmation of the purchase didn't come until November, suggesting a long period of negotiations. Apple is reported to have paid $345 million for PrimeSense, which employs approximately 150 employees in Tel Aviv and several other locations around the world.

It is not known how Apple plans to incorporate PrimeSense's sensors and software into its products, but there are a wide range of possibilities for the technology. According to PrimeSense, its Capri chip is immediately ready for deployment, but as the technology is already several months old and rather large, it is likely that Apple will work with PrimeSense on developing new technology custom built for Apple products.

Late last week, we highlighted a pair of Apple patent applications offering details on the company's implementation of its "Touch ID" fingerprint sensor in the iPhone 5s. The highly technical patent applications showed how the system works and revealed that Apple first moved to protect the ideas with the filing of several provisional patent applications in May 2012.

A third Touch ID-related patent application filed by Apple also quietly surfaced last week (via Unwired View) but has flown under the radar until now because it appears to have published on the World Intellectual Property Organization's database but not the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's database.

This third patent application is the most revealing yet with regard to Touch ID, showing how Apple has envisioned expanding the feature to incorporate trackpad functionalities, tracking movements of a user's finger or thumb over the sensor to navigate through user interfaces on the device's screen. In one example, Apple shows how a user moving his or her finger right to left across the Touch ID home button could pan a map, with a subsequent upward movement across the home button triggering activation of a multitasking interface.

Other examples show how users could take advantage of "revolving" or "twisting" motions of their fingerprints on the Touch ID home button to initiate actions. Adding the ability to recognize presses of various durations for the Touch ID home button and even sensors for detecting how hard the button is being pressed could offer even more powerful user interface navigation capabilities right from the home button.

Moving beyond the home button, Apple addresses the possibility of integrating Touch ID right into a device's display, allowing any area of the screen to be dynamically designated as a sensing region for the user's fingerprint. In one example, the area of a display representing the device's email app could require a valid fingerprint touching the icon in order for authorization to be granted.

Overall, Apple's patent application is a massive 610-page document incorporating 464 claims covering a wide range of applications for Touch ID in the future. Beyond the examples highlighted here, the application covers a number of other areas including:

- Enhanced touch typing recognition through sensing which fingers are touching the keys
- Using pressure and movement sensing to turn the home button into a simple game controller
- Using revolving "scroll wheel" motions on the home button to navigate through multitasking app listings
- Using fingerprint verification to enforce parental controls on age-rated media content, restrict maximum device volume, or automatically increase font sizes for children, seniors, or visually-impaired users
- Autofilling web forms or loading personalized web pages based on fingerprint identification
- Supporting multi-user profiles including authorized and guest profiles through fingerprint authorization
- Authorizing location "check-ins", mobile payment information, or photo/document author tagging based on fingerprint identification
- Supporting simultaneous multi-user configurations by allowing users to define separate areas of a device's screen for drawings, notes, or other content based on fingerprint recognition

Apple's patent application was filed on May 20, 2013, but cites as priority several provisional patent applications dated as far back as May 2012.